L'ateismo trionfato overo riconoscimento filosofico della religione universale contra l'antichristianesmo macchiavellesco (review)
Aidée Scala, who also provides a detailed biography of the author. Moreover, she offers a thorough commentary and contextualization of the Dialogi and of the other works by Rorario, including the oration in Defense of the Rats Infesting Cardinal Campeggi’s Garden (rich in burlesque references). The tract, mentioned above, on the ratiocinative capacities of animals is also studied through its philosophical role in the Bayle-Leibniz polemic, with an interesting if not persuasive aside on Rorario’s anti-volgare stand in the Bembo-Castiglione questione della lingua. The last chapter contains an overview of the unfinished epic poem Heroica Historia. In conclusion, Scala’s contribution sharply unveils Rorario’s complex curriculum, and one can only hope that his witty Latin satires will be soon readable in English, possibly next to the excellent translation of Alberti’s Momus in the I Tatti Renaissance Library. In the meantime, a complete Italian two-volume translation of Rorario’s works has been edited by Scala and published by the Accademia di San Marco in Pordenone. MARCELLO SIMONETTA Wesleyan University