History/Medieval Studies 401

Syllabus: 
 Structure
 Schedule 

Readings: 
 Book List 
 Reserve Readings
 Authors

Chronologies: 
 Rise of Christianity
 Christianization

Handouts: 
 Roman Names
 Evolution of Christian Message
 Emperors

Links

GREEK AUTHORS:

1. Aelius Aristides (P. Aelius Aristides), 117-180 A.D.  Born at Hadriani, Mysia, in northwestern Asia Minor.  Greek rhe-torician, orator, and stylist of the "Second Sophistic Move-ment."  After travelling widely, including a visit to Rome, he settled at Smyrna.  His poor health turned him into a hypochondriac so that he was devoted to Sarapis and the heal-ing god Asclepius.  His surviving works include speeches on religious and political life, his Sacred Tales, and frag-ments of poems.  Foremost of his orations are Panatheneia and To Rome.

2. Chaldaean Oracles.  An allegorical poem in Greek hexameter, this inspired revelation was attributed to Julianus the Chaldaean who was reputed to have lived in the time of Marcus Aurelius (161-180).  Neoplatonists from Porphyry on considered a sacred book of theurgy.  The poem was apparently penned by Neoplatonists influenced by Syrian solar cults, Middle Platonic theurgy, and even contemporary Jewish notions.

3. Marcus Aurelius (original name M. Annius Verus; imperial name M. Aurelius Antoninus).  Born in 121 at Rome and son of Annius Verus and nephew of the emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161).  Adopted by Antoninus Pius in 138 and promoted to Caesar ("heir apparent") in 139.  He succeeded as emperor (161-180).  A brilliant general, modest ruler, and conscien-tious  administrator, Marcus Aurelius is regarded as the best of the "Five Good Emperor."  His Meditations are let-ters on the oral precepts of Stoic philosophy.

4. Dio Chyrsostom (Dio "the Golden Mouthed").  c. 40-115 A.D. Born at Prusa, Bithynia, in northwestern Asia Minor.  Greek sophist and scholar, he taught at Rome until he was banished by the emperor Domitian (81-96).  A convert to Stoicisim. he has left some eighty orations on a host of subjects.

5. Iamblichus of Chalcis (250-325 A.D.).  Neoplatonist theurgist from Syria, he studied with Porphyry at Rome.  Iamblichus composed De Mysteriis (On the Mysteries), an exposition of theurgy and the efficacy of sacrifice that influenced Julian and Proclus.  He also composed three treatises on mathematics and a tract on the Pythagorean life.

6. Herodotus (c. 490-425 B.C.).  “Father of History,” Herodotus was born at Halicarnassus on the shores of Asia Minor and travelled widely in the Persian Empire and Greece.  His History on the wars between the Greeks and Persians contains invaluable observations on religious practices and Greek attitudes, notably books 2 (Egypt), 3 (Persia and Babylon), and 4 (Scythia).

7. Hesiod (c. 750-700 B.C.).  Boeotian poet, inspired by the Muses under Mount Helicon, he composed in epic verse Works and Days and Theogony.  Hesiod was regarded as second only to Homer; his Theogony gives the first literary definition of the gods and myths of Greece.

8. Homer (c. 750-700 B.C.)  Greatest of epic poets, he was repu-ted to have lived on the shores of Ionia (Asia Minor).  He composed Iliad and Odyssey.  Both epic poems were regarded as the foundation of Hellenic religious beliefs.

9. Julian the Apostate (Flavius Claudius Julianus).  Born in 332 A.D. and nephew of the first Christian emperor Constan-tine I (305-337), he survived the purge of 337 and he was raised and educated in the wastes of Cappadocia.  Devoted to the Classics, Julian secretly renounced his Christianity in 351.  Promoted to Caesar in 355, Julian brilliantly cleared Gaul of Germanic invaders, and he was proclaimed emperor by the Western army.  His brief reign (360-363) saw the restor-ation of paganism and civic life; his reforms were cut short by his untimely death.  His works include orations, philosophical tracts, Hymns to Helios and Magna Mater, and critiques on Christian dogma.

10. Lucian  Born c. 120 A.D. at Samosata, Commagene, in northern Syria.  Greek satirist and brilliant prose stylist, he com-posed works on religious themes including Dialogues of the Gods, Banquet of Philosophers, and a life of the false pro-phet Alexander of Abonouteichus.

11. Pausanias.  Flourit c. 170-180 A.D.  Greek author of the Description of Greece, a blue guide to the sites and shrines of Greece in the Roman age.  It is filled with information about heroes, gods, and cult practices.

12. Philostratus  Athenian sophist and stylist who flourished c. 170-245.  He is often associated with the court of the empress Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus (193-211). His works include Lives of the Sophists and a biography of Apollonius of Tyana, the Neopythagorean magician and miracle worker of the first century.  His Life of Apollonius is some-times regarded as a response to the Gospels of Christ.

13. Plutarch c. 45-120 A.D.  Born at Chaeronea, Boeotia, in Cen-tral Greece, he was a Platonic philosopher, biographer, and scholar who studied at both Athens and Rome.  He was a friend of the emperor Trajan (98-117).  His works include the Moralia, sixty essays on a wide range of topics, and Parallel Lives of Greeks and Romans.

14. Porphyry c. 232-304?  Greek Neoplatonic philosopher, he wrote a life of his mentor the philosopher Plotinus (205-275), a work Against the Christians (15 books), and a historical chronicle from the fall of Troy to c. 270 A.D.

15. Proclus (c. 410-485 A.D.).  Brilliant Neoplatonic thinker and theurgist, Proclus was born of wealthy family in Lycia, but he studied in Athens under Syrianus and succeeded the latter as head of the Academy in Athens.  His Elements of Theology, Platonic Theology  and Elements of Physics are the climax of Greek philosohical thinking. He composed commentaries on Plato’s Timaeus and Alcibiades I, and religious hymns.

LATIN AUTHORS:

1. Ammianus Marcellinus (330-395 A.D.).  Soldier and last great pagan historian of Rome, Ammianus was born in Antioch and served under emperors from Constantius II (337-361) to Theodosius I (379-395).  He composed a history in 31 books (of which books 1-12 are lost) covering Roman history from 96 to 378 A.D.  Ammianus displays exceptional objectivity in discussing the pagan revival by Julian (360-363) so that his account is fundamental to the religious history of the fourth century.

2. Apuleius (Lucius Apuleius).  Born at Madaura in North Afri-ca, he was educated at Carthage and Rome.  Latin rhetorician and priest, he composed Metamorphoses (Golden Ass) which is a romantic novel of the amazing adventures of Lucius who is turned into an ass and is eventually restored by the Egypt-ian goddess Isis.

3. Catullus (C. Valerius Catulus). 84?-54 B.C.  Born at Verona in northern Italy, he is the brilliant lyric poet of the late Republic.  Over 100 poems survive, including 63 which deals with the cult of Cybele and Attis, the Phrygian fertil-ity divinities of Asia Minor.

4. Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero).  106-43 B.C.  Roman lawyer, orator, statesman, and consul of 63 B.C., Cicero was a pro-lific writer and master of Latin prose. He left a number of works dealing with philosophy and Roman religious practices in addition to his letters and political speeches.

5. Horace (Q. Horatius Flaccus).  65-8 B.C. Born at Venusia in southern Italy and son of a freedman, Horace fought for the Republican cause at Philippi (42 B.C.), but he was pardoned and promoted at the court of Augustus (27 B.C.-14 A.D.) throught the efforts of Maecenas.  His works include Carmen Saeculare (chorus for the Saecular Games of 17 B.C.), Odes, Epodes, Epistles, Satires, and Ars Poetica.  He is consid-ered the master of the Roman lyric and poet laureate of the "Golden Age."

6. Juvenal (D. Junius Juvenalis).  c. 60-140 A.D.  Roman lawyer and satirist whose surviving 16 satires represent a fraction of his poems in five books.

7. Ovid (P. Ovidius Naso).  43 B.C.-17 A.D.  Born at Sulmona, he was a poet and lawyer who initiated the "Silver Age" of Latin literature.  He was in 8 A.D. banished by the emperor Augustus to the city of Tomi (Constantia) on the Black Sea. A prolific writer, he composed Metamorphoses, an epic poem on Greek and Roman mythology, and Fasi, on the holidays of the Roman sacred calendar.

8. Vergil (P. Vergilius Maro).  70-19 B.C.  Born at Mantua in Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy), he was a friend of Horace. His patrons included Maecenas, Asinius Pollio, and Augustus. A poetic genius, Vergil composed the national Roman epic Aeneid and the pastoral poems Eclogues (or Bucolics) and Georgics.  He shares with Horace the rank of poet laureate of the Augustan court.

JEWISH AUTHORS:

1. Josephus (Flavius Josephus, born c. 37 A.D.).   A prominent Pharisee and historian of the first rank, Josephus composed an eye-witness account of the Jewish War of 66-73 A.D.  His Antiquities of the Jews is invalulable for Jewish religious attitudes and customs during the early Roman Empire.  He also composed an apology for Judaism (in two books) Contra Apionem.  

2. Philo of Alexandria (c. 30 B.C.-45 A.D.).  Jewish thinker and Platonist, Philo headed the prosperous Jewish community of Alexandria and represented Jewish interests in the embassy to the emperor Caligula in protest of the laws requiring sacrifice in 39-40 A.D. A prolific writer, Philo used Platonic analysis and schemes in On the Creation to elucidate Jewish faith, and so set the model for later Christian Platonic thinkers.