The Pumpkinification of Claudius
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Featured:  Illustration: Portrait fantaisiste du marquis de Sade (1866) by H. Biberstein |
The Pumpkinification of (the Divine) Claudius or Apocolocyntosis (divi Claudii) is a political satire on the Roman emperor Claudius, probably written by Seneca the Younger. It is the only example of Menippean satire from the classical era that has survived. The title plays upon "apotheosis", the process by which dead Roman emperors were recognized as gods.
"Apocolocyntosis" is in fact Latinized Greek, and sometimes transliterated Apokolokyntosis. In the manuscripts the anonymous work bears the title Ludus de morte Divi Claudii ("Play on the death of the Divine Claudius"). The title Apokolokyntosis ("Pumpkinification" or "Gourdification") comes from the Roman historian Dio Cassius, who wrote in Greek. Dio Cassius attributed authorship of a satirical text on the death of Claudius, called Apokolokyntosis, to Seneca the Younger.
