This book is the ninth volume of the series Epistulae Antiquae produced by the International Congress ‘L’épistolaire antique et ses prolongements européens’, which took place at the University of Tours in April 2015. This Congress was thematically dedicated to letters that contain instruction, advice, encouragement etc., ranging in time from classical antiquity to modernity and thus covering a very wide range of epistolographers. The result is a large volume, including 31 contributions by both renowned and upcoming scholars. The editors are to be applauded for accomplishing this task. The bulk of the material concerns classical Greek and Latin epistolographers, but there are also contributions about epistolographers of the Late Antique, Medieval, Renaissance and even contemporary eras (the latest epistolographer under examination in the volume is the twentieth-century French author André Maurois). The book is organised thematically and within each chapter chronologically, thereby encouraging the reader to make direct comparisons between ancient and modern epistolary practices on each thematic category under examination. There are two very useful indexes, one for cited passages and a thematic one. There is no general bibliography, but each essay has its own bibliography.
The introduction offers the necessary theoretical frame for didactic epistolography, providing a wealth of references to ancient epistolary theorists. There is a useful, detailed examination of technical Greek and Latin vocabulary, which analyses the semantic nuances of different but synonymous words used to express consultation, exhortation, advice, admonition etc. The main part of the book is divided into six sections that correspond to six different areas of counselling. The first section consists of papers that refer generally to the use and effect of advisory letters. Gavoille explores the rare phrase auctor sum in Cicero. É. Wolff examines the letters of Sidonius Apollinaris, explaining the variety of the epistolary contexts (friendly, political, moral or religious) into which an advisory letter can fit. F. Oudin examines epistolary recommendations in medieval French dialects.
The second section deals with political advice. It opens with the pseudepigraphic letters of Phalaris, treated by É. Marquis, who observes that the tyrant gives orders rather than advice in his letters, but the authoritarian image that emerges seems to undermine his authority. S. Aubert-Baillot studies the most significant occurrences of prudentia (‘wisdom’) and providentia (‘foresight’) in the letters of Cicero, which are necessary qualities in order to give good advice, and concludes that these abilities refer mainly to foresight in the political context in Cicero. J.-P. De Giorgio and É. Ndiaye examine Ciceronian correspondence from the opposite perspective, investigating how Cicero reacts to the advice contained in the letters from his friend Atticus; they conclude that Cicero appears not to follow his friend's advice, but that Atticus remains an indispensable interlocutor for Cicero, helping him in decision-making. The rest of the articles in this section deal with advice to governors: I.G. Mastrorosa analyses the two pseudo-Sallustian letters of advice to Caesar, investigating their possible dating and authorship, and places their composition in Late Antiquity, attributing their authorship to one of the two Sallusts who had an advisory role in the court of the Emperor Julian. A. Ricciardi examines two letters addressed to King Charles the Bald from Loup de Ferrières, which provide real solutions to real problems and refer both to pagan literature and the Holy Scripture. V. Abbruzzetti presents five advisory letters from Petrarch to influential politicians of the court of Naples, showing how Petrarch adapted his advice to the personality of the recipients.
Section 3 examines the use of letters for philosophical advice. M. Cambron-Goulet examines Epicurus’ letters, arguing that the employment of the epistolary form helps the comprehension and memorisation of the philosopher's doctrine, enhances his friendship with the addressees and encourages everyone to search for happiness. B. Delignon discusses the treatment of the philosopher Aristippus as an example in Horace's letter 1.17, in order to urge the addressee to adapt to the reverses of fortune. G.M. Müller examines the meaning of the phrase sapere aude in Horace (1.2.40), which Kant made the motto of Enlightenment. The next three contributions are devoted to Seneca. A. Setaioli shows that Seneca, though knowing the collections of his predecessors, Epicurus and Cicero, renewed the epistolary tradition by using the letters as a means to advise any potential reader. F.R. Berno examines Seneca's letter 66, analysing the effect of three examples of persuasion mentioned in it: Claranus, Heracles and Mucius Scaevola. The didactic use of the example is also examined by Gavoille, who emphasises that the reader of Seneca's letters is invited to observe the example but to act in his own way. Guillaumont presents Porphyrius’ letter to his wife Marcella, a letter written mainly with the purpose to disseminate spiritual advice to a larger public, but also adapted to the situation and the personality of the recipient. Subsequently we are transferred to fifteenth-century Florence and the Neoplatonist Marsilio Ficino, the architect of the revival of Stoic paraenetics: S. Galland shows how Ficino's letters were not just circumstantial, but always exceeded this dimension to provide general advice. Finally, J.-D. Beaudin takes us to modern times, presenting André Maurois’ Lettre ouverte à un jeune homme sur la conduite de la vie, published in 1966, which contains advice to the youth.
Section 4 is dedicated to Christian advisory letters sent from men of the Church. It begins with the verse letters of Gregory of Nazianzus, which G. Bady scrutinises against the three epistolary principles that Gregory himself set in his letter 51: brevity, clarity and grace. Bady observes that Gregory did not apply the three principles in his verse letters, but created the letters mostly as pieces of art. M. Kanaan examines the rhetorical methods in Gregory of Nyssa, especially in letter 2, where Gregory tries to persuade his addressee against the practice of pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Jerome's letters are presented by A. Canellis and B. Jeanjean: Canellis is interested in letter 118, a letter of consolation to a father who lost his two daughters and his wife, arguing that this is mostly an exhortatory letter rather than a letter of consolation, urging Julian to imitate examples of Old and New Testament in order to surpass his difficult situation. Jeanjean analyses letters 107 and 108, two letters that are often regarded as fundamental sources for our knowledge of Christian education of girls in the fifth century; however, Jeanjean argues that despite their common theme, the two letters have significant differences from each other, adapting themselves to the personalities and circumstances of the addressees. P. Descotes studies Augustine's letters 147 and 187, arguing that, despite being epistolary treatises tackling theological problems, they were adapted to the personalities of the addressees. The last essay in this chapter is on the sixteenth-century Spanish priest John of Ávila and his Epistolario Espiritual, edited after his death by J. Diaz and J. de Villaras. As V. Mellinghoff-Bourgerie observes, the editors organised the epistolary corpus not chronologically but according to the social status of the addressees, in order to render the letters more accessible to the readers – a practice that very much resembles the organisational principles applied by editors of epistolary collections of antique and late antique times (see e.g. R.K. Gibson, ‘On the Nature of Ancient Letter Collections’, JRS 102 [2012], 56–78).
Section 5 is devoted to epistolary directions and prescriptions given by specialists. J. Schneider examines the combination of friendly and didactic epistolary style in three Byzantine authors, the Deacon Ignatius, Photius and John Mauropus, arguing that Photius managed this combination most successfully, thanks to his employment of humour in his letters. J. Vons studies the medical consilia in the correspondence of André Vésale, presenting examples of individual cases, some of which reveal the relations between medicine and power in sixteenth-century France. M. Koźluk presents the prefatory letters of a number of medical works of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, analysing the rhetorical elements used by the doctors, in order to encourage, request advice and admonish.
Section 6 is about personal advice in letters. D. Roussel examines Ovid's letter to his wife Fabia, sent from his exile in the Black Sea area, in which he encourages her to ask the Empress Livia to get him back from exile (Epistulae ex Ponto 3.1); however, in the end, as it becomes clear that such an intervention is ineffective, the poet expresses his inability to give instructions via a letter. J. De Landtsheer presents the correspondence of Justus Lipsius, who sent a large number of letters to his students or to their parents, passing encouragement, advice for further studies, career plans or other aspects of their personal life. C. Lignereux deals with the letters of Madame de Sévigné to her daughter (seventeenth century), which are full of exhortations and maternal advice on financial affairs, her social relationships and her fragile health. The last essay is by M. Charrier-Vozel, who studies epistolary advice in the correspondence of Madame Riccoboni (eighteenth century), observing that, in line with contemporary epistolary manuals, Madame Riccoboni hesitated to give advice in her letters, unless her correspondents asked for it.
This is a very useful book for anyone wishing to learn more about advice, exhortations and directions in letters, across a very wide temporal and social spectrum. The diversity of the scholarly work included is to be welcomed, and the editors are to be encouraged to continue organising congresses devoted to themes of letter writing covering a broad chronological period, bringing together scholars from different disciplines.
