I termini paragiuridici nelle Declamationes Maiores

The chapter is based on a survey of para-legal terminology in the Major Declamations. The terms here defined as ‘para-legal’ are (1) expressions used in declamatory texts as technical terms, but having a different meaning in Roman legal literature; (2) terms that originate from legal language but in declamations lose their original sense and acquire instead a metaphorical or generic connotation. The latter type, much less studied than the former, reveals the close proximity of declamation to legal literature, which deeply influences the imagery of the declaimers as well as their language. Moreover, the distribution of such para-legal terms throughout the pseudo-Quintilianic corpus clearly brings out the differences between the Major and Minor Declamations as far as style and aims are concerned.