1,721,302 research outputs found
Letters to the emperor : epistolarity and power relations from Cicero to Symmachus
No full textTraditionally Latin prose letters have been classified in one of two ways: often they are seen as historical documents to be mined for political, historical and social information; otherwise they are viewed as literature, to be read with a consideration of the role of rhetoric and persuasion. These letters are only rarely approached as letters, and classical scholars have only just begun to discover the benefits of applying epistolary theory to these texts. My thesis examines epistolary exchange within the context of Roman power relations, offering a new interpretation of the correspondences between the most powerful political figure in a given period and one from among the senatorial class. Cicero, Pliny the Younger, Fronto and Symmachus each conducted an epistolary exchange with a powerful figure with whom he hoped to gain influence, and despite the significant differences between them in terms of political and social circumstances, each uses his letters in similar ways to that end. I approach these texts, never before treated together in a comparative study, with a consideration of epistolarity, ‘the use of the letter’s formal properties to create meaning’, a concept developed by J. G. Altman (1982). These properties are identified and examined by means of detailed stylistic analysis of the Latin text. The act of writing a letter is an act of self-definition; the sender constructs a self defined necessarily in relation to a particular addressee. Thus the letter also affords a sender the opportunity to define the You, to whom he addresses himself. In the context of power relations in Roman politics, the letter then becomes a flexible tool of self-fashioning, by which a senator may attempt to influence the emperor
Symmachus at Caesarea
Get PDFOur knowledge of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible by Symmachus ultimately derives from what survives of Origen’s Hexapla, especially as mediated by commentaries on books of the Old Testament and noted in the margins of certain Greek biblical manuscripts or of the Syrohexapla. However, it is unclear where and when Origen first encountered and then acquired Symmachus’ version. This essay attempts to find some answers from the conflicting information given in various patristic sources. It argues for Caesarea Maritima as the place where Origen obtained Symmachus’ version through their mutual acquaintance Juliana, and for a date before 219 for this exchange. It restates the arguments for Symmachus’ Jewish identity at the time of translating, and reviews the suggestion that Symmachus may be identified with Sumkhos ben Joseph, disciple of Rabbi Meir. It then discusses the possibility that the name Symmachus had significance for Jews as a Greek approximation to Eleazar. Finally, it gives a brief overview of the extent of the use of Symmachus’ translation by scholars associated with Caesarea Maritima, principally Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome
Symmachus: Levelek Praetextatushoz
Get PDFA 4. századi római arisztokrácia világába engednek bepillantást Symmachus azon levelei, amelyeket Vettius Agorius Praetextatushoz írt. A nagy tiszteletnek örvendő senator, a régi római vallás egyik legnagyobb védelmezője Symmachus mentora és kedves barátja volt. A hozzá szóló levelek, amelyek képet adnak a korszak előkelőinek elfoglaltságairól, életmódjáról és mentalitásáról, először jelennek meg jegyzetekkel kísért magyar fordításban
Pliny and Symmachus
Get PDFPliny might seem an obvious model for his fellow letter-writer and orator, Symmachus (early 340s to 402). But even though both authors' letters are in nine books of personal letters and one of imperial letters, there are problems in identifying Pliny's letters as a significant structural, intellectual, or linguistic model for Symmachus's letters, or even in demonstrating beyond doubt that Symmachus knew Pliny's letters (Section 1). By contrast, Symmachus can be shown to have known and engaged intertextually with Pliny's Panegyric in both speeches and letters (Section 2). I then turn to—and expand—a cluster of allusions from the period after Gratian succeeded his father Valentinian as ruler of the west (375-78) (Section 3), and reflect on why that period and political situation suited engagement with Pliny's praise of Trajan
Klein (Richard). Symmachus
No full textBrisson Jean-Paul. Klein (Richard). Symmachus. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 52, fasc. 1, 1974. Antiquité - Oudheid. pp. 163-164
Klein (Richard). Symmachus
No full textBrisson Jean-Paul. Klein (Richard). Symmachus. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 52, fasc. 1, 1974. Antiquité - Oudheid. pp. 163-164
- …
