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Libanius (, Libanios; ca. 314-ca. 394) was a Greek-speaking teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school. During the rise of Christian hegemony in the later Roman Empire, he remained unconverted and regarded himself as a Hellene in religious matters.

He was born into a once-influential, deeply cultured family of Antioch that had recently lost most of its wealth and influence. When fourteen years old, Libanius fell in love with rhetoric and focused his whole life on it. He withdrew from public life and devoted himself to philosophy. He was unfamiliar with Latin literature, and deplored its influence. He also attacked the increasing imperial pressures on the traditional city-oriented culture that had been supported and dominated by the local upper classes. Libanius used his arts of rhetoric to advance various private and political causes. Despite his own religious views and his friendship with the Emperor Julian, called "the Apostate" for attempting to restore the traditional religions of the empire, Libanius cultivated long-lasting friendships with Christians, both as private individuals and as imperial officials.

He studied in Athens and began his career in Constantinople as a private tutor, but was soon exiled to Nicomedia. Before his exile, Libanius was a friend of the emperor Julian, with whom some correspondence survives, and in whose memory he wrote a series of orations; they were composed between 362 and 365.

The works of Libanius are valuable as a historical source for the changing world of the later 4th century. His first Oration I is an autobiographical narrative, first written in 374 and revised throughout his life, a scholar's account that ends as an old exile's private journal. In 354, he accepted the chair of rhetoric in Antioch, where he stayed until his death. Although Libanius was not a Christian, his students included such notable Christians as John Chrysostom and Theodore of Mopsuestia. Despite friendship with the restorationist Emperor Julian, he was made an honorary praetorian prefect by the Christian Emperor Theodosius I.

Works   more

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Libanius", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 18
Libanii Opera Volume 6
2010 - Libanii Opera Volume 6 (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781143386619
ISBN-10: 1143386612
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Select Works of the Emperor Julian And Some Pieces of the Sophist Libanius Volume 2
Libanii Sophistae Orationes Et Declamationes V1
2009 - Libanii Sophistae Orationes Et Declamationes V1 [1791 - Italian Edition] (Paperback)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9781104882150
ISBN-10: 1104882159
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Libanii Sophistae Orationes XVII
2009 - Libanii Sophistae Orationes XVii [1754 - Latin Edition] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781104882167
ISBN-10: 1104882167
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Libanii Sophistae Sev Oratoris Antiocheni Orationes Quatuor Constitutionum
2009 - Libanii Sophistae Sev Oratoris Antiocheni Orationes Quatuor Constitutionum [1631 - Latin Edition] (Paperback)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9781104888596
ISBN-10: 1104888599
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Libanii Sophistae Sev Oratoris Antiocheni Orationes Quatuor Constitutionum
2009 - Libanii Sophistae Sev Oratoris Antiocheni Orationes Quatuor Constitutionum [1631 - Latin Edition] (Hardcover)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9781104943332
ISBN-10: 1104943336
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Libanii Sophistae Orationes Et Declamationes V1
2009 - Libanii Sophistae Orationes Et Declamationes V1 [1791 - Italian Edition] (Hardcover)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9781104984724
ISBN-10: 1104984725
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Select Works Of The Emperor Julian V2 And Some Pieces Of The Sophist Libanius
2008 - Select Works of the Emperor Julian V2 and Some Pieces of the Sophist Libanius [1784] (Hardcover)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9781436660501
ISBN-10: 1436660505
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Select Works Of The Emperor Julian V2 And Some Pieces Of The Sophist Libanius
2008 - Select Works of the Emperor Julian V2 and Some Pieces of the Sophist Libanius [1784] (Paperback)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780548902035
ISBN-10: 0548902038
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Libanius and the Dancers Vol 31
1996 - Libanius and the Dancers Vol 31 [Altertumswissenschaftliche Texte und Studien] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9783487102207
ISBN-10: 348710220X
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Libanius Autobiography and Selected Letters
1992 - Libanius Autobiography and Selected Letters [Loeb Classical Library] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780674995284
ISBN-10: 0674995287
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Selected Orations v 2
1977 - Selected Orations V 2 [Loeb Classical Library] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780434994526
ISBN-10: 0434994529
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Libanius Selected Orations Volume II Orations 2 1923 30 33 45 4750
1977 - Libanius Selected Orations Volume II Orations 2 1923 30 33 45 4750 [Loeb Classical Library No. 452] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780674994973
ISBN-10: 0674994973
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Reference, Nonfiction
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Libanius Selected Orations Volume I Julianic Orations
1969 - Libanius Selected Orations Volume I Julianic Orations [Loeb Classical Library No. 451] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780674994966
ISBN-10: 0674994965
Genres: History, Literature & Fiction, Reference
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Autobiography
Autobiography [University Hull Publications] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780197134054
ISBN-10: 019713405X
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Selected Orations v 1
Selected Orations V 1 [Loeb Classical Library] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780434994519
ISBN-10: 0434994510
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Discours [Collection des universites de France - French Edition] (Hardcover)
Antiochikos  Zur heidnischen Renaissance in der Spatantike
Antiochikos Zur Heidnischen Renaissance in Der Spatantike [or. XI - German Edition] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9783851320060
ISBN-10: 3851320069
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