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"Gregory of Nazianzus (ca. 330-390 C.E.) is the earliest known Greek writer to collect and publish his own letters. Students and scholars may know him for his theological contributions, but his genius also extended into literary composition. This book builds a provocative case that Gregory's self-published letter collection constitutes not an epistolary archive, but an autobiography in epistolary form--a single text composed to secure his status among provincial contemporaries and his legacy among later generations of readers. As an autobiographical text, the letter collection utilizes self-presentational strategies that tap into late antique elite ideals in order to shore up Gregory's personal authority. The first chapter situates Gregory's publication of the letter collection within three contexts: his life, ancient autobiographical literature, and the history of Gregory's reception among his later biographers. The second examines the collection's textual history (printed editions and manuscripts) and argues for reconceptualizing its organization and thematic architecture. The third, fourth, and fifth chapters focus on the collection's three self-presentational currents--mastery of eloquence, philosophical supremacy, and friendship with Saint Basil of Caesarea. Despite not holding any office within the church at the time of publication, the letter collection and its self-presentational motifs gave him the tools he needed to construct a personalized authority"--Provided by publisher.

Gregory, --- Criticism and interpretation. --- Gregory, - of Nazianzus, Saint. - Correspondence. --- Gregory, - of Nazianzus, Saint - Criticism and interpretation. --- Gregory, - of Nazianzus, Saint

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"This volume provides the first comprehensive overview of the extant Greek and Latin letter collections of late antiquity (ca. 300-600 C.E.). Bringing together an international team of historians, classicists, and scholars of religion, it illustrates how letter collections advertised an image of the letter writer and introduces the social and textual histories of each collection. Each chapter addresses a major collection of Greek or Latin literary letters, examining their assembly, publication, and transmission. In addition, contributions reveals how late antique letter collections operated as a discrete literary genre with its own conventions, transmission processes, and self-presentational agendas. This book will fundamentally change how people both read these texts and use letters to reconstruct the social history of the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries"--Provided by publisher

Classical letters. --- Classical letters --- Letter writing, Classical. --- Civilization, Classical, in literature. --- History and criticism. --- Letter writing, Classical --- Civilization, Classical, in literature --- History and criticism --- Classical letter writing --- Classical literature --- Classical letters - History and criticism --- Lettres --- Collections --- 4th century. --- 5th century. --- 6th century. --- ancient greece. --- ancient rome. --- ancient texts. --- ancient world. --- anthology. --- classicists. --- classics. --- correspondence. --- extant greek. --- extant latin. --- historian. --- history. --- international. --- late antiquity. --- letter collection. --- letters. --- literary genres. --- literary history. --- literary letters. --- literary. --- religious scholars. --- religious studies. --- scholar. --- social history. --- social studies.