THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD IN LATE ANTIQUITYin need of a brief tutorial in Roman history, and again a generation or so later,
when the provincial rhetor Ausonius shot to prominence as praetorian prefect
and consul, and the Egyptian poet Claudian became chief panegyrist of Stili-
cho and Honorius. Literary figures who became prominent in the fifth century
included the historian Olympiodorus from Egyptian Thebes, who described
himself as ‘a poet by profession’, and who was a pagan, well educated in the
classical tradition and much-travelled, distinctly more enterprising than most of
his peers. Priscus, another fifth-century Greek historian and more of a classical
stylist than Olympiodorus, based his history on both Herodotus and Thucy-
dides. He went on a mission to the Hun king Attila in 449 and expressed his
admiration for him in his history, while criticizing Theodosius II for his policy
of trying to buy off Attila. Yet another colourful character was Cyrus of Pano-
polis, also in Egypt, a poet who rose to the positions of prefect of the city, pra-
etorian prefect and consul under Theodosius II, only to be accused of paganism
in court intrigues and sent into exile as bishop of the small town of Cotiaeum
in Phrygia.^16 Such a system perpetuated traditional attitudes, as indeed it was
intended to do; not least, it imposed fixed categories of thought, and in particu-
lar impeded realistic perceptions of relations with barbarian peoples who were
by definition seen as lacking in culture. In general the continuity of late antique
elite education, based on rhetoric and philosophy, and directed to the classical
authors, powerfully maintained and reinforced social attitudes. This was the
paideia which was also essential for Christians ambitious to rise and have influ-
ence in the wider society. The only Christian alternative lay in the monastic and
ascetic formation, and the tension between religion and secular education led to
profound dilemmas for many, Augustine being perhaps the most conspicuous
example.^17 It was a type of education that depended on access to an urban envi-
ronment. For Procopius, as for Justinian, the idea of civilization also went hand
in hand with that of cities; new cities were founded in the reconquered territory,
while others were restored, and as long as the cities survived, the apparatus of
traditional elite culture – baths, education, municipal institutions – had a chance
of surviving as well. Even in Ostrogothic Italy, Amalasuntha, the daughter and
only child of Theodoric, and learned herself, wanted a Roman education for her
son,^18 and defended her choice of Theodahad for her husband (which was to
prove unfortunate) to the Roman senate in terms of his education:
To these good qualities is added enviable literary learning, which con-
fers splendour on a nature deserving praise. There the wise man fi nds
what will make him wiser; the warrior discovers what will strengthen him
with courage; the prince learns how to administer his people with equity;
and there can be no station in life which is not improved by the glorious
knowledge of letters.
(Cassiodorus, Var. X.3, trans. Barnish)Many bishops had also received a high-level education in the classics, such as
Augustine, Severus and Zachariah; others, such as Theodoret of Cyrrhus in