The Jeweled Style: Poetry and Poetics in Late Antiquity

200 Pages·2018·11.346 MB·English

by  Michael Roberts

The Jeweled Style

The Jeweled Style
·POETRY AND POETICS
IN LATE ANTIQUITY
MICHAEL ROBERTS
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
ITHACA AND LONDON
Copyright © 1989 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book
or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without
permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address
Cornell University Press, 124 Roberts Place,
Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 1989 by Cornell University Press.
Cornell Paperbacks, 2010
International Standard Book Number 978-0-8014-7633-4
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 88-47941
Printed in the United States of America
Librarians: Library of Congress cataloging information
appears on the last page of the book.
The paper in this book is acid-free and meets the guidelines for
permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines
for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
For Linda and Christopher

CONTENTS
Illustrations
lX
Acknowledgments
Xl
Abbreviations
Xlll
Introduction I
I An Anthology of Texts 9
2 The Literary Tradition and Its Refinement 38
3 Poetry and the Visual Arts 66
4 Variations of Style: The Christian Contribution I22
Epilogue I48
Glossary of Rhetorical Terms I 57
Bibliography I60
Text Editions Used I70
Index of Passages Cited 173
General Index 180
vii

ILLUSTRATIONS
I Floor mosaic, marine scene with bust of Tethys, Antioch
(fourth century) 77
2 Great hunt, floor mosaic, Piazza Armerina, Sicily (dorni-
nus scene; first quarter of the fourth century) So
3 Floor mosaic, hunt scene from Constantinian villa, Anti-
och (early fourth century) 81
4 Floor mosaic, Megalopsychia hunt, Antioch (fifth century) 82
5 Floor mosaic, hunting scenes, Antioch (fifth century) 83
6 Procession of saints, nave mosaic, S. Apollinare Nuovo,
Ravenna (c. A.D. 560) 86
7 . Crossing of the Red Sea, wall painting, Cubiculum 0 of
the Via Latina Catacomb, Rome (third quarter of the fourth
century) 87
8 Crossing of the Red Sea, nave mosaic, S. Maria Maggiore,
Rome (A.D. 432-440) 88
9 The emperor Justinian and his retinue, mosaic in apse, S.
Vitale, Ravenna (c. A.D. 547) 90
10 Arch of Constantine, Rome, largitio frieze (A.D. 3 15) 92
II Base of Theodosian obelisk with hippodrome scenes, Is-
tanbul (c. A.D. 390) 93
12 Sarcophagus ofJunius Bassus (A.D. 359) 96
13 Probus sarcophagus (end of the fourth century) 99
14 Silver missorium of the emperor Theodosius (A.D. 388) 99
15 Ivory diptych of Probianus (c. A.D. 400) 101
16 Zachariah in the Temple (or acclamation of the founder),
carved wood door panel, S. Sabina, Rome (c. A.D. 430) 102
17 . Ivory diptych of the Lampadii (early fifth century) 104
ix