The paper focuses on the peculiar status authors of miscellaneous compilations from Roman imperial times have. On the one hand, they seem to be mere collectors of pieces of knowledge written down by former scholars. On the other, however, they also highlight their own creative approach in the compilation process. This attitude becomes visible in the way they present their collections to their intended readers, most of the time in the introductory or conclusive remarks they provide. Our analysis will deal with these paratextual frameworks and compare the images the compilers used to describe their activities, so that our study will demonstrate how they understood their contributions and how they wanted them to be appreciated by their readers.