Orosius and the Rhetoric of History

Orosius' Histories, written in 416/7, have long been seen as a paradigm for the Christian understanding of history. Little attention has been paid to the literary form and tools which shape the Histories, or to the contemporary practice of writing history. Drawing on textual and rhetorical analysis, this book proposes a major revaluation of the work, arguing that it is much more subtle and complex than usually assumed. At the same time, the bookuses Orosius as a lens to consider fourth- and fifth-century historiography and to question traditional distinctions between pagan and Christian historiography.

Peter Van Nuffelen is research professor at Ghent University, Belgium. His work focuses on Greco-Roman religion and the history and historiography of late Antiquity. Recent publications include the monograph Rethinking the Gods. Philosophical Readings of Religion in the Post-Hellenistic Period (Cambridge, 2011), two edited volumes with S. Mitchell, Monotheism in Late Antiquity Between Christians and Pagans (Leuven, 2010) and One God. Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire (1-4th cent. A.D) (Cambridge, 2010), and the co-edited volume Episcopal Succession in Late Antiquity (Berlin, 2011).