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IMC 2007: Sessions

Session 1019: The City and the Pleasance in Late Antique and Byzantine Literature

Wednesday 11 July 2007, 09.00-10.30

Organisers:André-Louis Rey, Faculté des Lettres, Université de Genève
Karin Schlapbach, King's College, University of London / Universität Zürich
Moderator/Chair:Cristiana Sogno, Department of Classics, University of California, Irvine
Paper 1019-aA Portrayal of Rome in Ammianus's Res gestae: Ideal Features and Real Vices
(Language: English)
Ida Gilda Mastrorosa, Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità 'G. Pasquali', Università degli Studi di Firenze
Index terms: Daily Life, Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Latin, Social History
Paper 1019-bThe City, the Pleasance, and the Community
(Language: English)
Karin Schlapbach, King's College, University of London / Universität Zürich
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Latin, Philosophy
Paper 1019-cByzantine Cities Described: Some Civitates Amoenae
(Language: English)
André-Louis Rey, Faculté des Lettres, Université de Genève
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Greek, Rhetoric
Abstract

Our subject is the late antique and medieval city, observed and described with (implicit) reference to historical, social, or rhetorical models of an ideal City. Prof. I.G. Mastrorosa focuses on Ammianus Marcellinus' skilful characterization of the society of Rome and its distance from the golden age of his classical literary sources. Dr. K. Schlapbach explores the city and the pleasance as places for dialogue, introspection and the creation of a community. Dr. A.-L. Rey examines Byzantine descriptions of cities that bridge the gap between the ideal of the locus amoenus and the not always pleasant town.