In these same decades, as many as four Christian leaders concurrently claimed the title of bishop of Antioch, each elected by a different Christian faction. In particular, the power dynamics of attendance (or avoidance) at strategic locations throughout Antioch demonstrate the authority that Libanius was able to wield through his control of the city's topography. Libanius's manipulation of Antioch's places also reveals itself through the numerous interactions that he narrates with local and imperial officials, from the praetorian prefect Strategius to the emperor Julian. At first confined to teaching in his home to a small group of students, he eventually acquired a classroom at the edge of the marketplace ( agora), and then finally the coveted right to lecture at the bouleutērion, the city hall, where he gained numerous students, and his authority increased exponentially. ![]() ![]() The Greek sophist Libanius recounts in his autobiography the struggle that he faced when he returned to his hometown of Antioch in the middle of the fourth century, intending to teach there after years abroad. ![]() Teaching and Preaching in Fourth-Century Antioch
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