Lo sguardo in seconda persona. Verecundia in Seneca, ad Lucilium 11

Abstract

Where does verecundia stand in the ancient Rome? As Robert Kaster said, it stands close to the pudor, working in face-to-face relations “between respect and shame”. How the verecundia concept took part as a moral feeling is clearly explained in Seneca’s Letter 11 to Lucilius. In this text the philosopher offers a complex, concise portrait of verecundia, allowing to see that it is, to all intents and purposes, a social emotion, as well as an useful behavior to explain the birth of a moral gaze in “second person”.