The Authorship of the περ Τψονς

Abstract

It is hardly necessary to recapitulate Rhys Roberts' cumulative and convincing proof that the treatise ‘On the Sublime’ was not written by Cassius Longinus, the tutor of Zenobia, but belongs to the early days of the Empire. Not the least convincing of the arguments for this date is the fact that the treatise is suggested by and put out as a substitute for the Περ ״ϒψоνς of Caecilius of Calacte, who according to Suidas taught rhetoric (σоφστενσε) in Rome in the time of Augustus. Now Caecilius was an intimate friend of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Ep. ad Pomp. 776 τῷφιλττῳ Kαικιλψ): they were both Atticists and fellow-workers in leading literary Romans back to the best models of Greek prose style. But Dionysius is no candidate for the authorship of the extant treatise, which is not one that he could have written. On the other hand he gives a plain indication by which to identify its writer, which Rhys Roberts mentioned but did not adopt. It is the object of this paper to put this identification seriously forward.

Dionysius and Longinus on the Sublime: Rhetoric and Religious Language

“…2: Dionysius' correspondent Pompeius Geminus prefers authors who "aim high" and "run risks." Therefore, Richards 1938 andGoold 1961, 173-74, have does it have the power to grip the listener's attention and to keep it in rapt suspense; nor is it full of energy and inspiration, or able to match its moral persuasiveness with an equal power to portray emotion, and its capacity to entertain, persuade and charm with an ability to force and compel his audience. It is a safe style rather than an adventurous one.…”

“…77 This view reminds us of Longinus' ideas on the risky nature of sublime writing. Dionysius replies that he in fact agrees with Pompeius concerning this point: his own conviction, 78 Richards 1938and Goold 1961. Rhys Roberts 1900, already expressed the view that "if conjecture is to seek an author for that treatise [i.e., On the Sublime] in the age of Augustus, this Pompeius might be named with far more plausibility than Dionysius himself."…”