Classics and Ancient History

A careful reading of Herodotus (Hdt. 4. 76. 5-6) and review archaeological "illustrations" to him allows us to conclude about the possible historicity of Anacharsis (more precisely, what can be called "anacharsism" - the mutual perception of the Scythians and of a "collective Scythia" by the Hellenes, and, accordingly, of the Hellenes and of a "collective Hellas" by the Scythians). But they do not confirm the "knowledge" of Anacharsis in Scythian society (for all the conventionality of the term), and they do not confirm its inclusion in the circle of stable symbols of the historical memory of the Scythians. Herodotus in Olbia, he only clarifies some details known to him in at least one version of the stories of the Scythian sage; Greek stories, from which begins since then the continuous ancient tradition of Anacharsis, the Scythian sage, as a phenomenon of Hellenic, but not Scythian culture.

In this paper classical Athenian discourses about the end of tyranny and the beginning of democracy are analyzed. In particular, taking as a starting point the perspective of some modern specialist about Athenian democracy as a political regime that lacked a theory or systematic thinking as sustenance, aristocratic elements present in democratic discourse are taken into account. Lastly, the discourses about the end of tyranny are situated in the broader context of ideological disputes about the political capability of the masses.

Keywords: Athens – Discourse – Democracy – Aristocracy – Democratic Theory


En el presente artículo se analizan los discursos existentes en la Atenas clásica acerca del fin de la tiranía y el comienzo de la democracia. En particular, partiendo de la perspectiva de diversos autores modernos según la cual la democracia ateniense careció de una teoría o un pensamiento sistemático que le hayan brindado sustento, se estudian las características aristocráticas presentes en el discurso democrático. Por último, se relacionan los discursos sobre el fin de la tiranía con las disputas ideológicas en torno a la capacidad política de las masas.

Palabras Clave: Atenas – Discurso – Democracia – Aristocracia – Teoría Democrática

From its first adoption of writing at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age, ancient Cyprus was home to distinctive scripts and writing habits, often setting it apart from other areas of the Mediterranean and Near East. This well-illustrated volume is the first to explore the development and importance of Cypriot writing over a period of more than 1,500 years in the second and first millennia BC. Five themed chapters deal with issues ranging from the acquisition of literacy and the adaptation of new writing systems to the visibility of writing and its role in the marking of identities. The agency of Cypriots in shaping the island's literate landscape is given prominence, and an extended consideration of the social context of writing leads to new insights on Cypriot scripts and their users. Cyprus provides a stimulating case to demonstrate the importance of contextualised approaches to the development of writing systems.

Chapter 1 available with open access here: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/284465

This paper aims to study the influence of the Mediterranean region on the development of the notion of the tragic. Although tragedy is not exclusively Mediterranean, the influence of this region on the development of the notion of the tragic is beyond question. Tragedy arises and flourishes in Greece, continues in Rome with Seneca and reaches its peak with Calderón and especially with Shakespeare, who located many of his plays in Italy and in the Mediterranean area, from Illyria to Greece and Troy. The Italian 17th century gives birth to baroque opera with the works of Monteverdi and Cavalli, who were largely influenced by ancient Greek tragedy, while ‘canonical’ tragedy develops in France with Corneille and Racine, who found their models of perfection in the Augustan age (i.e., the Roman form of classicism). In 18th and 19th century, both Neoclassicism and Romanticism are deeply connected with the Mediterranean: theorists and philosophers of the tragic such as the Schlegel brothers, Schiller, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Wagner recognize a sharp division between ancient (i.e. Mediterranean) and modern (i.e. Germanic), but attempt to achieve the closest possible contact with Ancient Greece and make Greek literature central to their literary theories. At the same time, both the Neoclassical and Romantic mythological tragedies, such as Alfieri’s Antigone and Goethe’s Iphigenie auf Tauris, have Mediterranean settings, as well as some controversial works that attempt to follow Greek models (i.e. Schiller’s Die Braut von Messina). To conclude this overview of the connections between the Mediterranean region and the tragic, it should be noted that the Mediterranean maintains its leading position also in the 20th century tragic production with key figures such as Pirandello, Artaud, Sartre, Genet, Garçia Lorca and Camus.
Camus himself, who was strongly influenced by Greek civilization, claimed that at the center of his work there was «an invincible sun» and defined «Mediterraneity» as the original condition where man lives in harmony with the world and where light dominates. The light and the sun, among the most important features of the Mediterranean, already play a crucial role in Greek Tragedy, where sunlight is one of the main poetic images for denoting the boundary dividing life from death: for example, when Antigone sings her own funeral lament, she takes one last, lingering look at the ‘bright Sun’, before leaving the stage to die (Soph. Ant. 879-80). And before killing himself, Ajax says farewell to the Sun forever, asking him to take the news across the Aegean Sea in distant Salamis, on which he also shone (Soph. Aj. 845-51).
This paper intends to take into account the cultural and imaginative geography established for the Mediterranean region over the course of history, in order to examine how the various cultures around the Mediterranean opened emotional, physical, imaginative and political possibilities for writers and thinkers. It aims to show why the Mediterranean appears to have originated and inspired tragedy and to determine the core aspects of what may be called ‘Mediterranean tragic’.

This article examines the evidence for production activities in the cities of Roman North Africa and shows how the importance of urban craft production has been largely overlooked in many discussions of the ancient economy. It is usually difficult to determine the true scale of urban production activities without extensive excavation, since workshops were often quite small; they may, however, have been numerous and scattered throughout a city. Excavations of the scale required are rarely achievable with today's techniques; two sites excavated in the first half of the twentieth century, however, reveal a situation characterized by a number of workshops: 22 fulleries at Timgad and 18 establishments for salting fish in Sabratha. Urban surface survey is suggested here as the best method to investigate sites where it is feasible, in order to identify the extent of the deposits of waste production, with the help of geophysical surveys to locate ovens and furnaces, and excavation to investigage specific areas. This combination of techniques has been successfully tested at Leptiminus, Meninx and Thamusida, and has allowed us to identify the presence of production activities for ceramics, metal working, and the extraction of purple dye. The evidence emerging from recent archaeological investigations suggests that the contribution of craft manufacture to the economy of Roman cities was potentially significant, while the aggregate scale of production in the sites discussed indicates a much larger role for craft activities than has usually been considered. The model of the 'consumer city' does not seem suitable for many Roman cities, and attempts to describe the economy of Roman urbanism should pay more attention to the role of cities in networks of local, regional, and long-distance trade.

Questo articolo esamina l'evidenza per le attività industriali nelle città del nord Africa romano e dimostra come l'importanza della produzione artigianale urbana sia stata largamente sottovalutata in molte discussioni di economia antica. Di solito è difficile stabilire la giusta scala delle attività produttive urbane senza effettuare degli scavi estensivi, visto che i laboratori erano molto spesso piuttosto piccoli; ciò non toglie che essi potrebbero essere stati comunque numerosi e distribuiti all'interno della città. Scavi della estensione necessaria non sono irrealizzabili con le tecniche odierne; due siti scavati nella prima metà del ventesimo secolo hanno infatti portato alla luce un quadro caratterizzato da numerosi laboratori: 22 fulloniche a Timgad e 18 stabilimenti per la salatura del pesce a Sabratha. La ricognizione di superficie viene qui indicata come il metodo migliore per effettuare ricerche nei siti che lo consentono, al fine di identificare l'ampiezza dei depositi di rifiuti di fabbricazione, con l'aiuto di indagini geofisiche per trovare forni e fornaci, e scavi di alcune aree specifiche. Questo tipo di tecniche è stato sperimentato con successo a Leptiminus, Meninx e Thamusida, e ha permesso di identificare la presenza di attività di produzione ceramica, lavoro dei metalli e dell'industria per l'estrazione della porpora per la tintura. L'evidenza che emerge dalle recenti indagini archeologiche suggerisce che il contributo dell'industria cittadina all'economia delle città antiche fosse potenzialmente significativo, mentre la scala di produzione nei siti discussi indica un carattere artigianale della vita di queste città molto più consistente di quanto non sia stato di solito ritenuto. Il modello della 'città di consumo' non sembra adattarsi completamente a molte delle città romane, e i tentativi di descrizione dell'economia dell'urbanismo romano dovrebbero prestare più attenzione al ruolo delle città nelle reti di commercio locale, regionale e su lunga distanza.

Greek artists and architects were important social agents who played significant roles in the social, cultural, and economic life of the ancient Greek world. In Artists and Artistic Production in Ancient Greece, art historians, archaeologists, and historians explore the roles and impacts of artists and craftsmen in ancient Greek society. The contributing authors draw upon artistic, architectural, literary, epigraphical, and historical evidence to discuss a range of artists, architects, artistic media, and regions. They refer to historiography and modern theory, taking stock of the past while offering some new directions for future research. Incorporating a variety of methodological approaches and making use of often-neglected evidence, Artists and Artistic Production in Ancient Greece re-examines many long-held ideas and provides a deeper understanding of particular artists and architects, their works, and their social agency.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Introduction: Greek artists, yesterday and today/Kristen Seaman
2. The social and educational background of elite Greek artists/Kristen Seaman
3. Portrait of an artist: Euthymides, son of Pollias/Jenifer Neils
4. Kritios and Nesiotes: two revolutionaries in context/Andrew Stewart
5. Craft identity: mosaics in the Hellenistic East/S. Rebecca Martin
6. Artistic choice and constraint on coins/Isabelle A. Pafford
7. Constructing architects: the so-called 'Theseum architect'/Margaret M. Miles
8. Euphranor/Olga Palagia
9. Politics and personality?: the case of Kephisodotos the Younger/Peter Schultz
10. Artists' signatures on archaic Greek vases from Athens/Sarah Bolmarcich and Georgina Muskett
11. Response: reflections on identity, personality, and originality/Jeffrey M. Hurwit

This article examines the role of mistrust-especially in constructions of purity, impurity, and purification-in ancient Greek religion. It begins by examining so-called scapegoat or pharmakos rituals, in which an individual was expelled from the city, apparently as a purificatory offering to the gods. Recent analyses have argued that these rituals were outlets for community aggression, and/or were resonant with myths of self-sacrifice. This article will suggest a different analysis of the evidence. I offer an alternative way of interpreting these rituals that sets them in a wider context of Greek ritual and belief: it suggests that the ritual of the pharmakos arose in a context of social and spiritual insecurity. This created, I argue, a prevailing dynamic of social and spiritual mistrust, within which the pharmakos ritual emerged-and which it exacerbated.

"This paper proposes three new (and tentatively, another two) identifications of sundials in Middle Eastern mosaics of the 5th – 8th century. The author discusses a vignette from the Holy Martyrs’ Church at Tayibat al-Imâm, central Syria, a mosaic panel from the tomb of Georgia and Theodosia in Jerusalem, two
vignettes of Sebastis and Kastron Mefaa from the St. Stephan’s Church at Umm al-Rasas, and a vignette of Jerusalem from the St. George’s Church at Madaba. These mosaics date, respectively, to 442, to the reign of Justinian (527 –565), and to the Byzantine Umayyad era (718). According to the author, these are probably the latest representations of sundials known to date from the Late Antiquity. Until this study, only six representations of sundials on mosaics from the Roman period were known. This paper adds three new items and two hypothetical ones from Byzantine times. It also offers an interpretation of the function of the famous column in Jerusalem, shown on the map of Madaba and the mega-vignette of the Holy City.
Key words: Sundials, Sonnenhuhren, Meridiane, Cadrans solaires, Relojes de sol."

Dall'introduzione:
La lingua è indubbiamente uno degli elementi fondamentali attraverso cui introdursi nel vissuto materiale e ideale della società che la parla. E' indicativa di mentalità e cultura, di percezione e ampiezza di fenomeni, della realtà e dell' immaginario di una popolazione. Non è dunque casuale che il latino proponga oltre cinquanta sinonimi di meretrix. Questa proliferazione di parole, per indicare una stessa attività, può indubbiamente essere considerata la ricaduta, sul linguaggio parlato e letterario, sia della diffusione del meretricio nella società romana, almeno dal III secolo a.C., sia dell' incidenza sul suo immaginario collettivo.
La straordinaria raccolta di testimonianze, costituita dall' evidenza archeologica ed epigrafica pompeiana, ne è, per la società del I secolo d. C., indiscutibile conferma. Gli edifici, gli affreschi, i graffiti documentano infatti, senza possibilità di dubbio, la presenza importante e diffusa della prostituzione a Pompei.
Proprio essa ha del resto restituito l' unico lupanare, concordemente identificato come tale dagli studiosi. Sparsi per la piccola città sono peraltro non pochi ambienti che dovevano ospitare l' attività sessuale di prostitute e prostituti. Parecchi dei loro nomi erano segnati sui muri e sono stati tramandati ai moderni talvolta insieme con i prezzi praticati, le caratteristiche fisiche e comportamentali, le specifiche attitudini. Ne emerge un mondo sordido, solo apparentemente colorito: una storia di sfruttamento e di miseria, inserita nella più complessiva cornice della società schiavistica.
(...)

Catalogo della mostra all'Ara Pacis, Roma
Anno di Edizione: 2019
Edizione: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER
ISBN: 978-88-913-1816-9
Rilegatura: Brossura
Pagine: 320, 80 ill. B/N, 1 ill. Col.
Formato: 24,5 x 28 cm
La figura di Tiberio Claudio Druso, rimasto per anni nell' ombra rispetto ai numerosi studi su altri imperatori, è stata riscoperta
soltanto negli ultimi decenni. Si è dovuto prima fare i conti con alcune importanti testimonianze archeologiche, che
hanno reso evidente la portata delle sue scelte politiche e l' incidenza delle sue riforme amministrative, spingendo anche a
una rilettura critica delle fonti della storiografia di matrice senatoria, a lui troppo spesso ostili.
Per comprendere fino in fondo il regno del discusso imperatore, occorre metterne in luce la personalità, l' operato politico e
amministrativo, il legame con Augusto e con il celebre fratello Germanico, nonché il tragico rapporto con le mogli Messalina e
Agrippina, sullo sfondo della corte imperiale romana e delle controverse vicende della dinastia giulio-claudia.
Importante è il legame con la figura di Augusto, al quale chiaramente Claudio sempre guardò con il suo riformismo di stampo
formalmente tradizionalista, che emerge non solo dalle decisioni politiche, ma anche dalla comunicazione per immagini della produzione
artistica e della scultura di epoca claudia.
Per capire le forme della propaganda dinastica e le dinamiche della successione post-tiberiana, occorre soffermarsi sulle figure
di Germanico e di Agrippina Maggiore un matrimonio fondamentale, che determinerà personaggi di cerniera dinastica come
Caligola e Agrippina Minore e su Caligola stesso, la cui violenta fine, il 24 gennaio del 41 d.C., apre la strada al regno di Claudio.
Tra gli aspetti che caratterizzano la sua storia e la sua esperienza al potere, fondamentale è l' inquadramento della famiglia di
Claudio all' interno del progetto augusteo di costruzione della dinastia. L' importanza dell' unione tra Antonia Minore e Druso
Maggiore fu soprattutto legata alla nascita di veri e propri personaggi di cerniera dinastica tra i due rami della famiglia giulio-claudia:
Germanico, Claudia Livia Giulia (Livilla) e Claudio stesso. Quest' ultimo è un discendente di Augusto più che legittimo, ma
non è mai stato ufficialmente adottato e, quindi, formalmente non legittimato ad assumere il potere.
L' esistenza di Claudio, dalla nascita a Lugdunum (odierna Lione) il 1 agosto del 10 a.C. fino alla morte a Roma nel 54 d.C., è
segnata da un destino singolare, che lo pone di fronte ad avvenimenti eccezionali, fatti di sangue, intrighi di corte, scelte politiche
ardite. L' eccezionalità della sua vicenda umana si legge sin dall' inizio della sua vita: non sarà favorito da Augusto nella carriera
politico-militare, come invece Germanico, ma proprio per questo potrà assecondare i suoi interessi antiquari e dedicarsi agli studi.
Probabilmente una conoscenza profonda della Storia di Roma e del Mediterraneo (scrisse opere storiche sia su Roma augustea che
sulle popolazioni degli Etruschi e dei Fenici) si dimostrò uno strumento utile a fondare la sua capacità politico-amministrativa.
Primo imperatore a nascere fuori dal territorio italico, era un candidato improbabile al comando dell' impero. Augusto, che dubitava
delle sue attitudini politiche, gli avrebbe preferito di gran lunga il fratello Germanico, che tuttavia morì prematuramente in circostanze
sospette. Come successore, il popolo e l' esercito avevano poi scelto il giovane Caligola, che di Germanico era il figlio e che
aveva ereditato la fama del padre. Ma l' assassinio di Caligola, accoltellato nel suo stesso palazzo, metteva necessariamente Claudio al
centro della successiva crisi politica. Tiberio Claudio Cesare Augusto Germanico diventava così, all' avanzata età di cinquant' anni,
il primo imperatore acclamato, dopo una lunga trattativa politico-economica, da un corpo militare, i pretoriani.
La sua acclamazione rappresenta un momento di grande importanza per la storia dell' Impero, poiché in contrasto con il dibattito,
debole, che in Senato si svolgeva contemporaneamente sul ripristino della res publica. Questa ferita nel rapporto con l' aristocrazia
senatoria non sarà mai sanata e diventerà anzi più profonda a causa della riorganizzazione amministrativa che Claudio porterà
avanti negli affari interni.[...]

This paper explores the implications of the often neglected fact that the Res Gestae Divi Augusti (RGDA) at Ankara formed part of an extensive epigraphic display at the Temple of Augustus and Rome. It is suggested that the initial design of the epigraphic décor on the temple intended the viewer to relate Augustus’ euergetism with the euergetism of the earliest Galatian priests of the imperial cult, and that those same local notables who had served as priests, and who sought to present the emperor as their role model, are more likely candidates for having initiated the inscribing of this set of texts than (as is usually assumed) the Galatian provincial governor. The argument is based on: a) a comparison of the RGDA with epigraphic ensembles of Roman imperial times that are related to euergetism; b) a re-evaluation of the fact that the so-called “Appendix” and the headings of both the Latin and the Greek versions of Augustus’ deeds all deliberately highlight one and the same aspect of Augustus’ legacy: his euergetic donations, and c) the consequences of a recent re-dating of a list of priests of the imperial cult, which included a detailed record of each successive office-holder’s donations for euergetic purposes.

Il presente lavoro, incentrato sulla storia del lavoro e dei lavoratori nel mondo romano, si propone di ricostruire, attraverso l'epigrafia monumentale, l'identità e il profilo socio-economico di alcuni individui vissuti a Mutina o nel suo ager in età tardorepubblicana e altoimperiale. Si tratta di alcuni uomini e una donna le cui iscrizioni, di natura prevalentemente funeraria, ricordano diverse figure professionali: un aurifex, un copo,  un medicus, un negotians lanarius, un praeceptor, un tonsor, diversi vestiarii, un vicesimarius, un possibile unctor e una vilica. Nel testo si formulano inoltre alcune ipotesi in merito alle funzioni esercitate in ambito domestico dai cosiddetti "delicia" o "pueri delicati"; vengono infine analizzati i tre gentilizi di derivazione professionale finora attestati nel Modenese: Aerarius, Aurarius e Purpurarius. Quest'ultimo nome, in particolare, fino a oggi sembrerebbe attestato esclusivamente nella colonia di Mutina e nel suo ager.

The True Context Of Ancient History And The Gordian Emperors (Roman Piso, 02-25-2017) This paper is about the Gordian Emperors; Gordian I, Gordian II, and Gordian III. However, it is also about much, much more. It is about their ancestors and their royal relatives, as well as statistical data and how they were related to a group of ancient authors known as the Philostratii. [I] I, and a few other researchers have discovered something which had never been considered within academia before, but which is now of extreme importance and must be considered because of what it means to research itself. Basically, what we have discovered is that there is an alternate version of history that exists, but that has not been known except to those few who did not want others to know. That other version of history changes the context in which we must now view it. And that is because what we contend, due to what has been discovered, means that only royalty had the privilege of writing anything for publication (under penalty of death); no matter what the subject matter. Most of us now know of at least some examples where history (or those recording history) had lied or deliberately misled us. And, we also now know of several examples of what we term "whitewashed" history. [II] Some of us have long wondered, how it was that there were so many people (i.e., the masses or non-royals) within such a great empire, who were illiterate. And yet, somehow, there were some people who lived an entirely different life within that empire than the majority did, people who had received a fantastic education, and who demonstrated great genius within their writings. And this, our discovery of the true nature of ancient history, gives us that answer.

This paper describes a pattern of predatory rule in the Seleucid Empire in which Seleucid kings despoiled treasures from temples within their own realm. It argues that these incidents, when taken in the aggregate, problematize the view that the Seleucid dynasty enjoyed consistently close and positive relations with native priestly elites. Rather than viewing incidents such as Antiochus IV’s sack of the Temple in Jerusalem as aberrations, it argues that these represented a streak of predatory rule that was a persistent aspect of Seleucid imperialism.

Sundials in Roman and Byzantine Mosaics (1st – 9th Century AD). A scientific monograph. The sundials on ancient mosaics have not been the subject of scientific studies so far. The author has gathered together  in this  publication  the sundials  already known (Torre Anunzaiata, Sarsina, Trier, Saint-Romain-en-Gal, Antiochia and Brading; Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9) and those which have  not  previously  been  identified.  Thanks  to  the author’s  new  identifcations,  the  catalogue  has  been enlarged  by  six  new  sundials (Grand,Tarsus, Antioch – interpreted by H. Pamir; Figs.  3, 6,  8, and 10. Tayibat al-Imam, Jerusalem and Umm al-Rasas (Sebastis); Figs. 10, 11, 12) and three monumental gnomes-columns with multiple functions that were used as monumental sundials [Madaba (Jerusalem), Umm al-Rasas (Kastron Mefaa) and Rome (Jerusalem); Figs. 13–15]. In addition, recognizing fully John H. Humphrey’s  interpretations,  the  author  enriches  the catalogue  by  eight  ancient  mosaic  representations  of obelisks in  circuses (Lyon, Barcelona, Volubilis, Piazza Armerina - two mosaics, Girona, Carthage and Gafsa; Figs.  16–23).  They  performed the roles of monumental sundials. In this way, the catalogue includes  twenty-three  mosaics with  the representations of sundials. They come from the Western and Eastern Provinces of the Roman Empire. The first mosaic is dated to the beginning of the 1st century AD and the last dates to the 9th century AD. The author, after  a  short  description  of each monument,  summarizes the issue discussing the role of sundials in Roman and Byzantine society, their complex signifcance and symbolic difficult linked with the progress of time on which nature and human life are dependent.

Abstract: Cicero maintains that one should choose one’s friends carefully, choosing men of good character. One should moreover freely share all of one’s concerns, plans, and aims with one’s friends. Friendship should be based on steadfastness, loyalty and trust, with no deception or hypocrisy. Absolute honesty is thus essential for friendship, and one should be congenial and show pleasant manners to friends, treating them as equals, and being generous and helpful to them. One should also encourage one’s friends in developing virtue, reprimanding them in a tactful, gentle manner if necessary, and accepting reprimand with forbearance. One should always behave respectfully to one’s friends, maintaining particular respect for friends of long standing. He stresses that the excessive pursuit of wealth and power is detrimental to friendship. One can make concessions to friends by agreeing to do improper things if these do not damage our reputation; however, one should not do fundamentally wrong acts on account of friendship. He points out that one should not have unrealistic expectations or be too demanding towards one’s friends nor should one engage in behaviour of a flattering or sycophantic nature. One need not give more help to a friend than one is able nor is one obliged to, nor to place pleasing a friend above matters of duty. He allows that friendships can be ended if the friend behaves badly or if common interests change. In that case, one should strive to end the friendship gradually and quietly.

"Founded on the principle of freedom of all, a democratic city cannot, purely and simply,sport imperial expansion, aimed at the domination of others. In words (at least) a democratic
war has to be waged to protect freedom, or to make liberty equally shared. Athens therefore invented that self-applauding, and now trite, argument that, when fought on behalf of democracy, a war is always just. Or, in the language of the Greeks, it is beautiful, noble, worthy of praise. Firstly, it will always be intended for self-protection (and, later, security) even when it consists of the most aggressive intervention in, or against, other cities. Secondly, it will always be conducted for the sake of somebody else: allies, and preferably weaker or offended parties. Democratic wars preserve, by definition, the principles of democracy. Thirdly, in the oratory of a prominent speech-writer, who composes his arguments after 403, every democratic war reenacts – in the virtually infinite extension of liberty of all – a foundational struggle, the one which is praiseworthy above all, the democratic revolution. Lysias’ montage of Athenian history from the stand point, and on behalf, of democracy restored, will be our focus. But not simply as a narrative.
Because democracy operates through speech-acts, and because felicitous speech-acts are made up of moving arguments, the life of democracy requires an orchestration of the
passions. In Lysias’ language on war, we can see a particularly powerful emotional component. If a righteous war is defensive, it has to be vindictive. The narrative and explanation of conflicts fit the pattern of the most political of human emotions: anger, as the honorable wish to punish an undeserved offense. To present a war – and, what is less obvious, a civil war – as just means to claim that it is, indeed, an act of retaliation, justified by an assault, that was unjustified in the first place; the emotional effect of this claim is to feel anger, and to arouse it in the audience. The rhetoric of the just war is a rhetoric of anger. Democratic wars are angry wars.
Now, anger is the quintessentially aristocratic, Homeric and tragic passion, felt by gods,heroes and kings. Anger, Aristotle claims, is the response to an unmerited slight, by all those who merit recognition, even deference, thus cannot endure disrespect. The anger of the People, which Lysias’ oratory stokes with great verve, is part of a peculiar feature of Atheniandemocracy: the appropriation of the values and the discourse of the archaic, pan-Hellenic, nobility. Beyond the obvious paradigm of the resistance to the Persian invasion, another foundational war can be seen at the horizon of fourth century political culture: the Trojan War, that long story of a mênis, the “numinous” wrath of a slighted warrior, but also the tale of a vindictive and righteous expedition." G. S.

Course Description: This course offers an introduction to the history of ancient Greece from the Bronze Age to the end of the Hellenistic Age (roughly the 16 th to the 1 st centuries BCE), drawing on both source materials and modern works. This is a student-driven seminar based on readings, presentations, and in-class discussions on the societal, religious, and political developments of the Greek world in antiquity. Students will become familiar with the Bronze, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, and early Roman periods of Greek history. The foundation of this course is the geopolitical history of the expanding Greek world; however, students also will engage the importance of ancient Greek culture, literature, religion, art, and gender roles. Through the investigation of texts, architecture, and archaeology, students will gain an appreciation of not just the ruling classes of the ancient Greek world, but also of the daily lives of normal Greeks and Hellenized native peoples. This will be a reading seminar course driven primarily by student participation. It will focus mostly on modern studies but also will feature a wide array of literary and archaeological source materials. Students will investigate historiographical arguments, lead class discussions, and prepare presentations.