ePrints

The Casting of Julian the Apostate 'in the Likeness' of Alexander the Great: a Topos in Antique Historiography and its Modern Echoes

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Rowland Smith

Downloads

Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.

Abstract

Abstract Parallels between the cases of Julian and Alexander the Great were repeatedly drawn in antiquity, and what some of the antique testimonies postulate has a modern counterpart in a strand of scholarship that judges Julian obsessively inclined to identify with, or rival, Alexander. This paper explicates the representation of Julian as an 'Alexander-imitator' in both its ancient and modern ramifications, surveying its development as a literary construct and reviewing its standing as a historical hypothesis in the light of Julian's interest in Alexander as his own writings and reliably attested actions disclose it: it disputes the currently influential theory of obsessive emulation, and proposes an alternative interpretation.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Smith R

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Histos

Year: 2011

Volume: 5

Pages: 44-106

Print publication date: 01/01/2011

ISSN (print): 2046-5955

ISSN (electronic): 2046-5963

Publisher: University of Durham, Department of Classics

URL: http://research.ncl.ac.uk/histos/documents/2011.02SmithCastingofJulian.pdf

Share