Author ORCID Identifier
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Winter 2026
Keywords
Libanius, declamation, envy, emotion, networks, figured rhetoric, figured speech, figured argument, prosangelia, slander
Abstract
Declamation, a genre famous for its sometimes extravagant fictions, has lately been approached as a vehicle for declaimers to reflect on realities familiar to them and their audiences. Reading Libanius' rarely discussed Declamation 30 in just such a self-reflective key, I argue that it explores the mindset of the phthoneros, the "envious man," as a way to make sense of risks posed by unscrupulous rivals. To shed light on this sense-making, I analyze High- and Late-Imperial emotion scripts foregrounding envy’s power to catalyze the formation of dysfunctional networks within and around competitive situations.
Publisher Attribution
Upcoming publication in American Journal of Philology 147.1. Johns Hopkins University Press.
https://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/american-journal-philology
Recommended Citation
Scholtz, Andrew, "Making Sense: Envy in Libanius' Declamation 30" (2026). Middle Eastern and Ancient Mediterranean Studies (MEAMS) Faculty Scholarship. 2.
https://orb.binghamton.edu/classical_fac/2
