Prof Phlip Bosman

 Professor 

Prof Phlip Bosman

BAHons (Greek & Semitic Languages), BDiv, University of Pretoria
MA (Greek), PhD (New Testament studies), University of Pretoria 

Office: Arts 336

Email: [email protected]

Academia.edu Profile: https://sun.academia.edu/PhilipBosman

Curriculum Vitae


Areas of Specialisation

  • Greek language, literature and history
  • Hellenistic philosophy (Cynic tradition), Alexander, Plutarch, Lucian, Julian
  • Literature and history of early Christianity

Courses in 2026

  • Greek 178 (Semester 2: Elementary Greek)
  • Greek 244 (Intermediate Greek Grammar & Reading)
  • Greek 314 (Miscellaneous texts on love and relationships)
  • Greek 344 (Daimōn through the ages)
  • Greek 354 (Apocalyptic literature)
  • Greek Hons (Greek drama (Euripides Bacchae;  Greek biography)
  • Honours Ancient Cultures: Ancient biography

Current Research Projects

  • Letters of the emperor Julian (Project: ‘Empire of correspondence’)
  • Onesicritus of Astypalaea (Project: ‘All the king’s writers: Tradition and innovation in the ancient histories of Alexander the Great’ [Trends in Classics – Historiography]
  • The designation ‘Cynic’: intended and repurporsed associations (Project: Humanimal Ecologies)
  • Julian as responsive ruler (Project: Responsive governance and population wellbeing in Late Antiquity)
     

Selected Publications - Books

G.R. Kotze and P.R. Bosman (eds.), Ancient Philosophy and Early Christianity: Studies in Honor of Johan C. Thom. Leiden: Brill 2022

P.R. Bosman (ed.), Intellectual and Empire in Greco-Roman Antiquity. London: Routledge 2019​

P.R. Bosman (ed.), Ancient Routes to Happiness. Acta Classica Supplementum VIII. London: Routledge 2017

​P.R. Bosman (ed.), Corruption and Integrity in Ancient Greece and Rome. Acta Classica Supplementum IV. Pretoria: V&R Printing Works. 2012

P.R. Bosman, Conscience in Philo and Paul. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 166. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck​ 2003
(ebook edition - 2019)

 

Selected Publications - Articles and Essays

  • ‘Lucian’s Demonax: A Cynic for the times’. In Destrée, P. and Kachuck, A. (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Cynicism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (forthcoming).
  • ‘Julian the Sacrificer’. In Christopoulos, M., Meyer M. and Papachrysostomou, A. (eds.), 2023. Unveiling the Hidden Face of Antiquity. Mysteries and Cryptic Cults. Vienna: Phoipos Verlag, pp 151-160.
  • ‘Consolidation issues in Julian’. In E. Anagnostou et al. (eds.), Succession Crises in Late Antiquity. Hermathena Special Issue (2025).
  • ‘Plutarch’s Alexander’. In D. Ogden (ed.) 2023. The Cambridge Companion to Alexander the Great’. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • ‘Alexander and the philosophers – naked and other’. In R. Stoneman (ed.) 2022. Alexander the Great: Legend of a Life. London: British Library Publishing.
  • ‘Cynics in the crosshairs: The loci classici for the anonymous Cynics of the early Roman Empire. In G.R. Kotze and P.R. Bosman (eds.) 2022. Ancient Philosophy and Early Christianity: Studies in Honor of Johan C. Thom. Leiden: Brill.
  • ‘Two conceptions of court at Persepolis’. In F. Pownall, S.R. Asirvatham and S. Müller (eds.) 4 2022. The Courts of Philip II and Alexander the Great: Monarchy and Power in Ancient Macedonia, 169-188. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter.
  • 'The philosophical tradition'. In D. Ogden (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Heracles. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2021.
  • 'Philo's Flaccus: Trauma, Justice, and Revenge'. In A. Karanika and V. Panoussi (eds.), Emotional Trauma in Greece and Rome: Representations and Reactions. Oxford/New York: Routledge. 2020.
  • 'Julian's Cynics: Remembering for future purposes', in B. Neil and K. Simic (eds.), Memories of Utopia: The Revision of Histories and Landscapes in Late Antiquity. London: Routledge. 2020.
  • 'Value-added divination at Dodona'. In R. Evans (ed.) Prophets and Profits. Ancient Divination and its Reception. London: Routledge. 2018.
  • 'Greeks, Romans, and Volks-Education in the Afrikaanse Kinderensiklopedie', in Parker, G. (ed.), South Africa, Greece and Rome: Classical Confrontations. Cambridge University Press. 2017.
  • 'Tailored for school: Lucian's Jupiter Tragoedus and Jupiter Confutatus', in E. Marquis &​ A. Billault (eds.), Mixis: Lucien de Samosate et le mélange des genres. Paris: Demopolis. 2017.
  • 'Ancient Cynicism: Elitist or for the masses?', in Evans, R.J. (ed.), Mass & Elite in Antiquity. London: Ashgate. 2017.
  • 'The Dodona bronze revisited'. Acta Classica 59 (2016), 184-192.
  • 'Ancient debates on autarkeia and our global impasse'. Phronimon 16 (2015), 16-28.
  • 'Naphtha and narrative art in Plut. Alex, 35'. Acta Classica 57 (2014), 16-30.
  • 'The School of Athens: Moments in the history of an idea'. Akroterion 59 (2014), 67-87.
  • 'Lucian among the Cynics: The Zeus Refuted and Cynic tradition'. Classical Quarterly 62.2 (2012), 785-795.
  • 'The gymnosophist riddle contest (P. Berol. 13044): A Cynic text?'. Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 50 (2010), 175-192.
  • 'Kings meets Dog: The origin of the meeting between Alexander and Diogenes'. Acta Classica 50 (2007), 51-63.
  • 'Selling Cynicism: The pragmatics of Diogenes' comic performances'. Classical Quarterly 56.1 (2006), 93-104.

Awards​​

  • ​​Chancellor's Prize for Excellence in Research, UNISA College of Human Sciences (2008; 2012)
  • National Research Foundation Rating (B)​

Service/Committees