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AELIUS ARISTIDES AS TEACHER*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2016

Juan Pablo Sánchez Hernández
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Extract

Education was the core activity of the Greek sophists, the πεπαιδευμένοι or ‘those who have received an education’, during the Roman period. Publius Aelius Aristides (c.117–180 ce) is by far the best known of them. He studied under the grammarian Alexander of Cotiaeum, received additional training from the sophists Polemo and Herodes Atticus, and then made a successful speaking tour through Asia Minor and Egypt. Aristides’ career seemed assured, with his good connections among the Roman intelligentsia, but a serious illness struck him on his way to the imperial capital. A series of health issues led him to a long period of convalescence at the Asklepieion at Pergamum until 147, which he combined afterwards with stays and brief appearances at Smyrna and other cities. It is therefore commonly believed that his career failed because of his poor health and also because he disliked teaching and performing in public. Aristides would rather be a pure lover of speeches, concerned with his literary afterlife and devoted to the production of exemplary speeches for future generations (especially after his retirement in 170), as he maintained at the end of his Sacred Tales (Or. 47–52): ‘it is more important for me to revise some things which I have written; for I must converse with posterity’.

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Research Article
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Greece & Rome , Volume 63 , Issue 2 , October 2016 , pp. 227 - 236
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Copyright © The Classical Association 2016 

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Footnotes

*

I would like to thank Prof. Jones, Prof. K. Brodersen, Prof. Konstan, Prof. A. Erskine, Prof. M. Paz de Hoz, Prof. Tom Armstrong, and Axel Marc Takacs (among others) for their comments and encouragement. Translations, with some slight amendments, are taken from C. A. Behr, P. Aelius Aristides. The Complete Works, 2 vols. (Leiden, 1981–6), and W. R. M. Lamb, Plato in Twelve Volumes. Vol. II. Laches, Protragoras, Meno, Euthydemus (London, 1924).

References

1 For the Second Sophistic, see Bowersock, G. W., Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire (Oxford, 1969)Google Scholar; Anderson, G., The Second Sophistic. A Cultural Phenomenon in the Roman Empire (London, 1993)Google Scholar; Gleason, M., Making Men. Sophists and Self–presentation in Ancient Rome (Princeton, NJ, 1995)Google Scholar; Goldhill, S. D. (ed.), Being Greek under Rome. The Second Sophistic, Cultural Conflict and the Development of the Roman Empire (Cambridge, 2001)Google Scholar; Whitmarsh, T., The Second Sophistic (Oxford, 2005)Google Scholar. On higher education, see Marrou, H.-I., Histoire de l'éducation dans l'Antiquité, sixth edition (Paris, 1965; first published 1948)Google Scholar; Morgan, T., Literate Education in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds (Cambridge, 1998)Google Scholar; Too, Y. L. (ed.), Education in Greek and Roman Antiquity (Leiden and Boston, MA, 2001)Google Scholar; Cribiore, R. Gymnastics of the Mind. Greek Education in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt (Princeton, NJ, 2001)Google Scholar.

2 On Aristides's early years, see Behr, C. A., Aelius Aristides and the Sacred Tales (Amsterdam, 1968), 10–13 Google Scholar; Behr, C. A., ‘Studies on the Biography of Aelius Aristides’, ANRW 34.2 (1994), 1141–55Google Scholar; Cortés, J. M., Elio Aristides. Un sofista griego en el Imperio Romano (Madrid, 1995), 1–14 Google Scholar; Downie, J., At the Limits of Art. A Literary Study of Aelius Aristides’ Hieroi logoi (Oxford, 2013), 7–11 Google Scholar. On Aristides in Athens, see Jones, C. P., ‘Three Foreigners in Attica’, Phoenix 32 (1978), 222–4Google Scholar.

3 On the trip to Egypt, see Behr (n. 2 [1968]), 14–22; Cortés (n. 2), 15–37; Downie (n. 2), 11–14. See also Petsalis-Diomidis, A., Truly Beyond Wonders. Aelius Aristides and the Cult of Asklepios (Oxford, 2010), 118–19Google Scholar.

4 On the trip to Rome, see Behr (n. 2 [1968]), 23–4; Cortés (n. 2), 38–54; Petsalis-Diomidis (n. 3), 119. Aristides’ speech to Rome (Or. 26 K) was composed in 154 ce: see Oliver, J. H. The Ruling Power. A Study of the Roman Empire in the Second Century after Christ through the Roman Oration of Aelius Aristides (Philadelphia, PA, 1953)Google Scholar.

5 On Aristides at Pergamum, see Nicosia, S., Elio Aristide. Discorsi Sacri (Milan, 1984), 16–21 and 192–7Google Scholar; Jones, C. P. ‘Aelius Aristides and the Asklepieion’, in Koester, H. (ed.), Pergamon. Citadel of the Gods. Archaeological Record, Literary Description, and Religious Development (Harrisburg, PA, 1998), 63–76 Google Scholar. See also Behr (n. 2 [1968]), 27–40; Cortés (n. 2), 55–86; Petsalis-Diomidis (n. 3), 167–220; Downie (n. 2), 14–17.

6 Eshleman, K., The Social World of Intellectuals in the Roman Empire. Sophists, Philosophers, and Christians (Cambridge, 2012), 132–3Google Scholar, but see also Swain, S. C. R., Hellenism and Empire. Language, Classicism, and Power in the Greek World, ad 50–250 (Oxford, 1996), 97–100 and 255Google Scholar; Whitmarsh (n. 1), 18–22; Downie (n. 2), 17–35.

7 Or. 33.20: ἀλλ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐρασταὶ καθαρῶς καταστάντες ἐτιμήθημεν τὰ πρέποντα ὑπὸ τῶν λόγων… ἐμοὶ δὲ λόγοι πάσας προσηγορίας καὶ πάσας δυνάμεις ἔχουσι.

8 Or. 51.67: περὶ τῆς ὕστερον δόξης.

9 Or. 51.52: σπουδαιότερόν μοί ἐστιν ἐπελθεῖν τινα τῶν γεγραμμένων: δεῖ γάρ με καὶ τοῖς ὕστερον ἀνθρώποις διαλέγεσθαι. See also Or. 51.56–67.

10 Or. 31.7: προείλετο μὲν διδάσκαλον ἐξ ἁπάντων ὅντινα δὴ καὶ προείλετο, οὐ γὰρ ἔμοιγε εὐπρεπέστατόν ἐστι λέγειν. See Vix, J.-L., L'enseignement de la rhétorique au IIe siècle ap. J.-C. à travers les discours 30–34 d'Aelius Aristide (Brepols, 2010)Google Scholar. Vix shows the depth of Aristides’ involvement in his relationship with his students and provides a foundation for the discussion of the language of teaching.

11 For example, when the great plague was at its height: Or. 33.6. See Behr (n. 2 [1968]), 102–3; Vix (n. 10), 77–83; Downie, J., ‘Proper Pleasures: Bathing and Oratory in Aelius Aristides’ Hieros Logos I and Oratio 33’, in Harris, W. V. and Holmes, B. (eds.), Aelius Aristides between Greece, Rome and the Gods (Leiden and Boston, MA, 2008), 123–6Google Scholar.

12 The Birthday Speech to Apellas (Or. 30) and his Funeral Oration for Eteoneus (Or. 31) were dedicated to former students. Aside from Vix (n. 10), 366–73, see also Berardi, E., Elio Aristide. Epicedio per Eteoneo. Epitafio per Alessandro (Turin, 2006)Google Scholar; and Binder, V., Korenjak, M., and Noak, B. (eds.), Epitaphien. Tod, Totenrede, Rhetorik. Auswahl, Übersetzung und Kommentar (Rahden, 2007)Google Scholar. On Damianus in particular, see Philostr. V S 2.23.605. Vix (n. 10), 23, also considers a teaching position at Pergamum mentioned in Or. 30.4.

13 See Or. 50.71–94 for the year 153 ce. On tax exemptions and immunities, see Dig. 27.1.6.2. The sophist Claudius Ruphinus was immune orator at Smyrna: see I.Smyrna 602; Bowersock (n. 1), 30–42.

14 On Aristides’ narcissism, see Michenaud, G., Crahay, R., and Dierken, J., Les Rêves dans les ‘Discours Sacrés’ d'Aelius Aristide (Mons, 1972), 59–83 Google Scholar. For the different tone of each of the Sacred Tales, see Quet, M.-H., ‘Parler de soi pour louer son dieu: le cas d'Aelius Aristide (du journal intime de ses nuits aux Discours sacrés en l'honneur du dieu Asklépios)’, in Baslez, M. F., Hoffmann, P., and Pernot, L. (eds.), L'invention de l'autobiographie d'Hésiode à Saint Augustin (Paris, 1993), 211–51Google Scholar ; Quattrocelli, L. ‘I pubblico dei Discorsi Sacri di Elio Aristide’, in Abbamonte, G., Miletti, L., and Spina, L. (eds.), Discorsi alla prova (Naples, 2009), 259–78Google Scholar.

15 Like his master, Alexander of Cotiaeum, who tutored Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius. See C. G. Weiss, ‘Literary Turns: The Representation of Conversion in Aelius Aristides’ Hieroi Logoi and Apuleius’ Metamorphoses’, PhD thesis, Yale University (1998), 37–46. Marcus Aurelius and Commodus were on an imperial tour in 175–6, during which they met Aristides at Smyrna: see Philostr. V S 2.10; Gascó, F. ‘The Meeting between Aelius Aristides and Marcus Aurelius in Smyrna’, AJPh 110 (1998), 471–8Google Scholar.

16 On the sophistic schools, see Philostr. V S 1.21.518 (Scopelian), 1.25.531 (Polemo), 2.26.613 (Heraclides); Hopwood, K. ‘Smyrna: Sophists between Greece and Rome’, in Braund, D. and Wilkins, J. (eds.), Athenaeus and His World. Reading Greek Culture in the Roman Empire (Exeter, 2000), 231–40Google Scholar. For a picture of Aristides’ involvement at Smyrna, see Franco, C., Elio Aristide e Smirne (Roma, 2005)Google Scholar.

17 οἷον δ᾽ αὖ καὶ τὸ πρόσθεν τούτων ἐνιαυτῷ σχεδὸν γενόμενον ἐπὶ Πολλίωνος ἄρχοντος τῆς Ἀσίας. ἄρτι μὲν εἰς τὸ βουλευτήριον παρεληλύθειν ἐκ τῆς πολλῆς ἡσυχίας, ὥσπερ ἔϕην, τοῦ θεοῦ προαγαγόντος κατὰ τοὺς λόγους: ἅπαντες δ᾽ ἦσαν ἐπ᾽ ἐλπίδων ὡς καὶ δὴ συνεσοίμην τοῖς νέοις: ἀπωλώλεσαν δὲ οἱ δείλαιοι σοϕισταὶ τῷ δέει, οὐχ ἅπαντες, ἀλλ᾽ οἷς ἀνιᾶσθαι ἐπιμελὲς ἦν, ᾑρέθην ἐκλογεύς.

18 See Behr (n. 2 [1968]), 77–8, n. 56, and 135 (Appendix B). The identification of Aristides’ Pollio is also confirmed in Behr (n. 2 [1994]), 1142–3, n. 3, and 1194. See also Cadoux, C. J., Ancient Smyrna. A History of the City from the Earliest Times to 324 A.D. (Oxford, 1938), 268–9Google Scholar; Festugière, A.-J., Aelius Aristide. Discours sacrés, avec notes de H.–D. Saffray, préface de J. Le Goff (Paris, 1986), 103, n. 173Google Scholar; Schröder, H. O., Heilige Berichte. Einleitung, deutsche Übersetzung und Kommentar (Heidelberg, 1986), 115 Google Scholar, n. 222, referring to Syme, R., ‘The Proconsul of Asia under Antoninus Pius’, ZPE 51 (1983), 278–9Google Scholar.

19 Zuiderhoek, A., The Politics of Munificence in the Roman Empire. Citizens, Elites and Benefactors in Asia Minor (Cambridge, 2009)Google Scholar. For example, Pomponius Cornelius Lollianos was rhetor and asiarch: I.Smyrna 638. See Puech, B., Orateurs et sophistes grecs dans les inscriptions d’époque impériale (Paris, 2002), 336–7Google Scholar, no. 166. On a Smyrnaean inscription of 124/138 ce, with a list of ‘patrons of the city’, appears a certain Εἰσίδωρος σοϕιστής (I.Smyrna 697.24), Claudia, the daughter of the sophist Nicetes (I.Smyrna 697.22), and the sophist Polemo (I.Smyrna 697.33–45).

20 Behr (n. 2 [1968]), 77–84; Behr (n. 2 [1994]), 1209–12; Bowersock (n. 1), 36–40; Cadoux (n. 18), 267–72; Cortés (n. 2), 87–105; Downie (n. 2), 157–64; Eshleman (n. 6), 86–8; Nicosia (n. 5), 30–33 and 250–4.

21 Or. 51.31–4 and 38. Aristides delivered nine speeches at Smyrna: see Behr (n. 2 [1968]), 128–30; Franco (n. 16), 368–71.

22 As we surmise from a dream in which he relates a discussion on this issue with his friend Lucius: Or. 51.57–8.

23 Or. 50.87: ἕτερόν ἐστι πρῶτον Ἑλλήνων εἶναι καὶ ἄκρον ἐν λόγοις…καὶ ἕτερον διατρίβειν ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ μαθητὰς ἔχειν.

24 See Behr (n. 2 [1968]), 77, n. 54; Festugière (n. 18), 103, n. 176; Schröder (n. 18), 116, n. 224; Downie (n. 2), 158, n. 6. In general, see Magie, D., Roman Rule in Asia Minor to the End of the Third Century after Christ (Princeton, NJ, 1950)Google Scholar, i.648, ii.1513–14.

25 For example, he avoids the title of Ἀσιάρχης, referring to this office as ‘the common priesthood of Asia’ (ἡ ἱερωσύνη ἡ κοινὴ τῆς Ἀσίας; Or. 50.53 and 101 K), since ἱερωσύνη is widely attested in decrees from fifth-century bce Athens. See LSJ, s.v. ἱερωσύνη; Behr (n. 2 [1968]), 61, n. 4, and 64, n. 15; Festugière (n. 18), 93, n. 103, and 104, n. 186; Schröder (n. 18), 118, n. 242; Downie (n. 2), 157, n. 5.

26 Or. 31. 8, 32.17, 32.26, 34.9, 34.53: συνίεναι, συνεῖναι, and συνουσία referring to Aristides’ activities as teacher. See Behr (n. 2 [1994]), 1163–77; Vix (n. 10), 324, 328–9, 389–91.

27 Xen. Mem. 1.1.4: πολλοῖς τῶν συνόντων, τῶν συνόντων ἑαυτῷ; 1.2.8: τοὺς συνόντας; 1.3.1.

28 Or. 2.335 K: Σωκράτης τοὺς νέους διέϕθειρεν.

29 Socrates even appears in Aristides’ dreams: Or. 50.15. On Aristides’ Socratic posturing, see Downie (n. 11), 127–30.

30 Aristides replied to Plato's Gorgias with his essay To Plato. In Defence of Oratory. See Milazzo, A. M., Un dialogo difficile. La retorica in conflitto nei Discorsi Platonici di Elio Aristide (Hildesheim, 2002)Google Scholar.

31 μόνοι δὲ ὧν ἴσμεν Ἑλλήνων οὐ πλούτου χάριν, οὐ δόξης, οὐ τιμῆς, οὐ γάμων, οὐ δυναστείας, οὐ προσθήκης οὐδεμιᾶς τοῖς λόγοις ἐπεχειρήσαμεν.

32 Perhaps they were aware of Aristides’ plans. See Vix (n. 10), 277: ‘La crainte des autres sophistes devant cette concurrence laisse plutôt supposer qu'il avait déjà assuré ces fonctions auparavant et que son retour attisait ses peurs’ (‘The fear of the other sophists before this competition rather suggests that he had already assumed his duties earlier and that this return stirred up theirs fears’). Aristides later reproached the Smyrnaeans for not employing him: οἱ μήτε χρῆσθαι τολμῶντες (Or. 33.16 K).

33 Or. 50.100–1.

34 The inscription erected by the Greeks of Egypt at Smyrna in his honour ‘for his honesty and his speeches’ (ἐπὶ ἀνδραγαθίαι καὶ λόγοις [OGI 709.12–13]) probably commemorated this successful tour. See Quet, M.-H., ‘L'Inscription de Vérone en l'honneur d'Aelius Aristides et le rayonnement de la seconde sophistique chez les “Grecs d’Égypte”’, REA 94 (1992), 379–401 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also Puech (n. 19), 140–5, no. 44; Petsalis-Diomidis (n. 3), 118–19.

35 It has been argued that this term referred to the inner circle of students in contrast to the ἀκροαταὶ, the auditors. But, in other instances in Aristides, γνώριμος means ‘distinguished person’, i.e. clarissimus (as in 50.12, 16, 27, and 29). See Korenjak, M., Publikum und Redner. Ihre Interaktion in der sophistischen Rhetorik der Kaiserzeit (Munich, 2000), 126 Google Scholar. Contra R. Cribiore ‘Vying with Aristides in the Fourth Century: Libanius and His Friends’, in Harris and Holmes (n. 11), 276.

36 καὶ μὴν τοῖς ἰδίᾳ συνιέναι σπουδάσασιν οὐκ ἀγωνιζόμενον μόνον παρέσχον ἐμαυτὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ παραδεικνύντα ἐπιεικῶς ἐξ ὧν ᾤμην τι βελτίους ἔσεσθαι. On the interpretation of ἰδίᾳ συνιέναι, see Vix (n. 10), 324 and 547–8, n. 415.

37 Forbes, C. A., Neoi. A Contribution to the Study of Greek Associations (Middletown, CT, 1933), 61–7Google Scholar; Sacco, G., ‘Sui νεανίσκοι dell'età ellenistica’, RFIC 107 (1979), 39–49 Google Scholar; Cantarella, E., ‘Neaniskoi: classi di età e passagi di status nel diritto ateniense’, MEFRA 102.1 (1990), 37–51 Google Scholar; Dreyer, B., ‘Die Neoi im Hellenistischen Gymnasion’, in Kah, D. and Scholz, P. (eds.), Das hellenistische Gymnasion (Munich, 2004), 211–36Google Scholar; Legras, B., Néotês. Recherches sur les jeunes grecs dans l’Égypte ptolémaïque et romaine (Geneva, 2006)Google Scholar; Van Bremen, R., ‘Neoi in Hellenistic cities: age class, institution, association?’, in Fröhlich, P. and Hamon, P. (eds.), Groupes et associations dans les cités grecques (IIIe siècle av. J.-C.–IIe siècle apr. J.-C.). Actes de la table ronde de Paris, INHA, 19–20 juin 2009 (Geneva, 2013), 31–58 Google Scholar. In general, see Kleijwegt, M., Ancient Youth. The Ambiguity of Youth and the Absence of Adolescence in Greco-Roman Society (Amsterdam, 1991)Google Scholar. For further examples and parallels, see Kennell, N. M., Ephebeia. A Register of Greek Cities with Citizen Training Systems in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods (Hildesheim, 2006)Google Scholar, Chankowski, A. S., L’Éphébie hellénistique. Étude d'une institution civique dans les cités grecques des îles de la Mer Égée et de l'Asie Mineure (Paris, 2010)Google Scholar.

38 Delorme, J., Gymnasion. Études sur les monuments consacrés à l'education en Grèce des origines à l'empire romain (Paris, 1960)Google Scholar; Yegül, F., Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity (Paris, 1992)Google Scholar. On gymnasia as venues of instruction, see Scholz, P., ‘Elementarunterricht und intellektuelle Bildung im hellenistischen Gymnasien’, in Kah, D. and Scholz, P. (eds.), Das hellenistische Gymnasion (Munich, 2004), 103–28Google Scholar; and see also Delorme (this note), 316–36; Korenjak (n. 37), 27–33; Cribiore (n. 1), 15–44; Eshleman (n. 6), 25–8.

39 Or. 47.18–21.

40 ἀλλ᾽ ἀντὶ τοῦ βαδίζειν ἐπὶ τὰς ἀκροάσεις περὶ τὰς κολυμβήθρας οἱ πλείους διατρίβετε,.. οὐκ ἔνεστι λίθων ἐρῶντας οὐδὲ λουτρῶν ἐξηρτημένους οὐδ᾽ ἃ μὴ δεῖ τιμῶντας τὰς περὶ τοὺς λόγους διατριβὰς γιγνώσκειν. Further on this dichotomy between oratory and bathing, see Downie (n. 11), 115–23.

41 νέων Μιμνερμείου (I.Smyrna 215.9). See Cadoux (n. 18), 83, n. 2; Franco (n. 16), 415 and 440.

42 As in the Archilocheion at Paros. See D. Clay, Archilochos Heros. The Cult of Poets in the Greek Polis (London and Cambridge, MA, 2004).

43 ἡ σύνο- / δος τῶν νέων καὶ οἱ ὑ- / μνῳδοί (I.Smyrna 208.6–9). See also Cic. Flac. 31.75 (state funeral of a Roman citizen). For Mimnermus’ poems, see Allen, A., The Fragments of Mimnermus. Text and Commentary (Stuttgart, 1993)Google Scholar. On Mimnermus in public festivals, see Bowie, E. L. ‘Early Greek Elegy, Symposium, and Public Festival’, JHS 106 (1986), 27–9Google Scholar.

44 πήχυιον ἐπὶ χρόνον ἄνθεσιν ἥβης / τερπόμεθα (Mimn. fr. 2.3–4); ὀλιγοχρόνιος γίγνεται ὥσπερ ὄναρ / ἥβη τιμήεσσα (Mimn. fr. 5.4–5); τεθναίην ὅτε μοι μηκέτι ταῦτα μέλοι, / κρυπταδίη ϕιλότης καὶ μείλιχα δῶρα καὶ εὐνή, / οἷ᾽ ἥβης ἄνθ εα γίγνεται ἁρπαλέα (Mimn. fr. 1.2–3). On Mimnermus at symposia of young people, see Slings, S. R., Symposium. Speech and Ideology. Two Hermeneutical Issues in Early Greek Lyric, with Special Reference to Mimnermus (Amsterdam, 2000), 25–8Google Scholar.

45 Delorme (n. 40), 316–36; specifically on the νέοι, see Korenjak (n. 37), 46–8.

46 Or. 22.21, 32.24. On the Smyrnaeans as descendants of Homer, see Or. 18.2.

47 Ὁμηρείῳ [γε]ρ̣ο̣υ̣σ̣ί̣ᾳ̣ (I.Smyrna 214.11); οἱ ὑμνῳδοὶ / τῆς γερουσίας (I.Smyrna 644.17–18). On Scopelianus’ epic compositions and the Homereion, see Philostr. V S 1.21.518; also I.Smyrna 206.8, 210.15, 211.8, 211.15, 212.10–11, and 891. The Homereion had a gymnasium (I.Smyrna 697.16–17) and a library (Strab. 14.1.37). See also Sánchez Hernández, J. P., ‘Scopelianus and the Homerids: Notes on Philostratus’ Lives of the Sophists (V S 1.21.518)’, Mnemosyne 64 (2011), 455–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

48 The sophist Heraclides paid for the construction of a fountain for olive oil and a golden roof for the gymnasium of the Asklepieion (Philostr. V S 2.26. 2), perhaps in imitation of the main anointing room of the gymnasium for the γερουσία (I.Smyrna 697.16–17). See Yegül (n. 40), 306.

49 λυσιτελεῖν τοῖς νέοις μαθημάτων ἕνεκα τολμᾶν προΐεσθαι (Or. 32.16). See also Vix (n. 10), 386 and 531, n. 275.

50 For Alexander of Cotiaeum on Homer and Pindar and the sophists, see Or. 32.24 and 32.26 K. On Alexander, see Vix (n. 10), 373–89. On Homer and Pindar in sophistic education, see Marrou (n. 1), 229–64; Cribiore (n. 1), 185–219. For Aelius Aristides and Ancient Greek lyric, see E. L. Bowie, ‘Aristides and Early Greek Lyric, Elegiac and Iambic Poetry’, in Harris and Holmes (n. 11), 9–30. See also Vix (n. 10), 350–1.

51 Metrodorus (Or. 47.42 K) and Hermocrates of Rhodes (Or. 50.23–4). For the importance of poetry in the lives of the sophists in this period, see Bowie, E., ‘Greek Sophists and Greek Poetry in the Second Sophistic’, ANRW 33.1 (1989), 209–58Google Scholar.

52 On the lost poetic production of Aristides, see Robert, F., Les œuvres perdues d'Aelius Aristide: fragments et témoignages (Paris 2012), 527–66Google Scholar.

53 Compare Or. 50.31 (fr. 30 Behr) and PO 2.1. See Robert (n. 54), 528–33.

54 Or. 50.38. On this therapy see also Nicosia (n. 5), 18, n. 53.

55 Or. 50.39 = frs. 25, 32, 36–42 Behr. See Robert (n. 54), 540–1.

56 Or. 50.43–5 = fr. 29 Behr. As a memorial of his triumph, he dedicated a tripod with an elegiac couplet: Or. 50.45. See Robert (n. 54), 537–40.

57 Or. 49.4.

58 Or. 47.30. See Bowie (n. 53), 214–20; Bowie, E. ‘Choral Performances’, in Konstan, D. and Saïd, S. (eds.), Greeks on Greekness. Viewing the Greek Past under the Roman Empire (Cambridge, 2006), 73–7Google Scholar.

59 Philostr. V S 530. συνυμνῳδοῖς θεοῦ Ἁδριανοῦ (ISmyrna 595.16–17). On the parallel between Aristides’ poetry and the ὑμνῳδοί, see Bowie (n. 60), 90–2.

60 For example, the worship of Zeus and Hecate in Panamara (I.Str. 1101.7–10) was enhanced during the second century with choruses of boys, in the company of their supervisor (παιδονόμος), performing in the Council Chamber a song composed by the secretary (γραμματεύς).

61 ἵκεσθε Περγάμῳ νέοι. See above, n. 57.

62 ἡ σύνοδος τῶν νέων (I.Smyrna 209 and 208.6–7).

63 A further emendation of the law (Dig. 27.1.6.10) also permitted exemptions for a number of individuals of outstanding merit (οἱ ἄγαν ἐπιστήμονες) without the burden of teaching. Judging from the words of the imperial letter (τὴν ἀτέλειαν…τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς λόγοις; Or. 50.75), Aristides was probably included within this category. See Behr (n. 2 [1968]), 78, n. 58.

64 ἡ ἱερὰ σύνοδος τῶν πε- / ρὶ τὸν Βρεισέα Διόνυσον / τεχνειτῶν καὶ μυστῶν (I.Smyrna 639.1–3); …ἡ σύνοδος τῶν μυστῶν τῆς μεγάλης θεᾶς πρὸ πόλε- / ως θεσμοϕόρου Δήμητρος (I.Smyrna 655.1–2).

65 ὦ πάντα ὑπομείνας ἐγὼ, ποῦ γῆς νυνὶ μονῳδῶ; ποῦ μοι τὸ βουλευτήριον; ποῦ νέων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων σύνοδοι καὶ θόρυβοι διδόντων ἅπαντα.