Literature and Society in the Fourth Century AD: Performing \_\_Paideia\_\_, Constructing the Present, Presenting the Self

Late Antiquity Is Often Assumed To Have Witnessed The Demise Of Literature As A Social Force And Its Retreat Into The School And The Private Reading Room: Whereas The Sophists Of The Second Sophistic Were Influential Social Players, Their Late Antique Counterparts Are Thought To Have Been Overshadowed By Bishops. Literature And Society In The Fourth Century Ad Argues That This Presumed Difference Should Be Attributed Less To A Fundamental Change In The Role Of Literature Than To Different Scholarly Methodologies With Which Greek And Latin Texts From The Second And The Fourth Century Are Being Studied. Focusing On Performance, The Literary Construction Of Reality And Self-presentation, This Volume Highlights How Literature Continued To Play An Important Role In Fourth-century Elite Society.-- The Social Role And Place Of Literature In The Fourth Century Ad / Lieve Van Hoof And Peter Van Nuffelen -- Literary History : A Fourth Century Roman Invention? / Mark Vessey -- Militia Philosopharum : Le Rôle Des Lettrés Dans L'entourage Des Empereurs Romains Du Ive Siècle / Bertrand Lançon -- Gregory's Governors : Paideia And Patronage In Cappadocia / Neil Mclynn -- Lobbying Through Literature : Libanius, For The Teachers (oration 31) / Lieve Van Hoof -- Texts, Teachers And Pupils In The Writings Of Gregory Of Nyssa / Morwenna Ludlow -- Unreliable Witness : Failings Of The Narrative In Ammianus Marcellinus / John Weisweiler -- A Living Relic For The Victar Of Rome : Strategies Of Visualization In A Civil Case / Sigrid Mratschek -- A Hero In Our Midst : Stilicho As A Literary Construct In The Poetry Of Claudian / Clare Coombe -- The Apostles As Instruments Of Social Engagement : The Poetical Representation Of The Apostles As A Means Of Influencing Society / Roald Dijkstra -- A War Of Words : Sermons And Social Status In Constantinople Under Thr Theodosian Dynasty / Peter Van Nuffelen. Edited By Lieve Van Hoof And Peter Van Nuffelen. This Volume Publishes A Selection Of Papers First Presented At A Workshop Held In Ghent And Brussels In September 2010 ('a Magic Stronger Than The Governors' Power. Literature And Society In The Fourth Century), To Which Some Contributions Have Been Added--page 15. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 219-241) And Index. In English, 1 Paper In French. Literature and Society in the Fourth Century AD: Performing Paideia, Constructing the Present, Presenting the Self 4 Contents 6 Abbreviations 8 Notes on the Contributors 9 1 Lieve Van Hoof and Peter Van Nuffelen: The Social Role and Place of Literature in the Fourth Century AD 12 1 Late Antique Literature: Continuity and Discontinuity 12 2 Histories of Late Antique Literature 15 3 Literature and Society 19 4 Summary of Chapters 23 5 Acknowledgements 26 2 Mark Vessey: Literary History: A Fourth-Century Roman Invention? 27 1 Introduction: Classical and Dark Age Histories 27 2 hll: A Late Twentieth-Century “Crisis” of Literary History 29 3 The Belatedness of Literary History 35 4 Epilogue: The Beginnings of Literary History in Latin Late Antiquity 40 3 Bertrand Lançon: Militia philosophorum: Le rôle des lettrés dans l’entourage des empereurs romains du IVe siècle 42 1 Introduction 42 2 La culture des empereurs 43 3 Culture indispensable, lettrés nécessaires 45 4 Les panégyristes 46 5 Méfiance mutuelle 47 6 Compétences et récompenses 48 7 Le cas des auteurs médicaux 52 8 Le cas des évêques 54 9 Des lettrés intouchables 55 10 De la dépendance mutuelle à «la maladie des bouches cousues» 56 4 Neil McLynn: Gregory’s Governors: Paideia and Patronage in Cappadocia 59 1 Gregory’s Collection of Letters 59 2 Gregory and Olympius: A Special Relationship? 62 3 Gregory and the Apollinarists: From Crisis to Opportunity 68 4 Gregory and Nemesius: Calling Cards 74 5 Lieve Van Hoof: Lobbying through Literature: Libanius, For the Teachers (Oration 31) 79 1 Introduction 79 2 Rhetoric between Poverty and Wealth 80 3 Libanius’ Analysis 84 4 Analyzing Libanius 89 5 Conclusion 93 6 Morwenna Ludlow: Texts, Teachers and Pupils in the Writings of Gregory of Nyssa 94 1 Introduction 94 2 Basil 100 3 Macrina 105 4 The Bride 110 7 John Weisweiler: Unreliable Witness: Failings of the Narrative in Ammianus Marcellinus 114 1 Introduction 114 2 Obliterated Text 119 2.1 Silvanus 119 2.2 Forgery 122 2.3 Lector in Fabula 123 3 Ammianus’ Failing Eyesight 126 3.1 The Wrinkles of Grumbates 126 3.2 Testimonia neque dubia neque incerta 128 3.3 Fabulosa Graecia 130 3.4 The Lonely Historian 131 4 Clio and the Romance 132 4.1 Love and Treason in Nisibis 132 4.2 The Question of Genre 134 4.3 The Two Deaths of Craugasius’ Wife 137 5 Conclusion: The Sceptical Historian 140 5.1 Unreliable Witness 140 5.2 The Thucydidean Tradition 141 5.3 Literature and Society 142 8 Sigrid Mratschek: A Living Relic for the Vicar of Rome: Strategies of Visualization in a Civil Case 145 1 Introduction 145 2 Exordium: A Recommendation blending Function with Spirituality 145 3 Narratio: A Shipwreck off Sardinia 147 4 Argumentatio: The Magic of the Divine 150 5 Conclusion 155 5.1 The Procurator’s Crime 155 5.2 The Settlement: An Icon of Power in Return for Ship and Cargo 158 6 The Clash of the New Paideia with the Old 162 7 Illustrations: Shipwrecks at Olbia: Remains of a Merchant Fleet sunk in the 5th Century 166 7.1 List of Illustrations 166 9 Clare Coombe: A Hero in our Midst: Stilicho as a Literary Construct in the Poetry of Claudian 168 1 Introduction 168 2 Apollo and Python 170 3 Stilicho as Phoenix 181 4 Stilicho and Tiphys 187 5 Conclusion 189 10 Roald Dijkstra: The Apostles as Instruments of Social Engagement: The Poetical Representation of the Apostles as a Means of Influencing Society 191 1 Introduction 191 2 Fourth-century Christian Poetry: A Ubiquitous Phenomenon 192 3 Two Kinds of Concordia 197 4 Concordia Duodecim 197 5 Concordia Apostolorum 203 6 Peter as a Source of Episcopal Legitimatization in Christian Poetry 207 7 Conclusion 210 11 Peter Van Nuffelen: A War of Words: Sermons and Social Status in Constantinople under the Theodosian Dynasty 212 1 Introduction 212 2 Too Many Golden Mouths 214 3 Good and Bad Rhetoric 217 4 Money and Patronage 220 5 Competition and Conflict 224 6 Conclusion 226 Bibliography 230 Index 253 Challenging ideas about the declining social role and impact of literature in Late Antiquity, Literature and Society in the Fourth Century AD demonstrates how Greek and Latin literature of the fourth century AD continued to play an important role in public performance and debate, the creation of reality, and self-presentation