Silvio Panciera
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265062
- eISBN:
- 9780191754173
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265062.003.0012
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This brief chapter stresses the difference between the revolutionary possibilities of applying Information Technology to the Greek and Roman epigraphic record and its limited effects to date. It ...
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This brief chapter stresses the difference between the revolutionary possibilities of applying Information Technology to the Greek and Roman epigraphic record and its limited effects to date. It traces the reasons partly to scholarly attitudes, partly to the lack of a list of prioritised objectives, partly to divergences in the very concepts of ‘inscription’ and of ‘data-base’ and partly to a lack of unity and collaboration.Less
This brief chapter stresses the difference between the revolutionary possibilities of applying Information Technology to the Greek and Roman epigraphic record and its limited effects to date. It traces the reasons partly to scholarly attitudes, partly to the lack of a list of prioritised objectives, partly to divergences in the very concepts of ‘inscription’ and of ‘data-base’ and partly to a lack of unity and collaboration.
ANDRÉ LEMAIRE
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264010
- eISBN:
- 9780191734946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264010.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Together with material archaeology and the literary tradition of the Hebrew Bible, epigraphy is one of the main sources for the history of ancient Israel in the ninth century BCE. Although limited in ...
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Together with material archaeology and the literary tradition of the Hebrew Bible, epigraphy is one of the main sources for the history of ancient Israel in the ninth century BCE. Although limited in number, West Semitic inscriptions throw some light on the history of this period. This chapter examines ninth-century West Semitic inscriptions and the historical information they contain regarding the history of ninth-century Israel. It starts with the Hebrew inscriptions, followed by inscriptions in the neighbouring southern Levant countries as well as Aramaic inscriptions from Upper Mesopotamia. The chapter deals first with inscriptions in ‘Canaanite’ dialects before analysing inscriptions written in Aramaic dialects. The Mesha and Tel Dan steles are the main West Semitic inscriptions that help us understand the history of Israel and Judah during the ninth century BCE.Less
Together with material archaeology and the literary tradition of the Hebrew Bible, epigraphy is one of the main sources for the history of ancient Israel in the ninth century BCE. Although limited in number, West Semitic inscriptions throw some light on the history of this period. This chapter examines ninth-century West Semitic inscriptions and the historical information they contain regarding the history of ninth-century Israel. It starts with the Hebrew inscriptions, followed by inscriptions in the neighbouring southern Levant countries as well as Aramaic inscriptions from Upper Mesopotamia. The chapter deals first with inscriptions in ‘Canaanite’ dialects before analysing inscriptions written in Aramaic dialects. The Mesha and Tel Dan steles are the main West Semitic inscriptions that help us understand the history of Israel and Judah during the ninth century BCE.
Isabel Rodà
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265062
- eISBN:
- 9780191754173
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265062.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
Those with responsibilities for the display of inscriptions in museums and other public places have in recent years been addressing the challenge of how the riches of the ancient texts can be ...
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Those with responsibilities for the display of inscriptions in museums and other public places have in recent years been addressing the challenge of how the riches of the ancient texts can be conveyed to a public with little or no knowledge of Latin or Greek. The choice of texts should not ignore the casual messages of daily life from graffiti and painted slogans, nor should the later ‘forgeries’ of ancient texts or the innocent errors of stonecutters be excluded. Electronic media can bring to life both ancient images and texts, and can help in presenting difficult or incomplete texts. Inscriptions speak directly from the remote past, and meeting the challenge of transmitting their messages to the modern visitor will certainly repay the effort.Less
Those with responsibilities for the display of inscriptions in museums and other public places have in recent years been addressing the challenge of how the riches of the ancient texts can be conveyed to a public with little or no knowledge of Latin or Greek. The choice of texts should not ignore the casual messages of daily life from graffiti and painted slogans, nor should the later ‘forgeries’ of ancient texts or the innocent errors of stonecutters be excluded. Electronic media can bring to life both ancient images and texts, and can help in presenting difficult or incomplete texts. Inscriptions speak directly from the remote past, and meeting the challenge of transmitting their messages to the modern visitor will certainly repay the effort.
Salvador Carmona and Mahmoud Ezzamel
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199546350
- eISBN:
- 9780191720048
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546350.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, Finance, Accounting, and Banking
The theorization of space in social sciences has made considerable progress in the last decades. Yet, there appears to be remarkably little interest in exploring the relationship between accounting ...
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The theorization of space in social sciences has made considerable progress in the last decades. Yet, there appears to be remarkably little interest in exploring the relationship between accounting and space. This chapter argues the case for studying the relationship between accounting and social space, which has held considerable promise as a theoretical framing and a heuristic for studying the differentiation of groups in the social world. In this respect, the chapter addresses a number of research implications in relation to accounting inscriptions and social space, accounting for individual capital, and accounting and the objectification and domination of space. Furthermore, the chapter explores some possible future research opportunities concerning the processes of social space: the roles that accounting can play in underpinning cognitive spacing, the connection between accounting and moral spacing, and the extent to which accounting can underpin aesthetic spacing.Less
The theorization of space in social sciences has made considerable progress in the last decades. Yet, there appears to be remarkably little interest in exploring the relationship between accounting and space. This chapter argues the case for studying the relationship between accounting and social space, which has held considerable promise as a theoretical framing and a heuristic for studying the differentiation of groups in the social world. In this respect, the chapter addresses a number of research implications in relation to accounting inscriptions and social space, accounting for individual capital, and accounting and the objectification and domination of space. Furthermore, the chapter explores some possible future research opportunities concerning the processes of social space: the roles that accounting can play in underpinning cognitive spacing, the connection between accounting and moral spacing, and the extent to which accounting can underpin aesthetic spacing.
Barbara Czarniawska and Jan Mouritsen
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199546350
- eISBN:
- 9780191720048
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546350.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, Finance, Accounting, and Banking
The recent rapprochement between management studies and studies of science and technology recreated an interest in management studies. This chapter presents examples showing that the role of things ...
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The recent rapprochement between management studies and studies of science and technology recreated an interest in management studies. This chapter presents examples showing that the role of things in management is complex. Managers try to defend themselves from the insubordination of technical and material things, and they spend much time applying quasi-objects such as managerial technologies to mediate the fate of technical or material objects. Much effort is also dedicated to turning people into objects, which permits the use of procedures of insulation and control on them. The chapter concludes that in exercising management, managers avoid certain material objects but make use of quasi-objects such as accounting systems and management technologies in order to make the world (i.e. organization, public agency, or firm) more interventionable or manageable, and yet they also create new uncertainties in the process.Less
The recent rapprochement between management studies and studies of science and technology recreated an interest in management studies. This chapter presents examples showing that the role of things in management is complex. Managers try to defend themselves from the insubordination of technical and material things, and they spend much time applying quasi-objects such as managerial technologies to mediate the fate of technical or material objects. Much effort is also dedicated to turning people into objects, which permits the use of procedures of insulation and control on them. The chapter concludes that in exercising management, managers avoid certain material objects but make use of quasi-objects such as accounting systems and management technologies in order to make the world (i.e. organization, public agency, or firm) more interventionable or manageable, and yet they also create new uncertainties in the process.
M. J. GELLER
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264010
- eISBN:
- 9780191734946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264010.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Scholars interested in the history of Israel often select for study relevant passages from Akkadian historical inscriptions, annals, and chronicles referring to biblical events. This process has ...
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Scholars interested in the history of Israel often select for study relevant passages from Akkadian historical inscriptions, annals, and chronicles referring to biblical events. This process has become more sophisticated of late, particularly with the Texte aus der Umwelt der Alten Testaments series and COS, in which much more of Akkadian and even Sumerian literature is taken into account as directly or indirectly relevant to the Bible. However, the ‘scriptures in context’ approach often pays less attention to the nitty-gritty side of Assyriology, namely, the everyday contracts, administrative documents, lists, letters, receipts, and economic texts. There is a lot to learn from such material, which comprises the bulk of the thousands of Mesopotamian tablets. Biblical scholars tend to concentrate on those sections of the Kurkh and Black Obelisk inscriptions that mention Ahab and Jehu and the regional struggles against Assyria. The questions raised are valid, namely, how solid or fragile was the coalition of states fighting against the Assyrians, and at what point did the coalition break down?Less
Scholars interested in the history of Israel often select for study relevant passages from Akkadian historical inscriptions, annals, and chronicles referring to biblical events. This process has become more sophisticated of late, particularly with the Texte aus der Umwelt der Alten Testaments series and COS, in which much more of Akkadian and even Sumerian literature is taken into account as directly or indirectly relevant to the Bible. However, the ‘scriptures in context’ approach often pays less attention to the nitty-gritty side of Assyriology, namely, the everyday contracts, administrative documents, lists, letters, receipts, and economic texts. There is a lot to learn from such material, which comprises the bulk of the thousands of Mesopotamian tablets. Biblical scholars tend to concentrate on those sections of the Kurkh and Black Obelisk inscriptions that mention Ahab and Jehu and the regional struggles against Assyria. The questions raised are valid, namely, how solid or fragile was the coalition of states fighting against the Assyrians, and at what point did the coalition break down?
John H. Starks
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
A discussion of the evidence that, even before the Byzantine period, there were also female pantomime dancers on the Roman scene. Despite the terminological confusion created by the variety of terms ...
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A discussion of the evidence that, even before the Byzantine period, there were also female pantomime dancers on the Roman scene. Despite the terminological confusion created by the variety of terms used to describe dancers in the ancient sources, certain unarguable instances of references to female pantomime performers may not be explained away. The chapter reviews the evidence from inscriptions, especially at Pompeii, and argues that a crucial piece of epigraphic evidence from Gaul has been overlooked. This gravestone celebrates a teenage girl named Hellas, who had worked as a pantomime dancer in the Julio‐Claudian or slightly later period, and was memorialised as such by her proud father Sotericus. The conclusion that women were also celebrated performers of pantomime has important implications for our understanding of Roman culture.Less
A discussion of the evidence that, even before the Byzantine period, there were also female pantomime dancers on the Roman scene. Despite the terminological confusion created by the variety of terms used to describe dancers in the ancient sources, certain unarguable instances of references to female pantomime performers may not be explained away. The chapter reviews the evidence from inscriptions, especially at Pompeii, and argues that a crucial piece of epigraphic evidence from Gaul has been overlooked. This gravestone celebrates a teenage girl named Hellas, who had worked as a pantomime dancer in the Julio‐Claudian or slightly later period, and was memorialised as such by her proud father Sotericus. The conclusion that women were also celebrated performers of pantomime has important implications for our understanding of Roman culture.
K. R. Norman
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262856
- eISBN:
- 9780191753961
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262856.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter goes back to the beginnings of Buddhism, in fact to that ancient problem: What language or languages did the Buddha speak? It discusses Old Indo-Aryan and the origin of the Prakrit ...
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This chapter goes back to the beginnings of Buddhism, in fact to that ancient problem: What language or languages did the Buddha speak? It discusses Old Indo-Aryan and the origin of the Prakrit dialects, the language(s) of the Buddha and the Jina, Old Māgadhī, the migration of the Buddhist teachings, the writing down of the canon in Ceylon, anomalous forms in the Theravādin canon, anomalous forms and the Aśokan inscriptions, and why anomalies remain in the Pāli canon.Less
This chapter goes back to the beginnings of Buddhism, in fact to that ancient problem: What language or languages did the Buddha speak? It discusses Old Indo-Aryan and the origin of the Prakrit dialects, the language(s) of the Buddha and the Jina, Old Māgadhī, the migration of the Buddhist teachings, the writing down of the canon in Ceylon, anomalous forms in the Theravādin canon, anomalous forms and the Aśokan inscriptions, and why anomalies remain in the Pāli canon.
Alain Bresson
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265062
- eISBN:
- 9780191754173
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265062.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
After initial comments on the role of Greek inscriptions as ‘archives’, this chapter reviews the drastic changes that have occurred since Finley's book of 1973 in the picture of the ancient economy, ...
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After initial comments on the role of Greek inscriptions as ‘archives’, this chapter reviews the drastic changes that have occurred since Finley's book of 1973 in the picture of the ancient economy, both by acknowledging development and growth, and by adopting new concepts, not least New Institutional Economics with its emphasis on transaction costs. The methodological impact of such new approaches is sketched in four fields, each of which is illustrated with epigraphic documentation: (1) production and growth, instancing technological advance, land exploitation and textile production; (2) finance, taxes, trade and prices, with emphasis on the need and opportunities for quantification; (3) money and coinage; and (4) the transformation of uncertainty into an assessment of risk, illustrated in respect of farming practices and recourse to consultation of oracles and curse-tablets.Less
After initial comments on the role of Greek inscriptions as ‘archives’, this chapter reviews the drastic changes that have occurred since Finley's book of 1973 in the picture of the ancient economy, both by acknowledging development and growth, and by adopting new concepts, not least New Institutional Economics with its emphasis on transaction costs. The methodological impact of such new approaches is sketched in four fields, each of which is illustrated with epigraphic documentation: (1) production and growth, instancing technological advance, land exploitation and textile production; (2) finance, taxes, trade and prices, with emphasis on the need and opportunities for quantification; (3) money and coinage; and (4) the transformation of uncertainty into an assessment of risk, illustrated in respect of farming practices and recourse to consultation of oracles and curse-tablets.
Peter Liddel
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199226580
- eISBN:
- 9780191710186
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226580.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
By developing a notion of civic obligation, this book attempts to re‐interpret the nature of individual liberty in ancient Athens. Its primary concern is to elucidate how the considerable obligations ...
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By developing a notion of civic obligation, this book attempts to re‐interpret the nature of individual liberty in ancient Athens. Its primary concern is to elucidate how the considerable obligations of the citizen to the city‐state (polis) and community (known here as civic obligations) were reconciled with ideas about individual liberty, and how this reconciliation was negotiated, performed, and presented in the oratory of the Athenian law‐courts, assembly, and through the publication of inscriptions. This work assesses the extent to which Rawls' model of liberty, consisting of his advocacy of renewed conventional modes of justice and liberty, might be used to elucidate the kind of liberty that existed in the ancient Greek city. The historical context is late 4th‐century Athens, during which period it is possible to observe a growing concern, expressed in the oratorical and epigraphical sources, for the performance by citizens of obligations, epitomized in the notion of good citizenship which emerges in Lycurgus' speech Against Leocrates. The core of the work analyses the ways in which the civic obligations were negotiated in oratorical and epigraphical modes of expression, examines comprehensively the substance of those obligations, and the ways in which their virtuous performance was recorded and used as a tool of self‐promotion. The final chapter measures the survey of Athens with that gleaned from the theory of Rawls: notwithstanding certain historical peculiarities, it is suggested that the model may be a useful one for thinking about city‐states and other organizations beyond fourth‐century Athens.Less
By developing a notion of civic obligation, this book attempts to re‐interpret the nature of individual liberty in ancient Athens. Its primary concern is to elucidate how the considerable obligations of the citizen to the city‐state (polis) and community (known here as civic obligations) were reconciled with ideas about individual liberty, and how this reconciliation was negotiated, performed, and presented in the oratory of the Athenian law‐courts, assembly, and through the publication of inscriptions. This work assesses the extent to which Rawls' model of liberty, consisting of his advocacy of renewed conventional modes of justice and liberty, might be used to elucidate the kind of liberty that existed in the ancient Greek city. The historical context is late 4th‐century Athens, during which period it is possible to observe a growing concern, expressed in the oratorical and epigraphical sources, for the performance by citizens of obligations, epitomized in the notion of good citizenship which emerges in Lycurgus' speech Against Leocrates. The core of the work analyses the ways in which the civic obligations were negotiated in oratorical and epigraphical modes of expression, examines comprehensively the substance of those obligations, and the ways in which their virtuous performance was recorded and used as a tool of self‐promotion. The final chapter measures the survey of Athens with that gleaned from the theory of Rawls: notwithstanding certain historical peculiarities, it is suggested that the model may be a useful one for thinking about city‐states and other organizations beyond fourth‐century Athens.
Denis Feissel
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265062
- eISBN:
- 9780191754173
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265062.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
Greek and Latin inscriptions are now fully embraced within the study of Late Antiquity and the Byzantine Era. At Constantinople, inscriptions of the Byzantine era were displayed along with ancient ...
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Greek and Latin inscriptions are now fully embraced within the study of Late Antiquity and the Byzantine Era. At Constantinople, inscriptions of the Byzantine era were displayed along with ancient texts imported from elsewhere in the Empire, symbolising the welding of Hellenism and Romanitas. While the number and variety of texts do not match those of earlier eras, they can furnish evidence for several aspects of society. Personal names recorded on inscriptions reveal the impact of the Latin West and of Christianity on the Greek East, in the choice of names and the styles of nomenclature. The survival of names of local origin, from Thrace, Anatolia and Syria, areas where Greek was later imposed on an earlier substrate not always written, reveals the vigour of local traditions.Less
Greek and Latin inscriptions are now fully embraced within the study of Late Antiquity and the Byzantine Era. At Constantinople, inscriptions of the Byzantine era were displayed along with ancient texts imported from elsewhere in the Empire, symbolising the welding of Hellenism and Romanitas. While the number and variety of texts do not match those of earlier eras, they can furnish evidence for several aspects of society. Personal names recorded on inscriptions reveal the impact of the Latin West and of Christianity on the Greek East, in the choice of names and the styles of nomenclature. The survival of names of local origin, from Thrace, Anatolia and Syria, areas where Greek was later imposed on an earlier substrate not always written, reveals the vigour of local traditions.
John Scheid
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265062
- eISBN:
- 9780191754173
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265062.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
An abundance of Latin votive inscriptions adds much to the knowledge of religious belief in the Roman World. Several major cults of Roman (e.g. emperor worship) and foreign (e.g. Mithras) origin, and ...
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An abundance of Latin votive inscriptions adds much to the knowledge of religious belief in the Roman World. Several major cults of Roman (e.g. emperor worship) and foreign (e.g. Mithras) origin, and the identification of local deities with classical gods, would be little understood were it not for the survival of inscriptions. Similarly, inscriptions alone furnish many details of the ritual and ceremonial of sacrifice, most notably in the case of the archival dossier of the Arval Brethren near Rome, not mentioned in any literary source. The hopes and fears of ordinary folk are revealed in the inscribed prayers and curses addressed to the many oracular shrines in the Greco-Roman world.Less
An abundance of Latin votive inscriptions adds much to the knowledge of religious belief in the Roman World. Several major cults of Roman (e.g. emperor worship) and foreign (e.g. Mithras) origin, and the identification of local deities with classical gods, would be little understood were it not for the survival of inscriptions. Similarly, inscriptions alone furnish many details of the ritual and ceremonial of sacrifice, most notably in the case of the archival dossier of the Arval Brethren near Rome, not mentioned in any literary source. The hopes and fears of ordinary folk are revealed in the inscribed prayers and curses addressed to the many oracular shrines in the Greco-Roman world.
Christof Schuler
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265062
- eISBN:
- 9780191754173
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265062.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter is an essay in cultural history, exploring the relationship between the forms of epigraphical expression and the expectations of the intended audiences. It does so by studying the ...
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This chapter is an essay in cultural history, exploring the relationship between the forms of epigraphical expression and the expectations of the intended audiences. It does so by studying the (mostly religious) inscriptions of Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor, and seeks to modify recent interpretative notions of town and country as ‘worlds apart’ or of ‘collective identity’. With much illustrative detail, the chapter shows how anxieties about crops and livestock were reflected in epigraphic forms and terminology, not least in prayers to weather gods. A second section emphasises the prominence and powers accorded to local gods, as are visible both in the prayers offered on behalf of village communities, and in the texts of confession and expiation set up by individuals. The chapter ends by downplaying notions of serious tension between rural Anatolian cult practice and ‘an essentially urban cultural mainstream’.Less
This chapter is an essay in cultural history, exploring the relationship between the forms of epigraphical expression and the expectations of the intended audiences. It does so by studying the (mostly religious) inscriptions of Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor, and seeks to modify recent interpretative notions of town and country as ‘worlds apart’ or of ‘collective identity’. With much illustrative detail, the chapter shows how anxieties about crops and livestock were reflected in epigraphic forms and terminology, not least in prayers to weather gods. A second section emphasises the prominence and powers accorded to local gods, as are visible both in the prayers offered on behalf of village communities, and in the texts of confession and expiation set up by individuals. The chapter ends by downplaying notions of serious tension between rural Anatolian cult practice and ‘an essentially urban cultural mainstream’.
Alison Cooley
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265062
- eISBN:
- 9780191754173
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265062.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
The transformation of written imperial documents into monumental inscriptions in the Greek-speaking provinces owed more to local agency than central direction. Local interests ensured public display ...
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The transformation of written imperial documents into monumental inscriptions in the Greek-speaking provinces owed more to local agency than central direction. Local interests ensured public display of an emperor's instruction curbing abuses by imperial officials, and ancient treaties were kept on public view centuries after they were enacted. Only in a few cases were there explicit instructions requiring public and prominent display. Dissemination of even major historical documents appears to have depended on local initiative. Copies of the Deeds (Res Gestae) of Augustus (d. ad 14) are known from only three cities in Asia Minor, and Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices (ad 301), despite its universal application, is known from only two provinces of Asia Minor and the province of Achaea.Less
The transformation of written imperial documents into monumental inscriptions in the Greek-speaking provinces owed more to local agency than central direction. Local interests ensured public display of an emperor's instruction curbing abuses by imperial officials, and ancient treaties were kept on public view centuries after they were enacted. Only in a few cases were there explicit instructions requiring public and prominent display. Dissemination of even major historical documents appears to have depended on local initiative. Copies of the Deeds (Res Gestae) of Augustus (d. ad 14) are known from only three cities in Asia Minor, and Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices (ad 301), despite its universal application, is known from only two provinces of Asia Minor and the province of Achaea.
Jan O. H. Swantesson and Helmer Gustavson
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262962
- eISBN:
- 9780191734533
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262962.003.0005
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
Traditionally, investigations of runic inscriptions have been conducted in the field by eye, and by feeling the outlines of the runes with fingers. Although photographs have been used to describe ...
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Traditionally, investigations of runic inscriptions have been conducted in the field by eye, and by feeling the outlines of the runes with fingers. Although photographs have been used to describe runes, they are typically of complementary use. This chapter looks at the interpretation of runic inscriptions through laser scanning. Laser scanning, compared to the old methods of determining runic inscriptions, is more accurate and more efficient. It is specifically important when the interpretation is unclear. This method records the height of surfaces in shades of grey only, hence eliminating disturbances caused by the different colours of the rock. The chapter also discusses how data derived from the measurements of laser scanning can be treated. It provides an account of the application of laser scanning in runic inscriptions in Scandinavia as well as methods that can be used when interpreting runic transcriptions with new techniques.Less
Traditionally, investigations of runic inscriptions have been conducted in the field by eye, and by feeling the outlines of the runes with fingers. Although photographs have been used to describe runes, they are typically of complementary use. This chapter looks at the interpretation of runic inscriptions through laser scanning. Laser scanning, compared to the old methods of determining runic inscriptions, is more accurate and more efficient. It is specifically important when the interpretation is unclear. This method records the height of surfaces in shades of grey only, hence eliminating disturbances caused by the different colours of the rock. The chapter also discusses how data derived from the measurements of laser scanning can be treated. It provides an account of the application of laser scanning in runic inscriptions in Scandinavia as well as methods that can be used when interpreting runic transcriptions with new techniques.
Katherine Clarke
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199291083
- eISBN:
- 9780191710582
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291083.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter discusses different forms of temporal calibration and articulation, as well as the complementary nature of natural time and culturally-determined time. After introducing some ...
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This chapter discusses different forms of temporal calibration and articulation, as well as the complementary nature of natural time and culturally-determined time. After introducing some philosophical problems concerning the nature of time, it examines evidence for the proposition that time as a malleable and constructed concept was familiar within the everyday life of the Greek polis, through the plays of Aristophanes and publicly displayed inscriptions. The connections between time as mapped out on a recurring annual cycle through the calendar and historical time which spans the past of a place are also considered.Less
This chapter discusses different forms of temporal calibration and articulation, as well as the complementary nature of natural time and culturally-determined time. After introducing some philosophical problems concerning the nature of time, it examines evidence for the proposition that time as a malleable and constructed concept was familiar within the everyday life of the Greek polis, through the plays of Aristophanes and publicly displayed inscriptions. The connections between time as mapped out on a recurring annual cycle through the calendar and historical time which spans the past of a place are also considered.
Katherine Clarke
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199291083
- eISBN:
- 9780191710582
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291083.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter focuses on the polis, and considers the value placed on its past, the importance of the proper telling of history, and its use in inter-polis diplomacy. It examines not only the comic ...
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This chapter focuses on the polis, and considers the value placed on its past, the importance of the proper telling of history, and its use in inter-polis diplomacy. It examines not only the comic theatre and public occasions such as the epitaphios, but also inscriptions, such as the Lindos Chronicle and the Parian Marble, which offer publicly displayed history and may reveal shared opinions and values. The chapter concludes by examining the striking honorific inscriptions for local historians, often itinerant rather than native, and considers issues of status, historiographical authority, and the implications of a semi-professional Mediterranean network of local historiography, recalling the Artists of Dionysus, for the close relationship between the polis and the telling of its past.Less
This chapter focuses on the polis, and considers the value placed on its past, the importance of the proper telling of history, and its use in inter-polis diplomacy. It examines not only the comic theatre and public occasions such as the epitaphios, but also inscriptions, such as the Lindos Chronicle and the Parian Marble, which offer publicly displayed history and may reveal shared opinions and values. The chapter concludes by examining the striking honorific inscriptions for local historians, often itinerant rather than native, and considers issues of status, historiographical authority, and the implications of a semi-professional Mediterranean network of local historiography, recalling the Artists of Dionysus, for the close relationship between the polis and the telling of its past.
Cynthia Talbot
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195136616
- eISBN:
- 9780199834716
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195136616.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The desire to have their charitable deeds documented in permanent form led thousands of Hindu temple donors in the Andhra Pradesh region of South India to get the details of their gifts inscribed on ...
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The desire to have their charitable deeds documented in permanent form led thousands of Hindu temple donors in the Andhra Pradesh region of South India to get the details of their gifts inscribed on stone pillars, rock slabs, and temple walls. Using these records of what people actually did, Cynthia Talbot reconstructs the precolonial past as it existed in practice during the era when India's distinctive regional societies were taking shape. The medieval Andhra that emerges from the perspective of inscriptions is a vibrant and mobile world inhabited by a wide range of individuals including herders, merchants, and women, as well as landed peasants, kings, and Brahmans. Precolonial India in Practice begins with an examination of the historical processes that prompted Andhra's long age of inscriptions (c.1000–1650), a time when the religious patronage of temples both reflected and stimulated an expanding agrarian economy and a growing regional culture. It moves on to an in‐depth analysis of the society, temples, and polity of the Kakatiya era (1175–1325) – a formative period in which the Telugu‐speaking region was politically unified by the upland warriors who continued to dominate its society for centuries. The enduring cultural significance of the Kakatiya period for later Telugu society is demonstrated in a final section dealing with historical memories of the Kakatiyas.Talbot's interpretation of medieval Andhra as an era of dynamic change characterized by extensive social and physical mobility and a militaristic ethos offers a significant alternative to earlier depictions of the history and society of medieval India. In serving as a corrective to models of the Indian past derived only from Brahmanical literature, modern ethnography, and colonial observation, this case study of a neglected time period and region has important ramifications for our general understanding of precolonial India.Less
The desire to have their charitable deeds documented in permanent form led thousands of Hindu temple donors in the Andhra Pradesh region of South India to get the details of their gifts inscribed on stone pillars, rock slabs, and temple walls. Using these records of what people actually did, Cynthia Talbot reconstructs the precolonial past as it existed in practice during the era when India's distinctive regional societies were taking shape. The medieval Andhra that emerges from the perspective of inscriptions is a vibrant and mobile world inhabited by a wide range of individuals including herders, merchants, and women, as well as landed peasants, kings, and Brahmans.
Precolonial India in Practice begins with an examination of the historical processes that prompted Andhra's long age of inscriptions (c.1000–1650), a time when the religious patronage of temples both reflected and stimulated an expanding agrarian economy and a growing regional culture. It moves on to an in‐depth analysis of the society, temples, and polity of the Kakatiya era (1175–1325) – a formative period in which the Telugu‐speaking region was politically unified by the upland warriors who continued to dominate its society for centuries. The enduring cultural significance of the Kakatiya period for later Telugu society is demonstrated in a final section dealing with historical memories of the Kakatiyas.
Talbot's interpretation of medieval Andhra as an era of dynamic change characterized by extensive social and physical mobility and a militaristic ethos offers a significant alternative to earlier depictions of the history and society of medieval India. In serving as a corrective to models of the Indian past derived only from Brahmanical literature, modern ethnography, and colonial observation, this case study of a neglected time period and region has important ramifications for our general understanding of precolonial India.
Alan Cameron
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199747276
- eISBN:
- 9780199866212
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199747276.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
Much of the evidence for the religious affiliations of pagan aristocrats comes from inscribed dedications—more indeed than most people probably realize. In simpler times it was taken for granted that ...
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Much of the evidence for the religious affiliations of pagan aristocrats comes from inscribed dedications—more indeed than most people probably realize. In simpler times it was taken for granted that inscriptions provided a peculiarly uncomplicated sort of evidence, bare facts not mediated by human art or bias. However, few facts are bare. This chapter examines what sort of monuments these dedications were inscribed on, where they were erected, by whom, and with what purpose. Topics discussed include Roman priesthoods, “oriental” cults, Bloch's thesis that it was oriental rather than state cults that inspired political resistance to Christianity, the taurobolium, and the decline of the priestly colleges.Less
Much of the evidence for the religious affiliations of pagan aristocrats comes from inscribed dedications—more indeed than most people probably realize. In simpler times it was taken for granted that inscriptions provided a peculiarly uncomplicated sort of evidence, bare facts not mediated by human art or bias. However, few facts are bare. This chapter examines what sort of monuments these dedications were inscribed on, where they were erected, by whom, and with what purpose. Topics discussed include Roman priesthoods, “oriental” cults, Bloch's thesis that it was oriental rather than state cults that inspired political resistance to Christianity, the taurobolium, and the decline of the priestly colleges.
Peter Liddel
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199226580
- eISBN:
- 9780191710186
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226580.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter introduces the city‐state (polis) as the chief unit of analysis, and the chronological focus on Athens from the time of the outbreak of the Social War 357 to the establishment of the ...
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This chapter introduces the city‐state (polis) as the chief unit of analysis, and the chronological focus on Athens from the time of the outbreak of the Social War 357 to the establishment of the tyranny of Demetrius of Phaleron in 317. During this period (and in particular in the period popularly known as ‘Lycurgan’ Athens) it is possible to observe a growing concern for the performance by citizens of obligations and the development of the notion of social euergetism as part of good citizenship. This is most visible in both the evidence of forensic and symbouleutic oratory, and the evidence of inscriptions, in particular decrees and accounts of the Athenian polis, and dedications made by private individuals. This chapter introduces Lycurgus' prosecution of the runaway Leocrates as a key example of the encouragement of good citizenship.Less
This chapter introduces the city‐state (polis) as the chief unit of analysis, and the chronological focus on Athens from the time of the outbreak of the Social War 357 to the establishment of the tyranny of Demetrius of Phaleron in 317. During this period (and in particular in the period popularly known as ‘Lycurgan’ Athens) it is possible to observe a growing concern for the performance by citizens of obligations and the development of the notion of social euergetism as part of good citizenship. This is most visible in both the evidence of forensic and symbouleutic oratory, and the evidence of inscriptions, in particular decrees and accounts of the Athenian polis, and dedications made by private individuals. This chapter introduces Lycurgus' prosecution of the runaway Leocrates as a key example of the encouragement of good citizenship.
