Ethics, aesthetics and history in Dionysius of Halicarnassus: imitation and construction of tradition

Abstract

The work of Dionysius of Halicarnassus has been traditionally divided into two parts: first, treaties of rhetoric and, secondly, Roman Antiquities, the history of Rome from its origins to the First Punic War. However, there is a common element among the rhetorical and historical writings that gives internal coherence to the whole work. This element is imitation, wich Dionysius used to link ethics and aesthetics at the service of building the tradition of the Roman people.