ABSTRACT

The essays in Constructing Identities in Late Antiquity concern themselves with the theme of identity, an increasingly popular topic in Classical studies. Through detailed discussions of particular Roman texts and images, the contributors show not only how these texts were used to create and organise particular visions of late antique society and culture, but also how constructions of identity and culture contributed to the fashioning of 'late antiquity' into a distinct historical period.

chapter 1|15 pages

INTRODUCTION

Constructing identities in late antiquity

chapter 2|25 pages

The writes of passage: cultural initiation in Heliodorus’ Aethiopica

Cultural initiation in Heliodorus’

chapter 4|25 pages

PRUDENTIUS’ PSYCHOMACHIA

The Christian arena and the politics of display

chapter 5|17 pages

DRAMATIC IDENTITIES

Tragedy in late antiquity

chapter 6|21 pages

TRANSLATE INTO GREEK

Porphyry of Tyre on the new barbarians

chapter 9|24 pages

WOMEN AND LEARNING

Gender and identity in scenes of intellectual life on late Roman sarcophagi

chapter 10|20 pages

CONSTRUCTING THE JUDGE

Judicial accountability and the culture of criticism in late antiquity

chapter 11|25 pages

THE BARBARIAN IN LATE ANTIQUITY

Image, reality, and transformation