Poliziano’s Intertextual Engagement with the Classics: The Role of Macrobius in His Annotations on the Aeneid

Abstract

Poliziano’s interest in Macrobius can be clearly traced throughout his work on the exegesis of classical texts. In the unpublished marginal notes that Poliziano wrote as a commentary on the Aeneid, preserved in the incunabulum Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Rés. G. Yc. 236 (ISTC iv00151400), the engagement with Macrobius’ texts is systemat-ic. In this paper, I aim to provide a few examples of Poliziano’s reading of Macrobius’ Saturnalia, which highlight Virgil’s imitative technique.