A Latin Second Sophistic

Abstract

This thesis examines the Noctes Atticae (NA) of Gellius alongside two other Latin authors writing in the Second Sophistic, Apuleius and Fronto. I explore the question of to what extent these authors can be seen to contribute to this broader Greek literary and cultural movement; I argue that these Roman authors are in fact part of what I call the Latin Second Sophistic, and that their works are better interpreted as a continuation of an ongoing Latin literary tradition which should be seen as distinct from the work of their Greek contemporaries. This Latin Second Sophistic is characterised by the following: drawing on a hybrid of Greek and Latin models and assimilating Greek ideas into Roman culture through translation; the channelling of and reflection on Roman Satire and Italic traditions; cultivating a proper Latinity with their engagement in the Latin literary tradition; the use of authorial voice to self-fashion unique Latin works that make Greek learning more accessible for their Roman viewership; and, finally, their approach to the satirisation of pseudo-intellectuals, a recurring theme which reflects their engagement with the disciplines of philosophy, rhetoric and grammar, and the boundaries between these disciplines. My thesis therefore offers a new interpretation of second-century Latin authors and their cultural, intellectual, and literary relationship with Greek authors of the Second Sophistic.