Contributions of the Garland of Philip to the development of Skoptic Epigram: Antiphilus and the problem of the 'Middle Ages' in Epigram History

Abstract

The epigrams collected in Philip’s Garland are often regarded as mere rhetorical exercises lacking originality. However, many of their themes and features reappear in the imperial skoptic epigrams of the second century A.D. This connection has been overlooked due to the arrangement of the Palatine Anthology, since many epigrams gathered by Philip that could be interpreted as skoptic are located in Book 9, under the category of epideictic epigrams. This paper aims to demonstrate that numerous characteristics of Lucillius's epigrams can be identified in Antiphilus, an author included in Philip's Garland, but who has received little scholarly attention.