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This chapter examines the role of the Romans in Sicily between the First and Second Punic Wars, and illustrates the island's role in the development of Roman provinciae, demonstrating that early administrative structures were put in place. No administrative structure as yet existed by which Rome could govern a province. However, an analysis of the sources indicates that some sort of structure did exist before the installation of the first praetor to govern Sicily in 227. There is also evidence to show that Sicily had a garrison during this period. In the realm of taxation, the Romans did not have to invent a tax structure in conquering Sicily, as it made more sense merely to continue to use agricultural tithes that had existed in Sicily from at least the fifth century. Any examination of Sicily during this period would not be complete without first exploring the independent kingdom of Syracuse.

This chapter focuses on Augustine's Book VI and VII of The City of God, which refutes the pagans' claims that the Roman deities had ensured unbroken success in the acquisition and growth of empire. It adverts to the topic of life after death and devotes close attention to Marcus Terentius Varro's distinguished research on Roman religion. It also provides a description of Terentius Varro, who was born at Reate in Sabine territory and became a praetor who fought on Pompey's side in the Civil War. The chapter mentions Julius Caesar, who commissioned Terentius Varro to establish the first public library at Rome. It looks at Terentius Varro's writings that covered virtually all disciplines — philosophy, religion, language, law, social history, geography, and agriculture.

This chapter centers on two features of Crowley's esoteric work, which are magic and Yoga. It shows how Crowley changed the understanding and epistemological interpretation of occult practice, and addresses the argument that there is a natural contradiction between his views on magic and Thelema. It then looks at his efforts to modernize magic and his interpretation of the idea of “Knowledge of Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel.” This chapter also introduces Aiwass, a “praetor-human intelligence” that belongs to the realm of spiritual reality.

This chapter reviews Plutarch’s unusual familiarity with the Roman senatorial career pattern, the cursus honorum. A Roman statesman was honoured according to the offices he had held, the victories he had won, and the triumphs he had celebrated. Offices were held in sequence, and formed a cursus, a standard career path: quaestor, aedile, praetor, consul, censor. These were documented in the family imagines, inscriptions, and memoirs, while historians often recorded major offices. Nepos’ biography of Cato Censor gives a full cursus; presumably his other lost lives did the same. The cursus continued in use under the principate, although the importance of the offices diminished. Plutarch would have known the cursus offices both from history and inscriptions and from his Roman friends. In the course of writing his Parallel Lives and treating statesmen of the second century BC and later, Plutarch used his subject’s cursus as a structural element for his Roman lives, recognizing its importance to Roman culture. This chapter then discusses Plutarch’s references to offices of the cursus held by his Roman heroes, and supplies an appendix with a full listing.

The Introduction surveys the development of Roman contract law through the Edict of the Urban Praetor and the writings of the Roman jurists. Emphasis is particularly on three concepts central to the overall architecture of Roman contract law: consensus (agreement); bona fides (good faith); and, to a more limited extent, causa (cause or reason for contracting). The law of contracts is placed in the more general framework of obligation and debt. This rich intellectual heritage relates directly to the character of the Roman economy as it developed from the archaic period to the Empire. Finally, the introduction discusses late imperial handling of Roman contract law.

This chapter begins with events in Rome from Pliny’s youth and early manhood: his education as an orator under Quintilian, first appearance in a trial, early steps along the cursus honorum towards entry into the senate, as well as first marriage and early friendships. It considers the apparent lack of a relationship between Pliny and Plutarch as evidence of the former’s love of rhetoric and literature rather than philosophy, before covering Pliny’s praetorship of 93–4 C.E., the trial of Baebius Massa, and the ‘treason’ trials of the ‘Stoic opposition’. Pliny’s record of continuing imperial favour under Domitian is somewhat at odds with his commentary, which asserts a stalled career. But it is not the praetorship that is a threat to Pliny’s integrity; rather his account of a subsequent post at the military treasury does not take care to avoid being potentially misleading. Later parts of the chapter look at the death of Domitian, accession of Nerva, attempted prosecution of Publicius Certus, death of first or second wife ‘Venuleia’, and subsequent marriage to Calpurnia, as well as the consulship of 100 C.E. under Trajan, and the Panegyricus. Pliny’s lack of interest in Rome’s cityscape is noted, alongside his success in the Centumviral court. Pliny’s high hopes for senatorial partnership with Trajan end in a hitherto undiagnosed pessimism and disillusion in Pliny.