Since the financial crisis, there has been much discussion about the importance of ethics in economic life. An important contribution to this discussion was a 2018 Vatican letter on the financial system which reiterated and further developed Catholic social teaching. This article argues that the Catholic Church is correct to unite the disciplines of economics and ethics. However, it is proposed that, as Catholic social teaching in this field develops further, there should be more focus on the importance and development (...) of the virtues. The letter reaffirmed earlier Catholic Church teaching on the regulation of markets. Once again, the formation in the virtues, especially the virtue of prudence, can help us make discerning judgments about the place of regulation in economic life. Furthermore, an understanding of human anthropology and the economic history of financial institutions can help us make prudent judgments in relation to these issues. (shrink)

This paper explores the complex reception of the reign of Maurice (582-602) at the court of Heraclius (610 -641). It explores how the reign of Maurice established two important precedents for Heraclius as he emerged from the Last Great War: first, the re-establishment, after a long hiatus, of the principle of filial succession; and second, the realisation of a profound, co-operative peace with the Persians. It then argues, however, that Heraclian authors - in particular Theophylact Simocatta - resisted the sanctification (...) of the murdered emperor, framing him instead as, ultimately, a failure, suggesting that he had deserved and accepted his death, and insisting that he had surrendered all of his children, including his son and co-emperor Theodosius, to the same fate. Thus the reign of Maurice was presented not as an apex from which his successors had fallen, but as a pale foreshadowing of the early triumphs of Heraclius. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Millennium Jahrgang: 14 Heft: 1 Seiten: 151-190.