Showing papers in "Classical World in 1992"
TL;DR: In this paper, 14 essays by leading scholars from Britain, Denmark, France, Italy, and North America present leading aspects of the phenomenon of the polis in the western world.
Abstract: The Greek city-state or polis is the earliest advanced form of social organization in the western world; it was the dominant political structure in the Mediterranean area from the eighth until the late fourth century BC, when it was transformed into a basis for world civilization by the conquests of Alexander the Great. The experience of the polis is the starting-point for western political thought. Fourteen new essays by leading scholars from Britain, Denmark, France, Italy, and North America present leading aspects of this phenomenon. The Greek city is placed in the general context of Mediterranean history and its impact on the urbanization of Italy is assessed. Other chapters consider the geography of the polis and the relationship between city and countryside, its political and religious institutions, and the distinction between public and private spheres. The first essay seeks to define then uniqueness of the phenomenon of the polis, and the last assesses the reasons for its decline. The book is written for the general reader and the student of social sciences as much as for professional historians of the ancient world. It presents a variety of contemporary approaches to the phenomenon of the polis.
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TL;DR: In this article, Borza traces the emergence of the Macedonian kingdom from its origins as a Balkan backwater to a major European and Asian power, and provides a revealing account of a relatively unexplored segment of ancient history.
Abstract: In tracing the emergence of the Macedonian kingdom from its origins as a Balkan backwater to a major European and Asian power, Eugene Borza offers to specialists and lay readers alike a revealing account of a relatively unexplored segment of ancient history. He draws from recent archaeological discoveries and an enhanced understanding of historical geography to form a narrative that provides a material-culture setting for political events. Examining the dynamics of Macedonian relations with the Greek city-states, he suggests that the Macedonians, although they gradually incorporated aspects of Greek culture into their own society, maintained a distinct ethnicity as a Balkan people. "Borza has taken the trouble to know Macedonia: the land, its prehistory, its position in the Balkans, and its turbulent modern history. All contribute...to our understanding of the emergence of Macedon.... Borza has employed two of the historian's most valuable tools, autopsy and common sense, to produce a well-balanced introduction to the state that altered the course of Greek and Near Eastern history."--Waldemar Heckel, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
109 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the early development and the Archaic period (c. 650-510 BC) and the Late Archaic phase (c., 510-480 BC) of art.
Abstract: Preface List of illustrations Abbreviations Introduction 1. Ancient memories and primitive beginnings 2. Sculpture: early developments and the Archaic period (c. 650-510 BC) 3. Sculpture: the Late Archaic phase (c. 510-480 BC) 4. Sculpture: the Early Classical period (c. 480-450 BC) 5. Sculpture: the High Classical period (c. 450-400 BC) 6. Sculpture: the fourth century BC 7. Sculpture: the Hellenistic period 8. Painting: earliest developments and the fifth century BC 9. Painting: the fourth century BC 10. Painting and mosaics: the Hellenistic period 11. Architecture 12. The decorative arts 13. Art history, aesthetics, and comparative criticism Bibliography Ancient authors whose works are excerpted in this book Index of artists Geographical index General subject index.
51 citations
TL;DR: Among the peoples who occupied the territories of the Roman Empire in the West in the fifth century, the Vandals are notorious for their persecution of the Catholic inhabitants of Africa as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Among the peoples who occupied the territories of the Roman Empire in the West in the fifth century, the Vandals are notorious for their persecution of the Catholic inhabitants of Africa. By far the fullest narrative of their doings prior to the time of Justinian is that provided by Victor of Vita, who in 484 wrote the greater part of the work here translated.
46 citations
TL;DR: Merisalo as discussed by the authors examines literacy, written record and oral communication in ancient Greece, the role of family tradition, the intrusion of writing as far as genealogy and family tradition were concerned, polis tradition and the epitaphios, as well as the liberation of Athens and the 'Alcmaeonid tradition'.
Abstract: This book re-examines literacy and the use of writing in Athens against the background of oral communication. It also analyses the character and process of Athens' oral traditions and their relation to written historiography in the light of more recent research results on literate and non-literate societies. The author examines literacy, written record and oral communication in ancient Greece, the role of family tradition, the intrusion of writing as far as genealogy and family tradition were concerned, polis tradition and the epitaphios, as well as the liberation of Athens and the 'Alcmaeonid tradition'. The author stresses the complex character of the relation between the general values of the society and the emphases and omissions of their traditions. This has to be taken into account when assessing and explaining the changes which occur in these traditions. The text is followed by an appendix on early Greek lists, as well as a chronological table from 1600 B.C. to 322 B.C., and a bibliography together with indices. Outi Merisalo
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce the theory of Thucydides and international relations and the causes of war, and discuss the history of the Peloponnesian War.
Abstract: Part 1 Thucydides and international relations - introduction, Richard Ned Lebow and Barry S. Strauss. Part 2 Basic themes: theory and practice, W.G. Forrest Thucydides and great power rivalry, W.R. Connor Peloponnesian War and Cold War, Robert Gilpin. Part 3 Bipolar or multipolar?: polarization in Thucydides, W.R. Connor bipolarity and war - what makes the difference?, Carlo M. Santoro scontro di blocchi e azione di terze forze nello scoppio della Guerra del Peloponneso, Marta Sordi. Part 4 Power transition and war: Contemporary international relations theory and the Peloponnesian War, Mark V. Kauppi Thucydides, power transition theory and the causes of war, Richard Ned Lebow. Part 5 Realism and its critics: Thucydides - a realist?, Michael W. Doyle of balances, bandwagons and Ancient Greeks, Barry S. Strauss. Part 6 Democracies and the lessons of war: democracies, authoritarian states and international conflict, Matthew Evangelista Athens, the United States and democratic "characteristics" in foreign policy, Philip A.G. Sabin national ideology and strategic defence of the population, from Athens to star wars, Josiah Ober hegemony and Arkhe in Greece - 4th-century BC views, Shalom Perlman.
TL;DR: A collection of studies on the history of sexual behavior can be found in this paper, which is intended as a contribution to the historical debate on sexuality that is only now getting under way.
Abstract: Why was a homosexual relationship between two adults unacceptable in ancient Greece? Why did the prohibition of incest extend to the limits of kinship in the Middle Ages? Why was the nineteenth century terrified of masturbation? Why have the brothels with their madams virtually disappeared-in-western Europe? Psychiatrists like Freud and biologists like Kinsey would have been taken aback by these kinds of intriguing questions. Surely, people do 'it' now in the same way as they always have? ' Their approach was understandable for a time in which historians had not yet made sexuality an object of research. In fact, it is virtually only in the last decade that historians have started to study sexual practices, a field that has been all too long the playground of psychologists, biologists, and doctors with their (often wrong) ideas. And it is only now becoming possible to see that sexuality is not a biological constant but an ever-changing phenomenon, that is being continuously shaped by people themselves. Historians, therefore, should not only pay attention to the social, economic, or religious sides of sexuality but they should 1 also, as Gert Hekma argues in his contribution to this book, : become interested in the preliminaries of sexual behaviour, in the design of sexual manners, and in the choreography and architecture of sexuality. Only then shall we have a reasonably firm basis for our opinions on this fascinating side of human existence. This collection of studies is intended as a contribution to the historical debate on sexuality that is only now getting under way. The origin of the book lies in the largest historical congress that has ever taken place in Holland: 'Balance and perspective; on the nature and function of the knowledge of the past' (22-4 May 1986). At this congress, organized on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the State University of Utrecht by a group of students from the Institute for History, numerous seminars were given on the most diverse aspects of history; the seminar on sexuality was assigned to the editor of this volume. He thought it a compelling task to illustrate the historical character of sexuality. For that reason, he made up the programme in such a way that successive papers discussed various aspects of sexuality in successive periods. When this plan attracted much attention during the congress and gave rise to many lively discussions, it seemed no more than reasonable to make the lectures accessible to a wider public. For this book all the papers have been revised and, in addition, some new contributions have been invited in order to give as varied as possible a picture of the history of sexuality. Successive contributors discuss homosexuality and lesbian love in antiquity, incest in the Middle Ages, sexual education and instruction in the Dutch Republic, voyeurism and French rococo art, de Sade, prostitution in fin-de-siecle Vienna, and mannish women of the Balkan mountains; an analysis of the rise of sexology closes the collection.
TL;DR: Gerson as discussed by the authors studied the main arguments for the existence of a god or first causal principle in the ancient Greek philosophers, and argued that the culmination of Greek natural theology is the distinctive creation metaphysics of Plotinus.
Abstract: This is a study of the main arguments for the existence of a god or first causal principle in the ancient Greek philosophers. Gerson's study of ancient Greek philosophers includes the pre-Socratics - Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and sceptics, and Plotinus. In the Greek philosophers, arguments for the existence of God are a part of natural theology, which is distinguished from and held to be superior to mythic and civic theology. Unlike a Jewish, Christian or Islamic context, where natural theology is subordinated to scriptural principles, Greek natural theology is actually a type of scientific realism. God is a hypothetical entity postulated as an ultimate explanation of various data. A central aim of this book is to show the continuity of the Greek idea of wisdom and its identity with what can be loosely called \"natural theological reasoning\". From the beginning of philosophy in Greece until its substantial absorption in Jewish, Christian and Islamic thought, there is an ongoing dialogue with the notion of the divine as its focus. The book explores the relationship between arguments in natural theology and metaphysics, and examines different theories of causality underlying theological argument. It argues that the culmination of Greek natural theology is the distinctive creation metaphysics of Plotinus.
TL;DR: In the Prologues of Greek drama, the first words of the opening of the Odyssey and the preface to Herodotus' histories are the beginning of a tragedy.
Abstract: Introduction: beginning at Colonus Francis M Dunn How Greek poems begin William H Race The Muse corrects: the opening of the Odyssey Victoria Pedrick Sappho 16, Gorgias' Helen and the preface to Herodotus' histories Hayden Pelliccia Tragic beginnings: narration, voice and authority in the prologues of Greek drama Charles Segal Plato's first words Diskin Clay Plautine negotiations: the Poenulus prologue unpacked Niall W Slater Proems in the middle Gian Biagio Conte Openings in Horace's Satires and Odes: poet, patron and audience Barbara K Gold An aristocracy of virtue: Seneca on the beginnings of wisdom Thomas N Habinek Beginnings in Plutarch's Lives Thomas G Rosenmeyer 'Initium mihi operis Servius Galba iterum T Vinius consules ' Thomas Cole