Mediterranean Society Research Articles

Vernacular Taxonomy, Classification and Varietal Diversity of fig (Ficus carica L.) Among Jbala cultivators in Northern Morocco

Interactions between societies and their natural environment have led to the development of complex traditional agroecosystems with a high level of agrodiversity (Brookfield 2001) linked to landscape mosaics which favour sustainability (Perfecto and Vandermeer 2010). In the Mediterranean region, ecological and evolutionary interactions since the Neolithic between humans and biodiversity have produced coupled bio-cultural landscapes (Blondel 2006). Domestication in that region took place through selection of biological traits for a large diversity of crops including cereals, pulses and trees (Zohary and Spiegel-Roy 1975). Crop intraspecific diversity in traditional farming systems contributes to risk avoidance strategies through the selection of adapted agronomic properties. Crop diversity also relates to sociocultural values and functions such as food preferences, ceremonial uses, identity or patrimony (Gibson 2009; Heckler and Zent 2008), as well as levels of interest within each society among individuals (Emperaire and Peroni 2007) and the reproductive biology of specific crops. Mediterranean fruit trees are allogamous and vegetative propagation is a major method for selecting and maintaining advantageous traits (Zohary and Spiegel-Roy 1975). Feral or wild crop relatives of Ficus carica, Olea europaea or Castanea sativa are preserved in traditional agroecosystems for a variety of purposes ranging from religious to practical uses, favoring gene flow between the wild or feral and clonally propagated varieties. Sexual recombinations between wild, feral and clonally propagated varieties favor the emergence of new varieties (Aumeeruddy-Thomas 2010; Aumeeruddy-Thomas et al. 2012). Studies pertaining to other vegetatively propagated crops, especially tubers in tropical regions, demonstrate the complementary role of vegetative and sexual reproduction in producing new cultivars (Caillon et al. 2006; McKey et al. 2010). In the Mediterranean region, figs, olives, dates, grapes and almonds were the first perennial plant species to be domesticated (Zohary and Hopf 2000). Compared to the roles of cereals the importance of tree interspecific and intraspecific diversity for the development of Mediterranean societies has been little discussed (Bouby and Ruas 2012). The existence of 1275 olive cultivars described to date in the Mediterranean region (Bartolini et al. 1998) shows the importance of olive intraspecific diversity at the regional level. In Morocco, 194 fig and 60 olive genotypes are known (Khadari et al. 2008b; Achtak et al. 2010). Intraspecific diversity of fruit trees in the Mediterranean region has been attributed to their cultural, economic and religious importance since ancient times. Condit (1947) monograph on the fig provides a comprehensive account of the importance of Ficus carica in legends and folklore. The sociocultural importance of fruit trees is discussed by numerous authors in classical texts on agronomy (e.g., Plinius Natural History and Columnella De Re Rustica) and in historical and ethnobotanical studies (Gsell 1914; Bellakhdar 2003). Nevertheless, no comprehensive study examines the underlying sociocultural Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10745-012-9471-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Le coq gaulois à l’heure anglaise: analyse de la traduction anglaise d’Astérix by Catherine Delesse, Bertrand Richet

Fourastié, would have been called for. However, Fourastié is briefly mentioned only once (168). Western Washington University Edward Ousselin DELESSE, CATHERINE, et BERTRAND RICHET. Le coq gaulois à l’heure anglaise: analyse de la traduction anglaise d’Astérix. Arras: Artois PU, 2009. ISBN 978-2-84832-077-9. Pp. 447. 24 a. This book deserves a belated review because it presents a major research project on Astérix that deals with the difficult art of translating cultural humor. The authors compare thirty-three episodes of the series by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo (the last eight by Uderzo alone after Goscinny’s death in 1977) with their corresponding English translations, all of which were done by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge between 1969 and 2005. In their introduction, Delesse and Richet discuss the challenges translators face in their efforts to remain close to the original work while creating similar cultural humor that is essentially an adaptation. In order to organize and present such a vast amount of material, the authors divided their comparisons into four chapters: “Les noms propres,” “Les jeux de mots,” “Accents, dialectes et langues étrangères,” and “Les allusions culturelles.” The chapter on proper names is divided into numerous categories, such as historical references and adaptations of the original French names to fit the context. For example, in Astérix et le chaudron the character Juleraimus (Jules Raimu, a wellknown French actor from the 1930s) becomes Alecguinus (Alec Guinness, a famous British actor who admired Raimu). There are many clever names invented by the English translators that often have a connection with the French or with the original meaning of a certain word, such as the dog’s name Idéfix which becomes Dogmatix in the English translation. A great challenge for translators is rendering into English plays on words, which are based on colloquial meanings, sounds, and cultural references. In Astérix et les Goths the chief Téléféric is deposed by his enemy who says “Ta vie ne tient qu’à un fil, Téléféric.” Since cable car and “hang by a thread” do not have the same close connection in English, the translators totally transformed the word play by changing the chief’s name to Metric with his opponent saying “It’s time you were going, Metric” (95). The phrase alludes to the debate in England about “going metric,” meaning an official change to using the metric system for money and measurement. The English phrase here can be understood in two ways: It’s time to get rid of you (when using a comma and meaning get rid of the metric system) and it’s time to go metric (without the comma, meaning it’s time for a change), thus representing both sides of the debate. Much of the humor in Astérix is based on stereotypes and details of cultural identity. In their chapter on accents, dialects, and foreign languages, the authors compare the clever ways in which the translators transformed these elements into a context that is humorous for Anglophones. The final chapter, which deals with cultural allusions, is divided into sections on songs, famous sayings, historical references, and popular culture, just to name a few. The creative genius of Goscinny and Uderzo and the ingenious renditions of their humor by the translators are impressive and amusing. From a pedagogical perspective, this book could Reviews 967 be used as a reference work in a French culture class, a translation course, and a course on bandes dessinées. Le coq gaulois is a must-read for Astérix aficionados as well as for those who are yet unfamiliar with the French cultural icon whose adventures have been translated into 107 languages and dialects with worldwide sales of over 325 million albums. Ohio University, Athens Lois Vines DIETLER, MICHAEL. Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France. Berkeley: UP of California, 2010. ISBN 978-0-52026551 -6. Pp. 464. $60. During the sixth century BCE, Phocaeans from a Greek colony in contemporary Turkey arrived in Marseille, naming it Massalia. This event becomes more than a mere historical fact in Dietler’s complex analysis of Mediterranean society during the...

The mysterious deity of Lagole: ritual and writing in ancient Italy

The use of written documents is a key point in the development of any society, but the impact that literacy had on the development of early Mediterranean societies is not well understood. The Ancient Literacy project at the Institute aims to examine the effects of literacy on early societies by studying the earliest written documents from three regions of pre-Roman Italy. In this article, a member of the project describes one of the case studies, in northeast Italy, where a large concentration of inscriptions and other objects dedicated to a deity have been found at a sacred lake.

Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France by Michael Dietler

be used as a reference work in a French culture class, a translation course, and a course on bandes dessinées. Le coq gaulois is a must-read for Astérix aficionados as well as for those who are yet unfamiliar with the French cultural icon whose adventures have been translated into 107 languages and dialects with worldwide sales of over 325 million albums. Ohio University, Athens Lois Vines DIETLER, MICHAEL. Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France. Berkeley: UP of California, 2010. ISBN 978-0-52026551 -6. Pp. 464. $60. During the sixth century BCE, Phocaeans from a Greek colony in contemporary Turkey arrived in Marseille, naming it Massalia. This event becomes more than a mere historical fact in Dietler’s complex analysis of Mediterranean society during the period 600–100 BCE. Influenced by the myth of Gyptis and its implications , which tells of a Greek man chosen by a native woman, one has a tendency to exalt the civilizing force of the Greek and later Roman world on the conquered peoples. Using archaeology, ancient texts, and anthropological data, Dietler not only disproves these prejudices, but also recreates life in Massalia and its surroundings . He demonstrates the transformation of both the colonizers and the colonized through complex social, economic, and political interaction. Like all conquered peoples, the Massalians picked and chose among the products and perspectives of their conquerors. Wine was the principal commodity imported from abroad, mainly from the Etruscans. They later became wine-producers and exporters themselves to their chora, or colonies they established in the surrounding area after the fourth century BCE. Wine had an exotic appeal, as well as a practical one, since it could be preserved longer than local brews. Archaeological findings reveal stoneware of local origin used for wine, as well as large containers for wheat, imported by the Massalians. They prepared their meat according to local custom with little foreign influence, although cereals remained the most important staples. The early Mediterranean peoples seem to have rejected olive oil, of great importance to the Greeks and Romans. Thus wine and pottery became the principal products exchanged in the area, much of this by sea. Sunken ships and remnants of utensils shed light on the extent of trade in the region. Commerce prior to the Augustan Age was not a state-regulated enterprise , since even the major powers remained loosely connected, with little sense of identity. Merchants were individual entrepreneurs without any national allegiance . While archaeological evidence does not fully support Julius Caesar’s claim of “warring Gauls,” weapons and especially stone ramparts appear after the sixth century BCE, notably in Provence in contrast to Languedoc. The marks of fire and destruction found throughout the region do not necessarily point to largescale war. Dietler proposes rather skirmishes, raids, and feuds, given the small size of the cities. Massalia became the center of conflict on land and sea, particularly after the second century. On the other hand, the richest source of Celtic warrior statues and severed heads has been unearthed in Provence and eastern Languedoc, indicating militaristic religious rites and new political structures. Finally, the homes of the early Mediterranean peoples shed light on their lives. While the urban landscape evolved gradually, it bore little resemblance to 968 FRENCH REVIEW 85.5 Greek cities, with the possible exception of Glanum (near today’s Saint-Rémy de Provence). For some time, small nuclear family units seemed the rule, with wattle and daub constructions replaced by mud bricks and stone. These people later built houses into blocks opening into streets, producing a congested urban atmosphere . Some larger homes, often with inner courtyards, possibly indicate the emergence of social distinctions, or the need for storage space. In contrast to Greek cities, large public areas and ritual spaces did not appear before the second century BCE. Even then, they did not reflect Greek values, but were rather indigenous constructions. While this book contains forty pages of scholarly references, abundantly noted in the text, it remains quite accessible to the general reader. The ample number of photographs and sketches facilitates understanding of the technical aspects. Dietler questions many previously held theories, and provides evidence pointing...

Charity and Reciprocity: Structures of Benevolence in Rabbinic Literature

In his recent book, Seth Schwartz explores “[t]he tension between egalitarian solidarity and competitive reciprocity” in the late Second Temple period and in rabbinic Judaism.1 As Schwartz's characterization of reciprocity implies, it stands at odds with egalitarianism because exchange, outside the boundaries of the market, is ordinarily structured by asymmetry, and thus by the hierarchical relationships of patronage and dependence.2 For Schwartz, Judaism's “natural” proclivity, at least as enshrined in the Torah, is toward egalitarian solidarity. To obviate the need for the “dependence-generating gift,” the Torah mandates wealth transfer to the poor through charitable donation (leaving unharvested the corner of one's field, etc.). Charity, unlike the gift, does not generate the obligation to reciprocate: “[t]he pauper, like the priest, is meant to feel no gratitude—at least not toward the donor.”3 Given this innate preference for solidarity, the problem for late antique Judaism in a patronage-dominated Mediterranean society lay specifically in “how to come to terms, Jewishly, with the practical inevitability of social institutions founded on reciprocal exchange.”4

On reading Goitein's A Mediterranean Society: a view from economic history

Goitein's A Mediterranean Society is widely praised but often misread. It is regarded as a monumental accomplishment of compilation and organization, but a book that is only a compendium of details without an argument. This article shows that it is instead a collection of brilliant syntheses and hypotheses, and that the absence of an over-arching thesis reflects not a lack of interest or thought, but tensions in the author's arguments and counter-arguments, particularly about the nature of Jewish-Muslim interaction. The article closes with suggestions for how to read or re-read the work to appreciate both richness and contradiction.

Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society? Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient JudaismSchwartzSeth Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society? Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism Princeton University PressPrinceton, 2010, x, 212, $29.95ISBN 978-0-691-14054-4

Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society? Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient JudaismSchwartzSeth <i>Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society? Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism</i> Princeton University PressPrinceton, 2010, x, 212, $29.95ISBN 978-0-691-14054-4

The Gordian Knot of Interpretation: Roman written sources, the idea of socio-cultural evolution and the concept of Romanization

In the Roman Empire, under the Greek influences, authors shared the idea of “the degree of humanity”, according to which the Romans formed value judgements about the “barbarian” societies. The framework of reference was constituted by the Roman society itself, taken as superior and predestined as the centre of the known world. The criteria for comparison were based upon the natural and climatic environment, socio-political organization, economy, religion, ways of life, warfare, marital practices, certain kinds of material culture and cultural practices in general. According to this view, the Mediterranean societies were “the most human”, and the level of humanity declined in direct relation to the geographical remoteness and other differences as compared to the centre. Although these speculations were not organized into a unified interpretive framework, like the modern social theories, they nevertheless were implicit assumptions of the Roman elite. This „naive“ or “common-sense anthropology” has had a strong impact on the formation of the premises of the modern anthropological theories, due to the general role of the ancient written sources in the processes of knowledge formation in modern Europe. It is therefore possible to assume that the ancient ideas, along with the later ones, played an important role in the shaping of the postulates of the early theory of socio-cultural evolution – the implicit base of interpretation of human societies during the 19th century. Consequently, the written sources have played a double role in the processes of formation of the concept of Romanization – directly, as well as through socio-cultural evolution, onto which the concept itself relied. In this way, the prejudices stemming from the discourse of Romanization gained the air of scientific interpretations, verified by two seemingly independent reference systems.&#x0D;

Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society? Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism. By Seth Schwartz

In this engaging study, Seth Schwartz aims to describe how the Jews related to other Mediterranean societies among whom they lived. The opening chapter of the book treats two opposing systems of values: the reciprocity model and the solidarity model. The reciprocity model relies on the redistribution of materials through institutionalized reciprocity, which creates “enduring relationships of dependency, whether between individuals or groups” (8). Schwartz argues that institutionalized reciprocity is the norm for Mediterranean cultures from before the first-century BCE through at least the fourth-century CE. This model involves both inequality and delayed repayment. The solidarity model, by contrast, entails providing for members of one's group simply because they are members of one's group without expectation of repayment. Schwartz argues that the reciprocity model requires “you to love your patrons, clients, kinsmen, and friends, but not all members of your nation,” while the solidarity model requires “you to love all members of your nation whether or not they are personally connected to you” (15). In contrast to other Mediterranean societies, “Jews were heirs to a set of strongly antireciprocal cultural imperatives” (10). He states that the “Bible's elaborate rules are meant to ensure that the charitable donation … never degenerates into a dependency-generating gift” (18). Schwartz, then, reads Jewish culture as a Mediterranean counter-culture.

Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society?: Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism (review)

Were Jews a Society?: Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism, by Seth Schwartz. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2010. 212 pp. $29.95. In spite of its title, this has nothing to do with Goiteihs classic A Society (Berkeley, 1967-1993), which is not even mentioned throughout present book. It is, in fact, an attempt to look closely at society in Palestine in Second Temple and rabbinic periods and ask whether that society conforms to what is commonly expected of a Mediterranean society, and to what is known about Hellenistic and Roman societies outside world. To answer that question, Schwartz begins by explaining his understanding of reciprocity, and especially institutionalized reciprocity, as a means for generating social cohesion, as when, for example, a rich Roman would build a new bathhouse for his hometown and in return would be duly honored by town's people with honorific statues, inscriptions, and pubUc speeches. He also notes that Jews had other means for generating social cohesion, such as stress on common descent and celebration of a set of community-binding holidays. In next chapter, he turns to question of Mediterraneanism, a historiographical, anthropological and even literary construct which sees societies as possessing highly institutionalized mechanisms of reciprocity, and as based on elaborate codes of honor and shame. While doubting validity of this construct, Schwartz nevertheless seeks to test ancient society against it, and to do so he turns, in next three chapters, to Ben Sira (second century BCE), Josephus (first century CE) and Palestinian Talmud (third-fourth centuries CE). In each of these test-cases, a detailed analysis of sources in search of their views of reciprocity, benefaction, social hierarchy, deference, honor, and related cultural values and social realia leads to a broader assessment of how they fit into landscape of ancient society as a whole. Seen through this lens, Ben Sira emerges as quite ambivalent on issues of gift-giving and gift- exchange, money, trade, and honor. Josephus, who is the pivotal figure for concerns of this book (p. 81), sees Roman-style benefactions - such as erection of new theaters - as bad, but is full of praise for more Jewish benefactions, such as distribution of charity to poor (especially in times of famine) and subsidizing of religious activities (such as funding sacrifices owed by nazirites upon completion of their vows). …

Seth Schwartz. Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society? Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism

No abstract is available.

Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society? Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism

Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society? Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism

Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society? Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism

Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society? Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism

The Ancient Limits of Modern Religion: Perpetua, Augustine and the Construction of the Secular

The martyr Perpetua's declaration, “I am a Christian”, is a point of departure for the invention of religion in the familiar sense of beliefs and practices chosen, rather than as the ritual and piety characteristic of, and universal in, ancient Mediterranean societies. By implication this means the appearance of the secular also. This study explores early Christian evidence from Perpetua and Tertullian and, after the Constantinian revolution, Augustine. This history of reflection on the relationship between belief and identity has interpretive significance for the changing character of religion, and of the secular, in Australian society today.

Were the Jews a Mediterranean society?: reciprocity and solidarity in ancient Judaism

Acknowledgments ix Chapter one: Reciprocity and Solidarity 1 Chapter two: The Problem with Mediterraneanism 21 Chapter three: A God of Reciprocity: Torah and Social Relations in the Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira 45 Chapter four: Josephus: Honor, Memory, Benefaction 80 Chapter five: Roman Values and the Palestinian Rabbis 110 Chapter six: Conclusion: Were the Ancient Jews a Mediterranean Society? 166 Appendix: One Ben Sira on the Social Hierarchy 179 Appendix: Two Josephus on Memory and Benefaction 185 Abbreviations 191 Bibliography 193 Index 209

7th Biennial Congress of the Mediterranean Society of Coloproctology (MSCP), Thessaloniki, Greece, April 22–24, 2010

I attended a well-organized meeting, with the participation of many speakers from Greece, from the Mediterranean area and from several European countries, despite the ashes of the Icelandic volcano. Topics included the most relevant aspects of coloproctological research. A friendly but frank atmosphere has characterized the comprehensive discussion in every session. The optimal diagnostic work-up of rectal cancer was stressed. Endorectal ultrasound can accurately predict T stage in more than 90% of cases, but it is poor at identifying the N stage. CT is useful for locally advanced tumors in identifying adjacent organ involvement, but it cannot accurately evaluate the T stages. MRI is able to accurately predict T stage in 50–90% of patients but is the most reliable tool to detect the circumferential margin involvement. Accuracy in identifying peritoneal tumor perforation and venous invasion is up to 80 and 83%, respectively (M.G. Pramateftakis, I. Kanellos). Total mesorectal excision is the gold standard in the treatment of rectal cancer. Additionally, high ligation of colonic arteries and complete mesocolon excision was presented as the optimal surgical technique of right hemicolectomy for colon cancer (M.G. Pramateftakis). Minimally invasive local excision techniques can be applied for early T1 and T2 rectal tumors smaller than 4 cm, involving less than 40% of the lumen circumference, in patients with significant comorbidities to undergo a radical procedure, in symptomatic patients with multi-organ distant metastatic disease and in well-informed patients denying a radical procedure or a stoma (K. Tepetes). Leakage of colonic anastomosis is the most serious complication after colon resection. Early diagnosis and treatment is imperative; minor leaks can be treated conservatively with parenteral nutrition and antibiotics, while operative treatment is needed for major leaks defined by symptoms of peritonitis and septicemia (D. Kanellos). Loco-regional recurrences of colon cancer (tumor bed, regional nodes, adjoining structures or organs, anastomosis, peritoneum, retroperitoneum, pelvis and surgical scars) after curative colon cancer range between 11 and 40% and are responsible for 30% of deaths. The ideal treatment is the complete resection of the recurrence tumor to achieve R0 operation that provides significant long-term survival (A.N. Machairas). GISTs are the most common mesenchymal gastrointestinal tumors. The most common sites are the stomach and the small bowel. Colorectal GISTs represent 5–10% of the cases, with rectum being the most common site. Segmental colectomy is the mainstay of treatment for resectable nonmetastatic primary colorectal GIST. Since GIST do not metastasize through lymphatics, lymphadenectomy and mesorectal excision are not necessary. Unresectable tumors could be downstaged with neoadjuvant treatment and restaged for respectability (A. Amato). Firstand second-degree hemorrhoids should be treated conservatively. Stapled hemorrhoidopexy is indicated for third-degree hemorrhoids. The technique is questionable for fourth-degree hemorrhoids, showing a higher long-term recurrence rates than excisional surgery (I. Kanellos, X. Delgadillo). Obstructed defecation affects nearly 50% of constipated patients. Symptoms include incomplete and frequent evacuations, straining at stool, self-digitation, perineal and pelvic heaviness, long time spent in toilette. Rectocele and rectal mucosal prolapse are the most common findings, E. Yiannakopoulou (&) Faculty of Health and Caring Professions, Technological Educational Institute of Athens, Athens, Greece e-mail: nyiannak@teiath.gr

Egeria, peregrina y aventurera. Relato de un viaje a Tierra Santa en el siglo IV

In the Mediterranean societies of Antiquity, the journey had a major relevance, though it was conceived as both a male activity and a male privilege. For military, economic and administrative reasons, as well as to satisfy intellectual curiosity, journeys from one place to another were very frequent. With the arrival of Christianity the religious pilgrimage came into being, and this, in its turn, gave rise to the appearance of men and women that wished to take on the adventure of travelling. In this paper I will talk about the specific case of Egeria, the first Christian woman who wrote a report of her travelling from the West to the East, where she visited the Holy Places. Her experience highlights the extent to which gender roles could be actually broken down during Late Antiquity, since in that report Egeria reveals herself as an authentic adventurer.

Epistolary emotions: Exploring amorous hinterlands in 1870s southern Italy

Drawing upon a chance find of a cache of love-letters penned by Italian women in the late nineteenth century, this article investigates an emotional landscape that is rarely documented in the archives: the amorous feelings of ordinary women. The writers were anonymous, literate and presumably fairly well-to-do women from various regions in the southern half of Italy. Each of them had an intensely emotional correspondence with a man who toured the provinces in his professional capacity as an equestrian artiste. We know much about the extent to which women were constrained in the nineteenth century, particularly in Mediterranean societies, but we know less about how they experienced and expressed their emotions within those constraints, or how those feelings and expressions reflected or circumvented prevailing cultural models. Ultimately, using a small but valuable sample of evidence, the article aims to show how sensitivity to emotions as an historical category can open new vistas on the subjective hinterlands of the past.

Interpreting Dragomans: Boundaries and Crossings in the Early Modern Mediterranean

Early modern observers rarely failed to comment on the perceived diversity of peoples, customs, and languages of Mediterranean societies. This diversity they sought to capture in travel narratives, costume albums, missionary and diplomatic reports, bilingual dictionaries, and a range of other genres of the “contact zone.” Modern scholars, too, have celebrated the early modern Mediterranean's ostensibly multiple, diverse, and even “pluralist,” “cosmopolitan,” or “multicultural” nature. At the same time, in part thanks to the reawakened interest in Braudel's seminal work and in part as a much-needed corrective to the politically current but analytically bankrupt paradigm of “clash of civilizations,” recent studies have also emphasized the region's “shared,” “connected,” “mixed,” “fluid,” “syncretic,” or “hybrid” sociocultural practices. Of course, these two analytical emphases are far from mutually exclusive, as recently underscored by Peregrine Horden and Nicholas Purcell's comprehensive, longue durée model of diversity-in-connectivity. Yet, neither Horden and Purcell's structuralist “new thalassology,” nor other studies of the early modern Mediterranean have offered a systematic account of how “diversity” and “connectivity” as both the flow of social practices and the categories for speaking about them have been articulated through specific institutions and genres.

Effects of Extreme Climate on Mediterranean Societies: Climate Extremes During Recent Millennia and Their Impact on Mediterranean Societies; Athens, Greece, 13–16 September 2008

Climatic extremes in the past few thousand years have severely affected societies throughout the Mediterranean region and have changed the outcome of historical events in some instances. Climatic extremes—droughts, floods, prolonged cold and heat—affect society in a variety of ways, operating through famine, disease, and social upheaval.These topics were discussed at an interdisciplinary symposium at the National and Kapodistrian University, in Greece, that brought together climatologists, paleoclimatologists, anthropologists, geologists, archaeologists, and historians working in the greater Mediterranean region.