Rehoboam

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Rehoboam is introduced by Dante in the twelfth canto of the Purgatorio within the series of examples of punished pride engraved on the cornice of Purgatory. The verse «O Roboàm, già non par che minacci» presents him, according to the commentary note, as «il superbo re Roboamo ridotto al terrore e alla fuga» (the proud king Rehoboam reduced to terror and flight). The authorized notes define him as «figlio e successore di Salomone» (son and successor of Solomon) and recall that he «aveva sprezzantemente risposto» (had contemptuously responded) to the requests of the people, thus identifying him as the eighth example of the series, of a biblical nature. The entry adds no further biographical details beyond those derivable from the Dantean text and the notes of the same canto.