‘Visual Epitome in Late Antique Art’ in M. Formisano and P. Sacchi (eds.) Epitomic Writing in Late Antiquity and Beyond: Forms of Unabridged Writing, London (Bloomsbury), 2023, 202-229 (original) (raw)

Presented at the Classical Association Annual Conference in April 2015 (and with a fuller version published in Scripta Antiqua: Les historiens grecs et romains: entre sources et modèles, edd. O. Devillers & B. B. Sebastiani) this paper examines how historiographers from Herodotus to Theopompos use epigram in their histories. While some writers pay attention to the epigram's material context, this becomes increasingly less common in the late fourth century BCE. This paper suggests that the rise of collections in Lycurgan Athens made it easier for historiographers to use epigram in their histories while simultaneously removing epigram from its material context. This move towards compilation and collection should be seen in light of wider cultural phenomena such as the Lycurgan state texts of tragedy and the activities of Aristotle and his school.

From around 360 to 410 AD, most published works on Latin history were epitomes, i.e., summaries that condensed the preceding longer works to 10-30% of their original length (often shorter than 100 pages by modern-day page count). One of the main aims of epitomes was to provide new men in politics and administration with necessary basic knowledge of Roman history; sometimes epitomes were also 'misused' by Christian authors for apologetic aims. As such, they had quite a broad, heterogeneous public. Renaissance epitomes (presented here in a selection from 15th-century Italy) didn't serve any particular political goals. They were written by humanists for learned readers who were often looking for intellectual entertainment-as opposed to the practical and easy-to-read epitomes of late antiquity, which were aimed at inerudite readers. The change in media from manuscripts to printed books increased the impact and circulation of late antique epitomes, but did not have the same positive effect for Renaissance epitomes.

This chapter introduces the role of images, their power, and agency. Starting with the anthropological and powerful character of images, focus shifts to a historical specification of potential uses of images. As a case study, discussion refers to the transition from Hellenistic to early imperial Italy, a period when the frequency of images massively increased, and new media, materials, and production techniques came into play. This entailed not only the creation of new visual formulas and styles but also new image contexts and perceptual situations. Examination of this historical process allows for a reflection on the agents involved, as well as their specific interests and forms of (inter-)action. This, in turn, will allow for some insights into the historically specific interests invested in images, as well as some general reflections on the role of images.