Livanios

The most prolific author of antiquity, the greatest orator and sophist of his century (4th century AD), and the "consistent model of style for all subsequent (Byzantine) orators, teachers, and literary figures," was himself a teacher of St. Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, and Julian. His extensive body of work is one of the most important historical sources of late antiquity. At a time when humanity was crossing the threshold into the Middle Ages, Libanius stood firm to defend Greek culture and clashed with the intolerant obscurantism of the followers of the Christian doctrine. In Greece, his name and work have remained in obscurity for centuries, scandalously ignored by "official" philology.