Greek in the Literary Circles of Sidonius' Gaul

The Classical Quarterly, 2020

Greek had held an important place in Roman society and culture since the Late Republican period, and educated Romans were expected to be bilingual and well versed in both Greek and Latin literature. The Roman school 'curriculum' was based on Hellenistic educational culture, and in the De grammaticis et rhetoribus Suetonius says that the earliest teachers in Rome, Livius and Ennius, were 'poets and half Greeks' (poetae et semigraeci), who taught both Latin and Greek 'publicly and privately' (domi forisque docuisse) and 'merely clarified the meaning of Greek authors or gave exemplary readings from their own Latin compositions' (nihil amplius quam Graecos interpretabantur aut si quid ipsi Latine composuissent praelegebant, Gram. et rhet. 1-2). 1 Cicero, the Latin neoteric poets and Horace are obvious examples of bilingual educated Roman aristocrats, but also throughout the Imperial period a properly educated Roman would be learned in utraque lingua. 2 The place of Greek in Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria reveals the importance and prevalence of Greek in Roman education and literature in the late first century A.D. Quintilian argues that children should learn both Greek and Latin but that it is best to begin with Greek. 3 Famously, in the second century A.D. the Roman author Apuleius gave speeches in Greek to audiences in Carthage, and in his Apologia mocked his accusers for their ignorance of Greek. 4 This article examines the status of Greek teaching in Gaul in Late Antiquity, showing that knowledge of and interest in Greek persisted, and that it continued to be taught in this period. It challenges our conventional narrative, arguing that the methodology that

[Conference Presentation] Edinburgh Postgraduate Seminar Series, 07/05/2015, 2015

Mnemosyne , 2022

Mamertus Claudianus, a priest in Vienne in the mid-fifth century, has been identified by some scholars as a professional teacher of Latin rhetoric. This article contests this classification, arguing that Claudianus was an active member of learned Christian literary circles and leader of philosophical and theological 'literary salons.' It demonstrates the importance of correctly identifying teachers in the prosopography and illustrates the potential of incorrect identifications to produce flawed and distorted historical reconstructions of the cultural transformations of the late antique west. A close reading of the sources for Claudianus, coupled with a firm understanding of the cultural and educational realities of late antique Gaul, sheds light on the evolution of an increasingly Christian intellectual culture among the Gallo-Roman litterati of the fifth century, and a better understanding of the transformation of educational practices in this period and after the 'fall' of Rome.

Acta Classica Universitatis Scientiarum Debreceniensis. Tom. XXXVI. (2000) 293–302. p., 2000

T. H O R V A TH C aius M odestus Sollius Sidonius A pollinaris is one o f the m ost interesting fig ures o f the L ater Rom an Empire. H is special career started as a typical one o f his age, based on the political and fam ily relations and ended in an ecclesiasti cal career, w hich m eant the only option for activity among the pressing histori cal circum stances. This duality o f his public activity -which m akes his per sonality attractive -can be connected w ith the duality o f his literary education: poetical and prosaic works. His contem poraries com pared his talent as prose-w riter to Pliny and as a poet to A usonius and C laudius.1 H e belonged to the poetical group formed in side the Church. This trend started w ith Prudentius and Paulinus o f N ola and was characterized in style and content by strong devotion to classical authors. C hrist and the gods o f Olym pus got on well together in the w orks o f Sidonius." In his literary activity there w ere no conflicts betw een C hristianity and pagan classical authors, ju s t between classical Rom an traditions and barbarism .3 Si donius versified quite easily and w ith pleasure, but he thought little o f his po ems. He w rote o f them: "Porro autem super huism odi opusculo tutius conticueramus, contenti versuum fe lic iu s quam p eritiu s editorum opinione, de qua m ihi iam pridem in portu iudicii p u b lici p o st lividorum latratuum Scyllas enavigalas sufficientis gloriae ancora sedet."A It is difficult to decide how much m odesty, characteristic for this age, or C hristian prudery m ay be in this state-1 W. H. Semple, Apollinaris Sidonius a Gallo-Roman Seigneur. Bulletin o f the John Ryland Li brary 50 (1967) p. 136. ' H. Hagendahl, Von Tertullian zu Cassiodor. Die profane literarische Tradition in dem laleinischen christlichen Schrifttum. Studia Graeca et Latina XLIV. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgiensis. 1983, p. 93.

Reading Sidonius' Epistles, 2019

Sidonius Apollinaris' letters offer a vivid series of glimpses into an otherwise sparsely documented period. His rich anecdotes feature the events, characters, and moments that defined his life, ranging from the treason trial of Arvandus to the Visigothic raiding of Clermont, from the corrupt and vile Seronatus to the holy widow Eutropia, and the day-to-day incidents that confronted a Gallo-Roman poet, aristocrat, and bishop as the Late Roman West transitioned into the barbarian successor kingdoms. Like any good storyteller, Sidonius exploited a wide array of narratological tools, manipulating temporality for dramatic effect, sketching his heroes and villains in vivid detail, and recreating witty dialogue in a collection that is highly organised and carefully strategised. This book provides a fuller understanding of his contribution to Latin literature, as a careful arranger of his self-image, a perceptive exploiter of narrative dynamics, and an influential figure in Late Antique Gaul.

[Conference Presentation] Classical Association Conference (CA), 07/04/2016, 2016

Reading, Writing, Translating: Greek in Early Modern Schools, Universities, and beyond, 2024

This volume collects eleven studies that investigate different aspects of the teaching and learning of Greek in early modern northern Europe (c. 1500–1750), from France in the west to Lithuania in the east. They give important insights that advance our understanding of the homogeneity despite diversity in the complex developments of classical reception, the study of Greek, its significance, and the practice of Greek in the various religious, cultural, and socio-political environments of the complicated spatio-temporal and geopolitical realities of Europe.

Teachers, Students, and Schools of Greek in the Renaissance, 2017

If our knowledge of the teaching and learning of Greek language and literature in late medieval and early modern universities is still partial and limited, it is certainly not due to a general scarcity of evidence. Quite the opposite is true: we have dozens of books and handbooks that were studied, copied, and annotated by Renaissance teachers of Greek and their students. These texts could provide precious insight into actual classroom activities and the school curriculum of that time. Unfortunately, we miss a systematic survey of these materials, which for the most part lie unexplored in our libraries: no reliable comprehensive overview of the history of Greek pedagogy in the Renaissance has yet been written. Indeed, it would be impossible to undertake such a task without accessing a substantial core of primary sources concerning a sufficiently ample set of masters, schools, and learning contexts. * Research for this paper was funded by the University of Rome "La Sapienza" within the framework of the project "Scuola educazione e cultura in Europa tra Medioevo e Rinascimento" (Progetti di ricerca di Ateneo, 2014), as well as the Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici of the University of Turin (Fondi ricerca locale, project: "Per la storia dell'educazione umanistica: quaderni di studenti e maestri di greco e latino tra xv e xvi sec."). I hereby wish to thank the librarians of the Biblioteca di Filologia Classica e Bizantina of the Sapienza University (Walter Mazzotta, Alberto Rizzo, and Laura Zadra), as well as the personnel of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan for their kind assistance. I owe to Filippomaria Pontani several improvements and insightful comments. I am also grateful to Eric Cullhed for letting me consult his proekdosis of Eustathius' commentary on the Odyssey.

2015

This volume provides a unique overview of the broad historical, geographical, and social range of Latin and Greek as second languages. It elucidates the techniques of Latin and Greek instruction across time and place, and the contrasting socio-political circumstances that contributed to and resulted from this remarkably enduring field of study. Providing a counterweight to previous studies that have focused only on the experience of elite learners, the chapters explore dialogues between center and periphery, between pedagogical conservatism and societal change, between government and the governed. In addition, a number of chapters address the experience of female learners, who have often been excluded from or marginalized by earlier scholarship. elizabeth p. archibald is Visiting Teaching Professor at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Her research focuses on early medieval education, medieval Latin, and the reception of classical texts in the Middle Ages.