This annotation was created by Michael Andrew Gavin.  The last update was by Helen B. Kampmann Marodin.

The Digital Piranesi

Gaius Petronis Arbiter

CPETRONIVS is Gaius Petronius Arbiter (c. 27 – 66 CE), a Roman courtier during the reign of Nero. He is the attributed author of the Satyricon, a novel containing a wealth of allusions (a figure of speech that offers indirect references to subjects or events that must be inferred by the audience). Piranesi might have had the classical author as an inspiration for the somewhat hidden references he utilizes in the Carceri. Petronius was accused of treason and, according to Pliny the Elder, "elegantly" committed suicide to avoid being killed by Nero's guards.

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