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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.
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Literature and Society in the Fourth Century AD
Mnemosyne Supplements Monographs on Greek and Latin Language and Literature
Executive Editor G.J. Boter (VU University Amsterdam) Editorial Board A. Chaniotis (Oxford) K.M. Coleman (Harvard) I.J.F. de Jong (University of Amsterdam) T. Reinhardt (Oxford)
VOLUME 373
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/mns
Literature and Society in the Fourth Century AD Performing Paideia, Constructing the Present, Presenting the Self
Edited by
Lieve Van Hoof and Peter Van Nuffelen
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Literature and society in the fourth century AD : performing paideia, constructing the present, presenting the self / edited by Lieve Van Hoof and Peter Van Nuffelen. pages cm — (Mnemosyne supplements ; volume 373) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-27848-6 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-27947-6 (e-book) 1. Latin literature—History and criticism. 2. Christian literature, Early—History and criticism. 3. Literature and society. I. Van Hoof, Lieve. II. Nuffelen, Peter Van. III. Series: Mnemosyne, bibliotheca classica Batava. Supplementum ; v. 373. PA6043.L58 2014 870.9’001—dc23 2014034551
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ‘Brill’ typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 0169-8958 isbn 978-90-04-27848-6 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-27947-6 (e-book) Copyright 2015 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Contents Abbreviations vii Notes on the Contributors viii 1 The Social Role and Place of Literature in the Fourth Century AD 1 Lieve Van Hoof and Peter Van Nuffelen 2 Literary History: A Fourth-Century Roman Invention? 16 Mark Vessey 3 Militia philosophorum : Le rôle des lettrés dans l’entourage des empereurs romains du IVe siècle 31 Bertrand Lançon 4 Gregory’s Governors: Paideia and Patronage in Cappadocia 48 Neil McLynn 5 Lobbying through Literature: Libanius, For the Teachers (Oration 31) 68 Lieve Van Hoof 6 Texts, Teachers and Pupils in the Writings of Gregory of Nyssa 83 Morwenna Ludlow 7 Unreliable Witness: Failings of the Narra