Brief_History_of_Wood-engraving_Antoine_Macault

Antoine Macault reading his translation of Diodorus Siculus to King Francis I (c.1525)

This project aims to shed new light on the connections between the Greek literary and intellectual culture of the late Hellenistic and Augustan periods (second century BCE to first century CE) and the period often known as the ‘Second Sophistic’, i.e. the late first to early third centuries CE. The latter period has been a growth area in recent scholarship, but many late Hellenistic authors are still relatively neglected.

  • We ask how far recent approaches developed for the ‘Second Sophistic’ can help to shed new light on late-Hellenistic/Augustan Greek literature and culture.
  • We also aim to explore how far that earlier culture anticipated distinctive literary and cultural developments usually seen as typical of the ‘Second Sophistic’.
  • To what extent do genres and themes we think of as distinctive to imperial Greek literature have their roots in late Hellenistic and Augustan Greek culture?
  • How do these two periods compare in their conceptualisation of Greek culture and its role in the Roman world?

The project involves a two-day international conference on 5-6 September 2013, and two smaller workshops (the first on 13 June 2013, the second on Friday 14 March 2014).

Principal investigators: Dr Jason König and Dr Nicolas Wiater

Funding for the project has been generously provided by the BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants Scheme  and the School of Classics at the University of St Andrews.