International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Dragana Dimitrijević
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade, Serbia; 
[e-mail]
Cicero in Byzantium: An Example of Roman Antiquarianism
Cicero’s influence on Western European culture is very well known. However, almost nothing 
has been written on Cicero in Byzantium. While it is true that there is not a lot to report, as interest 
in the orator was neither widespread nor enduring, nevertheless, an investigation of references to 
Cicero by Byzantine authors remains a fruitful endeavor. This paper examines references to Cicero 
in Byzantine literature, and in particular their context and function.
According to Egyptian papyri from the 4
th
and 5
th
centuries, Cicero’s works enjoyed significant 
status in school readings. However, they gradually fell out of favor, not only among popular readers 
but also among the educated élite. Cicero’s name became a sort of trope, an antiquarian example used 
when it was desirable to number the most important representatives of Roman culture, especially 
during periods in which the general social and cultural climate emphasized the Roman roots of the 
Byzantine tradition. A reference to Cicero by a Byzantine author did not reflect so much his personal 
preferences, as much as it reflected the prevailing social and literary trends at a given historical 
moment. Thus, we can say that mentioning Cicero’s name is a clear indicator that the author wrote 
in a period which emphasized Roman heritage, as transmitted by Greek intermediaries. Therefore, it 
is not surprising that among the Byzantine authors who referenced Cicero one can find Constantine 
VII Porphyrogennetos and Michael Psellos. Broader knowledge of Cicero’s works, closely tied to 
translating Cicero into the Greek language, only occurred again in the twilight of Byzantium, and 
could be said to represent the completion of a cycle.