Aspetti della pratica sportiva antica nella letteratura agonistica di età imperiale: Pausania, Luciano e Filostrato

Abstract

Pausanias, Lucian and Philostratus were the three major exponents of a new interest in competitive athletics that began
in the 1st century AD and then grew in all fields of Greco-Roman culture in the 2nd century, manifesting itself not only
in literature, but also in philosophy, science and the arts.
With their writings they tried to clarify their position towards Greek athletics. There is no doubt that these works are
of a different nature, being respectively a periegesis, a dialogue and a manual, but this does not necessarily have to
express a different conception of contemporary Greek athletics or the same regret for the past glories of competitive
activity in general.
The personal vision of the three authors towards Greek athletics must therefore be compared, but the factors on which
it may have depended must also be investigated, such as the difference in the sources used or the different personal
training.