Panegyrici

Panegyrici (plural of panegyric) is a term used in classical rhetoric and textual tradition to refer to formal, lavish laudatory speeches. In Roman literature, the best known use is for the Panegyrici Latini, a collection of Latin panegyrics delivered in praise of Roman emperors during the early and middle Principate.

The Panegyrici Latini comprise twelve Latin panegyrics from roughly the late 1st to early 3rd centuries AD. The collection was compiled in Late Antiquity from earlier public speeches that celebrated imperial power and auspicious events. Several of the pieces were delivered at court or on official occasions, with at least one famous example being Pliny the Younger’s Panegyric to Trajan. Other works in the corpus address or commemorate emperors such as Nerva, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius, though the authorship of several entries remains uncertain.

Content and style of the panegyrics typically emphasize the emperor’s virtues—wisdom, justice, benevolence, military success, and the maintenance of peace and prosperity—while portraying the ruler as father of the country and guardian of civic order. Rhetorical devices common to the genre include praise, enumerations of achievements, mythic scaffolding, and ceremonial diction that enhances the sense of solemn public occasion.

Significance lies in their value as sources for imperial propaganda, late antique political culture, and the conventions of Roman public rhetoric. They illuminate how power was publicly constructed and legitimated, and they continue to be studied for their literary technique and historical usefulness. Manuscripts survive in medieval transmission, and modern editions and translations make the texts accessible to scholars and readers today.