CFP: Panel of the IPS at the Society for Classical Studies (San Diego, Jan. 3-6, 2019)
Following is the call for papers for a panel organized by the USA section of the International Plutarch Society. The panel will be part of the annual meeting of the Society for Classical Studies, January 3-6, 2019, in San Diego, California. Truth to Power: Literary, Rhetorical, and Philosophical Responses to Autocratic Rule in the Roman Empire Sponsored by the International Plutarch Society. Organized by Mark Beck, University of South Carolina, and Jeffrey Beneker, University of Wisconsin, Madison. If the dedicatory letter to Trajan that serves as preface to Plutarch’s Sayings of Kings and Commanders is genuine, then Plutarch wished the emperor to reap what he called “the first fruits of philosophy” by reading the wise words of “famous leaders, lawmakers, and rulers” selected from the Greek past. Dio of Prusa, rather than send a letter, stood in person before Trajan to deliver four orations on kingship, relying (as did Plutarch) on the sayings of ancient leaders, but also tr...