Choricius of Gaza ( el, Χορίκιος) was a Gaza-based

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

sophist A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ' ...

and rhetorician of

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

. With writings dating to the early sixth century, he flourished in the time of Anastasius I (AD 491–518) as a scholar and public orator. He is considered as part of the Rhetorical School of Gaza, of which he later became the chair.Cribiore, Raffaella. "education and schools, Greek." In ''The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity''. Oxford University Press, 2018. Choricius was the pupil of

Procopius of Gaza Procopius of Gaza ( 465–528 AD) was a Christian sophist and rhetorician, one of the most important representatives of the famous school of his native place.Vikan, Gary, Alexander Kazhdan, and Zvi 'Uri Ma῾oz. "Gaza." In ''The Oxford Dictiona ...

, who must be distinguished from the historian

Procopius of Caesarea Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gen ...

Style and works

A number of Choricius'

declamation Declamation (from the Latin: ''declamatio'') is an artistic form of public speaking. It is a dramatic oration designed to express through articulation, emphasis and gesture the full sense of the text being conveyed. History In Ancient Rome, decla ...

s and descriptive treatises have been preserved. The declamations, which are in many cases accompanied by explanatory commentaries, chiefly consist of panegyrics, funeral orations and the stock themes of the rhetorical schools. His wedding speeches, wishing prosperity to the bride and bridegroom, strike out a new line. Choricius was also the author of descriptions of works of art after the manner of

Philostratus Philostratus or Lucius Flavius Philostratus (; grc-gre, Φιλόστρατος ; c. 170 – 247/250 AD), called "the Athenian", was a Greek sophist of the Roman imperial period. His father was a minor sophist of the same name. He was born probab ...

. The moral maxims, which were a constant feature of his writings, were largely drawn upon by Macanus Chrysocephalas, metropolitan of Philadelphia (middle of the 14th century), in his ''Rodonia'' (rose-garden), a voluminous collection of ethical sayings. The style of Choricius is praised by Photius as pure and elegant, but he is censured for lack of naturalness. A special feature of his style is the persistent avoidance of hiatus, peculiar to what is called the school of Gaza.

References

, 1929 (repr. Stuttgart, 1972). ;Translations *Fotios K. Litsas, ''Choricius of Gaza: An Approach to His Work. Introduction, translation, commentary'', University of Chicago dissertation, 1980. *Robert J. Penella (ed.), ''Rhetorical Exercises from Late Antiquity: A Translation of Choricius of Gaza's'' Preliminary Talks ''and'' Declamations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. ;Secondary literature *Catherine Saliou (ed.), ''Gaza dans l'Antiquité Tardive: Archéologie, rhétorique et histoire''. Salerno: Helios, 2005.

External links

*Choricius
''Orationes, declamationes, fragmenta''
ed. Boissonade (1846) Roman-era Sophists Ancient Greek rhetoricians 5th-century births 6th-century deaths 5th-century Byzantine writers 5th-century Byzantine people 6th-century Byzantine people {{AncientGreece-writer-stub

Style and works

References

Further reading

External links