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Despina Iosif, «Christianos ad Leonem». The Case of Perpetua Two Greek editions of the diary of Perpetua have recently appeared, one by Polymnia Athanassiadi and the other by Thanassis Georgiadis, both bound to attract attention. Perpetua lived at Thuburbo Minus, west of Carthage in North Africa. She was an upper class, well-educated Roman citizen, twenty-two years of age, newly married and mother of a baby boy, who converted to Christianity and chose martyrdom instead of sacrificing to the traditional gods of the Roman Empire. Her decision was interpreted as an insult to the gods and the emperors, and a direct challenge to the established order and resulted in her being sentenced to death to the beasts of the arena in Carthage in 203 CE. It was a well-established Roman belief that the traditional gods offered military victories, stability, prosperity and grandeur to the Roman people. In return and to secure the continuation of this benevolence, the Roman people carried certain strictly defined rites in honour of their gods. Pagan religion was less a matter of personal devotion than of national significance. The Christians despised the traditional gods, declaring that they did not exist or that they were malevolent demons and neglected or obstructed the traditional religious rites. This conduct disrupted the agreement the Romans had made with their gods and made the empire vulnerable. From the second century on, natural disasters were being attributed to the wrath of gods as a result of the Christian atheism and the hatred Christians allegedly had for the world. It is extremely fortunate that Perpetua's diary, which she kept while in prison awaiting her death, has survived. It is a bold, vivid and honest account of her prison life, her dreams and the hopeless efforts of her father to persuade her to conform and sacrifice. The fact that the text praised prophesy and placed martyrs above the established church hierarchy led scholars to believe that is was a Montanist product. Fourth and fifth century bishops felt uncomfortable with Perpetua's diary and surrounded it with homiletic commentaries. Instead of letting the text speak directly to the community of the faithful, they guided the understanding of words, subtly changing its messages, and controlled its dissemination. They made Perpetua less appealing as a role model and less threatening to the social order. The impression and fascination her diary exerted, however, remain unchanged. ; Despina Iosif, «Christianos ad Leonem». The Case of Perpetua Two Greek editions of the diary of Perpetua have recently appeared, one by Polymnia Athanassiadi and the other by Thanassis Georgiadis, both bound to attract attention. Perpetua lived at Thuburbo Minus, west of Carthage in North Africa. She was an upper class, well-educated Roman citizen, twenty-two years of age, newly married and mother of a baby boy, who converted to Christianity and chose martyrdom instead of sacrificing to the traditional gods of the Roman Empire. Her decision was interpreted as an insult to the gods and the emperors, and a direct challenge to the established order and resulted in her being sentenced to death to the beasts of the arena in Carthage in 203 CE. It was a well-established Roman belief that the traditional gods offered military victories, stability, prosperity and grandeur to the Roman people. In return and to secure the continuation of this benevolence, the Roman people carried certain strictly defined rites in honour of their gods. Pagan religion was less a matter of personal devotion than of national significance. The Christians despised the traditional gods, declaring that they did not exist or that they were malevolent demons and neglected or obstructed the traditional religious rites. This conduct disrupted the agreement the Romans had made with their gods and made the empire vulnerable. From the second century on, natural disasters were being attributed to the wrath of gods as a result of the Christian atheism and the hatred Christians allegedly had for the world. It is extremely fortunate that Perpetua's diary, which she kept while in prison awaiting her death, has survived. It is a bold, vivid and honest account of her prison life, her dreams and the hopeless efforts of her father to persuade her to conform and sacrifice. The fact that the text praised prophesy and placed martyrs above the established church hierarchy led scholars to believe that is was a Montanist product. Fourth and fifth century bishops felt uncomfortable with Perpetua's diary and surrounded it with homiletic commentaries. Instead of letting the text speak directly to the community of the faithful, they guided the understanding of words, subtly changing its messages, and controlled its dissemination. They made Perpetua less appealing as a role model and less threatening to the social order. The impression and fascination her diary exerted, however, remain unchanged.

Subject of the volume are the finds uncovered during the excavations of the ÖAI in the residential area "Phournoi" of the ancient town of Lousoi in Northwest Arkadia. A short introduction to the architecture of the houses is followed by the presentation of the pottery and small finds in their chronological and functional context. This study results in important information concerning daily life, domestic culture and the economic background of the region mainly in the Hellenistic period. - Vorgelegt werden die Funde aus den Grabungen des ÖAI in zwei Häusern im Wohnviertel "Phournoi" der antiken Stadt Lousoi in Nordwestarkadien. Nach einer kurzen Bresprechung der Architektur wird das Fundmaterial in seinen chronologischen und funktionalen Zusammenhang gestellt. Daraus ergeben sich wichtige Aussagen zum täglichen Leben der Bewohner, zur Wohnkultur und zu den wirtschaftlichen Grundlagen der Region vor allem im Hellenismus.

Confronted with acute SE problems, the Socialist & the Christian Democratic trade unions in 1976 strengthened their "Common Trade Unions" Front' (with about 2 million members out of a total of 2,300,000 wage- & salary-earners in Belgium) in view of negotiating with employers & with the government, for which the trade unions have submitted a common platform. This common front has antecedents on the local, regional, & professional levels, but has never been & never will be of a permanent nature. This is due as much to historical, as to ideological causes. The principle of class struggle is basic to the socialist union, & christian doctrine is basic to the Christian Democrat concept. The two unions are imbalanced in their linguistic division. Socialists dominate the French-speaking South, while the Christians dominate the Flemish-speaking North. Each confederation wants to maintain its identity. From the employer's view (& to some extent completely independent from the trade union's common front) representatives of employer's organizations have launched the idea that a new & comprehensive "social contract" should be negotiated. The Christian Democratic Union favors such a pact, but since the socialist trade union rejects this idea--which would lead to a further integration in the capitalist system--the probability for such a pact to be realized at present is rather low. Modified HA.

If someone lends money to another person, he trusts that he will get his money back. Particularly in the context of commercial relationships, there is a need for more security. Such security can be achieved by a so-called security right on someone's property. If the debtor does not pay back the borrowed money, the secured creditor can use his security right to sell the property. From the proceeds, he may recover his claim. The most common example of such a security right is the mortgage on a house. Another security right is the right of pledge. Movable goods and claims can be pledged. In former days, a good could only be pledged if the good was actually handed over to the creditor. If the debtor did pay his loan, he got his property back. One could think of the pawnshop. Since 1992, the Dutch Civil Code offers the possibility to pledge a good, while the debtor stays in possession. This means that the debtor can then continue to use the good, for example if the pledged good is a machine that is necessary for the business operations of the debtor. This PhD thesis analyzes the consequences such invisible security right leads to. Imagine the situation that a third person buys the pledged good from the debtor. Or that a third party gives a loan to the debtor because he thinks that there are enough means of recovery against the debtor's property. Should there be stricter requirements for invisible security rights? Is the insolvency administrator obliged to give the pledged machine, which is necessary for the business operations, back to the creditor? These and other questions are answered in the PhD thesis. Additionally, solutions are developed to address the arising problems.