Rhetorical School of Gaza

Last updated February 20, 2024

The Rhetorical School of Gaza was a group of influential scholars based in Gaza in Late Antiquity (5th–6th centuries), many of whom exhibited a teacher-pupil relationship and participated as orators in local public life.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Famous chairs of the school included Aeneas, Procopius, and Choricius.^[1]

Description

Rhetoric played an important role throughout the ancient world, not only in poetry and the art of persuasion but also directly in the training of lawyers, orators, historians, scholars, politicians and judges.^[5] Although Libanus had already remarked that Gaza was a "workshop of eloquence", the peak of rhetorical practice began from the middle of the fifth century onwards with the group of intellectuals that formed the school of Gaza.^[4] The city also boasted an important library that could to a certain extent compete with Athens, Alexandria, Beirut and Constantinople, and in which the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caeserea wrote a scandalous biography of the empress Theodora. Just as Beirut became the center of elite legal studies, Gaza became a home for classics and premier "university town" for philosophy.^[5]

Scholarly and rhetorical output of the School at Gaza included traditional Hellenic forms common to the classically educated Christian elite of the era.^[1] As in other places, the initial period of alarm and uncertainty with which classical literature and Hellenistic learning had been looked upon had passed and scholars considered the classical education as valuable for the training of Christians. Thus, Choricius of Gaza stated in his panegyric of the bishop Marcian that it was important for a bishop to be trained both in Christian and pagan literature.^[6] Both Procopius and Aeneas of Gaza were influenced by Neoplatonism which they synthesized with early orthodox Christian ideas.^[5]

Among the important collections of writings to have survived are letters which were exchanged in Gaza and also with scholars in Alexandria during this time.^[7] Several members of the school of Gaza had attended schools in Alexandria themselves, among them Procopius, Aeneas, and Zacharias Rhetor and Gaza has been called at times "a cultural colony of Alexandria".^[8]

As was common in rhetorical schools, individual teachers would attract a circle of pupils. These teachers would present compositions to their students both to serve as models as well as for their feedback while students would present their speeches to the master for criticism.^[9] Apart from rhetoric, the other subjects taught at the school were law, grammar, logic and philosophy and possibly Latin which could have been useful for the further study of law in Beirut. It seems that the public funded the chairs of Procopius and Choricius.^[5]

Interactions within Gazan society

The members of the school were also in close contact with the many monastic communities in the Gaza region.^[6] Thus Aeneas of Gaza consulted Abba Isaiah the Solitary on the philosophical writings of Plato, Aristotle and Plontius,^[10] while the ascetic education of monastic figures such as Dorotheus of Gaza were influenced by the intellectual environment in Gaza stimulated by the members of the school.^[11] Eric Wheeler suggests that Procopius was the teacher of Dorotheus and that Procopius is the unnamed sophist mentioned in Dorotheus' Discourse 2.36.^[8]

Not much is known about the composition of the disciples of the school of Gaza, however it is likely that it included apart from Gazans also students from wider Palestine, Jews and Ghassanid Arabs.^[5]^[9]

Impact

Historian Nur Masalha argues that the Rhetorical School at Gaza helped turn Byzantine Palaestina into "one of the most important centres of learning and intellectual activity in Late Antiquity," even eclipsing other major cities in the Mediterranean region, namely Athens and Alexandria.^[12] He writes that the "soft power" represented by the school and the contemporary Library of Caesarea-Palaestina afforded Palestine a degree of local autonomy in the Byzantine era.^[12]

Members

Aeneas of Gaza, Neo-platonic philosopher (c. 450-518)
Choricius of Gaza, sophist and rhetorician (fl. 520)
John of Gaza, grammarian and poet (fl. 525)
Marcianus of Gaza, bishop of Gaza (fl. 536)
Procopius of Gaza, sophist and rhetorician (465–528)
Procopius of Caesarea (uncertain), scholar and historian (c. 500-565)
Timotheus of Gaza (uncertain), grammarian (fl. 512)
Zacharias Rhetor, bishop and ecclesiastic historian (died before 553)

Related Research Articles

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse (trivium) along with grammar and logic/dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or writers use to inform, persuade, and motivate their audiences. Rhetoric also provides heuristics for understanding, discovering, and developing arguments for particular situations.

Year 518 (DXVIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paulus without colleague. The denomination 518 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Year 465 (CDLXV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hermenericus and Basiliscus. The denomination 465 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Choricius of Gaza was a Gaza-based Greek sophist and rhetorician of Late Antiquity. With writings dating to the early sixth century, he flourished in the time of Anastasius I as a scholar and public orator. He is considered as part of the Rhetorical School of Gaza, of which he later became the chair.

Procopius of Gaza was a Christian sophist and rhetorician, one of the most important representatives of the famous school of his native place. Here he spent nearly the whole of his life teaching and writing and took no part in the theological movements of his time.

Isocrates was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education through his teaching and written works.

Gaza may refer to:

Aeneas of Gaza was a Neo-Platonic philosopher and a convert to Christianity who flourished towards the end of the fifth century. He is considered part of the Rhetorical School of Gaza, which flourished in Byzantine Palaestina in the fifth and sixth centuries.

Byzantine university refers to higher education during the Byzantine Empire.

Palaestina Prima or Palaestina I was a Byzantine province that existed from the late 4th century until the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s, in the region of Palestine. It was temporarily lost to the Sassanid Empire in 614, but re-conquered in 628.

Zacharias of Mytilene, also known as Zacharias Scholasticus or Zacharias Rhetor, was a bishop and ecclesiastical historian.

Byzantine rhetoric refers to rhetorical theorizing and production during the time of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine rhetoric is significant in part because of the sheer volume of rhetorical works produced during this period. Rhetoric was the most important and difficult topic studied in the Byzantine education system, beginning at the Pandidakterion in early fifth century Constantinople, where the school emphasized the study of rhetoric with eight teaching chairs, five in Greek and three in Latin. The hard training of Byzantine rhetoric provided skills and credentials for citizens to attain public office in the imperial service, or posts of authority within the Church.

Timotheus of Gaza, sometimes referred to as Timothy of Gaza, was a Greek Christian grammarian active during the reign of Anastasius, i.e. 491–518. His works became very popular within the Byzantine and Arabic scientific literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law school of Berytus</span> Ancient school of Roman law, to 551 AD

The law school of Berytus was a center for the study of Roman law in classical antiquity located in Berytus. It flourished under the patronage of the Roman emperors and functioned as the Roman Empire's preeminent center of jurisprudence until its destruction in AD 551.

Feminist rhetoric emphasizes the narratives of all demographics, including women and other marginalized groups, into the consideration or practice of rhetoric. Feminist rhetoric does not focus exclusively on the rhetoric of women or feminists, but instead prioritizes the feminist principles of inclusivity, community, and equality over the classic, patriarchal model of persuasion that ultimately separates people from their own experience. Seen as the act of producing or the study of feminist discourses, feminist rhetoric emphasizes and supports the lived experiences and histories of all human beings in all manner of experiences. It also redefines traditional delivery sites to include non-traditional locations such as demonstrations, letter writing, and digital processes, and alternative practices such as rhetorical listening and productive silence. According to author and rhetorical feminist Cheryl Glenn in her book Rhetorical Feminism and This Thing Called Hope (2018), "rhetorical feminism is a set of tactics that multiplies rhetorical opportunities in terms of who counts as a rhetor, who can inhabit an audience, and what those audiences can do." Rhetorical feminism is a strategy that counters traditional forms of rhetoric, favoring dialogue over monologue and seeking to redefine the way audiences view rhetorical appeals.

Diophantus the Arab was an Arab teacher and sophist at Athens during the 4th century AD. His most famous student was Libanius (336–340). He was active during the reign of Julian the Apostate (361–363).

Gessius of Petra was a physician, iatrosophist and pagan philosopher active in Alexandria in the late 5th and early 6th century.

The Diocese of Gaza was a bishopric in the Holy Land. Its episcopal see was the city of Gaza and it is now a vacant Latin Catholic titular see.

References

1 2 3 Webb, Ruth (2018). "Gaza, schools and rhetoric at". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity . Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 648. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8.
↑ Cribiore, Raffaella (2018). "education and schools, Greek". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity . Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 520–521. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8.
↑ Vikan, Gary; Kazhdan, Alexander; Ma῾oz, Zvi 'Uri (1991). "Gaza". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 825. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
1 2 Penella, Robert J. (2020-05-01). "The rhetorical works of the school of Gaza". Byzantinische Zeitschrift. 113 (1): 111–174. doi:10.1515/bz-2020-0007. ISSN 1868-9027. S2CID 218666761.
1 2 3 4 5 Masalha, Nur (24 February 2022). Palestine Across Millennia: A History of Literacy, Learning and Educational Revolutions. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 81–88. ISBN 978-0-7556-4296-0 . Retrieved 8 January 2024.
1 2 Glanville Downey (15 May 2017). "The Christian Schools of Palestine: A Chapter in Literary History". In Johnson, Scott Fitzgerald (ed.). Languages and Cultures of Eastern Christianity: Greek. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-351-92323-1 . Retrieved 8 January 2024.
↑ Cribiore, Raffaella (2018). "letters and letter writing, Greek". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity . Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 899–900. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8.
1 2 Westberg, David (2017). "The Letter Collection of Procopius of Gaza". In Sogno, Christiana; Storin, Bradley K.; Watts, Edward J. (eds.). Late antique letter collections: a critical introduction and reference guide (1. paperback print ed.). Oakland, Calif: Univers. of Calif. Press. p. 400. ISBN 9780520281448 . Retrieved 8 January 2024.
1 2 Hidary, Richard (2018). Rabbis and classical rhetoric: sophistic education and oratory in the Talmud and Midrash. Cambridge University Press. pp. 7, 79, 82. ISBN 978-1-107-17740-6 . Retrieved 8 January 2024.
↑ Bitton-Ashkelony, Brouria; Kofsky, Aryeh (February 2006). The Monastic School of Gaza. Brill. pp. 22, 27. ISBN 9789047408444 . Retrieved 12 November 2023.
↑ Champion, Michael (2022). Dorotheus of Gaza and ascetic education (First ed.). Oxford New York (N.Y.): Oxford university press. p. 16. ISBN 9780198869269 . Retrieved 7 January 2024.
1 2 Masalha, Nur (2018). Palestine : a four thousand year history. London. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-1-78699-272-7. OCLC 1046449706.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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[:0-1] 1 2 3 Webb, Ruth (2018). "Gaza, schools and rhetoric at". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity . Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 648. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8.

[2] Cribiore, Raffaella (2018). "education and schools, Greek". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity . Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 520–521. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8.

[3] Vikan, Gary; Kazhdan, Alexander; Ma῾oz, Zvi 'Uri (1991). "Gaza". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 825. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.

[Penella-4] 1 2 Penella, Robert J. (2020-05-01). "The rhetorical works of the school of Gaza". Byzantinische Zeitschrift. 113 (1): 111–174. doi:10.1515/bz-2020-0007. ISSN 1868-9027. S2CID 218666761.

[Masalha-5] 1 2 3 4 5 Masalha, Nur (24 February 2022). Palestine Across Millennia: A History of Literacy, Learning and Educational Revolutions. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 81–88. ISBN 978-0-7556-4296-0 . Retrieved 8 January 2024.

[Glanville-6] 1 2 Glanville Downey (15 May 2017). "The Christian Schools of Palestine: A Chapter in Literary History". In Johnson, Scott Fitzgerald (ed.). Languages and Cultures of Eastern Christianity: Greek. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-351-92323-1 . Retrieved 8 January 2024.

[7] Cribiore, Raffaella (2018). "letters and letter writing, Greek". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity . Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 899–900. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8.

[Westberg-8] 1 2 Westberg, David (2017). "The Letter Collection of Procopius of Gaza". In Sogno, Christiana; Storin, Bradley K.; Watts, Edward J. (eds.). Late antique letter collections: a critical introduction and reference guide (1. paperback print ed.). Oakland, Calif: Univers. of Calif. Press. p. 400. ISBN 9780520281448 . Retrieved 8 January 2024.

[Hidary-9] 1 2 Hidary, Richard (2018). Rabbis and classical rhetoric: sophistic education and oratory in the Talmud and Midrash. Cambridge University Press. pp. 7, 79, 82. ISBN 978-1-107-17740-6 . Retrieved 8 January 2024.

[BittonKofsky-10] Bitton-Ashkelony, Brouria; Kofsky, Aryeh (February 2006). The Monastic School of Gaza. Brill. pp. 22, 27. ISBN 9789047408444 . Retrieved 12 November 2023.

[Champion-11] Champion, Michael (2022). Dorotheus of Gaza and ascetic education (First ed.). Oxford New York (N.Y.): Oxford university press. p. 16. ISBN 9780198869269 . Retrieved 7 January 2024.

[:1-12] 1 2 Masalha, Nur (2018). Palestine : a four thousand year history. London. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-1-78699-272-7. OCLC 1046449706.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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