Abstract: Roman senators relied on brokers from lower social strata to foster their reputation— existimatio or fama , in Latin. Existimatio was a major consideration for candidates and for politicians deciding whom to support in elections and at court. Well-connected information brokers among Rome's non-elite thus gained considerable power by spreading the reputations of politicians. The need for constant positive existimatio and the need to maintain the Senate as the central organ in civic life thus created opposing forces as the Senate policed the way senators interacted with brokers and regulated organizations through which brokerage occurred while requiring the brokerage to grow their reputations.

Abstract: Theognis' verses on friendship reveal an universal problem: relationships between friends are not always as they seem. People may hide thoughts, feelings, plans and intentions such that so-called friends may turn out to be enemies. Theognis develops a language of psychic interiority to explore this deception and deploys several metaphors to describe the phenomenon, including counterfeit currency. In this article I explore a new reading of Theognis 309–12 that draws upon the construction of psychic interiority and examines Theognis' advice to navigate politically troubled times: namely, to become like Odysseus who disguises his inner thoughts, ever looking to take advantage.

Abstract: In this paper we argue that Plato construes the image of Socrates on the poetic archetype of the divinely inspired, infallible bard of the epic and lyric traditions. We begin with an examination of the Homeric misquotations in the Ion , that, we argue, place Socrates firmly within that tradition and proceed to show that by further casting Socrates in the role of the poet, e.g. in the Symposium and the Phaedrus , Plato fashions a new poetic hero as it were, to be revered as such in the Academy, thus aligning him to the long-standing cultic tradition that includes earlier composers and storytellers such as Archilochus and Homeric Odysseus himself.

Abstract: In this article I examine how three didactic poems (Hesiod's Works and Days , Aratus' Phaenomena , Oppian's Halieutica) envisage the role of divine intervention in equipping humans with knowledge in the field that they purport to teach. By asking what gods teach men and what kind of impact this knowledge has on human life, it will emerge that the interaction between gods and men has ramifications for the extent of the poets' belief in progress and their conceptualization of the difference between man and god and man and animal.

Abstract: The initial description of Phineus' body in Apollonius' Phineus episode is used to make a poetological statement: by alluding to the well-known poetological image of a cicada, the narrative indicates not only Phineus' inability to die but also the fact that his story is unable to end. As a consequence, the subsequent narrative keeps continuing despite all hints at closure or ending. That way, divine intervention is presented as happening rather than as being made by a specific agent.

Abstract: The extensive scholarship on Ovid's generic experimentation via repeated tales in elegy and hexameter (e.g. Ceres and Proserpina; Daedalus and Icarus) has largely neglected the cross-referencing narrative doublet of Philemon and Baucis in Metamorphoses 8 vs. Hyrieus in Fasti 5. In this article I explore these two matching stories of divine epiphany in a rustic context, with a view to characterization of the human and divine protagonists, narrative complication and resolution, ritual etiquette, tonal variation, and stylistic register.

Abstract: While Aelius Aristides maintained a close connection to the cult of Asclepius at Pergamum, he also expands the concept of sacred space beyond the bounds of the temenos , fashioning the interior of his own body as a conduit for divine intervention and situating this claim to a privileged relationship with the gods within a broader divine cosmology. Examining Aristides' conception of sacred space in its multiple dimensions provides insight into the relationship between public cult and individual religiosity in the imperial period.

Abstract: In this paper I explore the role of Euripides' Bacchae in Philostratus' Life of Apollonius of Tyana . Adding to existing intertextual readings of the Life , I argue that Philostratus combines the language and imagery of Dionysus' infiltration of Pentheus' body with a characterization of the emperor Domitian as a Pentheus figure. While this intertextual strand contributes to the text's suggestion that Apollonius may possess a divine nature, it has the added effect of concentrating the reader's attention on the somatic experience of Apollonius' interlocutors.

Abstract: With the first appearance of the Odyssey 's hero, the fifth book can in some sense be considered the beginning of the epic proper. Its narrative presents a coherent whole that takes the hero from his departure from Ogygia to his arrival on Phaeacia. In addition to its narrative unity, it possesses a significant thematic unity that centers on the issue of mortality and immortality, both the conjunction and differentiation of gods and men. The stage is set by il gran refiuto , Odysseus' refusal of immortality and his choice to return to Ithaca. But the tension between the divine and human permeates the book in ways both obvious and subtle. It also serves to position the Odyssey at a pivotal moment in the relations of gods and mortals; their previous intimacy is waning, and apotheosis belongs to a bygone era. I argue that this central theme not only dominates Book 5 from beginning to end, but that it also offers a framework, so to speak, for the whole poem.