Abstract

The real extension of Philagathus Cerameus' classical culture has been variously discussed. The homilies of this 12th century preacher from Southern Italy show a thorough knowledge of Heliodorus' Aethiopics . In hom. 24 Rossi Taibbi, on the other side, Philagathus appears to be drawing on Procopius of Gaza's Monody on Antioch, as is suggested by some fragments preserved in the lexicon περ συντάξεωζ. This confirms that he was especially acquainted with those ancient authors who were proposed as models in the rhetorical schools of the Comnenian age