Rhetorical Exercises from Late Antiquity
Rhetorical Exercises from Late Antiquity
Robert J. Penella, Fordham University, New York
Eugenio Amato, Université de Nantes, France
Malcolm Heath, University of Leeds
George A. Kennedy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Terry L. Papillon, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
William R. Reader, Central Michigan University
D. A. Russell, University of Oxford
Simon Swain, University of Warwick
The first translation, produced by a team of eight scholars, of the Declamations and Preliminary Talks of the sixth-century sophist Choricius of Gaza. Declamations, deliberative or judicial orations on fictitious themes, were the fundamental advanced exercises of the rhetorical schools of the Roman Empire, of interest also to audiences outside the schools. Some of Choricius' declamations are on generic themes (e.g. a tyrannicide, a war-hero), while others are based on specific motifs from Homeric times or from classical Greek history. The Preliminary Talks were typical prefaces to orations of all kinds. This volume also contains a detailed study of Choricius' reception in Byzantium and Renaissance Italy. It will be of interest to students of late antiquity, ancient rhetoric, and ancient education.
- The first translation of Choricius of Gaza into any language
- Fills a current gap in providing access to a key figure in the history of the development of rhetoric
- Includes a detailed study of the reception of Choricius in Byzantium and the Italian Renaissance
Reviews & endorsements
'Rhetorical Exercises from Late Antiquity brings attention to an important representative of the rhetorical environment at the end of antiquity. The reliable translation makes a difficult Greek author accessible to a wider audience, and Amato's meticulous epilogue fills a gap in Chorician scholarship that truly needed to be filled. Taken as a whole, the book will be an indispensable aid to anyone interested in Choricius.' Rhetorical Reviews
'This edition is well written and well edited … Penella expresses the wish at the end of his introduction that this translation will make Choricius and the School of Gaza better known. I believe he has admirably accomplished this goal.' Heather Waddell Gruber, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
Product details
No date availablePaperback
9781108729925
335 pages
230 × 153 × 20 mm
0.5kg
Table of Contents
- Introduction Robert J. Penella
- Part I. Choricius, Preliminary Talks Robert J. Penella
- Part II. Choricius, Declamations:
- 1. Declamation 1 [X]: 'Polydamas' D. A. Russell
- 2. Declamation 2 [XII]: 'Priam' D. A. Russell
- 3. Declamation 3 [XIV]: 'The Lydians' Simon Swain
- 4. Declamation 4 [XVII]: 'Miltiades'Â Simon Swain
- 5. Declamation 5 [XX]: 'The Young War-Hero' D. A. Russell
- 6. Declamation 6 [XXIII]: 'The Miserly Old Man' D. A. Russell
- 7. Declamation 7 [XXVI]: 'The Tyrannicide' Malcolm Heath
- 8. Declamation 8 [XXIX]: 'A Spartan Citizen' George A. Kennedy
- 9. Declamation 9 [XXXV]: 'The Child-Killer' Malcolm Heath
- 10. Declamation 10 [XXXVIII]: 'Patroclus' William W. Reader
- 11. Declamation 11 [XL]: 'The War-Hero' Terry L. Papillon
- 12. Declamation 12 [XLII]: 'An Orator' George A. Kennedy
- Epilogue. The fortune and reception of Choricius and of his works Eugenio Amato.
