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The Art of Veiled Speech, from Antiquity to Modern Times: 1st May 2025, 4pm

Subtexts are all around us. In conversation, business transactions, politics, literature, philosophy, and even love, the art of expressing more than what is explicitly said allows us to live and move in the world. But rarely do we reflect on this subterranean dimension of communication. Words don't just say what they say, and often we can understand (as listeners) and convey (as speakers) more, or something else entirely, than what is expressly said. Every day, we send out double-meaning messages and decipher those sent to us by others, without even taking notice. Greco-Roman rhetoric provides invaluable theoretical tools for thinking about this phenomenon, notably with the rhetorical notion of “figured speech”. History offers striking examples of the use of innuendo in ancient and modern political contexts. In personal and public life, veiled speech has many functions, including diplomatic, poetic, humorous and polemical. It also raises difficulties, as it carries the risk of misunderstanding. Criteria can therefore be proposed to remedy uncertainty and guarantee interpretation.


Dr. Caroline Petit awarded the quinquennal Médaille de Chénier

In March 2019, Dr. Caroline Petit was awarded the Médaille de Chénier of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres (Paris), for her book Galien de Pergame ou la rhétorique de la Providence. Médecine, littérature et pouvoir à Rome, Brill, 2018. This quinquennal award distinguishes a book of significance in the field of Greek language and literature.


New publication: Caroline Petit, Galien de Pergame ou la rhétorique de la Providence

Out in September 2018: Caroline Petit’s book, Galien de Pergame ou la rhétorique de la Providence: Médecine, littérature et pouvoir à Rome is the first comprehensive study of the role of rhetoric in Galen’s œuvre. Physician to several Roman emperors and author of the most impressive body of works in antiquity up to AD 350, Galen created a compelling figure of authority through his medical and philosophical works. The book analyses the range of Galen’s rhetorical mastery through five chapters, studying in turn Galen and the Hellenic tradition, Galen’s demonstrative and refutative tactics, the role of enargeia in Galen’s descriptions and narratives, his ‘hymn’ to Nature in his main anatomical work, De usu partium, and finally autobiography and self-portrait in his œuvre.


Classical Texting- "Prudens Simplicitas: The Decline of Simplicitas"

Martina Russo, PhD candidate in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Warwick, has published on the concept of simplicitas in Latin Literature. Read it here.


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