When did Eunapius write his school biographies? To the problem of the dating of «Vitae Sophistarum»

Abstract

This article examines the problem of the dating of Eunapius’ "Lives of Philosophers and Sophists" - one of the main sources of information on the history of Late Antique education, intellectual tradition and school culture. Arguments are put forward in favor of the fact that Eunapius’ story about the necrolatry of Christian monks who settled in the Egyptian Canopus, reflects the assertion of the cult of relics of St. Cyrus and John, dating back to the time of the Archbishopric of Cyril of Alexandria (412 – 444). These conclusions make it possible to correct the well-established historiographic tradition, according to which "Lives of Philosophers and Sophists" was published around 399–400, and enhance F. Paschoud's hypothesis, that the text of this work was composed no earlier than 412.