From the Tetrarchs to the Theodosians: Later Roman History and Culture, 284-450 CE

by Scott McGill, Cristiana Sogno, Edward Watts

Overview

An integrated collection of essays examining the politics, social networks, law, historiography, and literature of the later Roman world. The volume treats three central themes: the first section looks at political and social developments across the period and argues that, in spite of the stress placed upon traditional social structures, many elements of Roman life remained only slightly changed. The second section focuses upon biographical texts and shows how late-antique authors adapted traditional modes of discourse to new conditions. The final section explores the first years of the reign of Theodosius I and shows how he built upon historical foundations while unfurling new methods for utilising, presenting, and commemorating imperial power. These papers analyse specific events and local developments to highlight examples of both change and continuity in the Roman world from 284–450.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521898218
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/01/2010
Series:	Yale Classical Studies , #34
Pages:	332
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Scott McGill is Associate Professor in the Classical Studies Department, Rice University. He is the author of Virgil Recomposed: The Mythological and Secular Centos in Antiquity (2005) and is currently writing Plagiarism in Classical Latin Literature, exploring the concept of plagiarism in Latin antiquity.

Cristiana Sogno is Assistant Professor of Classics at Fordham University, New York. Her book, Q. Aurelius Symmachus: a Political Biography (2006) offers a reconstruction of the political career of Symmachus through close analysis of his extensive writings, while also proposing a critical reevaluation of his historical importance. Among her current projects is a study on curiositas in Latin literature.

Edward Watts is Associate Professor of History, Adjunct Associate Professor of Religious Studies, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Classics at Indiana University, Bloomington. His book, City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria (2006), won the Outstanding Publication Award from the Classical Association of the Middle West and South in 2007. His current book project, Riot in Alexandria: Tradition and Group Dynamics in Late Antique Pagan and Christian Communities (forthcoming), explores the cultural and religious interactions of late fifth-century Alexandrian pagan intellectuals and Christian ascetics.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction Scott McGill Cristiana Sogno Edward Watts 1

Part I Politics, Law, and Society

1 The unity of the Roman Empire David Potter 13

2 Roman patronage Peter Garnsey 33

3 Roman matchmaking Cristiana Sogno 55

4 Constantine the lawgiver Jill Harries 73

5 Constantine answers the veterans Serena Connolly 93

Part II Biography and Panegyrics

6 Three generations of Christian philosophical biography Edward Watts 117

7 The education of Paulinus of Pella: learning in the late empire Josiah Osgood 135

8 Another man's miracles: recasting Aelius Donatus in Phocas's Life of Virgil Scott McGill 153

9 Gregory of Nazianzus's Life of Julian revisited (Or. 4 and 5): the art of governance by invective Susanna Elm 171

Part III Faces of Theodosius I

10 Liar in winter: Themistius and Theodosius Peter Heather 185

11 Moments of truth: Gregory of Nazianzus and Theodosius I Neil McLynn 215

12 Reinventing Constantinople: Theodosius I's imprint on the imperial city Brian Croke 241

13 Reinventing history: Jerome's Chronicle and the writing of the post-Roman West Mark Vessey 265

References 290

Index 313