| Title | The Limits of Late Antiquity: Philosophy between Rome and Iran |
| Type | Article |
| Language | English |
| Date | 2002 |
| Journal | Ancient World |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 45–69 |
| Categories | no categories |
| Author(s) | Walker, Joel Thomas |
| Editor(s) | |
| Translator(s) |
| As a series of recent retrospectives makes clear, the study of late antiquity has witnessed dramatic growth during the past twenty years, with increasing signs of formal recognition during the 1990s. This rapid expansion has been accompanied by an implicit debate over the most useful chronological and geographical boundaries for the emergent field. Although the "world of late antiquity" ostensibly includes the whole of the Sasanian and early Islamic Near East, the current shape of the field, as defined especially by conferences and publications, remains heavily weighted towards the Mediterranean world of the Roman Empire and its successor states in western Europe. Many recent discussions of the "late antique world" are, in fact, studies of late Roman history that make little attempt to incorporate regions east of the Euphrates. Integrating the Sasanian Empire into the study of late antiquity will be a difficult task. A variety of obstacles, outlined in section II above, beset the study of Sasanian history, and substantial linguistic barriers limit access to the Sasanian world for scholars trained in the Greco-Roman sources. Modern political geography has also proved to be a major barrier for historians and archaeologists interested in regions "east of Byzantium." In the current gap between Sasanian and late Roman history, however, lies also much potential for future research. To develop a more interdisciplinary vision of late antiquity, scholars will need to explore more closely the connections and contrasts between the worlds of Byzantium and Sasanian Iran. Some progress in this direction has been made in the fields of military, diplomatic, and economic history; far more work needs to be done in the areas of cultural and intellectual history, not least the history of philosophy. The recent collapse of the Soviet Union during the late 1980s has reminded us how quickly changes in contemporary geography can lead to comparable shifts in the conceptualization of historical geography. The world of late antiquity may also look very different, if and when more scholars have greater access to travel, teach, and again conduct archaeological fieldwork in Iraq, Iran, and neighboring countries. The emergence of the field of late antiquity represents a major opportunity for Sasanian history, precisely because it invites us to look across the traditional disciplinary division between Mediterranean and Near Eastern history. Modern interpretations of the philosophers’ journey to the court of Khosrow Anoshirvan in 531/532 C.E. reveal how often this disciplinary division has obscured the richness of intellectual life at the late Sasanian court, as well as the intensity of its contacts with Greek and Syrian intellectuals. From Gibbon through Bury and down to Alan Cameron’s influential article on the "Closing of the Academy," there has been a strong tendency among Greco-Roman historians to give too much credence to Agathias’ hostile depiction of Sasanian philhellenism. Near Eastern historians, such as Rawlinson and Christensen, and the occasional Byzantinist such as Jean-François Duneau, have offered more optimistic readings of Khosrow’s philosophical patronage, but without sufficient attention to the tensions involved in the Sasanian encounter with Hellenism. The task that lies ahead, building on the work of Michel Tardieu, is to explain the precise quality of Sasanian Hellenism, its social and political context, cultural milieu, and intellectual legacy. The career of Uranius, and the modern debate over the peregrinations of Damascius, prove that this investigation must include not only Athens, Alexandria, and Constantinople, but also Ctesiphon, Harran, and Gondishapur. Khosrow’s patronage of Greek philosophers thus reveals the advantages, indeed the necessity, of a world of late antiquity that includes the whole of the Sasanian and early Islamic Near East. [conclusion p. 67-69] |
| Online Resources | https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/AVLAM9PVkGxCgRz |
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Modern political geography has also proved to be a major barrier for historians and archaeologists interested in regions \"east of Byzantium.\" In the current gap between Sasanian and late Roman history, however, lies also much potential for future research. To develop a more interdisciplinary vision of late antiquity, scholars will need to explore more closely the connections and contrasts between the worlds of Byzantium and Sasanian Iran. Some progress in this direction has been made in the fields of military, diplomatic, and economic history; far more work needs to be done in the areas of cultural and intellectual history, not least the history of philosophy. The recent collapse of the Soviet Union during the late 1980s has reminded us how quickly changes in contemporary geography can lead to comparable shifts in the conceptualization of historical geography. The world of late antiquity may also look very different, if and when more scholars have greater access to travel, teach, and again conduct archaeological fieldwork in Iraq, Iran, and neighboring countries.\r\n\r\nThe emergence of the field of late antiquity represents a major opportunity for Sasanian history, precisely because it invites us to look across the traditional disciplinary division between Mediterranean and Near Eastern history. Modern interpretations of the philosophers\u2019 journey to the court of Khosrow Anoshirvan in 531\/532 C.E. reveal how often this disciplinary division has obscured the richness of intellectual life at the late Sasanian court, as well as the intensity of its contacts with Greek and Syrian intellectuals. From Gibbon through Bury and down to Alan Cameron\u2019s influential article on the \"Closing of the Academy,\" there has been a strong tendency among Greco-Roman historians to give too much credence to Agathias\u2019 hostile depiction of Sasanian philhellenism. Near Eastern historians, such as Rawlinson and Christensen, and the occasional Byzantinist such as Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Duneau, have offered more optimistic readings of Khosrow\u2019s philosophical patronage, but without sufficient attention to the tensions involved in the Sasanian encounter with Hellenism. The task that lies ahead, building on the work of Michel Tardieu, is to explain the precise quality of Sasanian Hellenism, its social and political context, cultural milieu, and intellectual legacy. The career of Uranius, and the modern debate over the peregrinations of Damascius, prove that this investigation must include not only Athens, Alexandria, and Constantinople, but also Ctesiphon, Harran, and Gondishapur. 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| Title | The Limits of Late Antiquity: Philosophy between Rome and Iran |
| Type | Article |
| Language | English |
| Date | 2002 |
| Journal | Ancient World |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 45–69 |
| Categories | no categories |
| Author(s) | Walker, Joel Thomas |
| Editor(s) | |
| Translator(s) |
As a series of recent retrospectives makes clear, the study of late antiquity has witnessed dramatic growth during the past twenty years, with increasing signs of formal recognition during the 1990s. This rapid expansion has been accompanied by an implicit debate over the most useful chronological and geographical boundaries for the emergent field. Although the "world of late antiquity" ostensibly includes the whole of the Sasanian and early Islamic Near East, the current shape of the field, as defined especially by conferences and publications, remains heavily weighted towards the Mediterranean world of the Roman Empire and its successor states in western Europe. Many recent discussions of the "late antique world" are, in fact, studies of late Roman history that make little attempt to incorporate regions east of the Euphrates. Integrating the Sasanian Empire into the study of late antiquity will be a difficult task. A variety of obstacles, outlined in section II above, beset the study of Sasanian history, and substantial linguistic barriers limit access to the Sasanian world for scholars trained in the Greco-Roman sources. Modern political geography has also proved to be a major barrier for historians and archaeologists interested in regions "east of Byzantium." In the current gap between Sasanian and late Roman history, however, lies also much potential for future research. To develop a more interdisciplinary vision of late antiquity, scholars will need to explore more closely the connections and contrasts between the worlds of Byzantium and Sasanian Iran. Some progress in this direction has been made in the fields of military, diplomatic, and economic history; far more work needs to be done in the areas of cultural and intellectual history, not least the history of philosophy. The recent collapse of the Soviet Union during the late 1980s has reminded us how quickly changes in contemporary geography can lead to comparable shifts in the conceptualization of historical geography. The world of late antiquity may also look very different, if and when more scholars have greater access to travel, teach, and again conduct archaeological fieldwork in Iraq, Iran, and neighboring countries. The emergence of the field of late antiquity represents a major opportunity for Sasanian history, precisely because it invites us to look across the traditional disciplinary division between Mediterranean and Near Eastern history. Modern interpretations of the philosophers’ journey to the court of Khosrow Anoshirvan in 531/532 C.E. reveal how often this disciplinary division has obscured the richness of intellectual life at the late Sasanian court, as well as the intensity of its contacts with Greek and Syrian intellectuals. From Gibbon through Bury and down to Alan Cameron’s influential article on the "Closing of the Academy," there has been a strong tendency among Greco-Roman historians to give too much credence to Agathias’ hostile depiction of Sasanian philhellenism. Near Eastern historians, such as Rawlinson and Christensen, and the occasional Byzantinist such as Jean-François Duneau, have offered more optimistic readings of Khosrow’s philosophical patronage, but without sufficient attention to the tensions involved in the Sasanian encounter with Hellenism. The task that lies ahead, building on the work of Michel Tardieu, is to explain the precise quality of Sasanian Hellenism, its social and political context, cultural milieu, and intellectual legacy. The career of Uranius, and the modern debate over the peregrinations of Damascius, prove that this investigation must include not only Athens, Alexandria, and Constantinople, but also Ctesiphon, Harran, and Gondishapur. Khosrow’s patronage of Greek philosophers thus reveals the advantages, indeed the necessity, of a world of late antiquity that includes the whole of the Sasanian and early Islamic Near East. [conclusion p. 67-69] |
| Online Resources | https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/AVLAM9PVkGxCgRz |
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Modern political geography has also proved to be a major barrier for historians and archaeologists interested in regions \"east of Byzantium.\" In the current gap between Sasanian and late Roman history, however, lies also much potential for future research. To develop a more interdisciplinary vision of late antiquity, scholars will need to explore more closely the connections and contrasts between the worlds of Byzantium and Sasanian Iran. Some progress in this direction has been made in the fields of military, diplomatic, and economic history; far more work needs to be done in the areas of cultural and intellectual history, not least the history of philosophy. The recent collapse of the Soviet Union during the late 1980s has reminded us how quickly changes in contemporary geography can lead to comparable shifts in the conceptualization of historical geography. The world of late antiquity may also look very different, if and when more scholars have greater access to travel, teach, and again conduct archaeological fieldwork in Iraq, Iran, and neighboring countries.\r\n\r\nThe emergence of the field of late antiquity represents a major opportunity for Sasanian history, precisely because it invites us to look across the traditional disciplinary division between Mediterranean and Near Eastern history. Modern interpretations of the philosophers\u2019 journey to the court of Khosrow Anoshirvan in 531\/532 C.E. reveal how often this disciplinary division has obscured the richness of intellectual life at the late Sasanian court, as well as the intensity of its contacts with Greek and Syrian intellectuals. From Gibbon through Bury and down to Alan Cameron\u2019s influential article on the \"Closing of the Academy,\" there has been a strong tendency among Greco-Roman historians to give too much credence to Agathias\u2019 hostile depiction of Sasanian philhellenism. Near Eastern historians, such as Rawlinson and Christensen, and the occasional Byzantinist such as Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Duneau, have offered more optimistic readings of Khosrow\u2019s philosophical patronage, but without sufficient attention to the tensions involved in the Sasanian encounter with Hellenism. The task that lies ahead, building on the work of Michel Tardieu, is to explain the precise quality of Sasanian Hellenism, its social and political context, cultural milieu, and intellectual legacy. The career of Uranius, and the modern debate over the peregrinations of Damascius, prove that this investigation must include not only Athens, Alexandria, and Constantinople, but also Ctesiphon, Harran, and Gondishapur. 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