Seneca's Apocolocyntosis as a Possible Source for Erasmus' Julius Exclusus

TLDR: The Julius exclusus has generated a good deal of attention on the part of twentieth-century scholarship, especially since the publication of Wallace K. Ferguson's critical edition in 1933.

Abstract: T HE Julius exclusus has generated a good deal of attention on the part of twentieth-century scholarship, especially since the publication of Wallace K. Ferguson's critical edition in 1933.1 Primary interest has centered on the debate concerning the authorship of the dialogue, with the prevailing scholarly opinion assigning the work unequivocally to Erasmus.2 According to the present consensus, Erasmus composed the Julius at some point between the death of Pope Julius II in February 1513 and his departure from England for Basel in July 1514. The work was known to members of Erasmus' circle by August 1516 and was first published in 1517.3 With the issue of authorship and dating settled to their general satisfaction, Erasmian scholars have recently begun to direct their attention to the substance of the Julius, particularly its ecclesiology.4 On the other hand, the investigation of Erasmus' possible sources for the work has received comparatively sketchy treatment. So far, there has been no study specifically devoted to the analysis of the models on which Erasmus might have drawn for the Julius. It has been noted in passing that he was acquainted with Pierre Gringoire and Fausto Andrelini, two contemporary satirists employed by King Louis XII of France to produce anti-papal burlesques, and that he was present in Paris in 1511, when satires written by both of these authors were published.5 One of these works, whose theme bears on that of the