Filodemo, Cicerone, Nepote: a proposito del contesto storico-culturale di Oec. Col. XXII.9-48

Until recently, Philodemus’ treatise On Household Management (Περὶ οἰκονομίας, PHerc. 1424) has been mainly used as a source for the reconstruction of early Epicurean economic thought (especially of Metrodorus’ writing Περὶ πλούτου). Over the past few years, however, scholars have called attention to Philodemus’ creative (yet philosophically orthodox) readaptation of Epicurean ethical and social theories to the needs of contemporary Roman society. Following this scholarly line, the present paper reassesses a passage from On Household Management (col. XXII.9–48) which has so far been interpreted as an unoriginal repetition of Metrodorus’ arguments, and situates it in the cultural context of the late Roman Republic. By comparing Philodemus’, Cicero’s, and Cornelius Nepos’ approaches to the issues of virtue, wealth, wisdom, and the ways of life, the paper confirms the dating of Περὶ οἰκονομίας to the period after 50 BCE – a dating which was first proposed by Guglielmo Cavallo on merely paleographic grounds. Indeed, Philodemus’ claims about the value of practical and theoretical knowledge, his use of previous philosophical traditions (such as the Peripatos), and his choice of poignant historical exempla, all point to the work’s embeddedness within the late Republican debate on political engagement, biographical literature, and evergetism.