Alea ludere pertuso fritillo. L'Ade saturnalizio dell'Apocolocyntosis

The Apocolocyntosis concludes with a twofold ending: first, Claudius is condemned to eternally shake dice in a bottomless box, but later he is presented as a slave to Caligula and subsequently to a libertus. This article aims to reevaluate this finale within the context of the Saturnalia and their symbols. Specifically, the reference to dice is meant to allude to the festival and its chronological boundaries, as indicated by numerous literary parallels. Consequently, the Saturnalia, with their rituals, serves as the framework that lends coherence to this heterogeneous finale.