Guardians of Language: The Grammarian and Society in Late Antiquity (Transformation of the Classical Heritage, 11)

551 Pages·1997·3.73 MB·English

by  Robert A. Kaster

THE T R A N S F O R M A T I O N OF THE
CLASSICAL HERITAGE
Peter Brown, General Editor
I
Art and Ceremony in Late Antiquity
by Sabine G. MacCormack
II
Synesius of Cyrene: Philosopher-Bishop
by Jay Bregman
III
Theodosian Empresses: Women and Imperial Dominion
in Late Antiquity
by Kenneth G. Holum
IV
John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality
in the Late Fourth Century
by Robert L Wilken
V
Biography in Late Antiquity: A Quest
for the Holy Man
by Patricia Cox
VI
Pachomius: The Making of a Community
in Fourth-Century Egypt
by Philip Rousseau
VII
Change in Byzantine Culture in the Eleventh
and Twelfth Centuries
by A. P. Kazhdan and Ann Wharton Epstein
VIII
Leadership and Community in Late Antique Gaul
by Raymond Van Dam
IX
Homer the Theologian:
Neoplatonist Allegorical Reading
and the Growth of the Epic Tradition
by Robert fomberton
X
Procopius and the Sixth Century
by Averil Cameron
XI
Guardians of Language:
The Grammarian and Society in Late Antiquity
by Robert A. Kaster
XII
Civic Coins and Civic Politics in the Roman East,
180-275 A.D.
by Kenneth W. Harl
XIII
Holy Women of the Syrian Orient
Introduced and Translated by Sebastian P. Brock
and Susan Ashbrook Harvey
XIV
Gregory the Great: Perfection in Imperfection
by Carole Straw
XV
Apex Omnium: Religion in the Res gestae of Ammianus
by R. L Rike
XVI
Dioscorus of Aphrodito: His Work and His World
by Leslie S. B. MacCoull
GUARDIANS OF LANGUAGE:
THE GRAMMARIAN AND SOCIETY IN LATE ANTIQUITY
ROBERT A. RASTER
Guardians of
Language:
The Grammarian
and Society
in Late Antiquity
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley · Los Angeles · London
The publication of this book was made possible in part by a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
First paperback printing 1997
© 1988 by
The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kaster, Robert A.
Guardians of language.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Classical languages — Grammar — Study and
teaching—Rome—History. 2. Education, Ancient 3.
Education—Rome—History. 4. Language teachers—
Rome. 5. Sociolinguistics—Rome. I. Title. II. Series.
PA53.K37 1986 870'.07 85-8593
ISBN 0-520-21225-8 (pbk: alk. paper)
Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of American National Standard for
Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI 239.48-1984. ©
PARENTIBVS OPTIMIS CONIVGIQVE CARISSIMAE
CONTENTS
Preface ix
Abbreviations xv
PART I
Prologue: Anazarbus 3
Letters in the World 9
Chapter 1: The Guardian and His Burden 15
Chapter 2: Professio Litterarum 32
Snmp Variable Definitions 35
Independence and Constraint 50
Polished Speech, the Common Good, and Christianity 70
Mediocrity 97
Chapter 3: The Social Status of the Gramarians 9
Bordeaux Ί00
Beyond 106
A Place to Stand 13
Chapter 4: Pompeius 139
Chapter 5: Servius 169
Gentlemen and Scholars 19
Chapter 6: The Social Relations of the Gramarians 201
vii