Pliny's Panegyricus and the Historia Augusta

In this article, the panegyrical tendencies in the Historia Augusta (especially to be found in the lives of Claudius, Tacitus, Aurelian, and Probus) are compared with the possible model of Pliny's Panegyricus to the emperor Trajan, who is considered the optimus princeps all through Late Antiquity. It is observed that there are many similar strategies used to praise the emperors concerned. At the same time, the panegyrical descriptions in the lives of the HA prepare for a climax outside the scope of this work: the panegyrics addressed to Diocletian, the tetrarchs, and Constantine, such as are encountered in Panegyrici Latini XII. Thus the biographies of the HA, of which several are attributed to Diocletian and others to Constantine, precisely fill the gap between Pliny's Panegyricus and the later ones addressed to the tetrarchs and Constantine. The author of the HA, whose identity and time of writing are still subject to debate, must have had knowledge of Pliny's speech, using it for his own biographical purposes.