Greek and Roman Past in the Long Second Century: The Intellectual Climate of Cassius Dio 2018 Conference

The Cassius Dio Network (2016-18) has combined historiographical, literary, and rhetorical analyses of Cassius Dio's career and works to demonstrate that he was both an active, successful politician and an intellectually sophisticated historian and author. The Network has organized several conferences and seminars in the last two years. The Network hosted, as the final event of this series, a conference from May 24-26, 2018 in Banff, Alberta, Canada. Focusing on Dio’s literary characteristics and cultural context, the conference situated Dio’s work at the intersection and culmination of a series of traditions and practices, including Thucydidean political historiography, the Roman annalistic and senatorial historical traditions, and the many components of the Second Sophistic. Papers presented from scholars at all levels on topics relating to Dio Cassius’ thought, literary techniques, rhetorical agendas, generic identity, political views, or intellectual milieu.