Apocolocyntosis

The Apocolocyntosis (divi) Claudii, literally The Gourdification of (the Divine) Claudius, is a political satire on the Roman emperor Claudius, probably written by Seneca the Younger. It is one of only two examples of Menippean satire from the classical era that have survived, the other being Petronius' Satyricon. The title plays upon "apotheosis," the process by which dead Roman emperors were recognized as gods. "Apocolocyntosis" is in fact Latinized Greek, and sometimes transliterated Apokolokyntosis. In the manuscripts the anonymous work bears the title Ludus de morte Divi Claudii ("Play on the death of the Divine Claudius"). The title Apokolokyntosis (Attic Greek, "Gourdification," sometimes also translated as "Pumpkinification") comes from the Roman historian Dio Cassius, who wrote in Greek. Dio Cassius attributed authorship of a satirical text on the death of Claudius, called Apokolokyntosis, to Seneca the Younger. Only much later was the work referred to by Dio Cassius identified (with some degree of uncertainty) with the "Ludus" text.