Libanius the Sophist

Raffaella Cribiore is Professor of Classics at New York University. She is the author of The School of Libanius in Late Antique Antioch, Gymnastics of the Mind: Greek Education in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, and Writing, Teachers and Students in Graeco-Roman Egypt and coauthor of Women's Letters from Ancient Egypt 300 BC–AD 800.

• Preface and AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Rhetoric and the Distortion of Reality2. A Rhetor and his Audience: The Role of Invective3. A Man and his Gods4. God and the GodsConclusion: Julian's School Edict AgainSelect BibliographyIndex

"The present volume—a revised version of the 2010 Townsend Lectures at Cornell University—extends Cribiore's authoritative reevaluation of this major figure by addressing issues well beyond pedagogy. Most notablyshe explores the religious beliefs of this complex characterwho was both an associate of Julian the Apostate and a teacher of Saints Basil and John Chrysostom. As usualCribiorie offers lucidnuanced rhetorical analysis of well-selected textsdisplaying an unsurpassed familiarity with the sophist's vast (and largely untranslated) body of writings. Whether she is relating Libanius's autobiography to the genre of saints' lives or evaluating the role of sexual slander in sophistic oratoryCribiore's clearcareful exposition allows a broad range of readers to benefit from her arguments.(Choice) The strength of this volume is in the portrait that Cribiore paints of Libanius. Providing an in-depth study of a prominent sophist gives us the opportunity to move beyond macroscopic generalizations about the period and away from sweeping characterizations of pagans and Christians as polar opposites. Cribiore paints a vivid, if not flattering, picture of Libanius.- Richard Leo Enos (Rhetoric Review)