Φήμη in Herodian’s Roman History

Chrysanthos S. Chrysanthou

doi:10.1515/phil-2023-0006

Article

Φήμη in Herodian’s Roman History

Chrysanthos S. Chrysanthou

Published/Copyright: November 10, 2023

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From the journal Philologus Volume 167 Issue 2

Abstract

This article offers a usage study of the word φήμη throughout Herodian’s Roman History. It sets Herodian’s practice in a broader literary picture that includes other historians, but also epic and the novel, and then suggests that the extremely high frequency of φήμη in Herodian is unique among Greek-language historians and that Herodian is indebted to Latin-language historiography for this technique. The following sections examine how Herodian perceives the phenomenon of φήμη and makes it a salient feature of his historiographical strategy. The discussion shows that φήμη, regardless of its truth status, has multiple functions in Herodian’s narrative. First, it contributes to the portrayal of historical agents. Second, it is a crucial dramatic factor that signals turning points in the story and generates vividness and an atmospheric narrative. Third, it acts as a plot-driver in the story. Fourth, it has a role in the composition of the narrative by creating intratextual associations and narrative patterns. Finally, it has metanarrative ramifications, since there is a parallel between the use of φήμη by the historical agents and by Herodian himself. Overall, the analysis advances our understanding of Herodian’s narrative technique and his construction of historical truth.

Keywords: Herodian; φήμη; narrative technique; character/plot and historiography

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the anonymous readers of this journal for their extremely useful comments and suggestions. This article is a result of the work of my DFG project “Soziales Bewusstsein („social minds“) im antiken griechischen Roman und in der antiken griechischen Historiographie der Kaiserzeit”. I gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

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Published Online: 2023-11-10

Published in Print: 2023-11-08

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/phil-2023-0006

Keywords for this article

Herodian; φήμη; narrative technique; character/plot and historiography