Age of Philosophy: the self-representation of power in the post-Constantinian empire
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis investigates the use of traditional philosophical concepts to legitimise new structures of power in the writings of the fourth-century Greco-Roman elite, with special attention to the emperor Julian “the Apostate” and the philosopher-bishop Synesius of Cyrene, but including also Eusebius of Caesarea, Constantine, Constantius II, Themistius, John Chrysostom, and Gregory of Nazianzus. When considering the strategies developed by fourth-century leaders to legitimise their authority through literature, what is striking are the level of engagement with philosophical authorities from the past (particularly Plato and Aristotle) and the pervasive use (and abuse) of words related to philosophy, reason, “scientific” method, intellectual training, and spiritual elevation. Religious allegiance, crucially, determined whom fourth-century politicians saw as colleagues in the context of what they depicted as a new “age of philosophy”. My thesis argues that the rivalry between pagans and Christians over philosophy, its definition, and the identity of its true patrons and practitioners, was instrumental to another rivalry, that over the rational/correct interpretation of the destiny of the Roman empire; it served the ambition to deprive religious rivals of the opportunity to lay claims over history and to control the idea that a divine plan regulated its course. In the context of this conceptual framework, I also reassess the role of the main protagonists of my thesis, Julian and Synesius, within it. Whereas current scholarship tends to isolate Julian from the contemporary political debate, a comparative analysis of his political orations vis-à-vis the imperial propaganda of his predecessors Constantine and Constantius II (ch. 1-3) shows that Julian’s self-projection as a philosopher-emperor was not an innovation, but the (pagan) recovery of a strategy of philosophical self-presentation of the sovereign that had already been exploited by the house of Constantine in a Chri…
abstract: This thesis investigates the use of traditional philosophical concepts to legitimise new structures of power in the writings of the fourth-century Greco-Roman elite, with special attention to the emperor Julian “the Apostate” and the philosopher-bishop Synesius of Cyrene, but including also Eusebius of Caesarea, Constantine, Constantius II, Themistius, John Chrysostom, and Gregory of Nazianzus. When considering the strategies developed by fourth-century leaders to legitimise their authority through literature, what is striking are the level of engagement with philosophical authorities from the past (particularly Plato and Aristotle) and the pervasive use (and abuse) of words related to philosophy, reason, “scientific” method, intellectual training, and spiritual elevation. Religious allegiance, crucially, determined whom fourth-century politicians saw as colleagues in the context of what they depicted as a new “age of philosophy”. My thesis argues that the rivalry between pagans and Christians over philosophy, its definition, and the identity of its true patrons and practitioners, was instrumental to another rivalry, that over the rational/correct interpretation of the destiny of the Roman empire; it served the ambition to deprive religious rivals of the opportunity to lay claims over history and to control the idea that a divine plan regulated its course. In the context of this conceptual framework, I also reassess the role of the main protagonists of my thesis, Julian and Synesius, within it. Whereas current scholarship tends to isolate Julian from the contemporary political debate, a comparative analysis of his political orations vis-à-vis the imperial propaganda of his predecessors Constantine and Constantius II (ch. 1-3) shows that Julian’s self-projection as a philosopher-emperor was not an innovation, but the (pagan) recovery of a strategy of philosophical self-presentation of the sovereign that had already been exploited by the house of Constantine in a Chri…
author: Niccolai, Lea
language: en
keywords: Late antique rhetoric, imperial self-presentation, Emperor Julian, Synesius of Cyrene, Eusebius of Caesarea, Constantine, Constantius II, Themistius, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nazianzus, fourth century Greek East, Neoplatonism, religious allegiance in late antiquity
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/b7311f64-1b74-43d2-8140-b88c7df202cc/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2020-02-22
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:28Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.46478