It is well-known that for ancient Romans the city of Rome represented caput mundi, the center of the world. Starting from socio-geographical and psychological theories about centralism and centrality, this article aims to investigate the structures of centrality adopted in the Roman culture to structure mentally the space of the imperium. It analyzes the ways in which the centrality of Rome was constructed in discourse and representation, as well as the forms in which the entire Italian peninsula was conceived and presented as a center of the Empire, finally considering, at a micro-geographical level, whether structures of centrality are recognizable within the city of Rome, and how they changed over time. A systematic analysis of such discourses and representations of space, and of their diachronic evolution, allows to recognize that such structures of centrality are a component and a product of the ‘cultural revolution’ of the late third - early second century BCE, which transformed Rome into an ‘imperial Republic’.
{"title":"\"Caput mundi\": Rome as Center in Roman Representation and Construction of Space","authors":"Filippo Carlà","doi":"10.2143/AS.47.0.3242720","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2143/AS.47.0.3242720","url":null,"abstract":"It is well-known that for ancient Romans the city of Rome represented caput mundi, the center of the world. Starting from socio-geographical and psychological theories about centralism and centrality, this article aims to investigate the structures of centrality adopted in the Roman culture to structure mentally the space of the imperium. It analyzes the ways in which the centrality of Rome was constructed in discourse and representation, as well as the forms in which the entire Italian peninsula was conceived and presented as a center of the Empire, finally considering, at a micro-geographical level, whether structures of centrality are recognizable within the city of Rome, and how they changed over time. A systematic analysis of such discourses and representations of space, and of their diachronic evolution, allows to recognize that such structures of centrality are a component and a product of the ‘cultural revolution’ of the late third - early second century BCE, which transformed Rome into an ‘imperial Republic’.","PeriodicalId":35090,"journal":{"name":"Ancient Society","volume":"1 1","pages":"119-157"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2143/AS.47.0.3242720","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47506212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aristides was one among the ancient writers who mistakenly rejected the theory that related the seasonal rains on the Ethiopian mountains to the origin of the Nilotic flood, a link that we know today to be closer to the truth than any other ancient theory. The Nile’s two singularities drove Aristides to commit two severe methodological mistakes, which are particularly noticeable in an intellectual of his category: the hydric behavior of the current (apparently opposed to that of other rivers) and the spatial and temporal discrepancy between the atmospheric factors that caused the rising of the river and the perception of said rising in Egypt. Aristides’ forceful rejection of this theory is one of the most interesting factors in the text and one that I shall use in order to define which elements in the Aigyptios are in fact correct and which are not.
{"title":"Aristides did not Read Strabo: Ethiopian Rains in the Aigyptios","authors":"Aja Sánchez, J. Ramón","doi":"10.2143/AS.46.0.3167452","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2143/AS.46.0.3167452","url":null,"abstract":"Aristides was one among the ancient writers who mistakenly rejected the theory that related the seasonal rains on the Ethiopian mountains to the origin of the Nilotic flood, a link that we know today to be closer to the truth than any other ancient theory. The Nile’s two singularities drove Aristides to commit two severe methodological mistakes, which are particularly noticeable in an intellectual of his category: the hydric behavior of the current (apparently opposed to that of other rivers) and the spatial and temporal discrepancy between the atmospheric factors that caused the rising of the river and the perception of said rising in Egypt. Aristides’ forceful rejection of this theory is one of the most interesting factors in the text and one that I shall use in order to define which elements in the Aigyptios are in fact correct and which are not.","PeriodicalId":35090,"journal":{"name":"Ancient Society","volume":"1 1","pages":"73-94"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2143/AS.46.0.3167452","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67853416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The paper sketches a cultural history of the sacred tree persea in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt with a particular focus on the patterns of continuity and transformation in comparison with the dynastic period. The persea case shows that the survival of Egyptian religious traditions was combined with their adaptation to new sociocultural contexts and with innovative uses, such as the integration of persea within Greek agonistic traditions under the Ptolemies. The dedication of persea trees to a mixed Greco-Egyptian pantheon in OGIS 97 (early second century BC) sheds light on the interaction between Egyptian religion and loyalism to the Ptolemies and on its socio-political underpinnings. Moreover, personal religious commitment and legal measures meant to prevent the extinction of sacred trees in the Imperial period allow for a discussion concerning the applicability of the modern category of environmentalism to the study of ancient cultures.
{"title":"The Persea Tree from Alexander to Late Antiquity: A Contribution to the Cultural and Social History of Greco-Roman Egypt","authors":"S. Caneva","doi":"10.2143/AS.46.0.3167450","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2143/AS.46.0.3167450","url":null,"abstract":"The paper sketches a cultural history of the sacred tree persea in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt with a particular focus on the patterns of continuity and transformation in comparison with the dynastic period. The persea case shows that the survival of Egyptian religious traditions was combined with their adaptation to new sociocultural contexts and with innovative uses, such as the integration of persea within Greek agonistic traditions under the Ptolemies. The dedication of persea trees to a mixed Greco-Egyptian pantheon in OGIS 97 (early second century BC) sheds light on the interaction between Egyptian religion and loyalism to the Ptolemies and on its socio-political underpinnings. Moreover, personal religious commitment and legal measures meant to prevent the extinction of sacred trees in the Imperial period allow for a discussion concerning the applicability of the modern category of environmentalism to the study of ancient cultures.","PeriodicalId":35090,"journal":{"name":"Ancient Society","volume":"45 1","pages":"39-66"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2143/AS.46.0.3167450","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67853388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Edition of two papyri belonging to the Zenon archive (III BC). The first is a petition addressed to Zenon concerning fishermen; the second is a letter sent to Zenon about the construction of a building.
{"title":"Deux papyrus inédits des Archives de Zénon","authors":"J. Fournet","doi":"10.2143/AS.45.0.3110543","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2143/AS.45.0.3110543","url":null,"abstract":"Edition of two papyri belonging to the Zenon archive (III BC). The first is a petition addressed to Zenon concerning fishermen; the second is a letter sent to Zenon about the construction of a building.","PeriodicalId":35090,"journal":{"name":"Ancient Society","volume":"45 1","pages":"83-96"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2143/AS.45.0.3110543","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67852629","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Marriage of Ptolemy III and Berenice II","authors":"B. V. O. D. Ruiter","doi":"10.1057/9781137494627_3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137494627_3","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35090,"journal":{"name":"Ancient Society","volume":"1 1","pages":"23-40"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"58221916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Economic crises in the late Roman Republic and the associated problem of private debt are well known to scholars. But research has neglected a fundamentally important theory in modern economics that elucidates these issues: the theory of 'debt deflation'. This paper uses the debt deflation theory to examine the major credit and debt crises of the late Republic. We provide a summary of the modern theory of debt deflation and its relevance to the Roman economy in the 1st century BC, and then reanalyse the crises of 89-86 and 49-45 BC. It is concluded that these were 'debt deflationary' phenomena and that the modern theory sheds new light on this aspect of the late Republican economy.
{"title":"Debt Deflationary Crisis in the Late Roman Republic","authors":"Andrew Collins, J. Walsh","doi":"10.2143/AS.45.0.3110545","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2143/AS.45.0.3110545","url":null,"abstract":"Economic crises in the late Roman Republic and the associated problem of private debt are well known to scholars. But research has neglected a fundamentally important theory in modern economics that elucidates these issues: the theory of 'debt deflation'. This paper uses the debt deflation theory to examine the major credit and debt crises of the late Republic. We provide a summary of the modern theory of debt deflation and its relevance to the Roman economy in the 1st century BC, and then reanalyse the crises of 89-86 and 49-45 BC. It is concluded that these were 'debt deflationary' phenomena and that the modern theory sheds new light on this aspect of the late Republican economy.","PeriodicalId":35090,"journal":{"name":"Ancient Society","volume":"45 1","pages":"125-170"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2143/AS.45.0.3110545","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67853336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this article, a brief overview of the early Roman texts belonging to the private archive of a Theban linen weaver is presented. The contents of the archive, which consists of receipts, is analysed and discussed. The investigation shows that the original possessor of the archive was not only involved in the textile industry but that he also supplemented his income through agriculture. Finally, a previously unpublished Demotic letter-receipt (O. Bodl. Eg. Inscr. 328) pertaining to the weaving business is edited and examined. A brief discussion of a dyeing tax is also included.
{"title":"The Bilingual Archive of the Linen Weaver Petechonsis: Son of Thoteus, and \"O. Bodl. Eg. Inscr.\" 328","authors":"A. Winkler","doi":"10.2143/AS.45.0.3110544","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2143/AS.45.0.3110544","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, a brief overview of the early Roman texts belonging to the private archive of a Theban linen weaver is presented. The contents of the archive, which consists of receipts, is analysed and discussed. The investigation shows that the original possessor of the archive was not only involved in the textile industry but that he also supplemented his income through agriculture. Finally, a previously unpublished Demotic letter-receipt (O. Bodl. Eg. Inscr. 328) pertaining to the weaving business is edited and examined. A brief discussion of a dyeing tax is also included.","PeriodicalId":35090,"journal":{"name":"Ancient Society","volume":"45 1","pages":"97-123"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2143/AS.45.0.3110544","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67853093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Milestones and Instability (Mid-Third to Early Fourth Centuries AD)","authors":"Eberhard Sauer","doi":"10.2143/AS.44.0.3044807","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2143/AS.44.0.3044807","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35090,"journal":{"name":"Ancient Society","volume":"44 1","pages":"257-305"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2143/AS.44.0.3044807","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67852291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The banking systems of the modern world are characterised by fractional reserve banking, but that system also existed in the Roman empire. This paper examines the legal basis in Roman law for banking on fractional reserves, and refutes the notion that the practice was illegal at Rome. Secondly, the nature and economic effects of Roman fractional reserve banking are examined with reference to financial instruments, endogenous money and financial crises.
{"title":"Fractional reserve banking in the Roman Republic and Empire","authors":"Andrew Collins, J. Walsh","doi":"10.2143/AS.44.0.3044804","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2143/AS.44.0.3044804","url":null,"abstract":"The banking systems of the modern world are characterised by fractional reserve banking, but that system also existed in the Roman empire. This paper examines the legal basis in Roman law for banking on fractional reserves, and refutes the notion that the practice was illegal at Rome. Secondly, the nature and economic effects of Roman fractional reserve banking are examined with reference to financial instruments, endogenous money and financial crises.","PeriodicalId":35090,"journal":{"name":"Ancient Society","volume":"44 1","pages":"179-212"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2143/AS.44.0.3044804","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67852688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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