Perceptions of the Second Sophistic and Its Times

The Second Sophistic (50 to 250 BCE) was an intellectual movement throughout the ancient Greek and Roman world. Although it can be characterized as a literary and cultural phenomenon of which rhetoric is an essential component, other themes and values such as peideia, mimesis, the glorification of the past, the importance of Athens, and Greek identity pervade the literature and art of this era.
From a workshop held at Universite Laval, Perceptions of the Second Sophistic and Its Times ù Regards sur la Seconde Sophistique et son Tpoque brings together fifteen essays and a range of perspectives, including work from scholars in literature, philology, linguistics, history, political science, sociology, and religion. The essays explore the Second Sophistic and describe how the intellectual elites of this period perceived and defined themselves, how they were judged by later authors, and how we understand them today.
Thomas Schmidt is professeur ordinaire de philologie classique, Institut des Sciences de rAntiquite et du Monde byzantin, Universite de Fribourg (Suisse).
Pascale Fleury is professeure agregee, Departement des litteratures, Universite Laval.