Giovanni Battista secondo la 'Laus Iohannis': da 'uir Dei' a 'semideus uir'

The Laus Iohannis is a poem recounting the life and deeds of John the Baptist. This text has been composed when a literary tendency to portrait John the Baptist both as a forerunner of the ascetic life and the “first monk” was widely spread (4th-5th centuries CE). In this regard, the Laus has been traditionally connected to this literary framework. However, on closer inspection, the poem does not describe the Baptist as having the traditional features of the ascetic. On the other hand, John the Baptist is introduced as semideus and not simply as uir dei. The difference between the two terms is by no means insignificant.