Euphratès, Artémidore et ceux qui sapientiae studium habitu corporis praeferunt : la place de la philosophie dans la culture de Pline

A semantic and statistical analysis of Pliny’s oeuvre (occurrences of philosophus / philosophia, sapiens, etc.) shows that philosophy is the explicit subject of three letters only (I, 10 ; III, 11 ; VII, 26). Yet, Pliny shows great interest – broadly cultural rather than strictly philosophical – for moral subjects that fall within the field of philosophy (see the occurrences of bonus / honestus, virtus, humanitas, etc.). Accordingly, philosophy formed a considerable part of Pliny’s education, and, allegedly unlike Quintilian, he never expelled it from the “land of the intellectuals”. The last section of the paper cautiously proposes some cultural and political explanations as to why philosophy plays little overt role in the letters and almost no role in the Panegyric.