Writing Rhetorical Prolegomena in the Later Roman Empire

Abstract

Prolegomena to Rhetoric (collected and edited by Hugo Rabe in 1931) are a testimony to late antique rhetoric as it was taught in schools by sophists. Connecting the content of some of these texts to their authors for the first time allows us to explore late antique education and the role of some previously neglected individuals in late antique rhetorical teaching. Prolegomena were introductory lectures to rhetoric classes by sophists. They began their classes by discussing the characteristics of rhetoric and its history. They sometimes published these lectures as a prelude to treatises like those composed by Hermogenes of Tarsus. The authors of these prolegomena could be influential in politics, as suggested by sources concerning them and some other sophists. Reading and commenting on authors such as Hermogenes was helpful to those who wished to improve their rhetorical skills and thus further their political careers in the centres of power.