The Alexandria of Philo in Philo of Alexandria

Abstract

As we reflect on the Hellenistic Alexandria of education and culture, of sophistic rhetoric and philosophy, we need to focus our attention on the work of one of its most famous and distinct sons in the first decades of our Christian era. Though being few the explicit references in Philo’s treatises to the city, the models of education and culture that emerge and take form in them are significantly numerous, if not even decisive to clarify the sophistic movement and its vitality in his time. We will center our attention in two topics: Alexandrian sophists under Philo’s critical eyes, and the Alexandrian rhetoric in his philosophical education.