Libanius is one of the central characters in the narrative of the cultural and social changes which took place throughout the fourth century a.d. in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. Born and raised in Antioch, as a young man Libanius travelled to Athens to study, but after a few miserable years there, he took up a position in Constantinople. Following a period in Nicomedia, and a second stay in Constantinople, he returned to Antioch and stayed there for the rest of his life. He interacted with several Emperors, particularly Julian, and many Eastern officials. His cultural and social engagement with both local and imperial administration and culture is attested in epistles and oratory alike.
This past decade has seen a considerable body of work on Libanius, including J. Witjes, Das Leben des Libanios (2005), I. Sandwell, Religious Identity in Late Antiquity (2007), R. Cribiore, The School of Libanius in Late Antique Antioch (2007), H.-G. Nesselrath, Libanios: Zeuge einer schwindenden Welt (2012), et al. However, as one of the most well-preserved ancient writers, with over 60 orations, 1,500 letters, 50 declamations and several progymnasmata, Libanius still offers great potential for further research.
This volume is a comprehensive study of the life and works of Libanius, considered in the social and cultural context of the fourth century. The monograph is in C.'s own words a ‘further investigation’ (p. 3) following her previous works on Libanius. Here C. addresses ‘various issues that need to be considered if we wish to establish Libanius’ rightful place in the society in which he was a protagonist, his rhetorical discourse, the reasons for his popularity in pagan and Christian circles alike, and the cultural expectations of the audience that crowned him “the sophist of the city”’ (p. 3). These various issues include rhetorical strategies, audience and religious affiliation, thus complementing C.'s research on Libanius as a teacher in her 2007 monograph.
The book under review is divided into four main chapters along with an introduction and a conclusion, entitled: ‘Rhetoric and the Distortion of Reality’; ‘A Rhetor and his Audience: the Role of Invective’; ‘A Man and His Gods’; and ‘God and the Gods’. A selected bibliography and index complete the book.
Chapter 1 seeks to contextualise Libanius' rhetorical strategies in his orations, epistles and autobiography. C. particularly investigates Libanius' self-fashioning by using genre and reception theory (p. 26). The subchapters in Chapter 1 are: ‘Epistolary Writing: Public or Private’, ‘Delivery of Letters’, ‘Libanius and the New Sophistic’, ‘Libanius's Life: the Letters and the Autobiography’, ‘Libanius's Autobiography: Main Lines of the Narrative’, ‘The Biographical Tradition’ (including subchapters ‘The Life of Apollonius of Tyana’, ‘Porphyry and Iamblichus’, ‘Athanasius's Life of Antony’, ‘Evagrius of Antioch’, ‘An Illiterate Monk?’, ‘The Vita Pauli of Jerome’, ‘Outline of the Vita Antonii’) and ‘The Challenge of the Biographical Tradition’. Although the title of Chapter 1 suggests a strong focus on Libanius’ rhetorical strategies, C. mostly examines the social and cultural context and thereby leaves the reader slightly disappointed by the lack of close examination of Libanius' works. C. concludes the chapter: ‘Libanius was not deaf to the discourses of traditions seemingly different from his own. This suggestion is in contrast to the work of earlier scholars, who have painted a static image of this sophist’ (p. 74). This conclusion is overly harsh on previous scholarship and disregards the many brilliant publications on Libanius' work. However, the attention to literary conventions and audience expectations is rewarding and the chapter could easily have been expanded to bring in more concrete examples from Libanius' œuvres.
The next chapter is concerned with the social context of oratory. C.'s considerations of the circulation of speeches and different audiences are thorough investigations and will prove very useful for anyone interested in Libanius' oratory. The subchapters are: ‘Circulation of Speeches in Late Antiquity’, ‘Rhetoric and the Emotions’, ‘Character Assassination in Oratory’, ‘Sexual Allegations in Demosthenes and Aeschines’, ‘Satire and Invective in Libanius’, ‘An Audience of Connoisseurs’, ‘Christians on Vice’, ‘Genre Awareness: Letter versus Orations’, ‘Libanius and Proclus: a Case of Double-Dealing?’ and ‘Some Conclusions’. C. tackles a variety of questions in Chapter 2, especially concerning invectives and argues that ‘the traditional character of invective (especially that of sexual nature) and its familiar presence in all contexts of late antiquity may have removed some of the burning sting that we, viewing it many centuries later through the lens of historic subjectivity, perceive’ (p. 130). C. thus contributes with a valuable approach to Libanius' mostly overlooked invectives. Following Chapter 1, she also draws a strong distinction between private and public – a theme which reoccurs throughout. In Chapter 2, C. again brings attention to the importance of an understanding ‘of the requirements of various genres and of the expectations they generated in an audience’ (p. 130), as she illustrates through Libanius' invectives.
The two final chapters examine Libanius' religious affiliation. The contents of Chapter 3 are: ‘Busy around the God: Instances of Orthopraxis’, ‘Like a God’, ‘Letters and References to Religion’, ‘The Years of Constantius’ (including the following subchapters: ‘The Years of Julian’, ‘After Julian’, ‘The Last Years’), ‘Libanius and Julian’, ‘Conflicts among Pagans’ and ‘Moderate Pagans’. The chapter also includes a statistical overview of Libanius' use of the gods in his letters.
Chapter 4 considers ‘Christian and Pagan Friends’ (including ‘An Adamantine Friendship’, ‘Evagrius and the Schism of Antioch’, ‘Olympius's Religious Allegiance’, ‘Spiritual Marriage’ and ‘“I Went as a Victim to the Altar”’), ‘The Olympian Gods’ (including: ‘Zeus Is Sovereign’, ‘The Gods’, ‘Female Divinities’, ‘Male Olympians’ and ‘What Happened to Asclepius?’), ‘God and the Gods’, ‘Zeus, the Consul of the Gods’ and ‘Memory Sites’. C. concludes these chapters on religion by stating that the main contribution of her work is that ‘we have become more able to draw some distinction between the public Libanius, with his protestations of militant paganism, and the man of the letters, who does not seem to believe with equal intensity in an all-powerful pantheon of divinities’ (p. 228). Although this conclusion might be hard to prove definitively, C. successfully emphasises the ‘religious anxiety and confusion’ (p. 227) which many fourth-century intellectuals experienced, and she explains Libanius' rhetorical traditionalism as a manifestation of this religious anxiety. Furthermore, C. states that she has ‘reflected on the fact that pagans and Christians were not two diametrically opposed groups’ (p. 230). This seems in line with recent scholarship which continues to deconstruct and re-interpret late-antique religion, society and textual evidence.
As a leading authority on Libanius, C. continues to increase our knowledge about and appreciation of this intriguing personality. The main contribution of this publication is the investigation of the theoretical approach to Libanius' work and rhetorical self-fashioning. It advocates a nuanced picture of the fourth century in consideration of both genre, audience expectations and religious affiliation. However, the theoretical nature of the book draws attention away from Libanius' own words. Despite the many helpful footnotes, Libanius' work is rarely quoted. Still, this will be a useful book to introduce the intricate world of the fourth century and the complex work of Libanius. Unlike most other scholarship on Libanius, it tackles orations, epistles and autobiography together and thereby offers many original interpretations and new approaches which will further scholarship on the orator.
