Was Emperor Licinius Hostile to Education?
Roman Emperor Licinius stands out among the rivals with whom Constantine the Great fought for autocracy in 306-324 AD. He managed to hold the imperial crown longer than others and became the last and most important opponent of Constantine. The image of Licinius created by the ancient narrative tradition is highly dependent on the Constantine’s point of view. In order to recreate his truthful appearance, it seems important to analyze the reports of written sources that allow to identify genuine facts. The article examines the evidence of an anonymous compiler of the late 4th century, whose work Epitome de caesaribus is an imitation of a collection of imperial biographies written by Sextus Aurelius Victor. For the purpose of a more detailed depiction of emperors, the author introduces into his narrative their opinions and examples of actions ( dicta et facta ). In the report about Licinius we can find information, that he established himself as an enemy of education and spoke extremely negatively about oratory. Comparing this information with the data of the Late Antique and Byzantine narrative traditions, the author of the article concludes that it contains both elements of Licinius’ actual point of view and echoes of Constantine’s propaganda. According to the author, Licinius’ negative attitude to oratory is a consequence of the fact that Constantine used the work of professional rhetoricians to glorify himself and attract public sympathy to his person as opposed to Licinius. In turn, the image of Licinius as a person who is extremely negatively inclined towards “sciences” ( litterae ) can go back to Flavius Optatus. The latter taught Grammar to Licinius’ son and received not very high salaries for his work. Subsequently, once at the court of Constantine, he could portray his former employer as an enemy of education.