Libanius. - The School of Libanius in Late Antique Antioch

The School of Libanius in Late Antique Antioch

The School of Libanius in Late Antique Antioch

Raffaella Cribiore

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

PRINCETON AND OXFORD

Copyright 2007 by Princeton University Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cribiore, Raffaella
The school of Libanius in late antique Antioch / Raffaella Cribiore.
v. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: Libanius and rhetoric in AntiochSchools and Sophists in the Roman East
The networkAdmission and evaluationteaching the logoiThe long and the short path to rhetoricAfter rhetoricConclusion : words and silenceAppendix 1 : the dossiers of studentsAppendix 2 : length of students attendence.
eISBN: 978-1-40082-767-1
1. Libanius. 2. PhilosophyStudy and teachingTurkeyAntiochHistory. I. Title.
B577.L44C75 2007
808.0071'03943dc22 2006013514

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tanto amati

Contents

Preface

WHEN I WAS writing about Greek education in Egypt in Gymnastics ofthe Mind, I looked for an ancient writer against whom I could test some of the ideas that the papyri suggested. It soon became apparent that Libanius was ideal. The sheer quantity of his writing was daunting at the start, but also tantalizing and promising. When my project reached its end, I was well aware that I had left much behind and that Libanius was still waiting for me. His speeches were extremely useful in helping to trace the story of his famous school in Antioch and of the fluctuating state of rhetoric in the fourth century. His letters captivated me entirely as he truly became part of my life.

I had already written some parts of this book and translated Libaniuss letters (many more than this appendix includes) when I was given the opportunity to spend the fall semester of 2004 at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. I spent a blissful and constructive period there, communicating daily with superb scholars in the company of some great mosaics from Antioch. At the Institute, I was finally able to put into perspective some of the issues that still troubled me. I am very grateful to Glen Bowersock for so generously letting me drink at his spring of excellence in the garden of the Muses (as Libanius would say). I also warmly thank Heinrich von Staden for being there when I needed help. Several people contributed to this book in various ways, by reading the whole manuscript or parts of it, providing valuable criticism, discussing points in the translations, and helping me check the text. Thus I am grateful to Peter Brown, Alan Cameron, Eleanor Dickey, William Frosh, Iannis Papadoyannakis, Robert Penella, Giovanni Ruffini, and Maria Wenglinsky. To my family, love as always.

A Note on References and Abbreviations

JOURNALS AND WORKS are abbreviated as in LAnnee philologique and the American Journal of Archaeology. Ancient authors and their works are abbreviated according to the third edition of the Oxford ClassicalDictionary. Modern works that appear in the Select Bibliography are cited in the text by authors name and date of publication.

The numbers in this study that sometimes follow the names of people who appear in Libaniuss works refer to the prosopography in PLRE I (The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, vol. 1: Jones et al. 1971) and occasionally in PLRE II (Martindale 1980). When only one person by a certain name is included in those lists, I provide the page reference. The vast majority of the students and members of their families were not of such a status as to be included in PLRE. It is necessary to refer to them by the numbering used in Seeck 1906, which is the only complete prosopographical work on Libaniuss letters. Thus names that are followed by Roman numerals are included in that work. A double citation (according to both PLRE and Seeck) is used when both prosopographies contain valuable observations.

In the text, I cite Libaniuss letters that appear in Appendix One by the numbering (in bold characters) used there. I refer to other letters of Libanius by citing the numbering in Foersters edition (190327). References to translations in Norman 1992 (N) and Bradbury 2004a (B) are given according to the numbering in these collections.

The School of Libanius in Late Antique Antioch

Introduction

THE SOPHIST LIBANIUS, who was an exponent of the revival of Greek literature that started with the Second Sophistic, taught in Antioch in Syria in the fourth century C.E. In Oration 55, he extolled to a student the advantages of a career as a teacher of rhetoric:

Howgreat it is to rule overwellborn young men and see them improve in rhetoric and proceed to the various paths of life! And what about the honors one receives from them and their fathers, from citizens and foreigners? Teachers of rhetoric are respected by all governors, small and great, and even by emperors. (23)

There are many similar statements in Libanius, as well as fervent commendations of good students. There are an equal number of negative assessments of the condition of rhetorica despised and silent disciplineand condemnations of youths indifferent to its charms. In general, Libaniuss letters present a different view than the orations. In attempting to underutterance, or a private joke between writer and recipient? We arestand the reasons for the discrepancy and to unravel other puzzles that the vast corpus of the rhetors surviving writings presents, this book delves into the workings of the most prominent school of rhetoric in Antioch (the modern Antakya, in south Turkey), where Libanius taught as official sophist of the city.

Libanius kept a vast correspondence to advertise the quality of his teaching and to maintain contacts with the families of his pupils, former students, and a few other teachers. I have included in an appendix translations of about 200 letters that concern his teaching activity. This study, in any case, is based not only on the texts I have translated, but also on all of his correspondence with relevance to education, as well as several of his speeches that pertain to pedagogical issues.

There is more than one Libanius, and this book does not pretend to interpret them all or to solve all the puzzles. The questions I am asking depend on my specific interests and are only tangential to other fundamental questions. By the beginning of the third century, Christianity had gained a hold over the intellectual elite, but Libanius, a major representative of Hellenism when it was starting to break down, was an exponent of paganism, since his fervent belief in classical culture brought with it a religious allegiance.

But even though I concentrate on Libanius as an educator, and the factual claims I make are based on a process of inquiry and the examination of a large body of material, I am aware that I cannot pretend to have captured him fully. Letters manipulate reality no less than do speeches self-consciously composed for public consumption or autobiography. While one should read them (when possible) in conjunction with other writings of an author, it is not always easy to find overall coherence, if that is what one seeks. The farther a reader is from a text, the less competent he is to interpret it,