Reconfiguring The Imperial Past Narrative Patterns And Historical Interpretation In Herodian S History Of The Empire

This book argues that Herodian uses an orderly and coherent historiographical form to reconfigure and explicate a most chaotic period of Roman history. Through patterning he offers a distinctive interpretative framework in which successive reigns and individual emperors need to be read in a dovetailed way.

Although digressive discourse constitutes a key feature of Greco-Roman historiography, we possess no collective volume on the matter. The chapters of this book fill this gap by offering an overall view of the use of digressions in Greco-Roman historical prose from its beginning in the 5th century BCE up to the Imperial Era. Ancient historiographers traditionally took as digressions the cases in which they interrupted their focused chronological narration. Such cases include lengthy geographical descriptions, prolepses or analepses, and authorial comments. Ancient historiographers rarely deign to interrupt their narration's main storyline with excursuses which are flagrantly disconnected from it. Instead, they often "coat" their digressions with distinctive patterns of their own thinking, thus rendering them ideological and thematic milestones within an entire work. Furthermore, digressions may constitute pivotal points in the very structure of ancient historical narratives, while ancient historians also use excursuses to establish a dialogue with their readers and to activate them in various ways. All these aspects of digressions in Greco-Roman historiography are studied in detail in the chapters of this volume.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1961.

The History of Herodian (born c. 178-179 CE) is one of the few literary historical sources for the period of the Roman empire from the death of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (180 CE) to the accession of Gordian III (238), a period in which we can see turbulence and the onset of revolution. The History of Herodian (born ca. 178-179 CE) covers a period of the Roman empire from the death of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (180 CE) to the accession of Gordian III (238), half a century of turbulence, in which we can see the onset of the revolution which, in the words of Gibbon, "will ever be remembered, and is still felt by the nations of the earth." In these years, a succession of frontier crises and a disastrous lack of economic planning established a pattern of military coups and increasing cultural pluralism. Of this revolutionary epoch we know all too little. The selection of chance has destroyed all but a handful of the literary sources that deal with the immediate post- Antonine scene. Herodian's work is one of the few that have survived, and it has come down to us completely intact. Of the author we know virtually nothing, except that he served in some official capacity in the empire of which he wrote. His History was apparently produced for the benefit of people in the Greek-speaking half of the Roman empire. It betrays the faults of an age when truth was distorted by rhetoric and stereotypes were a substitute for sound reason. But it is an essential document for any who would try to understand the nature of the Roman empire in an era of rapidly changing social and political institutions. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Herodian is in two volumes.

The volume collects fourteen essays on Herodian that investigate the most important aspects of his historiography: literature, politics, economy, religion and warfare.

This book explores how Greek authors who witnessed sudden political change reacted by re-imagining the larger narrative of the Roman past.

The History of Herodian (born c. A.D. 178-179) covers a period of the Roman empire from the death of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 180) to the accession of Gordian III (A.D. 238), half a century of turbulence, in which we can see the onset of the revolution which, in the words of Gibbon, "will ever be remembered, and is still felt by the nations of the earth". In these years, a succession of frontier crises and a disastrous lack of economic planning established a pattern of military coups and increasingly cultural pluralism that was to plague the Roman empire in its decline. Of this revolutionary epoch we know all too little. The selection of chance has destroyed all but a handful of the literary sources that deal with the immediate post-Antonine scene. Herodian's work is one of the few that have survived. It also happens to be the only contemporary work of history that has come down to us completely intact. Of the author himself we know virtually nothing, except that he served in some official capacity in the empire of which he wrote. The History, which is written in Greek, was apparently produced for the benefit of people in the Greek-speaking half of the Roman empire. It has many defects and failings. It betrays the faults of an age when truth was distorted by rhetoric and stereotypes were a substitute for sound reason. But, for all that, it is an essential document for any who would try to understand the nature of the Roman empire in an era of rapidly changing social and political institutions.

Herodian's Roman History is a collection of eight books covering the period from the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 A.D. to the beginning of Gordian III's reign in 238. It provides a first person account of one of the most politically diverse times of the Roman Empire. The first book describes the reign of Commodus from 180 to 192, and the second discusses the Year of the Five Emperors in 193. Book Three encompasses the reign of Septimius Severus from 193 to 211, while the fourth discusses the reign of Caracalla from 211 to 217. Book five is about the reign of Elagabalus from 218 through 222, and book six deals with the reign of Severus Alexander from 222 to 235. The seventh book recounts the reign of Maximinus Thrax from 235 to 238, and the final one describes the Year of the Six Emperors in 238. Most likely, Herodian is writing for an eastern audience, for he often explains different Roman customs and beliefs that would have seemed foreign to Easterners. Odin's Library Classics is dedicated to bringing the world the best of humankind's literature from throughout the ages. Carefully selected, each work is unabridged from classic works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama.