SOURCE: Morford, Mark P. O. “Iubes Esse Liberos: Pliny's Panegyricus and Liberty.” American Journal of Philology 113 (1992): 575-93.

In the following essay, Morford defends Pliny's Panegyricus from the harsh criticism it has received, arguing that the work should be viewed within the conventions of ceremonial rhetoric.

Pliny's Panegyricus has been harshly treated in recent decades. The opinion of Frank Goodyear is typical: “It has fallen, not undeservedly, into almost universal contempt.”¹ Sir Ronald Syme is hardly more subtle: “The Panegyricus survives as the solitary specimen of Latin eloquence from the century and a half that had elapsed since the death of Cicero. It has done no good to the reputation of the author or the taste of the age.”² Such opinions from eminent scholars show how far removed our age of scholarship is from an understanding of the genos epideiktikon, and they express impatience with the conventions of ceremonial...