This book gathers vital contributions examining rhetoric in the Middle Byzantine Period, focusing on the ‘corpus Hermogenianum.’ This much-read compendium of treatises and exercises was first consolidated in the fifth and sixth centuries CE, then successively copied and commented on until the end of the Empire in the East. A staple in the curriculum for the education of those entering service in the imperial administration, military, or the church, the corpus generated an array of commentaries that is still understudied. This volume examines the entangled, dialogic nature of these texts. With a focus on the period from the ninth to twelfth centuries, this book aims to provide a more integrated understanding of the exegetical work done around the corpus Hermogenianum. In doing so, it shows how generations of Byzantine scholars grappled with key political and philosophical issues of their time. It represents a significant advance in the study of Byzantine rhetoric and political culture.

Aglae Pizzone is Professor of Ancient and Medieval Greek in the Department of Language, Culture, History and Communication at the University of Southern Denmark and Chair of Humanities at the Danish Institute for Advanced Study at that university.