Aelius Aristides Research Articles

Elio Aristide e la retorica della città di Roma: echi di modelli greci e paradigmi giuridici

Abstract In a significant passage in his Εἰς Ρώμην, Aelius Aristides uses the terms ἄστυ κοινόν to describe Rome. This expression is commonly considered a Greek translation of the Latin words communis patria. A new contextual and terminological analysis of Aristides’ use of the terms, however, demonstrates that he was actually drawing on the older Hellenic models that also influenced Cicero’s writings on the Roman idea of communis patria.

The Role of Incubation in Ancient Greek Asklepieions

The sanctuaries of Asklepios served a healing function in the Greek world throughout antiquity. In modern historiography, it is believed that the sick were treated there by incubation, i.e., sleeping in the temple to obtain a divinatory dream. However, the sources are not clear on this matter. In this article, I analyse four sources that, in my opinion, are the most representative of the issue of treatment methods in the Asklepieions. From the classical period, inscriptions describing healings from Epidauros and the comedy "Wealth" by Aristophanes are extremely important, while from Roman times they include "The Sacred Tales" by Aelius Aristides and the Apellas’ inscription from Epidauros. It is significant that none of these sources describes the incubation ritual, and the treatment methods presented in them are rational from the viewpoint of contemporary medicine. Incubation was practiced in the Asklepieions, but its role, in my opinion, was much smaller than commonly believed.

Receptions and appropriations of Platonic myth: Dio, Plutarch, and Aristides between literary fashion and philosophical exegesis

Abstract This chapter examines the Platonizing myths of Dio Chrysostom, Plutarch, and (to a lesser degree) Aelius Aristides, in the light of our evidence for both the philosophical and the literary-rhetorical reception of Plato’s own myths. It argues that, while reflections of the development of Platonism as a systematic philosophy can be detected in them, it can be hard and may in some respects be pointless to disentangle this philosophical input neatly from the ramifications of the literary-rhetorical reception.

The wisdom of the eagle: a (Middle) Platonic reading of Apuleius, Florida 2

Abstract The eagle of Florida 2 is the literary synthesis of many Homeric eagles. The description of this raptor is not only a display of erudition and rhetorical technique, but reflects Middle Platonic thought on the animal’s λόγος. The use of Homer, in addition to stylistically ennobling the described subject, documents the relationship between the eagle and the divine that is emphasized by Plutarch and Aelius Aristides and also occurs more than once in Apuleius’ macro-text. The reference to Odyssey 6.42–46, which connects the ascent of the raptor to celestial heights with the Platonic motif of the Himmelfahrt, is particularly significant in this regard. The description of the downward flight of the eagle, based on several Homeric passages, also emphasizes the lightning speed and the infallibility that are also pertinent to divine intelligence, which is capable, as Maximus of Tyre observes, of catching its target anywhere and with the swiftness of a glance.

Echoes from Plato’sPhaedrusin Aristides’ Smyrna corpus

This paper is concerned with allusions to Plato’sPhaedrusin Aelius Aristides’ first and last orations dedicated to Smyrna before and after the destructive earthquake of 177-178 CE (Orr. 17 and 21 Keil). It focuses on the intertextual connection between Plato’s description of the Phaedrus setting and its role in stimulating philosophical reflection and Aristides’ use of these passages in order to praise Smyrna. It is argued that the landscape of Smyrna inspires Aristides with oratorical creativity, in the same way that the landscape of thePhaedrusis presented as an inspiration to both oratory and philosophical conversation.

Tradition and Innovation in Ancient Greek Oratory of the Roman Empire: History of the Problem

Abstract This article presents a review of research literature on the so-called Second Sophistic (late first–early third centuries CE), that marked the flowering of ancient Greek oratory and had a powerful influence on the beginning of the Christian eloquence. The scholars’ interest in this topic increased in the second half of the 19th century due to insufficient study of the material against the background of the well-researched classical literature of Ancient Greece (fifth to fourth centuries BCE). A comparative study of the two periods in the history of the development of ancient Greek eloquence led researchers to disappointing conclusions. The sophists’ increased attention to the form to the detriment of content, addiction to stylistic delights, imitation of the language and style of classical orators and the monotonous themes of speeches gave many researchers a reason to characterize this literature as secondary and unoriginal, devoid of strength and depth of thought. However, in recent decades, a different point of view has prevailed in science, according to which the literature of the Second Sophistic is fundamentally not reducible to the sum of clichéd speeches with a standard set of rhetorical techniques, as it might seem. A detailed analysis of the works of Dio Chrysostom and Aelius Aristides from whom voluminous corpora have been preserved showed that the sophists generally enjoyed fairly unconstrained creative freedom despite the rigid stylistic and linguistic framework. This freedom concerns content of speeches, choice and arrangement of material, overcoming genre boundaries, varying language, and combining rhetorical techniques. All these factors allow us to conclude that a certain innovation coexisted with classical tradition in sophists’ texts. Furthermore, the abundant literature of the sophists influenced the development of both the rhetorical theory and the oratory of Late Antiquity. The outstanding Christian writers such as Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, and John Chrysostom studied eloquence from the famous teachers of their time – Himerius and Libanius, who followed the traditions of the oratory of the Second Sophistic.

Grammarians and Emperors

Abstract The Greek γραµµατικός combined several functions: as editor and expounder of texts, linguist, librarian, lecturer, courtier and sometimes as ambassador for his monarch or city. In due course Latin-speaking grammatici applied philological skills developed at Alexandria to their own literature, and served as librarians in the great libraries of the imperial period. The present paper studies some Greek γραµµατικοί active in Rome, particularly Alexander of Cotiaeon, appointed by Antoninus Pius as tutor to the princes Marcus and Lucius, and also the teacher of Aelius Aristides. As Aristides’ tribute to him shows, Alexander was not only a notable critic and influential teacher, but acted as a benefactor (εὐεργέτης) of his native city, in this respect comparable to the sophists who were his contemporaries.

Aelius Aristides’ Sacred Tales

Aelius Aristides’ Sacred Tales, composed in the 2nd century CE, is considered a unique literary work, in which the author claimed to have recorded the dreams he had received from Asclepius over a long period of time. Modern historians explore the value of the Sacred Tales both as a literary work and as a personal oneiric record of actual dreaming experiences. In this article, I take into account the modern insights offered by the embodied human cognition paradigm in order explore the possible long-term influence and repercussions of the Sacred Tales on the readers’ imagination and dreaming experiences. In particular, I suggest that Aristides’ oneiric descriptions would have been meta-represented in the readers’ minds upon reading the text, priming specific images, representations, mental, and emotional states as well as expectations about potential divine revelations during the ritual of incubation. Later, those readers who would find themselves in similar bodily, mental, and emotional conditions like the ones experienced and described by Aristides, could have implicitly used the primed representations for meta-representing a personal epiphany of Asclepius. Thereby, the Sacred Tales would have provided the raw material to feed the readers’ imaginative simulations and to elicit a personally meaningful divine revelation.

L’art du sous-entendu: histoire, théorie, mode d’emploi by Laurent Pernot

Reviewed by: L’art du sous-entendu: histoire, théorie, mode d’emploi by Laurent Pernot Mike Edwards Laurent Pernot, L’art du sous-entendu: histoire, théorie, mode d’emploi. Paris: Fayard, 2018. 334 pp. ISBN: 9782213706054 In July 2008, on behalf of Laurent Pemot, I represented the International Society for the History of Rhetoric at The First Biennial Conference of the Chinese Rhetoric Society of the World. Since this global event was scheduled to take place less than a month before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, my first idea was to give a paper on ancient Olympic speeches. On second thoughts, I realized that talking about the content of Lysias 33, with its proposed attack on the despotic rulers of Persia and Syracuse, might be taken as a veiled reference to China’s socialist democracy—a sous-entendu. Twelve years later, with the Tokyo Olympics postponed because of a threat allegedly emanating from Japan’s old foe, I find myself reviewing a book written by Pemot that will become a standard work on the art of innuendo. Pemot covers an extensive range of material from Graeco-Roman antiquity to the present, to which this review cannot hope to do justice, with examples drawn from rhetorical works, other genres of literature, and elsewhere. Thus, in chapter 1 Pemot discusses types of sous-entendu (as often, the French word is best) in daily life, with politeness such as “you shouldn’t have” to mean “thank you” for a gift. There is an understandable French bias throughout, but Pemot’s versatility is indicated by analyses of authors such as George Orwell, Boualem Sansal, and Arthur Miller. Other topics include politics (the subtle war of words between Giscard d’Estaing and Mitterrand in 1974); fables and riddles (the Sphinx, naturally, but also Jean Paulhan with his translations of enigmatic Malagasy poetry); and conspiracy theory (such as Kennedy, Coluche, the Da Vinci Code). An excellent opening. Sous-entendu in the ancient world is the subject of chapter 2, where Pemot discusses the unsettled place of figured speech in rhetorical theory, and the frequently difficult relationships in declamation between fathers and sons that led to ambiguous remarks like “I married the woman who [End Page 94] pleased my father” (57). Pernot returns to antiquity in a very strong chapter 5 that examines how Greek authors represented Rome with figured speech. Here, on his specialist research terrain, he offers perceptive discussions of Dio Chrysostom’s On Kingship (cf. the much earlier treatment of the theme in Isocrates) and Aelius Aristides’ To Rome, highlighting the latter’s numerous significant omissions, not least of the word “Rome” itself (similarly, the story of Paul Valéry’s grudging eulogy of his illustrious predecessor in the Académie française, Anatole France, in which he managed to avoid using the name “Francé” in reference to his subject, is a little gem). Among the interesting topics of chapter 3 is connotation, as in publicity slogans like “Tendre est la nuit à bord du France” (69), which for Pernot might recall a line of Keats, a novel of Scott Fitzgerald, a film of Henry King or a song by Jackson Browne (yes: type “tender is the night” into Google). Analysis of literary critics (Barthes, Luc Fraisse, William Empson, Roger Callois) and Gide’s The Counterfeiters, with its expression mise en abyme, contributes to another excellent chapter. In chapter 4 Pernot turns to the risks attached to interpretation, especially when an unintended (often sexual) message is received. In the theatre this may be designed to cause laughter (Much Ado About Nothing), but there is nothing funny about De Clerambault’s Syndrome (erotomania). Pemot’s discussion references Ian McEwan’s Enduring Love, but it made me think of Play Misty for Me. Arbeit macht frei? In chapter 6 Pernot turns to twentieth-century totalitarian regimes, focusing on the intellectual resistance to the Nazis of Louis Aragon in a poetic method he called “contrabande.” How could such works have escaped the censor (not all did)? One way was the use of historical parallels, as with Jules Isaac’s Les Oligarques and its analogy between ancient Athens under the Thirty and the German Occupation...

Chain of Gold: Greek Rhetoric in the Roman Empire by Susan Jarratt

Reviewed by: Chain of Gold: Greek Rhetoric in the Roman Empire by Susan Jarratt Anna Peterson Susan Jarratt, Chain of Gold: Greek Rhetoric in the Roman Empire. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2019. 200 pp. Coined by Philostratus in the early third century CE, the label “Second Sophistic” (c. 50-250 CE) is increasingly recognized as an imperfect periodic designation. Does it refer exclusively to the tradition of epideictic rhetoric as described by Philostratus? Or can it be expanded to include the full range of Greek literary production during the first three centuries CE? At its core the term reflects feelings of belatedness and nostalgia, such that the common narrative of the period has become one in which an elite Hellenic identity was defined above all by paideia (“education” or “culture”). While this rooting of an elite Greek identity in the classical past is well recognized as a response to Roman hegemony,1 recent scholarship has begun to expand on this conventional view, pointing to elements of continuity both with earlier Hellenistic literature and the literature of the fourth century CE.2 Jarratt’s monograph Chain of Gold consequently sets a tall task for itself in once again addressing the cultural politics of the Second Sophistic. It is an ambitious and thought-provoking work, even if in the end it does not completely succeed in what it sets out to do. At its core, it argues for a reappraisal of the “second sophistic habit of dwelling in the past” as something that was not “monologic and static” but “varied and dynamic” and that offered the writers and performers of the period “a politically protected way of ‘talking back’ to empire.” (17) For Jarratt, the obsession with the past that has come to define this period of Greek literature is not a simple matter of nostalgia but rather of critical memory, one that allowed the authors of this period to reimagine and keep alive a deliberative civic space. Jarratt’s aim in this book is not at its core an entirely new idea. That said, what makes her work so thought provoking is her desire to locate “a colonial counterdiscourse” in a broad range of works (38). Moreover, she is certainly correct that too often classicists have been overly hesitant about reading the literature of the period through the lens of postcolonial theory (3). In addition to an introductory chapter outlining the monograph’s methodology, Chain of Gold develops this argument across six case studies, covering respectively Dio Chyrsostom’s Euboean Discourse (Chapter 2), Aelius Aristides’ Roman Oration (Chapter 3), Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana [End Page 103] (Chapter 4) and Imagines (Chapter 5), Heliodorus’ Aithiopika (Chapter 6), and Libanius’ To Those Who Call Him Tiresome (Chapter 7). Generally speaking, this is a nice mixture of well-trod and often overlooked texts. Her strongest chapters are those which connect what she calls rhetorical vision to the post-colonial concerns outlined in the monograph’s first chapter. For example, her discussion in Chapter 3 of Aristides’ Roman Oration explores how “the ‘ sophist . . . draws on the resources of [Homeric] epic to enhance his powers of visualization,” providing his audience not only “a phantasm of [Rome’s] imperium but also a techne of viewing” (47). Likewise, Chapter 5 reads Philostratus’ Imagines—an intriguing collection of descriptions of works of art—as an exploration in rhetorical vision that pushes the limits of ekphrasis. Treating the text as a museum of sorts, Jarratt acts as curator, bringing out how the text handles reoccurring images of youth, women, and different ethnicities, among others. This is Jarratt’s most successful chapter, in part thanks to the inclusion of an appendix, which maps out the paintings in relation to one another. In a few instances, however, Jarratt does not make full use of the ancient evidence. The clearest example of this comes in her discussion of Dio Chrysostom’s Euboean Discourse (Or. 7). In this speech, Dio professes that he will narrate a personal experience, relating how, after being shipwrecked in Euboea, he was taken in by a huntsman, who recounted his own troubled participation in local politics. The huntsman’s tale then prompts Dio to expound on...

Neoplatonic Exegesis of Hermaic Chain: Some Reflections

In his exposition of the philosophical history of Neoplatonist School in Athens, Damascius attempts to prove that Isidore's soul was part of the Hermaic chain to which Proclus also belonged. According to Marinus (V. Procl. 28), Proclus had the revelation of this very fact and had learned from a dream that he possessed the soul of the Pythagorean Nicomachus of Gerasa. In the 4th and 6th centuries the expression “pattern of Hermes Logios” is transmitted through the various links of the Neoplatonic chain, Julian (Or. 7.237c), Proclus (in Parm. I.618), Damascius (V. Isid. Fr. 16) and Olympiodorus (in Gorg. 41.10.16–22; in Alc. 190.14–191.2). The formula that Aelius Aristides (Or. III.663) dedicates to the praise of Demosthenes, the best of Greek orators, arises in the context of an opposition between rhetoric and philosophy, and appears transferred and transmuted in the texts of the Neoplatonic schools to a philosophical context that defends an exegetical mode of teaching. Demosthenes, through his admirer Aristides, exerts an influence on Neoplatonism, introducing Hermes as the key piece that strengthens the chain of reason and eloquence. Hermes, the “eloquent” god or “friend of discourses”, transmits divine authority through the word of the exegete: an exceptional philosopher, a model of virtue to strive to rise to.

‘STRANGE’ RHETORIC AND HOMERIC RECEPTION IN AELIUS ARISTIDES’EMBASSY SPEECH TO ACHILLES(OR. 52)

This article argues that Aelius Aristides adapts the wordatopos(‘strange’, ‘out of place’) as figured speech in hisEmbassy Speech to Achilles, meaning something that is either illogical according to rhetoricaltopoior inconsistent with the text of Homer'sIliad. By doing so, he not only expands the semantic range ofatoposbut also comments on the rhetorical, intertextual, and pedagogical relationship between oratory and the Homeric tradition.

Managing food storage in the Roman Empire

One of the most remarkable facets of the Roman Empire was its food supply system. The second century grammarian Aelius Aristides described Rome as the warehouse of the world, lauding the capital not only for its wealth of exotic goods, but also for holding all the foods of the world (To Rome 12–13). Many settlements across the Roman Empire's expansive territory were connected to one another via roads and trade routes, and were also able to acquire food from distant places. In addition to having access to different foods, Roman consumers were able to have them almost year-round. When one considers that many agricultural goods were harvested once a year, their year-round availability, storage, and transport are further appreciated. This paper considers how, without technology such as refrigeration, Roman builders constructed warehouses and cellars and potters produced containers that not only protected goods, but also helped stabilize temperatures and humidity levels to store foods properly for potentially long periods of time. Granaries throughout the Mediterranean, for example, were equipped with raised floors, small and secure windows, and thick walls in order to provide cool, ventilated rooms for grain coming into the capital. Farmers and merchants used large ceramic storage containers, such as dolia and pithoi, to stabilize temperatures year-round for goods such as wine, olive oil, and fish sauce (garum). Furthermore, the placement and installation of the vessels, whether in a north- or south-facing room, mostly buried, or mostly exposed, could not only extend the shelf-life of their contents, but also help protect their quality. By processing foods, using ceramic containers, and building well-designed warehouses, inhabitants of the Roman Empire were able to adapt to and have some control over the arid and fragmentary microclimates of the Mediterranean basin.

The Young against the Old: Generational Conflict in First Clement by L. L. Welborn

Reviewed by: The Young against the Old: Generational Conflict in First Clement by L. L. Welborn David L. Eastman L. L. Welborn The Young against the Old: Generational Conflict in First Clement Lanham, MD: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2018 Pp. 276. $110.00. In this volume Welborn attempts to reconstruct the historical and ecclesiastical contexts for the writing of 1 Clement. Chapter One ("Prolegomena") critiques previous scholarship and sets forth Welborn's hermeneutical principles. He rejects suggestions that the author did not know the situation in Corinth, that the author misrepresented the situation, or that the letter was not written in response to a real situation. Instead, he believes the letter can and should be read in light of a particular historical circumstance. His reconstruction will seek to address "the context of the conflict, the object of strife, the motives of the rebels, and the identities of the instigators" (3–4). Failure to deal with these details has characterized previous scholarship and led to overly generalized results. In addition, he argues that the context for the letter should first be reconstructed from internal evidence, rather than from theorized models of early Christian history (e.g., debate over charismatic authority or controversy over the developing role of the bishop). The best theory should explain the greatest number of features of the text. Although critical of some aspects of previous scholarship, Welborn agrees that certain historical elements have been definitively established: the author's [End Page 153] heavy reliance on the Old Testament but complex use of Paul; governance of the church by a group of presbyter-bishops appointed by the church body, not by a single bishop; organization of the church in Corinth into house churches led by wealthy patrons; and the relevance of the leadership structures of Greek and Roman private associations. The letter is not from a monarchical Roman bishop, and the date and authorship remain uncertain. In Chapter Two ("Hypothesis"), Welborn examines theories about the instigators of the uprising. Although Hans Lietzmann is typically credited with the hypothesis that the conflict involves young men rising up against older men, Adolf von Harnack had suggested this idea earlier. Most scholars have taken the generational conflict for granted (based on 1 Clem. 3.3), yet no one has engaged in a full study to confirm this hypothesis. This is part of Welborn's project. He also finds evidence in the text to suggest that women may have played a role in the uprising. Chapter Three ("Context") is the longest chapter in the book. Welborn explores numerous aspects and examples of intergenerational conflict from the Greco-Roman world. He pays particular attention to legal and cultural evidence of conflict between young and old and fathers and sons involving access to power and control of property. Welborn presents an impressive array of evidence from authors that include Xenophon, Plato, Cicero, and Sallust. He also suggests that the Pastoral Epistles support a traditional ideology of respect for the elders. However, certain texts—including Plutarch, Musonius Rufus, and the biblical examples of Timothy and Titus—might suggest a more egalitarian view of power allocation among different generations. In Chapter Four ("Application"), Welborn explores a number of motifs used by the author of 1 Clement: charges of sedition, jealousy, and envy; and appeals for obedience, humility, and piety. He characterizes the letter as "a deliberative discourse on concord" that is designed to "reinforce the hierarchical structure of the ecclesia under the rule of the appointed elders" (129). The author juxtaposes the current sedition with a previous golden age in which young men and women knew their place. Welborn suggests that 1 Clement's emphasis on concord is comparable to speeches by Dio Chrysostom and Aelius Aristides on the topic of homonoia. In the final chapter ("Reconstruction"), Welborn presents his picture of the situation. It must account for four factors: 1) The setting was house churches, and the owner of the house would have served as the patron of the assembly, as was the case in private associations. 2) The church was governed by a college of presbyter-bishops, not a single bishop. In keeping with New Testament usage, these figures are best described in English...

With All Due Respect to Plato: The Platonic Orations of Aelius Aristides

This article offers a fresh analysis of the tone and argumentative strategies of Orations 2–4 of Aelius Aristides. It suggests that they are a more hostile and destructive exercise than is normally allowed for and that the recent critical consensus that they represent essentially an effort to reconcile philosophy and oratory needs substantial revision; these Orations testify instead to the continuing awkwardness of Plato and philosophy as components of the Greek cultural heritage in the Imperial period, as well as to the ambition of Aristides' own strategies of self-presentation.

The religious panorama of the Roman Empire

While traditional Roman religion was more about orthopraxy than orthodoxy, the emergence of Christianity challenged non-Christian intellectuals of the later empire to respond to issues of personal devotion to the gods and the role of theurgy as well as divine unity. This is exemplified in this paper through an examination of Aelius Aristides, Marcus Aurelius, Apollonius of Tyana, Saturninius Secundus Sallustius, Iamblichus, and Proclus. Not only was their thought a reaction to Christianity but also influenced its development.

Diversity in and among Rhetorical Traditions

Diversity in and among Rhetorical Traditions

Identity and Difference in Aelius Aristides’ “Regarding Sarapis”

ABSTRACTThis article posits that bringing diversity to histories of rhetoric may require not only revising canons but also “unwriting” the narratives of Western civilization in which canonical figures have been cast. Two conventions of these narratives are of special significance: fixed identities and narrative coherence. Focusing on the cultural contexts of Aelius Aristides’ “Regarding Sarapis,” we suggest that these conventions obscure the cultural differences that were always there.

Identity and Difference in Aelius Aristides’ “Regarding Sarapis”

ABSTRACTThis article posits that bringing diversity to histories of rhetoric may require not only revising canons but also “unwriting” the narratives of Western civilization in which canonical figures have been cast. Two conventions of these narratives are of special significance: fixed identities and narrative coherence. Focusing on the cultural contexts of Aelius Aristides’ “Regarding Sarapis,” we suggest that these conventions obscure the cultural differences that were always there.

The Cyclops’ Revenge

Abstract Taking issue with the Gorgias and its dismissal of fifth-century Athenian rhetoricians and statesmen, in his Reply to Plato in Defence of the Four (Or. 3) the imperial sophist Aelius Aristides finds himself dealing with Plato’s condemnation of New Music, which in the Gorgias had gone hand in hand with the censure of rhetoric. In a brilliant display of new musical ‘revisionism’ so far ignored by scholars, Aristides presents in a positive light the notorious new dithyrambist Philoxenus of Cythera, so that Plato’s influential criticism of New Music, and especially of its political implications, backfires. This paper provides a close analysis of Aristides’ new musical discussion, concentrating both on the sophist’s engagement with Platonic musical critique and on his use of anecdotal traditions about Philoxenus circulating under the Empire. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the history of New Music and its ancient, not always predictable, reception.