Osservazioni sulla data drammatica del 'Dialogus de oratoribus' di Tacito

Among the numerous problems posed by Tacitus’ Dialogus de oratoribus, one of the most debated concerns the dramatic date of the work. Scholars are divided between two possible dates of 74/75 or 77/78; but consideration of the role played in the plot of the dialogue by the author himself enables us to fix the dramatic date in the years 74/75, when Tacitus was 18 and was following his tirocinium fori. That corresponds to the author’s desire to present himself as an old-fashioned orator, formed according to the traditional training system.