DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

Hellenism and Empire

Language, Classicism, and Power in the Greek World, AD 50-250

Simon Swain author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:9th Apr '98

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Hellenism and Empire cover

Hellenism and Empire explores Greek identity, politics, and culture in the first three centuries AD, the period known as the second sophistic. The sources of this identity were the words and deeds of the classical Greeks, and the emphasis placed on Greekness and the Greek heritage was far greater then than at any other time. Yet this period is often seen as one of happy consensualism between the Greek and Roman halves of the Roman Empire. The first part of the book shows that Greek identity came before any loyalty to Rome (and was indeed partly a reaction to Rome), while the views of the major authors of the period, which are studied in the second part, confirm and restate the prior claims of Hellenism.

Swain has plotted a cautious and helpful path through the lexical maze, while never losing sight of the larger view. * Times Literary Supplement *
This volume is a scholarly discussion of the attitudes of Greek intellectuals in the Roman Empire...From this meticulous examination of second sophistic literati Swain draws two broad conclusions that challenge traditional opinion...This book is a must for anyone interested in the evolution of Greek culture and the second sophistic. * Richard M. Berhold, History. *

ISBN: 9780198152316

Dimensions: 217mm x 138mm x 29mm

Weight: 702g

512 pages