L’immanitas alla fine della repubblica: una minaccia all’ordine politico, morale e culturale di Roma

The paper focuses on the use of the word immanis (“huge” as well “in-human”, “ferocious” and “uncivilized”) among Cicero, Lucretius, and Varro. By comparing their treatment of the adjective in connection to its Greek counterparts and models, the study sheds light on the philosophical debate of the late republican age, with all its political implications, particularly in connection to the dictatorship of Caesar and his (alleged?) Epicureanism. The gathered evidence supports with new arguments the thesis of an ideological opposition between Cicero and Lucretius, while assessing Varro’s reconciling role in this confrontation. Indeed, the antiquarian eluded a direct and unambiguous evaluation of immanis in political terms, acting thus as a broker not just in the disputes between Stoics and Epicureans but possibly also between anti-cesarians and cesarians.