Spokesmen for Truth: The Secular Speakers

Abstract

With the loss of Greek independence and the consequent subjugation of Egypt in the East, one would not expect to find in Alexandria the sort of oratory heard in Athens in the days of Demosthenes. Secular or sacred oratory, the concern of this and the following chapter, simply could not flourish in an oppressive atmosphere as it did in a freer society. But given Alexander’s opening of the lands to the East, and the tumultuous nature of the Alexandrians, one would hope to uncover more specific mention of it than in fact occurs.1 If some citizens received their education in whole or in part at the hands of rhetoricians in the Ptolemaic kingdom, why have we no greater knowledge of it? The answer lies in several areas: (A) soil conditions have dissolved many papyri which must have existed earlier; this is particularly true with the high water table in the Delta itself. Prolonged existence of papyri demands hot, dry conditions like those found in Upper Egypt. (B) Contemporaries omitted notice of the rhetorical theory and training because of its commonality—much like what happens today in university senates, religious meetings, and other situations where one normally expects speeches of varying length and quality; it goes unnoticed by the public, and for much the same reason: mediocre quality. And (C) many books and speeches do not enjoy wide circulation, due to cost or publication, even though their ideas should command more than passing interest.