Roman Power Research Articles

El cuerpo despreciable de Pablo: Los conflictos de poder-somático en las primeras comunidades paulinas

This work aims to delve into discussions concerning the relationship between body and power within the early conflicts of Pauline Christianity. Ideals and ideological transmission, particularly pertaining to a somatic classification of power in the most urbanized cities of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, compelled Paul to employ a rhetoric of suffering in order to uphold his somatic (apostolic) legitimacy. Within the symbolism of Roman power, Paul does not embody the hegemonic stereotype of a divine emissary. In this context, the apostle introduces the discourse of the Crucified body, “bearing in the body the death of Jesus everywhere” (2 Cor 2:4). This serves as a response to accusations and ideological discourses that politically disdain bodies, diverging from the ideals of the Greco-Roman elite.

“Cassius Dio, A Bithynian ‘exiled’ to Rome?”

AbstractFirst, we will retrace the life and brilliant career of this Roman senator of Bithynian origins who came from an ancient family of public figures and who had served five or six emperors and been friends with several of them, having been twice appointed to the role of consul.Then we will consider the nature of his role as Senator coming from an Eastern province and its relationship with Roman power. We will come to see that he represents the perfect example of his theory of the association of provincial élites coming to power, which was developed at length in his work, Roman History, which he produced in Greek for a Greek readership.Finally, rather paradoxically, we will consider how he sees himself in a largely bi-lingual and bi-cultural empire and how he speaks of his homeland with a view to determining whether his attachment to his ‘little country’ is the stronger and if his numerous sojourns in Rome amount to little more than a ‘golden exile’ for him.

Lea Niccolai, Christianity, Philosophy, and Roman Power. Constantine, Julian, and the Bishops on Exegesis and Empire

Lea Niccolai, Christianity, Philosophy, and Roman Power. Constantine, Julian, and the Bishops on Exegesis and Empire

Horace and the Parthians

Abstract This paper aims to explore the Parthian theme in Horace’s poems throughout its development. First, it delves into the works featuring the ethnonym Parthus, which, unlike the synonymous Medus, notably aligns with the events contemporaneous to the poet. It becomes evident that Horace’s early works reflect the Parthian invasion of 41/40 B.C. and the anxiety surrounding the possibility of a recurrence. However, this apprehension is gradually replaced by verses celebrating victory over the Parthians and their apprehension of Roman power. Ultimately, these poems demonstrate their acknowledgment of Roman authority and the compromise established during the age of Augustus. Horace himself never forgets the threat posed by the Parthians, yet there is no compelling reason to consider him an advocate for a conquest war against their eastern neighbors. He appeared content with the diplomatic compromise that had been achieved.

“Put your sword back into its sheath”: A Johannine approach to nonviolent resistance

The Gospel of John challenges the use of violence in both the exercise of power and in resistance to power. This article identifies how power is used in John, discusses who uses it, and examines how power is complicated or inhibited within the narrative. God and the Logos are introduced in the Prologue as the Gospel’s most powerful figures, yet their power is resisted. The Jewish leaders (often co-identified with “the Jews”) hold sociocultural power, though it is limited by Rome. The Empire looms in the background until the passion narrative, in which Roman power is relativized to the power of the empire of God. Cosmic evil co-opts Rome and the Jewish leaders and serves as the most dominant force arrayed against Jesus in the Fourth Gospel, even if constrained. Jesus’s power is superior, yet he exercises self-restraint. The article then explores the resistance practices to dominant power by the Jewish leadership, Peter, then Jesus, focusing on the arrest and (quasi-)trial in John 18. While “the Jews” resort to violence by colluding with Rome, Peter assaults with a sword then denies Jesus. Although greater in power than the arresting party and judicial authorities, Jesus responds to threats with nonviolence, undermining an imperial imagination sustained by ideologies of violence and death.

Roman Power and the Memorial Turn in Civic Honourability in Western Asia Minor, ca 85 BCE-14 CE

Résumé Les honneurs accordés par les poleis hellénistiques à leurs bienfaiteurs ont longtemps constitué un moyen de créer une distance idéologique, intégrant le pouvoir des rois et des étrangers puissants, tout en maintenant l’action civique et l’autonomie. Quelles sont les évolutions sous la domination romaine ? Cet article suggère que les honneurs pour les magistrats romains, et plus tard l’empereur, ont contribué au cours du i er siècle avant J.-C. à modifier progressivement la conception des honneurs pour les citoyens locaux en Asie mineure occidentale : les objectifs traditionnels d’exemplarité et de reproduction sociale ont fini par être éclipsés, sinon remplacés, par celui de la commémoration individuelle. Ce processus s’est produit en deux phases dans la période allant de 85 avant J.-C. à 14 après J.-C. Dans la première, les bienfaits et honneurs accordés aux magistrats Romains en tant que représentants des intérêts civiques ont empiété sur ceux des notables civiques, entraînant une élévation du statut honorifique de ces derniers, et une tendance à souligner la mémorabilité de leurs accomplissements. Dans un second temps, l’apparition du principat et du culte impérial a imposé des limites au statut honorifique local et créé des hiérarchies honorifiques parmi les citoyens, autour des titres et de la primauté familiale, ce qui a mis l’accent sur l’individualité, au détriment de l’exemplarité.

Between Kingdom and Koinon: Neapolis/Neoklaudiopolis and the Pontic Cities by Søren Lund Sørensen

Reviewed by: Between Kingdom and Koinon: Neapolis/Neoklaudiopolis and the Pontic Cities by Søren Lund Sørensen Eliza Gettel Between Kingdom and Koinon: Neapolis/Neoklaudiopolis and the Pontic Cities. By Søren Lund Sørensen. Stuttgart, GR: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2016. Pp. 1-224. Paperback, €48. ISBN: 978-3-515-11312-0. Although this book appeared in 2016, it has received little attention from review bodies. As the rich volume deserves more attention, I volunteer my thoughts on it here. Sørensen’s book, which started as a dissertation, grapples with limited but tantalizing evidence from Roman imperial Pontos. This region’s early interactions with the Roman state involved such figures as Mithridates, Pompey and Pythodoris, but its later integration into the Roman Empire has garnered less attention in English-language scholarship. This volume thus explores the process by which the region developed Hellenistic-style poleis, which were then incorporated into a Roman province (1st century BCE – early 3rd century CE). Neapolis/Neoklaudiopolis is the primary case study. The book consists of six chapters plus a short introduction and conclusion. The first chapter focuses on an inscribed imperial oath and the following five largely concentrate on institutions of various scales (e.g., koinon, polis, province). In short, Sørensen seeks to answer how a region with a famous history of antagonism towards Rome reached the point that its inhabitants celebrated the cult of Roman emperors, held Roman citizenship and did not rebel against Roman authority (13–15). The volume traces transitions of areas from kingdom to province to client kingdom back to province (107–108). As the title suggests, a major part of this story is the koinon, glossed as “league” but left largely untranslated (which makes sense given the imperfections of the common translation “provincial council”). Sørensen considers the koinon as a primary instrument of the concomitant Hellenization and provincialization of Pontos. He follows the argument of Marek that the region hosted multiple koina (versus the “unitary” theory of Deininger). In other parts of the empire, a former ruling class often held onto power during the transition to Roman power. However, based on onomastic study, Sørensen proposes that the Hellenized bouleutic class holding Roman citizenship that established itself through the new civic and federal institutions of Pontos was a foreign one, as in nearby Bithynia (176–177). [End Page 474] The questions and concerns of the book will look familiar to those used to reading about “Romanization.” Here, however, the stress is fittingly on Hellenization and institutions, given the role granted to the koinon. The book also consistently employs the term “provincialization” to describe the ultimate outcome of this process. This choice of language makes sense given trends in Roman imperial studies to treat the creation of a province as a process—and a non-linear one at that—rather than an event. The koinon-ization (please forgive the clunky neologism) of the region serves as an intermediary step on the way to provincialization. The implications of this intermediary step could use more teasing out, especially given that the book recognizes that a province and koinon are not the same thing. Indeed, I suspect that the koinon was more real than the province for local groups. The process of forming more locally oriented koina thus had different valences than forming a Roman administrative province, even if Rome imposed the koinon. The “commonness” expressed in the term koinon (and recognized by Sorenson briefly, 172) seems especially fitting for Roman stakes in the coherence of this region. Indeed, Roman stakes in the koinon-ization of Pontos arguably set the region apart from other parts of the empire where koina existed. Understandably, as its expressed intent, the volume is very focused on the Pontic region. Yet, its conclusions raise intriguing comparisons with other regions. In Pontos, Sørensen sees a close connection between the koinon and Roman power, and he consistently defines the primary purpose of the koinon as the organization of provincial-level imperial cult (e.g., 11, 13, 54, 57). It is worth noting that recent scholarship has expanded the purposes of koina across the eastern Mediterranean. Notably, Babett Edelmann-Singer’s Koina...

:La villa dopo la villa 2: Trasformazione di un sistema insediativo ed economico nell’Italia centrale tra tarda Antichità e Medioevo

:<i>La villa dopo la villa 2: Trasformazione di un sistema insediativo ed economico nell’Italia centrale tra tarda Antichità e Medioevo</i>

The Formation of Christendom, 2nd ed. by Judith Herrin

Reviewed by: The Formation of Christendom, 2nd ed. by Judith Herrin Sam Ottewill-Soulsby The Formation of Christendom, 2nd ed Judith Herrin Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2021. Pp. 568. ISBN: 9780691219219 It takes confidence to reissue, largely unchanged, a book more than thirty years old concerned with a scholarly field that has transformed itself over the intervening decades. But Judith Herrin's The Formation of Christendom was a bold enterprise from the beginning. The book investigated the changes wrought by the rise of Christianity on the Roman world over the course of Late Antiquity, starting in the fifth century and tracking the development of the three successors of Rome identified by the author as Latin Western Christendom, Byzantium, and the world of Islam, down to the middle of the ninth century. Nor was Herrin satisfied with a purely academic viewership for her vast canvas. The Formation was addressed to "the general reader" as much as to professional historians. This [End Page 240] audacity paid dividends, with the volume receiving positive reviews in both the scholarly and mainstream press. Alterations have been kept to a minimum in this reissue by Princeton University Press. The opening chapters of the book follow the collapse of Roman power in the West and the spread of Christian beliefs and institutions through the structure and culture of the empire. The second section examines the slow emergence of separate western and eastern Christendoms, with a particular focus on the seventh century and the impact of doctrinal controversy and the Arab conquests. These trends culminate in the last chapters, with the final sundering of the Roman world into three, marked by the consolidation of the Caliphate, war, and iconoclasm in Byzantium, and the alliance between the papacy and the rising power of the Franks. Changes to the text itself mostly take the form of minor corrections, allowing the book to retain the same pagination. Occasionally this results in non sequiturs, as on page 226, where the reader is informed, apropos of very little, that "Leovigild was not the first Gothic ruler to put his own name on the coinage," because the first edition said that he was, and removing the sentence entirely would have changed the page number. Somewhat more eccentric is the decision to systematically rename Eusebios as Eusebius in a volume where everyone else goes by the Greek spelling of their name (for example, Arios, Herakleios). Errors remain, ranging from spelling mistakes (page 4: both Eusebios and Eusebius wrote "one hunded years" after Sextus Julius Africanus) to more serious problems (page 301: Cyril and Methodius are no longer credited with bringing Christianity to the Bulgars but still organized it in "the independent kingdom of Moldavia," presumably meant to be Moravia.) A more substantial addition to the volume is the new preface provided by the author (pages ix–xvi), which provides interesting insights for rereading the book as a whole. Here, Herrin reflects upon some of the absences in the work as it stands. Some of these are a consequence of a planned companion volume concerning the economic structures of the church which never materialized, with the author instead shifting her attention to gender in the period, another topic that receives little attention in The Formation. Any survey of Late Antiquity written today would need to engage with considerable recent scholarship in both fields. As Herrin notes, such a work would also be far more concerned with those forms of belief labelled "heresy" and with non-elite religion more generally. More provocatively, the author regrets the term "Late Antiquity" for implying a world trapped by the past, preferring instead "Early Christendom" (page xiii) in order to look to the future. This raises difficulties when considering other faiths, most obviously Islam. Heavily influenced by Pirenne, Herrin insists upon the importance of the rise of Islam in shaping Byzantium and the west, but the third heir of Rome receives by far the least attention and is consistently approached from the outside and within a purely Mediterranean context. By contrast, recent decades have done much to examine and integrate the early Caliphate into the history of the period. Indeed, the geography of The Formation is perhaps one...

Strach jako narzędzie władzy w pismach historiograficznych Tacyta

Tacitus’texts are permeated with fear. This effect is reached as a result of the use of a rich vocabulary related to fear and numerous scenes in which fear plays a major role. The structure of Tacitus’stories is in fact composed of the overlapping kinds of fear caused and felt by people in power, participating in its execution, aspiring to hold it and subjected to it. Consequently, the stories expose the mechanism of Roman power, which was driven and fueled by fear. The reason why Tacitus used the description of fear in the historical texts also seems to be significant. The aim of this article is therefore to look at the semantic layer of the words that the historian used to illustrate fear, to emphasize the aspect of power within interpersonal relations, which were almost entirely based on fear, and to indicate the reason that could have prompted Tacitus to use this feeling in presenting the history of Rome.

INTERSECTIONALITY IN CICERONIAN INVECTIVE

AbstractThis article applies an intersectional approach to Roman invective (and praise) to elucidate how those at the centre of Roman power exploited discriminatory and laudatory ideologies relating to intersections of identity to sway a Roman jury. Analysing the depiction of an unnamed woman in the Pro Scauro shows how Cicero plays upon normalized prejudices to bias the jury against ista Sarda. These internalized prejudices could also be utilized to discredit women with privileged intersectional identities, as demonstrated by Cicero's portrayal of Clodia and Sassia in the Pro Caelio and the Pro Cluentio, a process that helps reify the marginalization of certain identities.

Les religions étrangères à Rome dans la période impériale : entre atouts et danger

During the extension of Rome in Empire, many foreign religious cults had invaded the metropolis. But unlike many other cultural elements borrowed from subject peoples, the question of the interest of these cults for the Roman people in general and for the State in particular was the subject of controversy. If, on the one hand, they seemed to better meet the spiritual expectations of the people, on the other hand, they were sometimes seen as a threat to the safeguarding of the socio-cultural heritage, once considered a pillar of Roman power

Josephus’s Lamentations in the Judean War: Body, Emotional Resistance, and Gender

Abstract In the Judean War’s proem, Josephus professes his need to lament, an atypical statement in Hellenistic and Roman historiography. This article explores his lamentations, in the proem and the work, as they engage body, emotion, gender, and power. It examines the constructions that laments receive in Josephus’s diverse literary and cultural backgrounds—biblical and early Jewish literature as well as ancient Greek and Roman traditions. It also considers how the War reflects these constructions. Josephus’s laments, staging his wailing voice and suffering body, suggest self-abasement. However, his protagonists’ laments often convey resistance and rebellion, a traditional function of laments; they thus shed a more political light on the proem. Josephus masculinizes the typically feminine lamenter-qua-protester figure, perhaps to avoid feminizing his own role. This article interprets Josephus’s laments as an embodiment of his carefully subversive account and as emotional resistance against the Roman power.

Discovering Revelation: Content, Interpretation, Reception by David A. Desilva

Reviewed by: Discovering Revelation: Content, Interpretation, Reception by David A. Desilva Russell Morton david a. desilva, Discovering Revelation: Content, Interpretation, Reception Discovering Biblical Texts; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021). Pp. xii + 235. Paper $22. As part of Eerdmans's Discovering Biblical Texts series, DeSilva's volume contains a concise and helpful introduction to the critical issues relating to the interpretation of Revelation, as well as an overview of the text of the Apocalypse itself. In chap. 1, D.S. introduces the discussion by analyzing Revelation's plot, which is not strictly linear. Likewise, contrast and parody are major features of Revelation's rhetoric, as reflected in the opposition between Babylon and the New Jerusalem. Chapters 2–4 further establish a foundation for understanding Revelation. In chap. 2, D.S. introduces strategies for reading the text, including the need for considering the "world behind the text," or its historical background; the "world of the text," or the need for employing an author-centered reading; and the "world in front or the text," focusing on how readers respond to the text. D.S. discusses features of Revelation's complex genre as letter, apocalypse, and prophetic word. Regarding the latter, Revelation's emphasis on concerns of its audience is highlighted. D.S. also addresses futurist methods of interpretation, with some, especially dispensationalism, being refuted. [End Page 495] In chap. 3, D.S. analyzes the origins and transmission of Revelation's text. The Apocalypse originated in actual ecstatic experiences, which were later reflected upon in the light of the Jewish/Christian Scriptures. D.S. accepts a late first-century date for Revelation's composition, although John wrote in expectation of intensified persecution rather than as response to an imperially sponsored persecution itself. In chap. 4, D.S. discusses the historical and social location of the text, noting that John opposed not only Roman Asia Minor's religious environment but also Rome's economic exploitation and dominance over the provinces. This examination provides an especially helpful contextualization of Revelation's original message as well as a strategy for its later application, anticipating the conclusions of chap. 12. Chapters 5–11 offer an overview of the contents of the Apocalypse. Revelation 1 (chap. 5) provides an epistolary introduction that establishes John's prophetic authority. The vision of the exalted Jesus contrasts Christ's lordship with the illegitimate claims of Roman emperors. How this authority is exercised in Revelation 2–3 through the letters to selected seven churches of Asia Minor is described in chap. 6. Chapter 7, "Visions of the Cosmic Centre" treats Revelation 4–5, noting the contrast between the real authority of God and Christ against imperial claims. The adoration of God and Christ presents "audiences with a model of a cosmos that is ordered rightly" (p. 103), in contrast to the wrongly ordered world of Babylon in Rev 17:1–19:10. Chapter 8 describes the three sequences of divine judgments: the seals (Rev 6:1–8:1); the trumpets (8:2–11:19), and the bowls (chaps. 15–16). D.S. groups the three sequences somewhat differently than do some scholars, delineating the sections as chaps. 6–9; 10–11; and 15–16. While these sequences are not linear, neither are they strict recapitulations. In chap. 9, D.S. analyzes John's perspectives on Roman power and propaganda reflected in Revelation 12–14. The Seer employs parody to undermine the mythic underpinnings of Roman power and Rome's imperial economy. Roman authority, culminating in the sealing of adherents of the imperial cult (chaps. 12–13), is contrasted with the endurance of the 144,000 saints, who receive divine blessing in 14:6–13. John's abhorrence of compromise corresponds to the biblical tradition's condemnation of idolatry. John's dependence on the prophetic tradition is confirmed in the three descriptions of divine judgment in 14:14–20, where the horrific images of judgment encourage readers/hearers to resist steadfastly any temptation to compromise with their surrounding society. In chap. 10, D.S. concludes that Rev 17:1–19:10 exposes the true nature of the goddess Roma. John sees Rome not as the virtuous woman but as the vile prostitute whose exploitation of...

Principatus Dönemi Görsel Propagandasında Politik Güç ve Zafer Sikkeleri

Coins, which were part of daily life in Principate like during the Republic as they were used by common people in transactions or the state to pay the salaries of soldiers, were also one of the most convenient tools used for visual propaganda in Rome. Although they were used as a tool of propaganda towards the end of the Republican Era, coins were never became an effective and systematic propaganda tool as much as during the reign of Octavian. Raised close to a competent leader like Caesar, Octavian was inspired by Caesar’s strategic practices and propaganda on one hand, and learned from his guardian Caesar’s mistakes and determined his own strategic moves more carefully and applied them step by step, when it was his time of rule, on the other. Octavian’s especially manipulative policy regarding coins were continued almost unchanged under his emperor successors; they used the powerful written and visual language on coins in order to maintain the legitimacy and continuity of their rule. In that regard, the coin language gained a more distinct identity with the personification and explanatory inscriptions used on the coins from the very beginning of Principate, while it has also ceased to be an object that only the educated can understand. The emperor portraits on the coins have also been the mirror of symbolic power in the recognition of the emperor, the only power of Rome, both in the lands under the dominion and in the foreign states. In this study, the image of power, i.e. visual propaganda, during the Principate was discussed, and the coin samples of each emperor, which stood out mainly with military victories, were examined and their policies were tried to be evaluated.

Sown Men and Rome’s Civil Wars

Abstract Melinno’s so-called Hymn to Rome was composed sometime between the third century BCE and the third century CE. Nearly all scholars judge the poem to be a relatively straightforward panegyric of Rome’s power. The final stanza compares the Romans to the Sown Men. This article argues that the appearance of Theban or Colchian Spartoi could have evoked a more complex response from many probable readers of Melinno’s poem in antiquity, especially those who were well versed in Latin literature and Rome’s harrowing histories of civil war. It proposes that the closing comparison underscores the Romans’ fatal flaw: their inborn compulsion to engage in internecine strife. By concluding the hymn with a destabilizing reference, Melinno’s linking of Rome and Thebes points to a more nuanced evaluation of Roman power than scholars have yet to recognize.

For the history of the Roman frontier - defense system of the Eastern Black Sea Coast

In the presented work, there is studied the issue of the Roman border defense system in the Eastern Black Sea region on the base of an analysis of antique sources; It is shown that this system was part of Rome's common- eastern frontier-defense line. The Eastern part of Black Sea coast, historical Colchis, as a secure rear and strategic beachhead against Parthia in the battle for Armenia, had a well-defined place in the Roman geopolitics. Besides, Colchis had a great communicative significance relative Bosporus. Of course, the political situation in East had a big influence on relations of this region with Rome.In 63 A.D., after the abolition of the Kingdom of Pontus by Nero (54-68), Colchis was occupied by Romans and it became the part of the province of Galatia. By the order of Nero, Roman garrisons were stationed in the seaside settlements of Colchis – Apsarus, Phasis and Sebastopolis. These measures were the starting point of establishment of the Roman frontier-defence system in the Eastern Black Sea&nbsp; coast. This system began its actively functioning in Vespasian’s time. During the rule of Vespasian (69-79) Colchis was the part of united Cappadocia-Galatia, so called “Cappadocian complex”. Bording the Euphrates river to the east, Cappadocia was the most eastern province of the Empire. The military presence in Cappadocia served as an important response force against invasions from the Parthian Empire and allowed the Roman's easy intervention into the affairs of their client kingdom of Armenia. The ,,Cappadocian Complex” received two legions. These legions were located on the Cappadocia-Lesser Armenia line, in Satala and Melitene. In the I-III centuries the Roman garrisons of the coastal fortresses of Colchis were subordinate to the Asia Minor forces of the empire; the main command of these forces was located in the&nbsp; Cappadocia. Later garrisons began to obey the Armenian duke.Of all the fortresses of the Eastern Black sea coast, Apsaros is the closest to the immediate borders of the Roman Empire. For a long time Apsaros was one of the significant points of the Pontus-Caucasian border line, the Roman frontier defensive system at the coast of the East Black Sea. The mentioned defense system, as you know, was founded in the times of emperor Nero's reign (54-68 A.D.), the 60's of the 1-st century. The first Roman garrison appeared in Apsaros at that very time. In the 2-nd century five cohorts were dislocated in Apsaros.&nbsp; At the time of the visit to Apsarus by Flavius Arrian (131 A.D.), there was a powerful garrison, numbering from a thousand to two and a half thousand soldiers. As for other Roman fortresses of the Eastern Black Sea region, on the base of an analysis of antique sources, it turns out that during Nero (54-68) roman garrisons were dislocated in Fasis. For the first time, the Roman fortress in Fasis mentions Flavius Arrian (nearly 95-175), who left us a very detailed description of it. In the 2nd century&nbsp; 400 soldiers were dislocated in Fasis; The first Roman garrison, for a short period, appeared in Sebastopolis In the era of Augustus (27 B.C.-14 A.D.). According to &nbsp;archaeological and antique written sources, In the 2nd-3rd centuries the garrison of Sebastopol consisted of 200-300 soldiers. The basic purposes of the Pontus Caucasian frontier-defence system were consolidation of the Roman power in the region, taking control of the passages to the Northern Caucasus, and protection of coastwise navigation. In the middle of the II century, after inclusion of Pityus into this system, formation of the Pontus Caucasian frontier-defence line was finished.

The elephants who appealed to the gods: Animal agency in the Roman arena and the human perception of it

According to our Roman sources, especially the account of Pliny the Elder, an unusual feature of the appearance of elephants in a staged hunt in Pompey’s games of 55BCE was sympathy for them shown by the crowd. With a particular emphasis on this incident and elephants, this article discusses the agency of nonhuman animals who were required to do tricks, fight with one another and with humans, and act as executioners in the Roman arena, and the perception of it by the crowd and Roman authors. The main purpose of the shows was to satisfy the potentially disruptive urban masses and more fundamentally, to emphasize the power of Rome to control forces beyond its administrative authority and external to its cultural mores. Animals were not able to understand the forces that brought them to the arenas or resist in any organised manner, but as sentient beings they did act in ways the trainers could not predict or control. In so doing, in all cases but refusal to attack they contributed to the excitement of events, and in the case of the elephants of the 55BCE games, even caused the normally hostile spectators to empathize with their plight. When Roman spectators or writers attributed human-like traits to animals who did extraordinary things they tacitly acknowledged animal agency, but this was not transformed into any general acceptance that animals might have any moral sense or cognitive abilities comparable in any way to humans.

Imagined Romes: The Ancient City and Its Stories in Middle English Poetry by C. David Benson

Reviewed by: Imagined Romes: The Ancient City and Its Stories in Middle English Poetry by C. David Benson Nicholas D. Brodie Benson, C. David, Imagined Romes: The Ancient City and Its Stories in Middle English Poetry, University Park, PA, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2019; hardback; pp. 216; R.R.P. US$89.95; ISBN 9780271083209. This fascinating study of Rome, as imagined by Middle English poets, is a work that both identifies and fills a significant scholarly gap. This gap, as the author characterizes it, is a ‘systematic study of ancient Rome as a major theme in the works of late medieval English poets’ (p. 1). This book answers that gap adroitly. Exploring relationships between Latin source texts and Middle English [End Page 220] poetry, divergent perceptions of ancient and contemporary Rome, paganism and Christianity, and more, the author succeeds in his objective ‘to make the case for how much is to be gained from more careful attention to the subject’ (p. 144). The book is divided in two parts, broadly addressing texts that focus on Rome in the first two chapters before turning to texts that have considerable Roman content in Chapters 3–6. The first part begins with the Stacions of Rome, a poem that derives from the Latin Indulgentiae ecclesiarum urbis Romae, itself focused on Rome’s Christian heritage. Benson convincingly argues that the Stacions of Rome, full of churches and relics and indulgences, act as ‘a textual substitute for Rome rather than a guide to it’ (p. 23), wherein the city becomes a conduit for grace by way of imaginary pilgrimage. Benson turns to the Metrical Mirabilia in his second chapter, giving considerable attention to the textual relationships between various poems and their Latin precedents in a series of works with more explicitly antiquarian elements focused on ancient Rome and its marvels. Benson shows how an English poet’s interpolation into Mandeville’s Travels, which he characterizes as ‘unparalleled in Middle English poetry’ (p. 46), makes a case for the superiority of Christian spirituality over pagan Rome’s technical achievements. In the book’s second part, Benson turns to some poets who are ‘better-known and more accomplished’ (p. 59) and surveys the role that Rome played in their narratives. John Gower is first, in whose Confessio Amantis Benson sees Rome being used to illustrate exemplary instances of good government that ‘is successful in good times and resilient in bad’ (p. 73). Geoffrey Chaucer follows, and here Benson draws attention to the ways that Roman power was often deployed against women. ‘Nowhere else in Middle English poetry do Roman men in power treat good women with such unrelenting nastiness’ (p. 81), he suggests. In William Langland’s Piers Plowman, in contrast, Benson suggests that Rome serves as a focus for the poet’s concern with virtue. Benson argues that the episode concerning Trajan and Gregory helps the poet resolve some of the conceptual difficulties bequeathed to medieval thinkers by the ‘dual legacy of ancient Rome, pagan and Christian’ (p. 119). John Lydgate’s Fall of Princes is the focus of Benson’s final chapter, which brings the book to its conclusion. The Fall of Princes is here shown to treat Rome with more antiquarian accuracy than the preceding three poets and with a degree of literary sophistication that ‘may be unexpected in a poet so easy to underrate’ (p. 121). Benson’s suggestion that Lydgate ‘articulates an Augustinian view of ancient Rome as the paradigmatic earthly city’ (p. 143) is an interesting notion, which highlights the overall benefit of this close study of the imagined Rome(s) of Middle English poetry. Rome, as Benson shows, could and did mean many things. It was a repository of stories, but also could be an object of imaginary pilgrimage. Rome exemplified virtues and vices, connections, and contrasts. As Benson so effectively illustrates, the poetically imagined Rome was rarely just a setting. [End Page 221] Nicholas D. Brodie Hobart, Tasmania Copyright © 2022 Nicholas D. Brodie

حملة لوکولس على میثراداتیس السادس 74 - 66 ق. م

حملة لوکولس على ميثراداتيسالسادس 74 - 66 ق . م أمل عبد العزيز قسم التاريخ , کلية الآداب , جامعة المنصورة ,جمهورية مصر العربية. البريد الالکتروني : aynom@mans.edu.eg الملخص: يتناول البحث حملة القائد لوکولس ضد ميثراداتيس السادس ملک بنطس من 74 حتى 66 ق . م . وقد تناولت الدراسة الظروف التى تم فيها اختيار لوکولس لقيادة الحملة وکيف تشکلت حملته وما الهدف من ورائها . کما تناولت الدراسة أهم العمليات الحربية والإنجازات العسکرية وکذلک الإنجازات الاجتماعية والاقتصادية التى حققها هذا القائد أثناء حملته . ثم تتناول الدارسة ما تعرض له لوکولس أثناء حملته من تمرد قواته من ناحية وما أتخذ من إجراءات ضده فى روما وتأثيراتها على أداء القوات فى آسيا . من حيث تناول أسباب تمرد القوات وأشکاله وموقف السلطة فى روما واثر ذلک على أداء لوکولس ثم تناولت اهم النتائج التى ترتبت على حملة لوکولس ومدى نجاحها فى تحقيقها للهدف من إرسالها . الکلمات الافتتاحية: حملة عسکرية - لوکيوس لوکولس - ميثراداتيس السادس- آسيا الصغرى - السلطة فى روما - فيالق فيمبريا - تمرد القوات . The Paper Covers the Campaign of Lucullus, Against Mithridates VI From 74 to 66 B.C Amal Abdel Aziz Department of History, Faculty of Arts ,Mansoura University ,Egypt. E-mail: aynom@mans.edu.eg Abstract The paper covers the Campaign of Lucullus, against Mithridates VI from 74 to 66 B.C. The study dealt with circumstances which was chosen Lucullus to lead the campaign and how to formed, and what is the goal behind it., The study also covered the most important war operations and military achievements as well as social and economic achievements Achieved by this leader during his campaign. The study dealt with what was exposed who rebelled his forces on the one hand, and the course of events in Rome on the other hand., and it effects on the performance of forces in Asia. Keywords: Military Campaign- Licinius Lucullus- Mithridates VI- Asia Minor- Power in Rome- Legions of Fimbria- Troops Mutiny.