A Tall Order. Writing the Social History of the Ancient World

A Tall Order. Writing the Social History of the Ancient World
Author: Jean-Jacques Aubert
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 405
Release: 2012-06-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 3110931419

This volume commemorates the 65th birthday of William Vernon Harris (on September 13, 2003), when a group of his former students agreed to honor him with a collection of essays that would represent the wide variety of interests and influences of our advisor and friend. The fifteen papers in fact range chronologically from the first Olympics to late antiquity and discuss various questions of imperialism, law, economy, and religion in the ancient Mediterranean world. The essays share a social historical perspective from which they challenge as many commonly accepted notions in ancient history. The contributors acknowledge their intellectual debt to the formative scholarly acumen of William V. Harris, which adds up to the "tall order" of engaging with his work.

The Culture of Animals in Antiquity

The Culture of Animals in Antiquity
Author: Sian Lewis
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 771
Release: 2018-01-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351782495

The Culture of Animals in Antiquity provides students and researchers with well-chosen and clearly presented ancient sources in translation, some well-known, others undoubtedly unfamiliar, but all central to a key area of study in ancient history: the part played by animals in the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. It brings new ideas to bear on the wealth of evidence – literary, historical and archaeological – which we possess for the experiences and roles of animals in the ancient world. Offering a broad picture of ancient cultures in the Mediterranean as part of a wider ecosystem, the volume is on an ambitious scale. It covers a broad span of time, from the sacred animals of dynastic Egypt to the imagery of the lamb in early Christianity, and of region, from the fallow deer introduced and bred in Roman Britain to the Asiatic lioness and her cubs brought as a gift by the Elamites to the Great King of Persia. This sourcebook is essential for anyone wishing to understand the role of animals in the ancient world and support learning for one of the fastest growing disciplines in Classics.

Roman Artisans and the Urban Economy

Roman Artisans and the Urban Economy
Author: Cameron Hawkins
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2016-07-19
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1107115442

Vividly reconstructs economic conditions in ancient Roman cities and the socio-economic strategies of artisans who lived in them.

Christ’s Associations

Christ’s Associations
Author: John S. Kloppenborg
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 532
Release: 2019-11-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0300249306

A groundbreaking investigation of early Christ groups in the ancient Mediterranean As an urban movement, the early groups of Christ followers came into contact with the many small groups in Greek and Roman antiquity. Organized around the workplace, a deity, a diasporic identity, or a neighborhood, these associations gathered in small face-to-face meetings and provided the principal context for cultic and social interactions for their members. Unlike most other groups, however, about which we have data on their rules of membership, financial management, and organizational hierarchy, we have very little information about early Christ groups. Drawing on data about associative practices throughout the ancient world, this innovative study offers new insight into the structure and mission of the early Christ groups. John S. Kloppenborg situates the Christ associations within the broader historical context of the ancient Mediterranean and reveals that they were probably smaller than previously believed and did not have a uniform system of governance, and that the attraction of Christ groups was based more on practice than theological belief.

The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Economy

The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Economy
Author: Walter Scheidel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 459
Release: 2012-11-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0521898226

Thanks to its exceptional size and duration, the Roman Empire offers one of the best opportunities to study economic development in the context of an agrarian world empire. This volume, which is organised thematically, provides a sophisticated introduction to and assessment of all aspects of its economic life.

Roman Military Service

Roman Military Service
Author: Sara Elise Phang
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2008-01-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 113946888X

In this book, Sara Phang explores the ideals and realities of Roman military discipline, which regulated the behaviour of soldiers in combat and their punishment, as well as economic aspects of their service, including compensation and other benefits, work and consumption. This thematically-organized study analyzes these aspects of discipline, using both literary and documentary sources. Phang emphasizes social and cultural conflicts in the Roman army. Contrary to the impression that Roman emperors 'bought' their soldiers and indulged them, discipline restrained such behaviour and legitimized and stabilized the imperial power. Phang argues that emperors and aristocratic commanders gained prestige from imposing discipline, while displaying leadership in person and a willingness to compromise with a restive soldiery.

The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John, and the Literacy of Jesus

The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John, and the Literacy of Jesus
Author: Chris Keith
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2009
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004173943

Although consistently overlooked or dismissed, John 8.6, 8 in the "Pericope Adulterae" is the only place in canonical or non-canonical Jesus tradition that portrays Jesus as writing. After establishing that John 8.6, 8 is indeed a claim that Jesus could write, this book offers a new interpretation and transmission history of the "Pericope Adulterae." Not only did the pericope s interpolator place the story in John s Gospel in order to highlight the claim that Jesus could write, but he did so at John 7.53 8.11 as a result of carefully reading the Johannine narrative. The final chapter of the book proposes a plausible socio-historical context for the insertion of the story.

Communal Dining in the Roman West

Communal Dining in the Roman West
Author: Shanshan Wen
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2022-06-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004516875

Communal Dining in in the Roman West explores why the practice of privately sponsored communal dining gained popularity in certain parts of the Western Roman Empire for almost 300 years. This book brings together 350 Latin inscriptions to examine the benefactors and beneficiaries, the geographical and chronological distributions, and the relationship between public and collegial dining practices. It argues that food-related euergetism was a region-specific phenomenon which was rooted in specific social and political cultures in the communities of Italy, Baetica and Africa Proconsularis. The region-specific differences in political cultures and long-term changes in these cultures are key to understanding not only the long persistence of this practice but also its ultimate disappearance.

Money in Classical Antiquity

Money in Classical Antiquity
Author: Sitta von Reden
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2010-11-18
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 0521453372

A comprehensive analysis of the impact of money on the economy, society and culture of the Greek and Roman worlds.

The Roman Agricultural Economy

The Roman Agricultural Economy
Author: Alan Bowman
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2013-05-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0191651923

This volume is a collection of studies which presents new analyses of the nature and scale of Roman agriculture in the Mediterranean world from c. 100 BC to AD 350. It provides a clear understanding of the fundamental features of Roman agricultural production through studying the documentary and archaeological evidence for the modes of land exploitation and the organisation, development of, and investment in this sector of the Roman economy. Moving substantially beyond the simple assumption that agriculture was the dominant sector of the ancient economy, the volume explores what was special and distinctive about it, especially with a view of its development and integration during a period of expansion and prosperity across the empire. The papers exemplify a range of possible approaches to studying and, within limits, quantifying aspects of Roman agricultural production, marshalling a large quantity of evidence, chiefly archaeological and papyrological, to address important questions of the organisation and performance of this sector in the Roman world.