Gellius the Satirist: Roman Cultural Authority in Attic Nights (Mnemosyne Supplements: Monographs on Greek and Roman Language and Literature, 297)

This monograph presents an original portrait of the second-century miscellanist Aulus Gellius, based on a detailed reading of "Attic Nights" against its contemporary background. Highlighting Gellius' use of humour and irony in his portrayals of controversial celebrities such as Favorinus and Herodes Atticus, this book provides a necessary corrective to interpretations of Gellius as an uncritical philhellene or an apolitical bookworm. Distinguishing Gellius' various literary personae (the youthful sectator, the independent researcher, the mature writer and adviser), this book uncovers the many-layered sophistication of Gellius' self-presentation. Noting previously unrecognised allusions to literary works and contemporary events, it offers a fresh perspective on Gellius as a satirical writer, whose Roman cultural programme reflects the ambiguities and complexities of Antonine intellectual life. Gellius the Satirist (2009) ......Page 1 Mnemosyne - Volume 297 ......Page 3 ISBN: 9789004169869......Page 5 --> CONTENTS......Page 8 PREFACE......Page 12 INTRODUCTION......Page 14 PART ONE - CONSTRUCTING AUTHORITY: GELLIUS’ ROMAN CULTURAL PROGRAMME......Page 28 The Praefatio: Protocols of Authority......Page 30 The Roman life of learning: Gellius versus ‘the Greeks’......Page 37 Vindicating elite authority: Gellius against the grammatici......Page 41 Imagery of education: breastfeeding and pure Latinity......Page 45 Commentarii and chreiai: the utility of commemoration......Page 50 The instability of Fronto’s charismatic authority......Page 52 Playful authority (1): Menippean lists and imperial memory......Page 59 Playful authority (2): Frontonian trifles and imperial education......Page 64 ‘Gellius Menippeus’: emulating Fronto as arbiter of taste......Page 71 Legitimate space for jest: Gellius as sectator......Page 80 Scrutinising Socratic exposure......Page 84 Instructive role-reversals: obnoxius (6, 17)......Page 89 The definition of penus (4, 1) and Gellius’ authoritative platform......Page 100 PART TWO - PLAYING WITH REPUTATIONS: ‘REHABILITATION’ AS POLITICAL SATIRE......Page 108 The chreia and the rhetoric of humour......Page 110 Favorinus and Socrates: ambiguous physiognomies......Page 113 Socratic self-exposure......Page 117 Gellius’ politics of rehabilitation......Page 119 The ‘double bind’ of Roman manhood......Page 126 Avarice as disloyalty towards the state......Page 131 Philology as a vehicle of satire (3, 1; 3, 19)......Page 133 Ambiguous gender (penus), ambiguous amicus (4, 1)......Page 139 Authorising humour: enthymeme and antithesis......Page 148 Exposing demagogy and deception: Gellius on contio (18, 7)......Page 151 Favorinus’ programmatic role......Page 168 Things without honour: the paradox of praising a sophist......Page 169 The controversiality of Academic Scepticism......Page 173 Stereotyping the polymath rival (20, 1; 14, 6)......Page 183 The manly advice of a eunuch (14, 2)......Page 187 Subversive authority: Favorinus and Socrates......Page 191 PART THREE - GELLIUS’ IDEOLOGICAL AUTHORITY: THE CHARISMA OF ANTIQUITAS IN A SOPHISTIC CONTEXT......Page 204 Modesty and caution in addressing the powerful......Page 206 Ideal reader and existimator: the emperor’s omnipresence......Page 211 (1) taedium: ‘ranking disgust’......Page 212 (2) the ambiguous rhetoric of philological topics......Page 216 (3) existimatio: canonisation and elite formation......Page 220 The amicus minor and the amicus maior......Page 228 Noctes Atticae as ‘praecepta generalia’ for a ‘iudex’ (14, 2)......Page 234 The twilight zone between friendship and politics (1, 3)......Page 242 Gellius’ consilium as a ‘politics of candour’......Page 246 Shaping perceptions: space, comparison, and the gaze......Page 250 Imperial monuments and texts as ‘transmitters of memory’......Page 252 Monumental writers under imperial scrutiny......Page 254 Imperial education: Cato the Elder as a political exemplum......Page 259 The best of both worlds: Cato the Elder as the better sophist......Page 265 Cato the Elder, the eloquent philosopher-statesman (6, 3)......Page 271 Gellius’ political consilium in an Antonine context......Page 277 Herodes Atticus’ controversial personality......Page 282 Herodes’ villa, symbol of seduction and conflict......Page 285 The uncontrolled statesman under imperial control......Page 295 The ambitious sophist and the subversive philosopher (9, 2)......Page 301 Herodes the tyrant and the liberators of Athens......Page 309 Gellius’ political satire as a sign of the times......Page 323 CONCLUSION: CONSTRUCTING CULTURAL AND POLITICAL CONTINUITY......Page 326 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 336 INDEX LOCORUM......Page 346 INDEX NOMINUM ET RERUM......Page 358 INDEX VERBORUM LATINORUM ET GRAECORUM......Page 372 This Monograph Presents An Original Portrait Of The Second-century Miscellanist Aulus Gellius, Based On A Detailed Reading Of Attic Nights Against Its Contemporary Background. Highlighting Gellius' Use Of Humour And Irony In His Portrayals Of Controversial Celebrities Such As Favorinus And Herodes Atticus, The Book Provides A Necessary Corrective To Interpretations Of Gellius As An Uncritical Phillhellene Or An A Political Bookworm. Distinguishing Gellius' Various Literary Personae (the Youthful Sector, The Independent Researcher, The Mature Writer And Adviser), The Book Uncovers The Many-layered Sophistication Of Gellius' Self-presentation. Noting Previously Unrecognised Allusions To Literal Works And Contemporary Events, It Offers A Fresh Perspective On Gellius As A Satirical Writer, Whose Roman Cultural Programme Reflects The Ambiguities And Complexities Of Antonine Intellectual Life.--jacket. By Wytse Keulen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [323]-332) And Indexes. This monograph presents an original portrait of the second-century miscellanist Aulus Gellius, based on a detailed reading of Attic Nights against its contemporary background. Highlighting Gellius'use of humour and irony in his portrayals of controversial celebrities such as Favorinus and Herodes Atticus, the book provides a necessary corrective to interpretations of Gellius as an uncritical philhellene or an apolitical bookworm. Distinguishing Gellius'various literary personae (the youthful sectator, the independent researcher, the mature writer and adviser), the book uncovers the many-layered sophistication of Gellius'self-presentation. Noting previously unrecognised allusions to literary works and contemporary events, it offers a fresh perspective on Gellius as a satirical writer, whose Roman cultural programme reflects the ambiguities and complexities of Antonine intellectual life. Noting previously unrecognised allusions to literary works and contemporary events, this book presents an original portrait of the miscellanist Aulus Gellius ( Attic Nights ) as a satirical writer and a Roman intellectual working within the cultural milieu of Antonine Rome.