Description
Book SynopsisImperial Panegyric from Diocletian to Honorius examines one of the most important literatures of the late Roman period – speeches of praise addressed to the reigning emperor – and the panegyrical culture of the late Roman world more generally. Unlike much previous work on this topic,
Imperial Panegyric takes a consciously comparative approach, especially between eastern and western, Greek and Latin texts.
Each contributor draws upon evidence taken from multiple authors or from different kinds of panegyric in order to explore both the communal and the particular in this most idiosyncratic of media. The volume investigates to what extent there was a unified concept of imperial panegyric, and how local circumstances shaped individual speeches. It also considers the ways in which traditional forms of praise-giving respond to fourth-century phenomena such as the expansion of Christianity, collegial rulership, and the decline of Rome as the political centre of the empire. Its contributors include a roster of some of the most important names in the field of panegyric studies, both established researchers and the rising stars of the new generation.
Trade Review‘The questions of how late-antique panegyric was interpreted, and should be interpreted, remain at the heart of our understanding of late-antique political culture.’
Richard Flower,
Acta Classica 'Across [Imperial Panegyric from Diocletian to Honorius], there is a consistently high standard, and the different analyses enrich and extend the range of approaches from the definition of panegyric as a genre to the weight given in some panegyrics to women, to Christianity and to barbarians'Marzia Fiorentini,
The Classical ReviewThe volume... offers a good starting point for further research into late antique panegyric... It not only shows which works need to be studied in more detail and which questions are still open, but also which possibilities exist to solve these problems.Raphael Brendel,
Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft
Translated from German,
'Der Band... er einen guten Ansatzpunkt für die weitere Erforschung der spätantiken Panegyrik... Er zeigt nicht nur auf, welche Werke ausführlichererund welche Fragen noch offen sind, sondern auch, welche Möglichkeiten bestehen, um diese um diese Probleme.'
'This is a very worthwhile study to read. It both instructs readers with some general outlines and encourages them to consider several interesting key details of panegyric of Late Antiquity.'
Felix Maier,
Bryn Mawr Classical Review'The anthology offers something for many, whether one wants to pursue specific individual topics or also want to gain an overall impression of late antique panegyric, beyond the much-examined collection of the Panegyrici Latini.'
Ulrich Lambrecht,
PlekosTable of Contents1. Imperial Panegyric from Diocletian to Honorius
Adrastos Omissi & Alan J. Ross
PANEGYRIC: THEORY AND PRACTICE
2. What is a ‘panegyric’?
Laurent Pernot
3. (Not) Making Faces: Prosopopeia in Late Antique Panegyric
Roger Rees
4. Libanius’ Imperial Speech to Constantius II and Constans (Or. 59): Context, Tradition, and Innovation
Grammatiki Karla
THE IMPERIAL IMAGE
5. Playing with Conventions in Julian’s Encomium to Eusebia: Does Gender Make a Difference?
Belinda Washington
6. Julian and Claudius Mamertinus: Panegyric and Polemic in East and West
Shaun Tougher
THE ORATOR AND ORATORIAL IDENTITY
7. How to Praise a Christian Emperor: The Panegyrical Experiments of Eusebius of Caesarea
James Corke-Webster
8. Neoplatonic Philosophy in Tetrarchic and Constantinian Panegyric
Diederik Burgersdijk
9. Roman and Gallic in the Latin Panegyrics of Symmachus and Ausonius
Robert Chenault
OUTSIDERS WITHIN THE SPEECH
10. Civil War and the Late Roman Panegyrical Corpus
Adrastos Omissi
11. Inviting the Enemy in: Assimilating Barbarians in Theodosian Panegyric
Robert Stone
12. The Audience in Imperial Panegyric
Alan J. Ross
Appendix: Editions, Translations and Commentaries of Imperial Panegyrics
