Description
Book SynopsisBarred from political engagement and legal advocacy, the second sophists composed epideictic works for audiences across the Mediterranean world during the early centuries of the Common Era. In this study, Susan Jarratt argues that these discourses constitute intricate negotiations with the absolute power of the Roman Empire.
Trade Review“It will no longer be possible to read Greek literature from the Roman era without referring to
Chain of Gold. This book will be a landmark in the history of rhetoric and in the history of Roman imperialism. It initiates a fascinating discussion with implications for our own political issues.”- Laurent Pernot, former president of the International Society for the History of Rhetoric, author of
Rhetoric in Antiquity“
Chain of Gold is not only an essential contribution to scholarship on Greek rhetoric in the Roman Empire; it is an exploration of the nature, limits, and, above all, possibilities for rhetoric in an age of empire. As such, it is critical reading not only for historians of rhetoric but for all who are concerned with the state of speech before authoritarian powers.”- Ned O’Gorman, editor,
Journal for the History of Rhetoric“With theoretical subtlety and historical sensitivity, Jarratt brilliantly develops a form of rhetorical analysis precisely calibrated to the distinctive character of Greek rhetors as colonized subjects under the Roman imperium. Carefully argued and engagingly written,
Chain of Gold is revisionary rhetorical history at its very best.”- Steven Mailloux, author of
Rhetoric’s Pragmatism: Essays in Rhetorical Hermeneutics
