Alterity in the Roman Empire. Eusebius of Caesarea and the ἔκφρασις of the Holly Sepulture

Abstract

None of the studies about Life of Constantine contains a complete analysis of the text based on the rhetoric theory. Even though there are some comments about the style of Eusebius’ work, the allusions to the preliminary exercises called progymnásmata, whose impact could be seen through many authors, are almost inexistent. Indeed, the internal characteristics of Life of Constantine, where classical rhetoric and Christian elements are mixed, turn it into a very good example of cultural alterity; as a result, this work has been considered as a literary hybrid with a mixture of imperial encomium and biography and, as it will be seen, it was complemented by rhetorical resources, for instance by the ἔκφρασις and the σύγκρισις.