The Propaganda of Power: The Role of Panegyric in Late Antiquity

The 15 essays presented here shed new light on the role of panegyric in the western and eastern Roman Empire in the late antique world. Introductory chapters examine panegyrical works by major writers, the anonymous Panegyric Latini, and the relationship between writers in Greek and Latin. Others look at the development of panegyric during the Christian Roman empire (4th-7th centuries): panegyric in society, the hidden agenda or subversive subtext, and the impact of Christianity on the pagan tradition of the panegyric (reflected in the panegyric portraits of patriarchs in Church historians and panegyric of holy men).