Il verbo insinuo nelle epistole commendaticiae tardoantiche

The paper analyses the evolution in the use of the verb insinuo to understand whether it can be considered a technical word of the epistolary genre, and in particular of the letters of recommendation. Despite its many occurrences since the early phases of Latin literature, the verb is not attested with the specific meaning “to recommend someone” before the 2nd century AD; furthermore, its first attestation in letter writing dates to the 4th century. Therefore, it can be considered a peculiar term of the Latin vocabulary of recommendation, but only from Late Antiquity onwards.