Himerius

Himerius (Greek: Ἱμέριος; c. 315 – c. 386) was a Greek sophist and rhetorician. 24 of his orations have reached us complete, and fragments of 12 others survive.

Himerius was born at Prusias ad Hypium in Bithynia. He completed his education at Athens, whence he was summoned to Constantinople in 362 by the emperor Julian, possibly to act as his private secretary. After the death of Julian in the following year Himerius returned to Athens, where he established a school of rhetoric, which he compared with that of Isocrates and the Delphic oracle, owing to the number of those who flocked from all parts of the world to hear him. Amongst his pupils were Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil the Great, bishop of Caesarea.

In recognition of his merits, civic rights and the membership of the Areopagus were conferred upon him. The death of his son Rufinus (his lament for whom, called the Μονῳδία, is extant) and that of a favourite daughter greatly affected his health; in his later years he became blind and he died of epilepsy. Although a pagan, who had been initiated into the mysteries of Mithras by Julian, his works show no attacks against the Christians.

Himerius is a typical representative of the later rhetorical schools. Photius (cod. 165, 243 Bekker) had read 71 speeches by him, of 36 of which he has given an epitome; 24 have come down to us complete and fragments of 12 others. They consist of epideictic or "display" speeches after the style of Aristides, the majority of them having been delivered on special occasions, such as the arrival of a new governor, visits to different cities (Thessalonica, Constantinople), or the death of friends or well-known personages.

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