Within the scope of the Greek-Latin Alexander romance, the Res gestae Alexandri Macedonis by Julius Valerius (early fourth century CE) stand out due to their high literary and stylistic standards. The eleven contributions in this edited volume primarily focus on issues of narrative technique, linguistic design, and intertextuality, thereby illustrating the unique features and rank of this often-neglected work in literary history.
This study inquires into the political and social significance ascribed to the urban Roman senatorial aristocracy and the senate in the first half of the fifth century CE. This volume therefore examines a topic of central significance in the history of the Roman West and Christianization, connecting research perspectives from ancient history and archaeology.
The legacies of Old Egyptian society range from monumental pyramids to the microscopic traces of human activity, from stone inscriptions to novels. How can these things be put into a meaningful context, and what methods and questions would this require? This book brings together 28 contributions written in honor of Stephan J. Seidlmayer that try to provide up-to-date answers to these questions.
This contribution undertakes to shed light on three facets: To begin with, the use of the seaport motif in Roman lyrical poetry of the two centuries around the birth of Christ covers a complex and variegated associative spectrum of human feeling. Within that spectrum, aspects such as protection, refuge or the end of a journey by no means always have positive connotations. What is more, the motif is assigned different functions from one genre to the next. It can serve as a multiply utilizable mirror of the author's own literary production or of personal sensitivities with regard to interpersonal relationships or biographical crises. And it is a device used as much in praise of the times and the emperor as for the purposes of indignant cultural and social criticism. Finally, relationships to non-lyrical literary text types become evident, particularly with regard to prose literature of a historiographical, rhetorical and political-philosophical nature. In any case, when viewed from the out-side, the latter suggest a wide range of interdependencies and concretizations above all with regard to contemporary discourses. Late Republican and Early Imperial products and producers of lyrical poetry were thus not only recipients but also active participants in a system of intellectual debate. Within this context, the perception, conception, and literary processing of the maritime constitute a substantial and complex - but at the same time ambiguous analogue - element of the history of the maritime-oriented mentality of antiquity, a history highly complex with regard to form and content alike.
The process of Christianisation brought with it a new form of violent conflict to the Roman world: religiously motivated attacks on places, objects or people. The most radical form of such conflicts were attacks on the sanctuaries of religious opponents- on temples, synagogues and Church buildings. The results were dramatic and the attacks demanded a reaction from all institutions, from the Emperor to the urban elites. This volume analyses the role of the law, the imperial and local administrations, and the relationship between the institutions and the new regional and local communities whichestablished themselves at the time.
Julia REUTER's latest book, "Geschlecht und Körper" [Gender and Body], contains ten studies on these two central concepts in sociology, as well as lending consideration to visuality and otherness. The author focuses on theories of performance, discourse and practice, which are used both as analytical tools and, reflexively, as objects of analysis. The book offers rich descriptions of the two central concepts, but does not fundamentally deal with how they interrelate. It offers a vivid account of current themes and discussions.
The subject of this study are depictions of Heracles and Theseus on Roman terracotta reliefs, also called Campana reliefs. It is based on 16 different motifs, which were established during the middle of the 1st century B.C. The aim of the study is to show how these motifs were received and what meaning lies behind these reliefs regarding the historical background of the late Republic and early imperial period.
The name DGGTB (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie; German Society for the History and Theory of Biology) reflects recent history as well as German tradition. The Society is a relatively late addition to a series of German societies of science and medicine that began with the »Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften«, founded in 1910 by Leipzig University's Karl Sudhoff (1853-1938), who wrote: »We want to establish a ,German' society in order to gather German-speaking historians together in our special disciplines so that they form the core of an international society...«. Yet Sudhoff, at this time of burgeoning academic internationalism, was »quite willing« to accommodate the wishes of a number of founding members and »drop the word German in the title of the Society and have it merge with an international society«. The founding and naming of the Society at that time derived from a specific set of historical circumstances, and the same was true some 80 years later when in 1991, in the wake of German reunification, the »Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie« was founded. From the start, the Society has been committed to bringing studies in the history and philosophy of biology to a wide audience, using for this purpose its Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie. Parallel to the Jahrbuch, the Verhandlungen zur Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie has become the by now traditional medium for the publication of papers delivered at the Society's annual meetings. In 2005 the Jahrbuch was renamed Annals of the History and Philosophy of Biology, reflecting the Society's internationalist aspirations in addressing comparative biology as a subject of historical and philosophical studies. - The name DGGTB (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie; German Society for the History and Theory of Biology) reflects recent history as well as German tradition. The Society is a relatively late addition to a series of German societies of science and medicine that began with the »Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften«, founded in 1910 by Leipzig University's Karl Sudhoff (1853-1938), who wrote: »We want to establish a ,German' society in order to gather German-speaking historians together in our special disciplines so that they form the core of an international society...«. Yet Sudhoff, at this time of burgeoning academic internationalism, was »quite willing« to accommodate the wishes of a number of founding members and »drop the word German in the title of the Society and have it merge with an international society«. The founding and naming of the Society at that time derived from a specific set of historical circumstances, and the same was true some 80 years later when in 1991, in the wake of German reunification, the »Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie« was founded. From the start, the Society has been committed to bringing studies in the history and philosophy of biology to a wide audience, using for this purpose its Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie. Parallel to the Jahrbuch, the Verhandlungen zur Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie has become the by now traditional medium for the publication of papers delivered at the Society's annual meetings. In 2005 the Jahrbuch was renamed Annals of the History and Philosophy of Biology, reflecting the Society's internationalist aspirations in addressing comparative biology as a subject of historical and philosophical studies.
The impact & fate of the Brothers Gracchi in the late 2nd century belongs to an episode of ancient Roman history that won political significance & resonated in the Early Modern Age. The Gracchi proceedings are sketched, & the process of their reception in Italy, England, & France is outlined. Gracchi wanted to repeal social differentiation processes & restore the peasantry, the traditional basis of Roman military forces. While the Early Modern sources were ambivalent, arguments regarding the legitimacy of Gracchi's populist actions as well as the actions of their opponents have continued for centuries, prompted by the connection of land ownership, military organization, & republican freedom. Though some measure of significance was lost as land ownership became less critical in the industrial age, weapons advanced, & liberal rather than republican concepts of freedom took hold, the parallels of the have & have-nots & the potential break between the rulers & the ruled provides the potential for populist demagoguery today as it did then. L. Kehl
The name DGGTB (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie; German Society for the History and Theory of Biology) reflects recent history as well as German tradition. The Society is a relatively late addition to a series of German societies of science and medicine that began with the »Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften«, founded in 1910 by Leipzig University's Karl Sudhoff (1853-1938), who wrote: »We want to establish a ,German' society in order to gather German-speaking historians together in our special disciplines so that they form the core of an international society...«. Yet Sudhoff, at this time of burgeoning academic internationalism, was »quite willing« to accommodate the wishes of a number of founding members and »drop the word German in the title of the Society and have it merge with an international society«. The founding and naming of the Society at that time derived from a specific set of historical circumstances, and the same was true some 80 years later when in 1991, in the wake of German reunification, the »Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie« was founded. From the start, the Society has been committed to bringing studies in the history and philosophy of biology to a wide audience, using for this purpose its Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie. Parallel to the Jahrbuch, the Verhandlungen zur Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie has become the by now traditional medium for the publication of papers delivered at the Society's annual meetings. In 2005 the Jahrbuch was renamed Annals of the History and Philosophy of Biology, reflecting the Society's internationalist aspirations in addressing comparative biology as a subject of historical and philosophical studies.
Die XII Panegyrici Latini, eine Sammlung von antiken Kaiserlobreden, diente rhetorischen Schulungszwecken. Sie umfassen neben dem Panegyricus des jüngeren Plinius aus dem Ende des 1. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. elf spätantike Reden, die zwischen 289 und 389 entstanden. Sie stammen größtenteils aus dem Wirkungskreis der gallischen Städte Autun und Trier, die in der Spätantike an politischer Bedeutung gewannen. Die Panegyriker bewegen sich mit ihren Darstellungen an der Schnittstelle zwischen der realen und der literarischen Welt. Reale geographische Orte wie Rom, der Tiber, der Rhein oder die Alpen werden zu Schauplätzen und Chiffren für die Heldentaten der Kaiser, die als Figuren in diesem Handlungsraum das – teils fiktive – Geschehen prägen. Die Gleichsetzung der Kaiser mit Elementen der Natur, ihre Interaktion mit Flüssen, Ozeanen, Gebirgen und Städten, aber auch die Darstellung des Kaisers als personifizierter Grenzwall dienen als Zeichen unumschränkter kaiserlicher Macht. Die Person des Kaisers tritt in der literarischen Ausformung eines 'All-Roms' an die Stelle der Gründungsstadt und fungiert in einer Phase der Dezentralisierung von Herrschaftsstrukturen als Garant der Stabilität für das gesamte Imperium.
In der Dissertation wurde die Entwicklung der archäologischen Nationalmuseen vom Zeitpunkt der Vereinigung Italiens 1861 bis zu ihrem 50jährigen Bestehen im Jahr 1911 untersucht. Den Forschungsgegenstand bilden hierbei die vier archäologischen Nationalmuseen von Neapel, Turin, Florenz und Rom. Sie spiegeln in komprimierter Form einen konzeptuellen Wandel der Museen des Altertums wider: von einer herrschaftlichen Sammlung bis zu einem hauptsächlich auf Ausgrabungsfunden basierenden Bestand. Für eine vergleichende Untersuchung und Gegenüberstellung der Geschichte und der Präsentationsformen archäologischer Nationalmuseen insbesondere im Zeitraum von 1861 bis 1911 behandelt die Arbeit die drei folgenden Aspekte: (1) die Normierung des Museumswesens, (2) die öffentliche Wahrnehmung und Vermittlung antiker Kunst in Italien sowie (3) die Präsentation und Vermittlung antiker Kunst im Ausstellungsraum. Die Arbeit kommt zu folgenden Ergebnissen: (1) Das antike Erbe des eigenen Landes nimmt vor wie nach der Vereinigung Italiens eine besondere Stellung im Entstehen des nationalen Verwaltungsapparats ein. Auf der Suche nach einer nationalen Identität richtet sich das Interesse des jungen Königreiches primär auf die antiken Kulturgüter. Zu ihrem Schutz und zu ihrer Vermittlung werden besondere Leitungs- und Verwaltungsstrukturen eingerichtet. Archäologische Nationalmuseen als wichtiger Teil dieses nationalen Verwaltungsapparats erhalten einen expliziten Forschungsauftrag. Damit sind sie auch für regionale Ausgrabungen zuständig und dazu verpflichtet, Fundobjekte zu bewahren und zu präsentieren. Ihr konkreter Auftrag lautet: den Mythos Italien nähren. (2) Die Rezeptionsgeschichte der Etrusker im 19. Jh. spielt dabei eine besondere Rolle. So wurden etruskische Stilelemente bereits unter dem Haus Savoyen in die herrschaftliche Repräsentation integriert. Zudem belegen zeitgenössische Zeitungsberichte sowie europäische Reiseliteratur (Baedeker, Murray & Hachette) eine kontinuierliche Wahrnehmung und ein Bewusstsein für die etruskischen Errungenschaften. Vor allem mit der Vereinigung Italiens werden die Etrusker zum Gegenstand der nationalen Kulturpolitik und Geschichtsvermittlung. (3) In Bezug auf die Präsentation antiker Kunst schlägt sich der staatliche Forschungsauftrag der archäologischen Nationalmuseen in der Verlagerung des Schwerpunkts auf die Herkunft der Objekte nieder. Die Provenienz der Exponate wird zum maßgeblichen Kriterium der Bestandsbildung. Fundobjekte oder ganze Sammlungen mit besonderem Lokalbezug werden bevorzugt. Die Herkunft der Objekte bestimmt auch ihre Anordnung im Ausstellungsraum und wird zum Thema der Präsentation. Objekte mit und ohne Provenienz werden in der Präsentation visuell sowie räumlich voneinander getrennt, das topografische Kriterium wird zum Maßstab. Besonders die Fundobjekte werden durch Raumgestaltung oder Rekonstruktionen in Kontext zu ihren Fundsituationen gesetzt. Der Forschungsauftrag wirkt sich direkt auf die museale Inszenierung antiker Kunst aus und führt zugleich zum interregionalen Interessenkonflikt zwischen Florenz und Rom bei der Beanspruchung etruskischen Fundmaterials. Schließlich resultiert die kulturpolitische Entwicklung rückwirkend betrachtet vor allem aus der jeweiligen Reichshauptstadtsituation. Die Betonung auf das Prestige des Etruskers herrscht so lange fort, wie erst Turin und dann Florenz als Regierungssitz fungieren. Mit Rom als Hauptstadt muss das positive Image des Etruskers zunehmend dem des Römers weichen. Statt die in Europa fortwährende Konnotation Roms als ewige Stadt und Sinnbild des römischen Imperiums zu überwinden, wird ihr spätestens zum 50jährigem Bestehen Italiens wieder große Bedeutung beigemessen. Der Römer wird zum Vermittlungsinstrument des Nationalismus und später des Faschismus. ; The dissertation examines the evolution of the National Archaeological Museums from the time of the unification of Italy in 1861 to its 50th anniversary in 1911. The four national archaeological museums of Naples, Turin, Florence and Rome form the subject of this research. They reflect in compressed form a conceptual change in the museums of antiquity: from a manorial collection to a collection based mainly on excavation finds. The work is divided into the following three aspects: (1) the administrative standardisation of museums, (2) the public perception and conveyance of ancient art in Italy, and (3) the presentation and conveyance of ancient art in the exhibition space. The work comes to the following conclusions: (1) In the search for a national identity, the interest of the young kingdom is primarily directed towards its own ancient cultural assets. For their protection and communication, special management and administrative structures are set up. National archaeological museums are given an explicit research mandate. (2) The history of reception of the Etruscans in the 19th century plays a special role, insofar as Etruscan Style elements have already been integrated into the stately representation under the Savoyen house. Additionally, contemporary newspaper reports and European travel literature (Baedeker, Murray and Hachette) demonstrate a continuous perception and awareness of Etruscan achievements. (3) The provenance of the exhibits becomes the decisive criterion for stock formation, determines their arrangement in the exhibition space and becomes the theme of the presentation. Finally, cultural policy development results retrospectively from the situation of the imperial capital. The emphasis on the prestige of the Etruscan continues as long as Turin and then Florence were the seat of government. With Rome as the capital, the positive image of the Etruscan is increasingly replaced by that of the Roman. Instead of overcoming the continual connotation of Rome in Europe as the 'eternal city' and symbol of the Roman empire, it is even stronger pronounced on the occasion of Italy's 50th anniversary. The Roman becomes the instrument of nationalism and later of fascism.
Der Nucleus von Staatlichkeit liegt auf der lokalen Ebene, im Dorf, im Viertel, in der Nachbarschaft. Hier entwickelt eine Gemeinschaft jenseits der Familie zuerst kollektive Regeln, die ihren Fortbestand sichern sollen. Meist ist aber nicht nur diese Regelungsebene vorhanden. Über ihr stehen überlokale Herrschaftsformationen – von regionalen Verbünden bis zum Imperium –, welche die Ordnungsangebote vor Ort ergänzen oder mit ihnen konkurrieren. Örtliche Selbstregelungen sind, so die Prämisse dieser Forschungsgruppe, dann besonders vielfältig und ausgeprägt, wenn überlokale Staatlichkeit im Modus der schwachen Durchdringung existiert. Wie lokale Selbstregelungen in diesem Kontext funktionieren, ist unsere zentrale Forschungsfrage. Wir untersuchen die Relationen zu den staatlichen Ebenen wie zu anderen lokalen Gruppen in ihrem zeitlichen Verlauf, wir analysieren die Reichweite und die räumliche Bedingtheit von Selbstregelungen, fragen nach ihrer Legitimierung sowie nach der Interdependenz zu Organisation und kollektiver Identität der sie tragenden Gruppen; schließlich wenden wir uns der Bedeutung der Selbstregelungen für die Ordnungsform der schwachen Staatlichkeit zu. Der empirische Fokus liegt auf der lokalen Ebene, die in der bisherigen Forschung zum Regieren jenseits des Staates wenig beachtet wurde. Dazu wird in kategorial strukturierten Fallstudien gearbeitet, die in räumlichen und zeitlichen Bereichen außerhalb der europäischen (Sonder-)Entwicklung von Staatlichkeit seit dem Hochmittelalter situiert sind: in der griechisch-römischen Antike und im Globalen Süden der Gegenwart. Mit der unterschiedlichen Zeitstellung möchten wir zur Überwindung der oft als kanonisch geltenden Dichotomie zwischen Moderne und Vormoderne beitragen. Angestrebt wird sowohl die komparative Analyse der verschiedenen Ordnungsarrangements als auch die typologische Erfassung lokaler Regelungsmuster. Allein von der Anlage des empirischen Vergleichs erwarten wir methodischen Ertrag, denn es gilt disziplinäre Beschränkungen zu erkennen, mit ihnen umzugehen und sie zu überwinden. Ausgehend von der Identifizierung typischer Muster und Prozesse, möchten wir theoriebildend die Mechanismen für das Gelingen lokaler Ordnungsarrangements im Ganzen besser abschätzen. Somit leisten wir einen entscheidenden interdisziplinären Beitrag zum Verständnis basaler Elemente von Staatlichkeit, die gerade im Kontext schwacher Staatlichkeit von elementarer Bedeutung sind. Diese in historischer Perspektive gewonnenen Erkenntnisse sollen helfen, die Gegenwart nicht nur aus ihren eigenen, scheinbar völlig neuartigen Voraussetzungen heraus zu begreifen, und so die politische Analyse diverser Governance-Formen erheblich schärfen. ; The nucleus of statehood is situated at the local level: in the village, the neighborhood, the city district. This is where a community, beyond the level of the family, first develops collective rules that are intended to ensure its continued existence. But usually this is not the only level of governance at play. Above it, there are supralocal formations of power, varying in scope from regional networks to empires, which supplement the local orders or compete with them. The premise of the research unit is that local forms of self-governance are especially heterogeneous and prominent, wherever supralocal statehood exists in the mode of weak permeation. The central question of our approach is how local forms of self-governance work in this context. We will examine the relations to the state level as well as to other local groups as they develop over time; the scope and spatial contingency of forms of self-governance; their legitimization and the interdependency with the organization and collective identity of those groups which carry them out; finally, we will turn our attention to the significance of self-governance for the configuration of weak statehood. The empirical focus will be at the local level, which has so far been largely neglected in the research on governance beyond the state. In order to achieve this, we will work with case studies that are structured by categories and situated in geographical areas and time periods that lie outside of modern Europe with its particular development of statehood since the Late Middle Ages: in Antiquity and in the Global South of the present. By incorporating these different time frames, we hope to contribute to overcoming the dichotomy between the modern and pre-modern era, which is often given canonical status. Our goal is a comparative analysis of different configurations of order as well as the development of a typology of patterns of local governance. The structure of the empirical comparison itself promises methodological insights, since it will entail recognizing, dealing with, and overcoming disciplinary limitations. Starting with the identification of typical patterns and processes, we hope to get a better grasp of the mechanisms by which local configurations of order succeed, while at the same time advancing the theoretical debate. This will allow us to make an interdisciplinary contribution to the understanding of fundamental elements of statehood and local governance that are of central importance, especially in the context of weak statehood. The insights we hope to gain by adopting this historical perspective will contribute to understanding a present that is not based exclusively on its own, apparently completely new preconditions, and will thus significantly sharpen the political analysis of various forms of governance.
This collected volume contributes to the discussion among ancient historians of the character and form of political action in Imperial Rome. It concentrates on the East of the Imperium Romanum for the whole duration of the Imperial Era, including Late Antiquity. Using concrete examples, the individual papers explore the question of how much latitude and freedom of action was exercised by the emperors - and by other authorities, such as governors and cities - and whether their actions display a political strategy which went beyond merely reacting to impulses from their subjects and subordinates.
Public, social life in the ancient city culminated on the forum: that this was facilitated by a pragmatic appropriation of the built architectural space surrounding the forum forms the underlying foundation of this thesis. This socio-cultural function of forum architecture is analyzed for (selected) cities of the Italian peninsula of the Late Republic and Early Imperial period. The focus is on the utilitarian dimension of the built structures of the public space – that is, how the architectural configuration of fora influenced the parameters of its use. The main archaeological evidence for the construction of temporary structures is provided by the discovery of series of systematically positioned pits on Italian fora. Here, the pits are classified and used as the foundation for structural calculations in order to reconstruct the various architectural possibilities as 3D models. Probable temporary constructions are reconstructed based on the evidence of pits for the fora of Paestum, Cosa and Alba Fucens. On each of these fora, the reconstruction of 'electoral bridges' (pontes), landings and stands are possible. The impact on the sensory perception of these spaces as a result of the temporary wooden structures thus obtained are then analyzed, with a focus on movement, acoustics, sound, and climate. The acoustic and visual perception for those spaces where temporary structures can be reconstructed is improved in comparison with the permanent structures. The forum itself is thus characterized by differing strategies of use. These strategies continued to be in use over a long period and, with time, the experience gained led to structural improvements of the temporary constructions. Changes to the pits can be correlated to social (and not necessarily political) reorganizations, whereby new buildings began to assume the functions of the fora. The pits therefore provide evidence for an increase in functional differentiation within architecture and society in the Late Republic. ; Unofficial but authorised version of my ...
