In the poetic texts from the Imperial age (from exiled Ovid to Martial and Statius) the metaphor of poetic lima undergoes a deep transformation: the lima is no longer in the hands of the poet, who has polished his verses for years and years, but (often) in those of a cultivated patron, requested by the author to correct the book before publication.
In the Flavian age the lima is then placed within the complex communication system of literary patronage, where it becomes an element of homage and compliment. However, the metaphor never loses its original poetological meaning: both Martial and Statius use it differently, in relation to themselves and in relation to intellectual patrons, thus subtly reaffirming their own different and higher commitment to literature.
