Speeches in Dio Cassius
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20045892 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andriy Fomin (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Pages | 217-237 |
| Publication date | 2016-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Cassius Dio (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/9789004335318_013 |
| OpenAlex | W2610324104 |
| ISBN | 9789004335318 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
This paper revisits the traditional dichotomy in interpretation of speeches in Cassius Dio: are they just rhetorical commonplaces or do they truly represent the author’s own views? On the basis of comparative evidence and an observation of tendencies in Cassius Dio’s use of speeches (and also some general methodological principles employed by him), this paper reassesses the influence of rhetoric on Dio’s work. In the spirit of Dio’s time, speeches in Ῥωμαϊκά are abundant, elaborated, and reach the highest level not only of abstraction but also of rhetorical sophistication. In his work, Dio quaintly combined, but at the same time strictly differentiated, two discourses: historical and literary (i.e. factual and rhetorical). Harmonious coexistence of these two modes of discourse in Dio’s historical work is only possible when his reader is aware of the system of markers which signify the switch from one mode of narration to another. The paper places Dio’s historiography in the context of pedagogical standards and standards of learnedness of the Second Sophistic. It addresses the questions of convention and innovation, and also intended audience of Dio’s Ῥωμαϊκά
Aesthetics · Art · Epistemology · Historiography · Linguistics · Literature · Narrative · Rhetoric · Rhetorical device · Rhetorical question · Sophistication · Classical Antiquity Studies · History · Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |