This small workshop explored the use of Latin rhetorical treatises , and in particular that of Quintilian, as a source for the history of emotions. The evocation and exploitation of emotion was a crucial aspect of the rhetorician’s art, so the writers of the treatises had thought deeply about the subject. Examination of their works reveals what they considered to be emotions, and the nature of those emotions. The treatises are also important sources regarding the feiging and the manipulation of emotions. In particular they allow consideration of emotions as interactions between two or more people, rather than focussing on the individual’s emotions or writing studies starting from a particular emotion. The workshop was jointly organised by Kimberley-Joy Knight and John Hudson, and participants also included specialists in mediaeval rhetoric and modern legal practitioners.
