Libanius ofAntioch (AD 314-93), teacher, rhetorician and eloquent exponent of Greekpaideia, was one of the most prolific letter writers of late antiquity withmore than 1500 surviving letters from an even greater total. This volumecontains the first English-language translation of all the letters writtenbetween 388 and 393, which provide insights both into his professional andpersonal circumstances and the changes taking place in the political, religiousand social environment of the late fourth century. The letters while fulfillingmany of the usual functions of late antique correspondence as vehicles increating or maintaining friendship networks, promoting relationships with menin power, supporting rhetoric and Hellenic learning and seeking favours forfriends, students and protégés, also reveal Libanius’ reaction to hiscircumstances at the end of his life – his waning influence as a teacher, thehostility directed towards him by factions in Antioch and in Constantinople,the loss of friends and loved ones, in particular his son, and his ill healthand impending mortality.
Scott Bradbury is Professor Emeritus of Classical Languages and Literatures, Smith College, USA. His previous publications include Selected Letters of Libanius from the Age of Constantius and Julian (Translated Texts for Historians, Liverpool University Press 2004). David Moncur is an independent scholar; his previous publications include (with Peter Heather)Politics, Philosophy and Empire: Select Orations of Themistius (Translated Texts for Historians, Liverpool University Press, 2001).
‘...excellent performance. The volume is not only an extremely useful tool for bringing together a group of texts that is still far too seldom studied, but it also serves as a general model, which gives hope that in a not too distant future the complete letters of Libanios will be available in translation.’Translated from German: ‘...vorzüglichen Leistung. Der Band ist nicht nur ein extrem nützliches Hilfsmittel für die Erfassung einer noch immer viel zu selten in den Blick genommenen Textgruppe, sondern hat auch allgemeinen Vorbildcharakter, der hoffen lässt, dass in nicht allzu ferner Zukunft sämtliche Libaniosbriefe in Übersetzung vorliegen werden.’ Raphael Brendel, **Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft **