RHETORIC IN LATE ANTIQUITY - A.J. Quiroga Puertas (ed.) The Purpose of Rhetoric in Late Antiquity. From Performance to Exegesis. (Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum 72.) Pp. xii + 265. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013. Paper, €69. ISBN: 978-3-16-152269-7.

Abstract

(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.