Epideictic Epigraphy on Charles V in Southern Italy

After the expedition of Tunis (1535), Charles V visited many Southern Italian towns, where his arrival was celebrated also with Neolatin epigrams displayed along the street of the towns. The subjects of these texts often connect Charles V's Tunisian expedition to the Roman history and its protagonists, namely, to the Punic Wars, the triumphant Roman leaders, Scipio and Marius, the loser African Hannibal and Jugurtha. Other subjects of these texts, as the clash of civilizations or the religious war, are taken from the repertory of the crusades and of the Spanish Reconquista. Moreover, there are also texts which make use of the mythical and historical traditions of the towns or refer to the golden age of the Aragonese dynasty, in order to defend the autonomy of the towns in front of the emperor.