Denis Feeney
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520251199
- eISBN:
- 9780520933767
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520251199.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
The ancient Romans changed more than the map of the world when they conquered so much of it; they altered the way historical time itself is marked and understood. This book investigates time and its ...
More
The ancient Romans changed more than the map of the world when they conquered so much of it; they altered the way historical time itself is marked and understood. This book investigates time and its contours as described by the ancient Romans, first as Rome positioned itself in relation to Greece, and then as it exerted its influence as a major world power. The book welcomes the reader into a world where time was movable and changeable and where simply ascertaining a date required a complex and often contentious cultural narrative. It investigates the pertinent systems, including the Roman calendar (which is still our calendar) and its near perfect method of capturing the progress of natural time; the annual rhythm of consular government; the plotting of sacred time onto sacred space; the forging of chronological links to the past; and, above all, the experience of empire, by which the Romans meshed the city state's concept of time with those of the foreigners they encountered to establish a new worldwide web of time. Because this web of time was Greek before the Romans transformed it, the book also provides a study in the cross-cultural interaction between the Greek and Roman worlds. It closely examines the most important of the ancient world's time divisions, that between myth and history, and concludes by demonstrating the impact of the reformed calendar on the way the Romans conceived of time's recurrence.Less
The ancient Romans changed more than the map of the world when they conquered so much of it; they altered the way historical time itself is marked and understood. This book investigates time and its contours as described by the ancient Romans, first as Rome positioned itself in relation to Greece, and then as it exerted its influence as a major world power. The book welcomes the reader into a world where time was movable and changeable and where simply ascertaining a date required a complex and often contentious cultural narrative. It investigates the pertinent systems, including the Roman calendar (which is still our calendar) and its near perfect method of capturing the progress of natural time; the annual rhythm of consular government; the plotting of sacred time onto sacred space; the forging of chronological links to the past; and, above all, the experience of empire, by which the Romans meshed the city state's concept of time with those of the foreigners they encountered to establish a new worldwide web of time. Because this web of time was Greek before the Romans transformed it, the book also provides a study in the cross-cultural interaction between the Greek and Roman worlds. It closely examines the most important of the ancient world's time divisions, that between myth and history, and concludes by demonstrating the impact of the reformed calendar on the way the Romans conceived of time's recurrence.
Martin Clayton
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195339680
- eISBN:
- 9780199851935
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195339680.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
The functions of tāl fall into three main categories. First, there are functions of a quantitative hierarchy, which includes time measurement and time division, expressed through the structures of ...
More
The functions of tāl fall into three main categories. First, there are functions of a quantitative hierarchy, which includes time measurement and time division, expressed through the structures of both clap patterns and thekās. Second, there are functions of a qualitative hierarchy, which include rhythmic character and dynamic form, as determined by the thekā's accentual pattern. Third, there is cyclicity. Factors which reinforce a sense of recurrence can be considered as performing a ‘cyclical’ function.Less
The functions of tāl fall into three main categories. First, there are functions of a quantitative hierarchy, which includes time measurement and time division, expressed through the structures of both clap patterns and thekās. Second, there are functions of a qualitative hierarchy, which include rhythmic character and dynamic form, as determined by the thekā's accentual pattern. Third, there is cyclicity. Factors which reinforce a sense of recurrence can be considered as performing a ‘cyclical’ function.
