Between City and School

This book is a collection of twelve important orations of the fourth-century sophist Libanius that are almost unknown. It provides the English translation for each with a thorough introduction and copious notes. In spite of his influential presence in the life of the century, Libanius is neglected because many of his works are not translated since his Greek is intricate and difficult to approach. Libanius lived in Antioch (Syria) where he had the most important school of rhetoric of the East and where students flocked from many countries. His correspondence and some of the orations in this collection illuminate his relations with his students and his methods of teaching rhetoric, a discipline that he worshipped. He was a major figure in the life of his city, was in contact with influential officials and governors and had a close relation with the emperor Julian. Some of these orations focus on unfamiliar aspects of Libanius' personality and on the way he saw the world of the fourth century. Oration 37 reveals that there were rumors that Julian had contributed to the death of his wife by asking a court doctor to poison her. Rumors such as these generated especially in Christian milieus after the death of the emperor. Another important oration, 63, puts in relief a neglected aspect of Libanius by showing that the sophist, who is usually considered a pagan by excellence, befriended a Christian man who left to him his patrimony in spite of the fact that the man's brother was the bishop of Antioch. This affair caused an uproar in the city.