Dr. Anna Peterson

Philostratus’ “Lives of the Sophists” is the work that gives a name (Second Sophistic) to the renaissance of Greek literature that occurred during the High Roman Empire (roughly 50–250 C.E.). As a graduate student, I was first introduced to this period of Greek literature through Philostratus, and the ways in which this work raises essential questions about the construction of literary and cultural identity are what inspired me to explore this period of Greek literature in my own research.