Il maestro nascosto. Elementi ‘metaretorici’ nelle Declamazioni maggiori pseudo-quintilianee

There has been much debate in recent years over ‘school declamations’ and ‘show declamations’, and a tendency to draw sharp boundaries between the two. Since the pseudo-quintilianic Major Declamations have played a prominent rôle in this debate, it is worth focusing on an aspect that has hitherto remained largely unnoticed: the repeated presence, throughout these fully-developed speeches, of self-conscious allusions to didactic conventions and technico-rhetorical issues clearly pointing to a school milieu. Scrutinizing these ‘metarhetorical’ hints contributes to a fairer assessment of the relationship between ‘school’ and ‘show’ declamations; and may shed some light on the disputed chronology and authorship of the Maiores.