The Monastic Rules of Visigothic Iberia - eTheses Repository ...

semantic implications and artificiality; it was not a strictly Roman debate but rather one that
extended back to the Hellenistic period (Horrocks 1997: 97-98). These two competing forms,
which had begun to manifest themselves concomitantly with the rise of a Roman literary
culture in the second century BC, held a special place in the Roman literary psyche; Norden,
in his Die Antike Kunstprosa, went so far as to define the entire development of Roman
literature as a struggle between the two styles, and long before the Visigothic period the
concepts had ceased to convey mere geographical distinction, instead serving to define two
varied and opposing styles. This is a well-trodden theme that has been much discussed, and
one that does not need reiterating here; the literature surrounding the topic is abundant
(Fairweather 1981: 243-303; Colvin 2001; Whitmarsh 2005). However, it is important to
emphasise that the Asianic style found its inspiration in the stylistic ideals of ancient rhetoric,
and as long as the teaching of rhetoric continued, so did its influence.
In many ways, the Africitas of Sittl‟s writers stems from this formative period, and
could be especially innovative. Fronto is an excellent example due to his promotion of the
concept of the elocutio novella, normally translated as „novelty of expression‟. He sought to
reinvent the vivacity of the Latin language, which he perceived to have become dry and
lifeless with the writings of the Atticist purists. His Latin is characterised by unusual and
unexpected words, as well as verbal abundance, and his writing is known for its flamboyant
style. Naturally such comments must be made with a certain amount of caution, but it can be
said, without too much polemic, that Asianism to a large extent won over the Roman west.
Neither did it disappear along with the collapse of central Roman government; “the so-called
Silver Age is the age of rhetorical poetry, and this poetry lasted as long as the schools of
rhetoric and their successors existed in the West, that is until the end of the Middle Ages”
(Raby 1927: 25). However, it is unfortunate that the dismissal of the concept of Africitas led
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