Note to Eun. VS 16.14. On the concept of synousia in Eunapius of Sardis’ Lives of philosophers and sophists

Abstract

This article deals with the term synousia in the passage 16.14 from Eunapius of Sardis’ Lives of philosophers and sophists dedicated to Libanius of Antioch. I aim at clarifying its use by the Sardian rhetor through a review of its original conceptualization in the field of paideia and Greco-Roman higher education communities. Thus, after analysing every occurrence of the term in the Lives, I come to the conclusion that Eunapius understands synousia as a technical term in the context of the idiosyncratic late antique education that holds a special meaning on the idea of an intimate academic and spiritual meeting.