CHAPTER 8 - Ancient Historiography as Rhetoric
CHAPTER 8
Ancient Historiography as Rhetoric
“Contrary to the conclusions of past scholarship, these literary tools [rhetorical techniques] do not undermine generic understandings of the work as historiography in favor of theological readings, rather they support the designation of Luke-Acts as Hellenistic historiography.”
CLARE ROTHSCHILD1
We have noted historians’ interest in historical information; now we must note their interest in rhetorically acceptable presentation. On the elite level of most of our extant sources, this interest involved techniques common to rhetoric; on the less elite level of the Gospels, it probably involved more techniques found in popular storytelling. (In this respect the Gospels probably resemble many other popular biographies.)
There was no academic discipline of “history” in antiquity; the two advanced disciplines were philosophy and rhetoric, and rhetoric (something like “communications” today) was more dominant in public discourse. Because of this, rhetoric pervaded Greco-Roman life, and many of the elite with most leisure to write history were orators. Their works consequently often reflect careful literary design meant to appeal to their audience’s sophisticated tastes.