The Severitas of Constantine: Imperial Virtues in Panegyrici Latini 7(6) and 6(7)

Praise of an emperor’s virtues was the core of a panegyric. The range of qualities that could function as imperial virtues under particular circumstances allowed for a complex vocabulary of praise and could provide a highly nuanced portrait of the emperor. This paper examines firstly how virtues are used to establish and develop the character of the emperor Constantine in the panegyrics of 307 and 310 CE (Pan. Lat. 7(6) and 6(7)), and secondly how the description of Constantine’s harshness on campaign (Pan. Lat. 6(7)) draws on the rhetorical tradition of didactic and exemplary writing to demonstrate that an emperor must be capable of displaying severitas rather than clementia when it is in the public interest.