This paper consolidates some evidence on the impact of the liturgy on the epigraphic formulary.Without being an exhaustive study, it pinpoints several prominent examples of this development in the late antique Peloponnese. Textological parallels between inscriptions and extant liturgical texts indicate that liturgical formulae were adopted in epigraphic prayers of individuals as well as in the inscriptions adorning churches, and that authors of epitaphs often drew on the formulae of the eucharistic and funerary rites. The analysis makes it clear that (...) the institutionalised forms of piety were perceived as authoritative and shaped the formation of the distinctively Christian epigraphic habit. (shrink)

Herodotus holds an honoured place among the pioneers of Greek epigraphy. We seek in vain for earlier signs of any appreciation of the historical value of inscriptions, and though we may conjecture that the antiquarian interests of some of his contemporaries or near-contemporaries might well have led them in this direction, our view of the beginnings of Greek epigraphical study must be based on Herodotus, whether or not he truly deserves to be regarded as its ρχηγέτηϲ. Apart from its (...) significance in the history of scholarship Herodotus' use of inscriptions may be expected to throw some light on his methods and on his conception of his task. He cites epigraphic evidence throughout his work and in relation to a wide range of topics; if his use of this material suggests any general conclusions, we do not need to allow for the bias of a single source or the effect of peculiar local conditions, as we must when we consider his accounts of individual episodes or areas. We are relatively well placed to assess his procedure. We have a reasonably clear idea of the general appearance of the various scripts concerned , and in this respect enjoy a considerable advantage over the majority of Herodotus' original audience. Three of the inscriptions which he cites have been wholly or partly preserved, and thus provide a simple gauge of his accuracy in reporting such evidence. (shrink)

In this paper, a survey of 180 inscriptions in Tamil between 1346 CE and 1400 CE is analysed for its notions and visualization of astral themes present in the epigraphical inscriptions as well as for the calendrical practices implicit in those inscriptions. I demonstrate the rich diversity of calendrical practices employed in this period. Although there are clear local usages, the applied methods of identification show that in several cases methods from other Indian calendrical traditions have also been used. (...) This applies both to the year and the month. In contrast, the use of the weekday is not widely seen in the inscriptions of this region following the local system. The study also clarifies that the inscriptions are a useful documentary source for other astronomical observations such as eclipses and solstices undertaken in southern Indian locations in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. (shrink)

In this paper, a survey of 180 inscriptions in Tamil between 1346 CE and 1400 CE is analysed for its notions and visualization of astral themes present in the epigraphical inscriptions as well as for the calendrical practices implicit in those inscriptions. I demonstrate the rich diversity of calendrical practices employed in this period. Although there are clear local usages, the applied methods of identification show that in several cases methods from other Indian calendrical traditions have also been used. (...) This applies both to the year and the month. In contrast, the use of the weekday is not widely seen in the inscriptions of this region following the local system. The study also clarifies that the inscriptions are a useful documentary source for other astronomical observations such as eclipses and solstices undertaken in southern Indian locations in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Feminist Studies 46, no. 2. © 2020 by Feminist Studies, Inc. 489 Anna Romina Guevarra and Maya Arcilla The Source of Actual Terror: The Philippine Macho-Fascist Duterte  What is JUSTICE with the violence you’ve waged  What is FREEDOM? Our people are encaged  What is JUSTICE with the violence you’ve waged?  What is FREEDOM? Our people are encaged  We have nothing to lose—nothing but our (...) chains  We have nothing to lose—nothing but our chains  Ang tao, ang bayan—ngayon ay lumalaban  Ngayon ay lumalaban—ang tao ang bayan 1  We will, we will oust you!  We will, we will oust you! —Lyrics of a chant at a Chicago protest rally, July 8, 20202 On July 8, 2020, in front of the Philippine Consulate of Chicago, a group of activists representing multiple transnational organizations committed to the pursuit of democracy, participated in a Global Day of Action against an Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) passed in the Philippines five days earlier. This particular rally was led by fierce student and community organizers and workers who loudly proclaimed their opposition to President Rodrigo Duterte’s misogynistic and fascist measures. The epigraph 1. The people, the nation—today they fight / Today they fight—the people, the nation. 2. Song written by Charmaine Balisalisa. 490 Anna Romina Guevarra and Maya Arcilla above captures the lyrics of one young activist’s chant directed at Duterte and choreographed to the tune of Queen’s “We will Rock You.” People followed her steps and gestures rhythmically and in unison, accompanying her chant with sounds from a gangsa (gong), bells, a skateboard tapping the ground, and an empty bucket. There have been multiple protests denouncing Duterte since he assumed power in 2016, but on this particular day, the sense of outrage and urgency was especially palpable in the face of this new law aimed at suppressing dissent. This legislation marked a high point in Duterte’s efforts to exert authoritarian control, and it is significant that opposition to his regime has taken on a specifically feminist character. The Philippines Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (Republic Act No. 11479), signed into law on July 3, 2020, amends the Philippines Human Security Act of 2007 by expanding the government’s power and scope for defining what constitutes “terrorism.” It consolidates power through the creation of an Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) appointed by the President and empowered to act without oversight from the judiciary or legislature. The ATC can order mass arrests without warrants and detain individuals without due process for the mere suspicion of being involved in “terrorist” activities. This Law violates the Philippine Constitution’s Bill of Rights by eliminating free speech, violating the people’s right to privacy, and criminalizing individuals on suspicion of wrongdoing. As the law stipulates, anyone involved in “creating an atmosphere and spreading a message of fear” and “provoking or influencing by intimidation the government or any of its international organizations” will be construed as inciting terrorism. Indeed, this law will continue to erode democratic governance in the country, with some labeling it a “stealth declaration of martial law.”3 As US Congressional Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) noted at the press conference she convened on July 15 to publicly call for the Anti-Terrorism Law’s repeal, “this law represents a new weapon in the administration’s campaign to suppress dissent and will worsen attacks on ordinary people.” 3. Jodesz Gavilan, “‘Stealth Declaration of Martial Law’: Rights Groups Slam Duterte, Anti-Terror Law,” Rappler, July 3, 2020, https://rappler.com/nation /human-rights-groups-statements-duterte-signing-anti-terror-law. Anna Romina Guevarra and Maya Arcilla 491 “A Timeline of Terror”: From “Pride is a Protest” and #JusticeForFabelPineda to #HandsOffGabriela4 A number of prominent feminists and queer rights activists have been targeted under President Duterte in the lead up to the passing of the ATL. On June 26, twenty LGBTQ activists representing Bahaghari, an LGBTQ+ rights organization in the Philippines, were arrested at a Pride rally. These protestors, referred to as the “Pride 20,” were speaking out against the ATL and were immediately arrested.5 A few days later, fifteen-year-old Fabel Pineda from San Juan Ilocos Sur was gunned... (shrink)

I do not recommend peace to you, but victory instead. Your work shall be a struggle, your peace shall be a victory!As can be seen from the epigraph, Nietzsche famously entreats his readers to pursue a life of struggle and victory as opposed to one of peace. This is not a singular occurrence. For instance, in a notebook entry of the same period, he calls for an "unleashing of struggle [Kampf]" with the objective of instigating sociocultural rejuvenation, thereby echoing many (...) of the social Darwinists of his day. But what specific kind of struggle does he think acts as the constitutive ground of a vibrant society? After all, the German term Kampf is underdetermined.... (shrink)

OBJECTIVE: Following two randomized controlled trials that demonstrated reduced mortality and better neurological outcome in cardiac arrest patients, mild therapeutic hypothermia was implemented in many intensive care units. Up to now, no large observational studies have confirmed the beneficial effects of mild therapeutic hypothermia. DESIGN: Internet-based survey combined with a retrospective, observational study. PATIENTS: All patients admitted to an intensive care unit in The Netherlands after cardiac arrest from January 1, 1999 until January 1, 2009. DATA SOURCE: Dutch National Intensive (...) Care Evaluation database. METHODS: The moment of implementation of mild therapeutic hypothermia for each hospital participating in the Dutch National Intensive Care Evaluation database was determined with an Internet survey. To compare mortality before and after implementation of mild therapeutic hypothermia, the odds ratio adjusted for Simplified Acute Physiology Score II score, age, gender, propensity score, and in- or out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was calculated. Patients were excluded if 1) they were admitted to an intensive care unit that did not respond to the survey, 2) they were admitted within 3 months after implementation of mild therapeutic hypothermia, 3) they had a Glasgow Coma Scale score of >8, or 4) they did not satisfy the Simplified Acute Physiology Score II inclusion criteria. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 13,962 patients were admitted to an intensive care unit following cardiac arrest. In total 8,645 patients were excluded, 5,544 because of a Glasgow Coma Scale score of >8. Of the resultant 5,317 patients, 1,547 patients were treated before and 3,770 patients after implementation of mild therapeutic hypothermia. Patients admitted after implementation of mild therapeutic hypothermia had lower minimal and maximal temperatures (p < .0001) during the first 24 hrs on the intensive care unit compared to patients admitted before implementation of mild therapeutic hypothermia. The adjusted odds ratio of the hospital mortality of patients treated after implementation of mild therapeutic hypothermia was 0.80 (95% confidence interval of 0.65-0.98, p = .029). CONCLUSION: The results of this retrospective, observational survey suggest that implementation of mild therapeutic hypothermia in Dutch intensive care units is associated with a 20% relative reduction of hospital mortality in cardiac arrest patients. (shrink)

In a remarkable development, I have constructed a new definition for a self-delimiting universal Turing machine (UTM) that is easy to program and runs very quickly. This provides a new foundation for algorithmic information theory (AIT), which is the theory of the size in bits of programs for selfdelimiting UTM's. Previously, AIT had an abstract mathematical quality. Now it is possible to write down executable programs that embody the constructions in the proofs of theorems. So AIT goes from dealing with (...) remote idealized mythical objects to being a theory about practical down-to-earth gadgets that one can actually play with and use. (shrink)

The ancient city of Alexandria was often referred to as Alexandria ad Aegyptum in Roman documentary, epigraphic and literary sources; this phrase was translated in Greek as ἡ Ἀλεξάνδρεια ἡ πρὸς Αἰγύπτῳ. The grammatical phrasing implies that Alexandria was seen as being ‘near’ or ‘next to’ Egypt, not ‘in’ Egypt. This observation has given rise to the scholarly view that Alexandria was not part of Egypt. In this article the function of the designation ad Aegyptum and of similar designations (...) within literary, papyrological and epigraphic sources ranging from 300 b.c.e. to 640 c.e. will be closely examined. This article argues that the expression can be seen as reflecting both the distinction and the close connection between Alexandria and Egypt on the basis of geographical, political and socio-cultural factors. (shrink)

Hadrian’s agonistic calendar, as it was found inscribed in a stele of Alexandria Troad, mentions within its fourth Olympic year the “games of the Koinon of the Achaeans and Arcadians which are celebrated in Mantinea”. Following the interpretation of the editors of the stele, G. Petzl and E. Schwertheim, this article aims to identify these games as those which were organized by the city in honour of Antinous. The epigraphic sources that mention the Mantinean games, mainly those related to (...) the agonothetai and winners of the contests, will be used to explore the relationship between Hadrian and the Arcadian cults, and similarities between the sequence of games in the athletic palmares and Hadrian’s calendar in order to further support the identification as the Antinoeia of Mantinea. (shrink)

According to current scholarly consensus, the pre- and post-exilic strata of Biblical Hebrew differ sufficiently to allow for the relative dating of biblical texts on linguistic grounds. Challengers to this view have objected that the received orthography of the Hebrew Bible, which is fuller than that of any pre-exilic epigraphic source, shows that no pre-exilic biblical text escaped post-exilic spelling revision. Moreover, so it is claimed, susceptibility to scribal modification on the level of orthography implies susceptibility to scribal modification on (...) the higher linguistic levels as well, which would effectively obscure a text’s original linguistic profile. In the present article it is argued that the degree of scribal modification involved in the process of orthographical revision was not so great as to distort irremediably the picture of linguistic development seen in biblical literature, so that distinctively late linguistic features can still be distinguished from their classical counterparts. Significantly, as has been argued elsewhere, diachronic development is still discernible even in the domain of orthography, a fact demonstrated on the basis of several examples, including the spelling of the qṭol-pattern qal infinitive construct. (shrink)

This article re-analyses in detail the meaning of the expression ludi Graeci which appears in two of Cicero’s letters (Ad Fam. 7,1 and Ad Att. 15,5). A careful examination of the first instance reveals that ludi Graeci indeed referred to theatrical performances in Greek language and not merely to Latin plays that followed Greek models. A brief survey of contemporary epigraphical sources shows that no occurrence excludes this interpretation. The question of the apparent contradiction between Cicero’s philhellenism and (...) his criticism of the ludi Graeci in the two letters is also addressed, in order to demonstrate that the two attitudes are not mutually exclusive. (shrink)

Deux figurines en terre cuite découvertes à Thasos, l’une votive, l’autre funéraire, nous conduisent, par leur ambiguïté, à se demander si les artisans ont donné une forme plastique au placenta humain alors même que les organes internes du corps ne sont presque jamais représentés. L’observation anatomique de l’« organe » comparée aux sources littéraires, médicales, épigraphiques et archéologiques offre des arguments valables pour appuyer l’hypothèse qu’il n’en a existé que des figurations indirectes, opérées à travers des métaphores imagées, selon (...) le mode connu en anthropologie de l’image grecque. Les figurines en mettant le placenta humain sur la même échelle que les fruits, les céréales, les gâteaux et l’enfant, tous pensés comme relevant d’un processus de cuisson correspondant à la vie civilisée, nous permettent de saisir des éléments essentiels autour desquels la cité se structure et font de cet organe un symbole de la fécondité. Aussi, le placenta devient-il fruit offert à Déméter, gâteau associé à la naissance pour Artémis ou signe des rites de passage de la jeune fille destinée à procréer des enfants légitimes.Two terracotta figurines found in Thasos, one from a votive, the other from a funerary context, invite us, by their ambiguity, to question whether craftsmen did represent the human placenta in a time when internal organs are almost never depicted. The anatomical observation of this bodily part, compared with literary, medical and epigraphic sources, supports the idea that indirect, metaphorical representations did exist and conform to the anthropological logic of Greek imagery. The figurines place the placenta at the same level as fruits, cereals, cakes and the child, all seen as the result of a cooking process corresponding to civilized culture. Thus, the placenta becomes a fruit offered to Demeter, and a cake associated with childbirth, when offered to Artemis; it is also the sign of the rites of passage for girls who will give birth to legitimate offspring. (shrink)

Based on the archaeological data, the literary evidence, and the epigraphic sources, the article offers an overview of the strong interrelation between the dynamic changes in rituals and the subsequent architectural and structural adjustments of their space of performance. Violent interaction, social transformation, peaceful cross-cultural com­munication, the migration of new populations, the introduction of new cults, the mobility of ethnic and religious groups, ideological and political factors, and rivalry between cult places are some of the parameters that need to (...) be taken into account, when studying the interdependence between ritual and space. Chronologically, the focus lies mainly on the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial periods, but a few selected examples from the preceding periods shall complete the picture of this complex phenomenon.Cet article, fondé sur les données archéologiques, les témoignages littéraires et les sources épigraphiques, propose un panorama des relations étroites qui se nouent entre la dynamique des changements dans les rituels et les ajustements architecturaux et structurels qui en résultent dans l’espace de leur accomplissement. Pour étudier l’interdépendance entre rituel et espace, plusieurs paramètres doivent être pris en compte : les interactions violentes, les transformations sociales, la communication interculturelle pacifique, la migration de populations nouvelles, l’introduction de nouveaux cultes, la mobilité des groupes ethniques et religieux. L’arc chronologique de cette investigation s’étend de la période hellénistique à l’empire romain, mais quelques exemples tirés des périodes antérieures permettront de compléter le tableau de ce phénomène complexe. (shrink)

Based on ancient written sources, the famous monument of Telemachos, and excavation data, the article proposes a new reconstruction of the arrival of Asklepios’ cult in Athens. Two simultaneous foundations of cults of the Epidaurian Asklepios in Athens are reconstructed, which in all probability go back to the same initiative in the last quarter of the fifth century BCE. A completely new sanctuary for the god from Epidauros was created on the South Slope of the Acropolis (Telemachos), while an (...) old Athenian sanctuary, that of Amynos, opened its doors to welcome Asklepios (Sophokles). With respect to the three festivals of Asklepios in Athens, the article proposes that the oldest, the Epidauria, should be connected with the worship of Asklepios in the sanctuary of Amynos. The Asklepieia appear in the epigraphic sources much later and were perhaps part of the program of Lykourgos; they should be connected to the City Asklepieion. The third festival, the Heroa, was the last to be created in the second half of the second century BCE. The article proposes two alternative hypotheses, the traditional one that sees in the Heroa a celebration in honor of the hero Asklepios and a new one that treats the Heroa as a festival in honor of the heroized Sophokles (probably together with Asklepios). (shrink)

El estudio de la epigrafía votiva evidencia que la mezcla de elementos romanos e indígenas resulta característica de la religiosidad de las mujeres hispanorromanas del territorio castellano-leonés, como igualmente lo es de las estructuras onomásticas y sociales de todo el tercio norte peninsular, pero, en todo caso, estas manifiestan sus creencias a través de las formas religiosas locales que les son más familiares, preferentemente en un culto de tipo privado y familiar, a menudo ligado a medios rurales, que se inclina (...) por las divinidades salutíferas y protectoras. Las implicadas muestran un importante grado de latinización y romanización onomástica, que sin embargo no acaba de consolidarse como mayoritario o absoluto, y un nivel socioeconómico medio o modesto, con escasas excepciones. (shrink)

The largest source of new information about Graeco-Roman antiquity is from newly discovered inscriptions. Epigraphic information gained through use of new techniques and technologies is helping to reshape and extend our knowledge of the religious life, languages, populations, governmental systems, and economies of the Greek and Roman world.

The People of Plato is the first study since 1823 devoted exclusively to the identification of, and relationships among, the individuals represented in the complete Platonic corpus. It provides details of their lives, and it enables one to consider the persons of Plato's works, and those of other Socratics, within a nexus of important political, social, and familial relationships. Debra Nails makes a broad spectrum of scholarship accessible to the non-specialist. She distinguishes what can be stated confidently from what remains (...) controversial and--with full references to ancient and contemporary sources--advances our knowledge of the men and women of the Socratic milieu. Bringing the results of modern epigraphical and papyrological research to bear on long-standing questions, The People of Plato is a fascinating resource and valuable research tool for the field of ancient Greek philosophy and for literary, political, and historical studies more generally. In discrete sections, Nails discusses systems of Athenian affiliation, significant historical episodes that link lives and careers of the late fifth century, and their implications for the dramatic dates of the dialogues. The volume includes a rich array of maps, stemmata, and diagrams, plus a glossary, chronology, plan of the agora in 399 B.C.E., bibliography, and indices. (shrink)

Cet article se propose explorer le cas de l’« architecte-historien », terme par lequel je désigne un architecte prenant lui-même en charge son histoire. Ainsi, quelle est la signification, pour un architecte, d’une telle prise en charge de l’interprétation de son œuvre? Aldo Rossi, en 1981, publie A Scientific Autobiography, livre qui constitue une enquête sur les sources de sa propre création. Mon intention dans cet article est de déchiffrer et de comprendre la position de la notion d’introspection dans (...) la réflexion d’Aldo Rossi. Un des objectifs de ma contribution est de montrer quelle est la signification de cette introspection pour le domaine de l’architecture. Dans l’épigraphe de son autobiographie, Rossi pose la question suivante : « Dès lors, à quoi ai-je pu aspirer dans mon métier? » (Rossi, 1988 [1981a] : 5). Cette interrogation montre sa volonté de mettre en question ou au moins d’examiner son apport à la connaissance et à la pratique architecturales. La réponse qu’il propose à sa propre question est la suivante : « [C]ertes à peu de choses, vu que la possibilité de réaliser de grandes choses est historiquement forclose. » (Rossi, 1988 [1981a] : 5). (shrink)

Description: Originally published in French, The Civilization in Ancient India by Louis Renou deals with various aspects of polity, life and thought in ancient India. Based mainly on the great body of Indian lore supplemented by the data from epigraphical, literary as well as other sources, this work encapsulates vast information about India's ancient past covering the period up to the middle of the seventh century. In the four preliminary chapters in the first part of the book is (...) given a succinct survey of history, literature, religion and philosophical speculations. The second part deals respectively with caste, family, elements of civil law, penal law, the state, politics and war, economics and public and private life. The facts culled from the substantial data marshalled by the author on these different aspects have indeed made this work invaluable alike for the serious student and researcher. A brief chronology of the period and bibliography on different subjects discussed in the book have added to its value. (shrink)

A wide range of archaeological finds is rapidly expanding our knowledge of the pre-Islamic cultural milieu and the political structures of the Arabian Peninsula during Late Antiquity, and thereby of the Qurʾān’s cultural context. This material can offer a complementary reading to the literary accounts on pre-Islamic Arabia, which were mostly composed outside of Arabia or long after the late antique period. There is a growing need to make the recent exciting discoveries of scholars working on the Qurʾān and Arabia (...) more widely accessible to historians who may not have a solid background in archaeology and epigraphy. As such, the ERC project “The Qur'an as a Source for Late Antiquity” (QaSLA) organized a conference, titled “Epigraphy, the Qur'an, and the Religious Landscape of Arabia”, which took place in Tübingen on 8 – 10 September 2022. The three-day international conference brought together specialists in epigraphy as well as scholars of the Qurʾān to explore how recent epigraphic and archaeological findings and research have been changing our understanding of the Qurʾān and the Arabian religious, cultural, and political landscape. Accordingly, the conference sought to integrate new archaeological finds with ongoing studies on the genesis of the Qurʾān, its Arabian background, and the broader cultural milieu of pre-Islamic Arabia with a special focus on the dawn of Islam. The conference also featured an important contribution by Peter Webb on pre-Islamic poetry, another neglected corpus of inquiry into the history of pre-Islamic Arabia. Aiming to foster discussion between scholars, each panel was paired with a specialist on the Qurʾān or the wider history of Arabia. (shrink)

The relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States seems to embody most fully the type of the ‘special relationship’ today. It is a relationship founded ultimately on biological kinship, structured by mutual economic and strategic interests and cemented by a sense of political and ‘spiritual’ affinity. At least the broad contours of such contemporary ‘special relationships’ are sufficiently clear. This is far from being the case with those of the Archaic and Classical Greek world, for two main reasons. (...) First, and more decisively, our sources for the history of that world – literary, epigraphical, archaeological – are normally scrappy, discontinuous and variously slanted. Second, and only in part because of the nature of the evidence, the workings of all ancient Greek interstate relationships, whether ‘special’ or not, are in principle controversial. For in the absence of governments and parties in the modern sense it is frequently impossible to explain confidently a particular foreign policy decision taken by a Greek state. A fortiori it is in principle even more difficult to describe and account for ‘special’ relationships between states that apparently transcended purely immediate, local and narrowly self-interested considerations. (shrink)

Relying on evidence from fifteen epigraphic collections and sixty-odd ancient sources as well as discussing a literature of over five hundred titles, the essay’s highly unorthodox conclusions are a case in point of the micrological ideal of achieving novelty on any given subject by way of transcribing and studying first-hand all relevant materials – edited and unedited alike. The paper’s ambition was to shed new light on one of the most intriguing analogies of the whole Aristotelian corpus, namely the (...) comparison between words and pebbles. A review of all material evidence and virtually all extant sources made short work of two related, albeit mutually exclusive, misconception about ancient reckoning boards and their workings: (1) the idea that – for all practical purposes – the abacus’ arrangement mirrored the decimal system, its columns and rows conveniently matching units, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc. (2) the idea that the inscriptions on several surviving counting boards were a nuisance to the extent that, being inconsistent to a fault with the decimal system itself, they made actual calculations harder than they already were (as opposed to making them easier, as one would expect). The paper demonstrated that the first assumption – the « decimal » bias – is simply mistaken and betrays little or no awareness of the epigraphic and archaeological evidence. The paper also demonstrated that the second assumption – the « abacus riddled with complications » bias – simply defeats the purpose of resorting to the abacus in the first place and betrays a poor understanding of its practical vocation which, most assuredly, was not to add to the very problem it was meant to solve. After bulldozing its way through both misunderstandings, the essay focused on the abacus most distinctive features, that is positionality (i.e. the abacus being a positional system through and through) and hybridity (i.e. the abacus’ place value system being monetary in nature and purpose, as opposed to it being abstract and homogeneous). The final result is an interpretation that moves away from the received views by showing that the prologue of the Sophistici elenchi offers no support to the notion that, when Aristotle referred to counters, he was leaning on a kinship of sorts – or any kinship, for that matter – between abstract calculation and speech. Once we turns the pebble’s simile on its head and set it back upon its feet (Aristotle’s pebble analogy is about pebbles, what else?), it becomes clear that it presupposed numeracy all right, but it was not about numeracy itself. Moreover its goal was not to explain why computational and linguistic symbolisms succeed, but to explain how they fail – failure being the whole point; in this particular instance, failure to detect and prevent abusive value shifts affecting words and counters alike. (shrink)

This paper restores the historical context of Milindapaha. The text is unique, because it is one of the very few documents of Ancient India, in which one of the authors is considered a Greek as a participant in the dialog. To reconstruct the context of the book, the basic archeological data about the Indo-Greek Kingdom, including epigraphics, are summed up, as well as there are analyzed some references to the kingdom given in the Mahāvaṃsa, the earliest chronicle of Sri Lanka. (...) These mentions in the Mahāvaṃsa are matched with the numismatics of Ceylon. From this analysis it is concluded that the document of Milindapaha was most likely created in Gāndhārī in the interval from the beginning of the 1st century B.C. to the end of the 1st century A.D., i.e. during the period of the domination of the syncretic culture of the North of India, combining Buddhism with certain elements of Hellenism. The treatise of Milindapaha was then preserved in Sri Lanka's tradition by continuing good political contacts with the Roman Empire after 400 A.D., that is, after the collapse of the Kushan and the Western Kshatrapas, the last dynasties that had previously preserved elements of Hellenism in the Indian subcontinent. The philosophical meaning of the treatise is then considered and it is concluded that in the text we can find direct references to the proto-Nyāya with the requirement to verify premises by examples. But the logical teaching of Milindapaha is far more archaic than the teaching of Nyāyasūtra, because only two sources of true knowledge are implicitly used: paccakkha and anumāna, and instead of the two verification methods called udāhārana and upamā, only one verification method called opamma is offered. (shrink)

Description: Jain Philosophy : Historical Outline interprets the fundamentals of Jain philosophy from the viewpoint of their historical genesis and development and shows that the incipient stage of the Jain thought-complex agreed totally with the pythagorean approach to philosophy which was based on observed realities and was quite in harmony with the existing socio-political conditions of the time of Lord Mahavira while the sophisticated stage marked by the a priori doctrines and dogmas it had generated in course of its development (...) and by the traditionally floating ideas in regard to the belief in a eternal moral order in the universe, the law of karma, ignorance as the cause of bondage and knowledge as that of liberation, the efficacy of meditation, and so forth, was a persistent juxtaposition in the evolutionary stages of the former. Since no system of Indian philosophy allows a purely isolated treatment, a comparative study of all the philosophical systems has been made here to determine the real nature of the Jain standpoint with more emphasis on the original dynamism of Jainism which had contributed to the growth of various natural sciences, including those of biology and astronomy, on the total rejection of the concept of a supernatural agent in the form of God, on the theories of valid knowledge and on the unique logical system based on the principles of relativity. Contents Preface of the Second Edition Preface of the First Edition Chap. I : INTRODUCTION : 1. The Jains as they are 2. Researches on Jainism 3. Literary Sources 4. Archaeological Sources : Architecture and Sculpture 5. Archaeological Sources : The Epigraphs 6. Parsva and Mahavira 7. Ecclesiastical History Chap. II : THE INCIPIENT STAGE : 1. The Prehistory of Jainism 2. The Historical Background 3. Material Basis of the Great Intellectual Movement 4. The Conflicts in the History of Indian thought 5. Contemporary Philosophical Schools 6. Purana Kassapa 7. Pakudha Kaccayana 8. Makkhali Gosala 9. Sanjaya Belatthiputta 10. Ajita Kesakambalin 11. Social Experiences of Mahavira 12. The Social Basis of Jain Ethics Chap. III : THE SOPHISTICATED STAGE : 1. Jainism and Indian Philosophical Tradition 2. Jain Atheism 3. Jain Logic 4. Scientific Enquiries : Cosmology 5. Scientific Enquiries : Classification of Jiva 6. Scientific Enquiries : Biology, Physiology, Etc 7. Scientific Enquiries : Diseases and Medicines 8. Scientific Enquiries : Astronomy 9. Scientific Enquiries : Atomism 10. Jain Cosmography 11. The Unfounded Speculations and their Ethical Considerations 12. The Nine Fundamentals and the Doctrine of Karma 13. Classification of Karma and the Gunasthanas 14. A Review of the Jain Metaphysics 15. Theory of Knowledge 16. Psychological Ingredients 17. The Non-Absolutist Standpoint Chap. IV : A COMPARATIVE STUDY : 1. Jainism and Vedic Tradition 2. Jainism and Buddhism 3. Jainism and Ajivikism 4. Jainism and Materialism 5. Jainism and Samkhya 6. Jainism and Yoga 7. Jainism and Mimamsa 8. Jainism and Nyaya-Vaisesika 9. Jainism and Vedanta 10. A Subjectwise Comparative Study of the Systems. (shrink)

This volume - the first project of its kind in the field - collates c. 1200 biographical entries on Greek sophists and rhetors who flourished in the Roman Empire from the first to the seventh century AD. Ancient Greek sophists, the masters of speech and teachers of rhetoric, constituted one of the most important and interesting intellectual circles of the ancient world. The prosopography provides comprehensive information on sophists and their activities, using abundant and varied source material such as literary (...) texts (including those of the rhetors themselves) and papyrological, epigraphic, and numismatic evidence. Each entry provides data (where available) on sources in which the person is attested, biographical details, career, and rhetorical activity. This book constitutes a basis and a tool for subsequent in-depth studies on the Greek Sophistic movement, as well as a useful reference book for students and all those interested in the culture of the ancient world. (shrink)

In this article, jumping off from Geoffrey de Ste. Croix’s treatment of Aristophanes and the Megarian Decree, I argue that Old Comedy is an underutilised category of evidence for the study of the popular intellectual history of Athens. My particular focus here is the Athenian empire: how does Old Comedy present Athenian power and what does this comic presentation tell us about how at least some ordinary Athenians understood it? Can one popular Athenian imaginary of the empire be constructed through (...) analysis of Aristophanes and his contemporaries? I will argue that Old Comedy, taken as a corpus, presents a very Athenian empire, that is to say one focused on Athens and its exploitation of others. The comic poets, therefore, likely assumed parochialism and myopia on the part of their audience, but also significant topical interest in the mechanisms of Athenian power, particularly those which brought revenue to Athens. This impression of highly topical engagement with the empire is corroborated by bringing Comedy into dialogue with other sources, in particular the epigraphic record. (shrink)

The present study aims at elucidating two aspects of Roman governance: first of all, the overlooked, but relevant, power of decision of the consuls (and, in a minor degree, of the praetors); secondly, the relationship between magistrates and Senate. The sources, especially epigraphic senatus consulta, consistently describe a procedure through which the Senate voted to delegate fully or partially decision-making on specific matters of foreign affairs to a consul or praetor who was in Rome. This procedure is present in (...) almost half of the decisions recorded in epigraphic senatus consulta, on a variety of matters throughout the second and first centuries. This procedure was characterised by the use of the formula ita utei ei e re publica fideque sua videbitur esse/videretur (found in both epigraphic and literary sources), which referred to the cultural and ideological connotation that addressed the relationship between the Senate and magistrates. (shrink)

The three Nubian kingdoms that eventually emerged after the disintegration of Meroe, Noubadia, Makuria and Alodia (Alwa), first enter Byzantine historiography with the dramatic story of their conversion into Christianity told by John of Ephesus in the third part of his Church History, composed about AD 578–588 in Syriac. To be more exact, what John tells us is that, through the initiative of Empress Theodora, the Noubades and Alodians were converted into the Monophysite or (more specifically) Miaphysite creed, while the (...) Makurians remained hostile to the missionaries (later, apparently, to emerge as Dyophysites). RICHTER (R.) takes John's account as his point of departure, devoting half the book to a translation of the relevant chapters (IV.6–10 and 49–53) and a thorough discussion of their historical contents. It is the particular merit of his book, however, that he also comes to grips with the archaeological, especially architectural and epigraphic evidence on the Christianization process that surveys and excavations brought forth in the last century. The other half of the book brings together and systematizes such material from a great variety of secondary sources. The intense archaeological activities prompted by the flooding of vital parts of Lower Nubia have tended to give material remains precedence over literary witnesses in the current rewriting of Nubian history; R. endeavours to redress the balance, with regard to the sixth and seventh centuries, by juxtaposing the textual and archaeological sources. (shrink)

Summary This paper investigates the Athenian gymnasiarchy, an office that remains badly understood. Originally a festival liturgy, the gymnasiarchy was transformed into a magistracy at the end of the fourth century BC. This paper first examines the reasons for the shift and argues that it was connected to broader political currents in late Classical Athens. Secondly, it sheds new light on the nature of the office in the Hellenistic period. Whereas earlier scholars assumed that the Athenian gymnasiarch was a minor (...) official under the kosmetes, epigraphic and literary sources reveal that he was a fully-fledged gymnasium director, just as in other poleis. (shrink)

Partial commentaries of Gomez Davila’s epigraphs in Scholia to an Implicit Text have been put forward by several scholars. Nevertheless, none of them has yet attempted a systematic study of their meaning and their relation to the rest of the book or the literary sources to which they allude. This article is aimed to present such a systematic analysis, thus revealing two things: first, a number of essential premises of Gómez Dávila’s thought; second, the importance of intertextuality for a (...) thorough understanding of this work: the epigraphs need an hors du texte and the scholia to be interpreted, just as the scholia need the epigraphs and an “out of the text” to be deciphered. In other words, neither is autonomous: their meaning is to be found in intertextuality. (shrink)

The ἰαματικά, a collection of seven short epigrams about healing grouped together and so labelled in the Milan papyrus attributed to Posidippus, present another useful source of information about the cult and cures of Asclepius (AB 95–101;P Mil. Vogl. VIII 309, XIV.30–XV.22). Brief though the epigrams are (all are four lines in length except the first, which is eight lines), they accord well with the picture of the cult presented by material, epigraphic and other literary evidence.

In Athens and other ancient cultures, a woman, whatever her status and whatever her age or social class, was, in law, a perpetual minor. Throughout her life, she was in the legal control of a guardian who represented her in law. Rape, as unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman, warranted a capital charge in the Graeco-Roman world. It still carries a capital charge in some societies and is considered a felony in others. As for adultery, it may be prosecuted in (...) some cultures while in others it is a matter to be decided by the family council. This paper examines laws concerning the abuse of and exploitation of women in ancient and modern societies, especially within the context of their biologically determined roles and sexual culture. It also seeks to establish the socio-legal rights of women, especially those who were traumatised and sexually abused. The research method is mainly content analysis. It employs sources such as legal evidence in the form of recorded speeches of the Attic orators along with literary accounts, historical or legendary and epigraphic inscriptions. (shrink)

The mob, when they are gazing at a dancer on the slack rope, naturally writhe and twist and balance their own bodies, as they see him do, and as they feel that they themselves must do if in his situation. I begin with an epigraph from Adam Smith in order to make apparent the structuring conceit of this essay, which is the following: the matter of assemblages are here considered within the context of modern tradition of moral sentimentalism and its (...) considerations of the affective, associational dynamics that dispose of collectivities. At root in these reflections is my inclination to return to the original French term in the work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari that sources our English... (shrink)

This article argues that descriptions of the Black Sea found in the Archaic poets, Herodotus, and later geographers were influenced by commercial itineraries circulated amongst Greek slave traders in the north. Drawing on an epigraphic corpus of twenty-three merchant letters from the region dating between c. 550 and 450 BCE, I contrast the travels of enslaved persons recorded in the documents with stylized descriptions found in literary accounts. This article finds that slaves took a variety of routes into—and out of—slavery, (...) and that fear of enslavement was widely felt even among Greeks. Law courts might have been as important as “barbarian” warfare in ensnaring captives for export, and even slave traders themselves risked enslavement alongside their victims. Reconstructing the travels of individual slaves allows us to pursue a study in the spirit of what Joseph C. Miller has called the “biographical turn” in the study of slavery, privileging the experiences of the enslaved over the accounts of their masters. Although the lands around the distant Black Sea were never the leading source of slaves for Aegean cities, the wealth of primary testimony from the region puts it at the forefront in the history of slavery in ancient Greece. (shrink)

The thousands of funerary inscriptions from the city of Rome published in CIL VI are a rich source of demographic data but are also the subject of serious debate regarding the epigraphic habit of the Romans. Do the inscriptions represent a cross-section of Roman society or are they largely the creation of the lower classes? Fixing the milieu from which the inscriptions come is difficult, because the exact status of more than 50 % of the commemorating population is unstated. The (...) first section of the paper lays out the criteria according to which individuals, both those of certain status and those of uncertain status, may be classified as freeborn, freed or servile. The second section tabulates the results and argues that the practice of commemoration by modest titulus was overwhelmingly a phenomenon of the milieu of the freed. Since this is not a self-perpetuating population, the prevalence of freedmen in the tituli shows it was among those families in transition from slavery to liberty that titular commemoration was most common. The freed drew attention to their own freedom, and even more proudly advertised the freeborn status of their children. (shrink)

Fred Dallmayr is one of the most perceptive commentators on the implications of continental philosophy for political thinking. Following Hannah Arendt he describes his essays as "exercises in contemporary political theory." Whether exploring the meaning of Heidegger's reflections on freedom, Gadamer, Oakeshott or Rorty on conversation and dialogue, Habermas on communicative action and rationality, or Foucault on power, Dallmayr has the rare gift of enabling texts "to speak to us" in new and illuminating ways. He beautifully exhibits a theme that (...) he explores in several of these essays--authentic conversation, where he shows us how to listen to the other and to pursue in depth the common subject matter--die Sache. These exercises continue the investigations begun in his Twilight of Subjectivity: Contributions to a Post-Individualist Theory of Politics. The important and intriguing aspect of Dallmayr's project is the way in which he confronts contemporary critiques of individualism, subjectivism, and humanism--and yet dialectically seeks to incorporate the "truth" of what is being criticized. His primary concern is with reconstruction rather than deconstruction. Throughout there is the exercise of good judgment and phronësis in his balanced interpretations. The dominant figure in Dallmayr's own meditative thinking is Heidegger. Dallmayr presents us with one of the most judicious, sensitive, and insightful interpretations of Heidegger's relevance for understanding the meaning of polis and praxis. The opening sentence of Heidegger's Letter on Humanism may well be taken as an epigraph for the entire volume: "We are still far from pondering the essence of action seriously enough." Like Heidegger, Dallmayr wants to dislodge the concepts of freedom and power from human willfulness and subjectivity, and to show that the essence of freedom involves solidarity--a reciprocal effort of liberation or a mutual "letting-be." Dallmayr underscores "the exploratory, non-systematic, or en route" character of his essays. One source of uneasiness that a reader may feel arises from the sheer variety of political views represented by the thinkers that Dallmayr examines including Strauss, Heidegger, Gadamer, Oakeshott, Rorty, Arendt, Merleau-Ponty, and Foucault. For they cover the political spectrum. There are many directions that a post-individualist theory of politics may take. It is not entirely clear from these exploratory essays where we or Dallmayr are being led. To use a Hegelian turn of phrase, one needs more "determinate negation"--more specificity--in Dallmayr's own Holzwege. The type of tensions that have been characteristic of the Hegelian legacy where one can read Hegel as a potentially radical and revolutionary thinker or as a fundamentally conservative thinker--tensions which have continued to plague a good deal of political thinking since Hegel are implicit in and not yet resolved by Dallmayr. Nevertheless, although one follows the many pathways opened up for us with a certain amount of intellectual caution, the journey is an exciting and revealing one.-Richard J. Bernstein, Haverford College. (shrink)

Les recherches sur les mobilités et les migrations dans l’Antiquité romaine constituent un champ particulièrement dynamique depuis une trentaine d’années. Contrairement à ce qu’il en est pour d’autres périodes historiques, l’approche de ces phénomènes par le prisme du genre demeure en revanche limitée et se concentre sur les pratiques et les identités des femmes en contexte de circulation. Après un bref bilan historiographique, cet article propose une réflexion méthodologique sur les apports et les limites des sources à disposition pour (...) faire l’histoire de ces circulations féminines à la période romaine, en centrant le regard sur le corpus épigraphique. Sont au centre de la réflexion les inscriptions (essentiellement de nature funéraire) de la ville de Rome (fin de la République – Haut-Empire) où sont évoquées des femmes qui ont connu des épisodes de mobilité et sans doute une immigration durable, voire définitive, depuis les provinces de l’empire vers l’Vrbs. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Beyond the Pale: Reading Ethics from the Margins ed. by Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas, Miguel A. De La TorreRubén Rosario RodríguezBeyond the Pale: Reading Ethics from the Margins Edited by Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas and Miguel A. De La Torre Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011. 270pp. $35.00Full disclosure: I am a contributing author to a companion volume edited by the same team on reading theology from the margins. (...) As a Latino liberation theologian I am sympathetic to the overall project envisioned and realized by the two editors while still capable of offering a critical assessment of the completed project. From the outset, the editors are aware that a critical retrieval from the underside of history of the major figures in Western philosophical and Christian ethics is likely to offend many in the academic establishment, as [End Page 208] evidenced by their use of Karl Popper in an epigraph: “If in this book harsh words are spoken about some of the greatest among the intellectual leaders of mankind, my motive is not, I hope, the wish to belittle them” (vii).The overall argument of this primer in Christian ethics is that the academic discipline of ethics is thoroughly Eurocentric and—dare I say it—even white supremacist. Therefore, it is necessary for scholars located within the margins of the white male academy to reevaluate the canon of ethicists in order to articulate how one can reconcile the belief that all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God (Gn 1:27) with the ethical reality that, in the works of many of the men whose works comprise the canon of philosophical and religious ethics (and, yes, the canonical sources interrogated in this volume are all men), large sections of the human population are excluded from the “unalienable rights” due them as imago Dei. Consequently, this work is not just a historical reevaluation of the canon through the lens of liberative ethics; it is a measured appeal for the very reconstruction of the canon along more liberative lines through the incorporation of previously marginalized and silenced perspectives. To that end, this volume is offered as a conversation starter for the very difficult work of revising the canon that lies ahead for the discipline, a mere marking of a trail in a largely unexplored wilderness.Simultaneously, the text also serves as a good general introduction to the discipline of Christian ethics, as the editors have selected a representative selection of key figures matched to relevant themes (i.e., Augustine on just war, John Rawls on justice, John Howard Yoder on pacifism) that easily lends itself to an introductory or survey course at the undergraduate or graduate level. Furthermore, despite providing subtle and complex readings of canonical texts from a variety of critical perspectives, the text is accessible enough to appeal to a broad Christian audience beyond the academy. Although the quality and length of the articles varies, the project provides a crucial reassessment of classical figures in ethics that embraces the contributions these historical figures have made to the discipline while exposing the problematic biases and prejudices contained in their thought. The cumulative impact is to undermine the dominant assumption within the discipline of Christian ethics that an objective and universal perspective is desirable and attainable, in favor of affirming the contextualized and interested nature of every ethical perspective, thus demanding a hermeneutics of suspicion when reading all received texts and traditions. Perhaps a generation from now scholars will point to this volume—in particular, George Tinker’s piece on John Locke and property rights and Miguel A. De La Torre’s essay on Stanley Hauerwas’s ecclesiology—as a turning point for the discipline of Christian ethics, contributing to a Copernican shift in the construction and assessment of the ethical canon. [End Page 209]Rubén Rosario RodríguezSaint Louis UniversityCopyright © 2016 The Society of Christian Ethics... (shrink)

In 1635 a Latin translation was published of Galileo's Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems , which had occasioned his condemnation by the Inquisition in 1633. The Latin translation bore the title Systema Cosmicum. It had been organized by Elia Diodati , a Protestant of Italian origin born in Geneva and living in Paris, where he was a Parliament lawyer. Diodati, a confidante of Galileo, had gone into action after receiving a letter that may be regarded as Galileo's intellectual (...) testament, written the same day his legal testament was registered and he decided to journey from Florence to Rome to stand trial. Galileo's letter stated that “from reliable sources I hear the Jesuit Fathers have managed to convince some very important persons that my book is execrable and more harmful to the Holy Church than the writings of Luther and Calvin.”The translator was Mathias Bernegger , the Austrian‐born Protestant rector of the University of Strasbourg, who taught history and political science but had a background in mathematics. The publisher was the influential Dutch firm of the Elseviers, based in Leiden but with branches in several cities. The place of publication was Strasbourg, which at that time was a free city within the Holy Roman Empire. The book had two appendixes: a five‐page selection from Kepler's introduction to his Astronomia Nova , arguing that Scripture carries no weight in natural philosophy; and a Latin translation of Paolo Foscarini's 1615 booklet that had been condemned and banned by the Decree of the Index of 5 March 1616 for arguing that the earth's motion is compatible with Scripture. The book's frontispiece reproduced the one from the original edition—that of Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Copernicus engaged in conversation—but with the figure of Copernicus looking much younger than the original. And the title page carried two epigraphs: a Greek quotation from the Platonist philosopher Alcinous meaning “One must be mentally free if one wants to become a philosopher” and a Latin quotation from Seneca meaning “It is especially among philosophers that one must have equal liberty.”A year later , there appeared also in Strasbourg with the Elseviers and edited by Bernegger the first publication ever of Galileo's “Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina,” which he had written in 1615. It had both the Italian text and a Latin translation by Diodati and bore the revealing title Nov‐antiqua Sanctissimorum Patrum et Probatorum Theologorum Doctrina de Sacrae Scripturae Testimoniis, in Conclusionibuis mere Naturalibus, Quae Sensata Experientia et Necessariis Demonstrationibus Evinci Possunt. It had a preface in which Diodati praised Galileo's astronomical accomplishments, blamed his trial on jealous rivals, and justified the depth and purity of his piety and religiousness. Diodati used the pseudonym Robertus Robertinus, which corresponded to the name of a Prussian poet named Robert Roberthin .These are some of the factual details in Nonnoi's book. Other chapters deal, in a similar vein, with the ambiguities of Galileo's atomism; with icons, models, and symbols in Galileo's Copernican propaganda; and with the image of Galileo in the astronomical writings of John Wilkins .Such details are fascinating and important for understanding Galileo's work and its aftermath, and so Nonnoi's book is useful for contributing such necessary spadework—in particular, the bibliographical documentation is especially valuable and the analysis of the pictures found in the works discussed shows considerable originality. Regrettably, Nonnoi does not integrate such details into an overarching thesis that might elaborate their significance; thus, the work of assimilating them remains to be done. (shrink)