Philostratus's Heroikos: Religion And Cultural Identity In The Third Century C.E.

Review

by Raymond S Solga
published on 19 May 2025

Philostratus’s "Heroikos," composed by a leading figure of the Second Sophistic movement, presents a rich and intricate literary dialogue that encapsulates the cultural, religious, and political currents of the Roman Empire during the Severan era. Framed as a conversation between a Greek vinedresser and a Phoenician merchant, the work not only advocates for the veneration of Greek hero cults but also integrates the role of ethnicity in shaping Roman identity.

Philostratus’s Heroikos, composed during the flourishing of the Second Sophistic, stands as a deeply layered literary and cultural artifact of the Roman Empire in the Severan period. Aitken and Maclean’s edition, Philostratus’s Heroikos: Religion and Cultural Identity in the Third Century C.E., provides a meticulously annotated translation and a compelling introduction that positions the dialogue as a site for negotiating religious tradition, ethnic identity, and imperial ideology.

Structured as a dialogue between a Greek vinedresser and a Phoenician merchant, Heroikos explores the continued relevance of Greek hero cults and their function in the religious and cultural life of the Roman East. As the vinedresser recounts visions and revelations received from the hero Protesilaos, the skeptical Phoenician becomes gradually transformed—both intellectually and spiritually—into a devotee of Hellenic values and traditions. This narrative arc, as the editors argue, functions not merely as a literary device, but as a symbolic representation of the assimilation of non-Greek identities into the dominant Greco-Roman cultural framework. The vinedresser’s role as cultural mediator underscores the text’s broader concern with the preservation and transmission of Greek heritage under Roman rule.

The two editors, an Associate Professor of Early Christian History and an Associate Professor of Religion, situate Heroikos in the reign of Alexander Severus (222–235 C.E.), a period marked by renewed interest in cultural consolidation amid increasing tensions along the eastern frontier. Within this context, Philostratus’s depiction of hero cults—particularly those involving Greek victories over Persian enemies—can be read as a subtle political allegory. As Aitken and Maclean note, the figure of the Phoenician merchant may reflect contemporary anxieties about ethnicity and loyalty in a Roman Empire governed by emperors of Syrian descent. The transformation of this character into a loyal adherent of Greek heroism aligns with Severan efforts to reassert a Hellenic cultural identity as a means of legitimizing imperial power.

Several contributors to the secondary literature deepen this reading. Alain Blomart’s work on the religious and political significance of hero cults contextualizes Heroikos within broader practices of sacred migration and cultic transfer. His analysis, though not limited to Philostratus, helps illuminate the veneration of Protesilaos as both a localized and politically resonant form of religious expression. Jeffrey Rusten, in his study of Heroikos's allusive narrative, explores Philostratus’s sophisticated engagement with classical texts, arguing that the dialogue’s literary authority is constructed through a complex web of references, revisions, and reinterpretations of Homeric myth.

Aitken’s article sharpens the political dimension of the dialogue, highlighting how ethnic stereotyping is employed to dramatize the cultural superiority of the Greek tradition. She interprets the Phoenician’s conversion as a narrative response to the challenge of governing a multicultural empire, particularly one in which Syrian elites held increasing prominence. This transformation serves not only as a literary resolution but as a symbolic affirmation of imperial unity under a Hellenized Roman identity.

Taken together, these readings—both within Aitken and Maclean’s edition and in the broader scholarly discourse—demonstrate the richness and complexity of Heroikos as a text deeply embedded in its historical moment. Far from being a mere exercise in nostalgic Hellenism, Philostratus’s dialogue emerges as a strategic intervention in contemporary debates about cultural authority, religious identity, and imperial legitimacy. The editors’ thoughtful translation and extensive commentary make this volume an invaluable resource for scholars of Roman imperial culture, Greek literature, and the religious transformations of late antiquity.

This translation offers a compelling lens through which to view the intersection of literature, religion, and politics in the Roman Empire. Through the vinedresser and the conversion of the Phoenician merchant, the text stages a vision of cultural integration that is both idealized and deeply implicated in the ideological currents of its time. This edition invites readers to engage with Heroikos not only as a literary dialogue but as a sophisticated commentary on the contested terrain of identity in the 3rd century C.E.

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