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This paper seeks to examine the existential significance of the description of place in Cicero’s works. Descriptions of the locations in which philosophical dialogues are set serve more than an ornamental function, adding an essential element to the discourse. The presence of loci amoeni in the dialogues’ frames constitutes a generic sphragis for the philosophical dialogue, as these loci are imbued with an atmosphere that identifies them as lived spaces. In view of the lack of ancient perspectives on the perception of space, my reading draws on recent phenomenological theories to investigate this theme. The possibility of deploying this modern lens to interpret the ancient material is granted by the transhistorical nature of the object of our study, as characterised in the phenomenological literature: place is not a cultural product, subject to the change, but something universal that concerns an essential aspect of human life. Il contributo mira a mettere in luce il valore esistenziale che può assumere la descrizione di un luogo nell’opera ciceroniana. Le descrizioni dei luoghi in cui sono ambientati i dialoghi filosofici non sono meramente ornamentali, ma aggiungono qualcosa di essenziale al discorso. La presenza dei loci amoeni nelle cornici non solo costituisce una sphragis di genere per il dialogo filosofico, poiché essi possiedono anche un’atmosfera che li connota come spazi vissuti. Pur nell’assenza di una riflessione antica sulla percezione dello spazio, tale aspetto può essere indagato attraverso l’apporto di riflessioni recenti di stampo fenomenologico. La possibilità di impiegare strumenti moderni per leggere l’antico è data dal carattere stesso dell’oggetto di indagine: non un prodotto culturale, soggetto al mutamento del tempo, ma un universale che concerne un aspetto essenziale della vita umana. Cet article vise à mettre en lumière la valeur existentielle qui peut prendre la description d’un lieu dans l’oeuvre cicéronienne. Les descriptions des lieux où se déroulent les dialogues philosophiques n’ont pas une valeur simplement ornementale, mais elles apportent quelque chose d’essentiel au discours: le locus amoenus n’est pas employé seulement comme une vraie sphragis pour le genre du dialogue philosophique, mais il est aussi porteur d’une atmosphère qui lui confère un caractère d’espace vécu. En dépit de l’absence d’une réflexion antique sur la perception de l’espace, cet aspect peut être analysé grâce aux modernes réflexions nées de la phénoménologie. L’emploi de catégories modernes pour lire les classiques est justifié par l’objet même de la recherche: non pas un produit culturel, sujet à l’évolution, mais un universel qui concerne un aspect essentiel de la vie humaine.

The purpose of this study was to report a rare case of an odontogenic keratocyst occurring in the edentulous jaw area. A 64-year-old man presented with a painful swelling of the right posterior mandibular vestibule that prevented him from wearing a complete lower denture. Upon intraoral clinical examination, the patient was totally edentulous and had two removable complete dentures. He had a fistula in the vestibular mucosa of edentulous site 48 that was painful upon palpation. Radiological examination revealed an unilocular radiolucent lesion with a continuous peripheral sclerotic border, centered on both the mandibular angle and right branch. Differential diagnosis mainly included a residual cyst and an odontogenic cystic tumor. The biopsy and the excisional material allowed a diagnosis of an odontogenic keratocyst to be made, the cyst being lined by a uniform parakeratinized squamous epithelium, corrugated in places, showing intercellular edema in places, with a well differentiated basal cell layer ranging from cuboidal to columnar in shape, a relatively thin, inflammation-free fibrous wall, and a cyst lumen that contained varying amounts of desquamated keratin. In this case, the surgical risk was represented by paresthesia of both the inferior alveolar and the lingual nerves. The lesion was enucleated without any complications, and the follow-up after 1 year did not reveal any nerve functional damage. Our case underlines the importance for the clinicians to consider a keratocyst in the differential diagnosis of cyst-like lesions presenting in an edentulous area.