Athens Seen from Praeneste: Reforming the Image of the Prestigious City Sketched in Claudius Aelianus’ Miscellaneous Compilations

Abstract

This article addresses the question of how the prestigious city of Athens, so central in the literary movement of the Second Sophistic, was represented in Claudius Aelianus’ miscellaneous compilations. These texts are the product of his readings and demonstrate the choices he made when selecting those facts that he thought worth remembering from the sources of which he made use. Therefore, the image of Athens reconstructed through the analysis presented in this article demonstrates how Aelianus refers to some well-chosen aspects of the city’s past and communicates them to his readers while reforming a specific image of the city. Indeed, the emphasis he uses when resorting to the use of literary practices, such as selection or collecting information, illustrates the cultural values of his time, characterized by a predilection for classical Athens.