Dr Catherine Ware (Cork) Spectacular justice: the arena in Claudian's panegyrics

The comparison between man and animal is a trope of epic, the spectacle of consular games is a set piece of panegyric. In a complex network of allusion, Claudian combines these two figures so that the villains of his panegyrics, dehumanised through epic similes, are recalled in their animal guise for punishment as part of triumphal or consular games.