Quam potest maxima religione iudicum implendus animus est. Retorica, religione e aspetti del divino in Ps. Quint. decl. min. 323

Abstract

The decl. min. 323 proposes a case that, starting from the sermo, demands an argumentative development aimed at testing the declamator on a subject that interweaves the historical and fictional datum, linked to the figure and deeds of Alexander the Great, with the religious and divine component. In the rhetorical argumentation that we read, the declamator, in line with the Quintilian rhetorical precepts on oracula, responsa, auguria et religiones, shows himself adept at constructing an argumentation whose strong point falls on the auctoritas of the demonstrated through the praesentia numinis, according to an ancient model derived from a famous passage from Cicero’s Actio III in Catilinam.