Invective in fake news: verbal violence in the acts of the Alexandrians

Abstract

This paper analyzes the invectives contained in a series of quasi-documents that are usually called the Acts of the Pagan Martyrsor, more neutrally, the Acts of the Alexandrians. These Acts consist of—usually quite fragmentarily preserved—papyri that report confrontations between Roman emperors and members of the Alexandrian elite. Invariably something goes badly awry in the encounter, and while the Alexandrians and the emperor exchange increasingly outrageous insults, the ambassadors are led away to be executed. As the Actsshare many resemblances with modern fake news, I show how modern theories about fake news help to understand how these documentary fictions may have functioned in the society of Roman Egypt.