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Feasting Centaurs and Destructive Consuls in Cicero’s In Pisonem

2014; University of Illinois Press; Volume: 39; Linguagem: Inglês

10.5406/illiclasstud.39.0063

2328-5265

Isabel K. Köster,

Classical Philosophy and Thought

Abstract This paper argues that the comparison of a feast staged by Piso and Gabinius to a banquet of Centaurs and Lapiths in Pis. 22 is significant for the invective as a whole. It shows how Cicero builds up his characterization of Piso to suggest that his opponent is like a Centaur and examines the implications of this comparison for the orator’s treatment of Piso’s proconsulship and intellectual activities. The image of Piso as a Centaur shows that he is naturally disposed to be an enemy of civilization.