Prohérésius le païen et quelques remarques sur la chronologie d’Eunape de Sardes

Scholars have usually accepted St Jerome’s account, according to which the sophist Prohaeresius was removed from his chair of rhetoric in Athens because he was a Christian, as a result of Julian’s edict ordering the paganization of schools in 362. Eunapius’ testimony and a letter to Prohaeresius written by Julian himself, together with two epitaphs composed by Gregory of Nazianzus, his former student, give rather weak support to the view that Prohaeresius was a Christian. On the other hand, it is not certain that the anti-Christian edict on schools was explicitly directed against Christian teachers. This edict may, moreover, have required proofs of Hellenism that even some Pagan teachers would have been reluctant to give at that time, as we can see by the attitude of other Pagan intellectuals under Julian’s reign. The second part of the paper is an attempt to refute the objections raised by some scholars against the chronology of Eunapius, which the present author set forth in JHS 100, 1980, p. 60-72. It also questions the reality of the supposed second edition of Eunapius’ History.