Abstract: The Byzantine romance Phlorios et Platziaflore was an adaptation of a Western model, which specialists have identified as the Toscan Cantare, Fiorio e Biancifiore. The plot and the succession of episodes was to a great extent respected by the Byzantine author. However, the process of acculturation reveals itself through the presentation the stylistic features, such as the rhetorical amplifications of dialogue, the complaints, the so-called ἐκφράσεις and other rhetorical figures. Together, these elements link Phlorios to the beginnings of a romance tradition in the vernacular.
