ABSTRACT
The four papers in this section address an issue of current scholarly discussion, the growth of large-scale, long-distance communication networks in Late Antiquity. Claire Sotinel explores the geography of information dissemination across the Adriatic Sea based on 'a prosopographical study of information agents'. She concludes in her paper that 'exchanges of [ecclesiastical] news followed a pattern different and independent from other forms of communication, such as trade or pilgrimages'. The next three papers discuss a distinctive phenomenon of the Late Antique world, the multiplication of large-scale letter collections. They show why these collections came into being and discuss the many purposes they served for their creators. Scott Bradbury examines the letters of Libanius to show how new kinds of long-distance networks of travel and epistolary communication were necessary to further the ambitions of the East Roman aristocracy in the centralized political system of the Late Roman state. Michele Salzman also shows how Symmachus' letters built long-distance social networks in the West. She then goes on to show how Symmachus used letters on travel to express the point of view and values of a traditional pagan aristocrat and thereby contributed to a dissemination of his social identity and that of his class. Finally, Wolf Liebeschuetz turns to another large-scale letter collection, that of Symmachus' adversary, Ambrose of Milan, to show how Ambrose used this burgeoning genre to sum up his position on the relations between the Church and the Empire in a 'political testament' intended to present himself not only to his contemporaries but to posterity as well.
