Il 'tempo molle' di Macrobio: aporie e fragilità nel prologo dei Saturnalia

This article offers a fresh look at the prologue written by Macrobius to his Saturnalia. It will be shown that the chronological indications offered by the author with (apparent) extreme precision conceal certain inconsistencies. While some of these may find an illustrious precedent in Plato’s Symposium, others can be seen as the consequence of the particular order governing both the saturnalian time and the entire structure of Macrobius’ work.