Severan Culture

This book surveys the Severan period's many developments in literature, philosophy, religion, art, archaeology and culture.

Simon Swain (Edited by), Stephen Harrison (Edited by), Ja? Elsner (Edited by)

9781107499898, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 April 2015

604 pages
24.5 x 17 x 3 cm, 1.05 kg

The Roman Empire during the reigns of Septimius Severus and his successors (AD 193–225) enjoyed a remarkably rich and dynamic cultural life. It saw the consolidation of the movement known as the second sophistic, which had flourished during the second century and promoted the investigation and reassessment of classical Greek culture. It also witnessed the emergence of Christianity on its own terms, in Greek and in Latin, as a major force extending its influence across literature, philosophy, theology, art and even architecture. This volume offers the first wide-ranging and authoritative survey of the culture of this fascinating period when the background of Rome's rulers was for the first time non-Italian. Leading scholars discuss general trends and specific instances, together producing a vibrant picture of an extraordinary period of cultural innovation rooted in ancient tradition.

Letter of Philostratus to Longinus Donald Russell
Preface and bibliography of Ewen Bowie Stephen Harrison and Simon Swain
Introduction Simon Swain
Part I. Literature and Culture: 1. Prose literature and the Severan dynasty Tim Whitmarsh
2. Severan historiography: evidence, patterns and arguments Harry Sidebottom
3. The worlds of Nestor the Poet John Ma
4. Sex lives of the sophists: epigrams by Philostratus and Fronto Gideon Nisbet
5. The Cynegetica attributed to Oppian Mary Whitby
6. Greek athletics in the Severan period: literary views Jason König
7. Heracles, Prometheus, and the play of genres in [Lucian]'s Amores Judith Mossman
8. Allegory and narrative in Heliodorus Glenn Most
9. Polyphony or Babel? Hosidius Geta's Medea and the poetics of the cento Philip Hardie
10. Unfair to Caecilius? Ciceronian dialogue techniques in Minucius Felix Jonathan Powell
11. Cyprian's Ad Donatum Michael Winterbottom
Part II. Art and Architecture: 12. Art at the crossroads? Themes and style in Severan art Zahra Newby
13. Landscape, transformation and divine epiphany Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis
14. Urbanism in the Severan empire Andrew Wilson
15. Metaphor and identity in Severan architecture: the Septizodium at Rome between 'reality' and 'fantasy' Edmund Thomas
16. Visibility and viewing on the Severan Marble Plan Jennifer Trimble
17. Septimius Severus: the Augustan Emperor Alison Cooley
Part III. Religion and Philosophy: 18. Severan Christianity Mark Edwards
19. Almsgiving for the pure of heart: continuity and change in early Christian teaching Richard Finn
20. Tertullian on flesh, spirit and wives Catherine Conybeare
21. Sophists and rabbis: Jews and their past in the Severan age Joseph Geiger
22. Trouble in Snake-Town: interpreting an oracle from Hierapolis-Pamukkale Ian Rutherford
23. Magic in the Severan period Daniel Ogden
24. Philosophy, scholarship and the world of learning in the Severan period Michael Trapp
25. Human autonomy and divine revelation in Origen George Boys-Stones
26. Socrates in Christian and pagan writers of the Severan era Christopher Taylor.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1]