Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-3-2004
Publication Title
Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies
Volume
28
Issue
1
Pages
103-115
Publisher Name
Duke University
Abstract
One of the few established facts of Synesius' early career is that he pursued the higher education available at Alexandria. The lifelong friendships he formed there suggest the importance this period always retained for him. Less attractively, perhaps, so does the intellectual smugness displayed in collegiate sniffs at rival Athens (Ep. 56[54].136) or in apt interpolations of the classics he read aloud to friends (Dion 62A-D ). It is no surprise that, as Cyrene's ambassador to the court of Arcadius, Synesius sought an intellectual approach to his city's practical advantage. He wooed one official, Paeonius, with the gift of a silver astrolabe. The gift came wrapped in flattery for Paeonius' taste for erudition, with a hint that it should work for the advantage of cities. The tactic had some success, he later reported (Ep. 154), but not enough; he was obliged to remain in Constantinople seeking other support. The De regno reflects his frustration at this period with the luxurious and unresponsive court. More usefully, it also repeated the appeal he had made to Paeonius before a wider audience. This application evidently had the desired effect, for from Aurelian, who succeeded Eutropius' appointee Eutychian as praetorian prefect and led the tribunal that condemned the eunuch himself to death, Synesius received his city's tax relief (Prov. 1138). Unfortunately, the general Gainas could not tolerate Aurelian's ascendancy either, and soon had him exiled. Synesius' benefits were cancelled (Prov. 1148). He returned to his wait for better developments, again enlivening it with pungent satire of current affairs.
Recommended Citation
Long, J. “The Wolf and the Lion: Synesius’ Egyptian Sources.” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 28, no. 1 (November 3, 2004): 103–15.
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Copyright Statement
© GRBS, 2004.
Comments
Author Posting. © GRBS, 2004. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the GRBS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies, Volume 28, Issue 1, November, 2004.