"The Third Sophistic: New Approaches to Rhetoric in Late Antiquity," Society for Late Antiquity, Philadelphia, January 9-11, 2009.

It is a well-known paradox of Greco-Roman culture that well after the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the state under Constantine the art of rhetoric successfully maintained its privileged place in the articulation of political, pedagogical, religious, philosophical, and literary power. Late antiquity witnessed a remarkable surge in rhetorical output in both Greek (Libanius,Himerius, Themistius, Julian, Procopius of Gaza, Choricius) and Latin (the Panegyrici Latini, Symmachus, Ausonius, Marius Victorinus). Moreover, under the new establishment the rapprochement between traditional "pagan" rhetoric and Judaeo-Christian modes of expression already evident in Christian apologetic writings of the second and third centuries gained momentum, culminating in the fourth and fifth-century "Golden Age" of Christian rhetoric as represented by the works of Eusebius of Caesarea, the Cappadocian Fathers, and John Chrysostom (in Greek), and Lactantius, Ambrose, and Augustine (in Latin). Before the end of the sixth century the corpus of Hermogenes would achieve canonical status, and in 426 CE Augustine's De Doctrina Christiana fused once and for all Cicero's rhetorical theory with the Christian project of evangelism and exegesis. In light of the wealth of available source material and its parallels to the much more extensively studied Second Sophistic, Europeans cholarship over the past two decades has increasingly come to identify this period as the "Third Sophistic." While this formulation stresses synchronic linkages at the expense of diachronic perspectives, it is nonetheless worthwhile to examine this phase in the cultural history of the late empire as a unity. The Society forLate Antiquity thus invites proposals featuring innovative approaches to the study of rhetoric in late antiquity for a panel to be at the annual meeting of the American Philological Association to be held in Philadelphia, 8-11 January 2009. These might address such issues as the relationship of rhetoric to poetry, philosophy, and historiography; performance and self-presentation; reception and audience; rhetoric, law, and political authority; rhetoric and homiletics; ekphrasis and the rhetorical construction of space. These are only suggestions and proposals which investigate other lines of research are welcome. Abstracts of papers (ca. 500 words) requiring a maximum of 20 minutes to deliver should be sent via email attachment no later than February1, 2008 to Paul Kimball (pkimball@bilkent.edu.tr), or by surface mail (Dr. Paul Kimball, Program in Cultures, Civilizations & Ideas, BilkentUniversity, 06800 Bilkent, Ankara, TURKEY). Please follow the instructions for the format of individual abstracts in the APA Program Guide (see link below). APA membership is required of all presenters and must be verified before proposals are accepted. All submissions will be judged anonymously by two referees. Note that no subventions for travel or accommodation are available from either the Society for Late Antiquity or the APA. Further information may be found here: http://www.atrium-media.com/rogueclassicism/Posts/00007245.html.