scholarly journals WINTER IS COMING: THE BARBARIZATION OF ROMAN LEADERS IN IMPERIAL PANEGYRIC FROMa.d.446–68

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 422-434
Author(s):  
Scott Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich

The Ostrogothic king Theoderic I (a.d.475–526) drew on his experience of ruling post-imperial Italy when he famously remarked that ‘The poor Roman imitates the Goth and the rich Goth imitates the Roman’. Written well after the fall of the western Roman empire, these words have prefaced many discussions of the process of Roman and barbarian assimilation and mutual acculturation. This topic has long captured the imagination of scholars, who have approached the topic from many different angles, such as archaeology, religion, prosopography and literature.

scholarly journals The rich, the poor, and the law

2004 ◽  
Vol 60 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter H. Reinstorf
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
First Century ◽  
Good Society ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Rich

This article explores the social and religious dynamics of parables of Jesus in which “rich” and “poor” are juxtaposed. It focuses on Luke 16:19-31 (the parable of the rich man and the poor beggar Lazarus) and on Luke 18:9-14 (the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector). The core of the exploration relates to questions concerning “wealth” and “poverty” in a limited-good society such as first-century Palestine. The article aims to expose the legitimisation provided by the Israelite elite to ensure the collection of taxes placed on the peasant population by the Roman Empire.

scholarly journals Zagadnienie nierówności społecznej w "De Gubernatione Dei" Salwiana z Marsylii : aspekty prawne

2011 ◽  
Vol 54 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 339-355
Author(s):  
Monika Wójcik
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Financial Burden ◽  
State Legislation ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The Poor ◽  
State Apparatus ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Needy

Salvian both recognized and censured social inequality, however, without transposing his critical attitude onto the relationship between freemen and slaves. For Salvian, this relationship was a point of reference, though indirect, to the relationship between man and God. Salvian considered the characteristics commonly attributed to slaves against the backdrop of Christian duties before God. When it comes to the situation of slaves, some Salvian’s opinions on the lord’s ius vitaenecisque are in conflict with the existing law, as, for instance, some provisions safeguarding slaves against owners’ abuse or lawlessness. Yet, such provisions might not have been fully observed in practice. Salvian recognizes some undeniable Roman flaws when examining the issue of exploitation of the poor by the rich. The main Salvian’s objections relate to both excessive financial burden laid on citizens by the state, as well as to the wealthy shifting the tax encumbrance to the needy. State legislation took some measures to remedy this situation, but, as follows from Salvian’s account, these regulations remained a dead letter. Salvian repeatedly touches on the problem of the ineffective state apparatus. In Salvian’s opinion, in the aftermath of the unjust state financial system, many Roman citizens fled to become the subjects of the barbarian rule. Salvian attributed ill intentions and oppression of the poor to the councillors; it was largely due to their tax collection powers. As follows from Salvian’s account, the councillors’ assumption of the function of tax collectors was to the significant detriment of social relations in cities. The author briefly reviews their role with the maxim: quot curiales, tot tyranni. Not infrequently, Salvian’s considerations seem rather selective, particularly with respect to the socio-political situation. In his opinion, the Roman Empire of the 5th century faced a dramatic economic slump, first, due to the barbarian invasions, and second, due to the poor administration.

Medicine, Money, and Christian Rhetoric

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 342-384
Author(s):  
Norman Underwood
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Predatory Behavior ◽  
Economic Aspects ◽  
Limited Evidence ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
Medical Careers ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Christian Leaders

This article explores the socio-economic aspects of medical care in Late Antiquity with a particular emphasis on how payments and medical costs shaped perceptions of physicians as fee-charging individuals. As it illustrates, criticisms of physicians for greed, hucksterism, and chilly indifference to the poor spanned the gamut of ancient literature, and the limited evidence for physicians’ incomes and fees under the Roman Empire does suggest that medical careers were quite profitable. For ethical and philanthropic purposes, though, many ancient physicians chose to forego payment or adjust their fees for patients of lesser means. This essay concludes with a challenge to a common scholarly assertion that the Christianization of Roman society placed greater pressure on physicians to assume more charitable practices. Christians did not differ appreciably from pagans in their criticisms of avaricious physicians; instead, I suggest, Christian leaders who inherited a tradition of censuring physicians for predatory behavior leveraged established Classical discourses about the greedy physicians and the exclusion of the poor from healthcare to persuade parishioners to support almsgiving, particularly the funding of hospitals. Clerics in this way erected a parallel healthcare economy that was explicitly outside of marketplace norms: volunteers, clerics, and paid physicians were to serve the ailing poor at hospitals, while the rich were to fund these operations by treating their diseased souls through the purgative act of almsgiving.

scholarly journals Welcoming outsiders: The nascent Jesus community as a locus of hospitality and equality (Mk 9:33–42; 10:2–16)

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zorodzai Dube
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Economic System ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
First Century ◽  
Household Economies ◽  
Roman Economy ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Contemporary Situation ◽  
The Rich

The recent global economic crisis left millions of people destitute without formal work and further alienated the poor from the rich. As a remedy, modern Neoliberalism proposes that the poor must hope and steadily work their way up the economic ladder. What is the solution to such unbridgeable social and economic chasm? This article used the contemporary situation of economic inequality to imagine events during the first century, during Jesus’ time, whereby the rich increasingly amassed wealth to the disadvantage of the poor majority. In this article, Mark 9:33–42 and 10:10–16 was used to explore how Jesus developed an alternative economic system − one that contrasted itself in every respect from that of the hierarchical and patriarchal Roman Empire. This article argued that Jesus formed communities that directly responded to the economic challenges faced by the landless and the homeless majority by creating an alternative economy based on love and hospitality. This was done by proposing that Mark 9:33–42 and 10:2–16 are amongst the passages where the two rival economies were contrasted by way of two different household economies. Firstly, the economic system outside the house that typified the hierarchical Roman economy, and secondly, the economic system inside the house that referred to Jesus’ alternative system whereby he taught his disciples to welcome the homeless, the landless and the poor. Before developing this further, the plausible social context of the stories was attended to.

In Search of Soul

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Nava
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Sacred And Profane ◽  
The Rich

This book explores the meaning of “soul” in sacred and profane incarnations, from its biblical origins to its central place in the rich traditions of black and Latin history. Surveying the work of writers, artists, poets, musicians, philosophers, and theologians, the book shows how their understandings of the “soul” revolve around narratives of justice, liberation, and spiritual redemption. The book contends that biblical traditions and hip-hop emerged out of experiences of dispossession and oppression. Whether born in the ghettos of America or of the Roman Empire, hip-hop and Christianity have endured by giving voice to the persecuted. This book offers a view of soul in living color, as a breathing, suffering, dreaming thing.

Editor's Note

2004 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. i-iii
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Education ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Ethnic Origin ◽  
Fair Use ◽  
Good Education ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich

In this election year, 2004, people are grappling with the various forces that make up these United States. What forces encourage inclusion and which exclusion? Who is to be included and who excluded? Is this to be a country with wide discrepancies between the rich and the poor? Is this to be a country where public education is poorly funded and a good education depends upon private resources? Are we going to forget that discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnic origin, and economic status still exists and needs to be perpetually, vigilantly addressed? There is a deep division in the country over the proper and fair use of our resources that constitutes concern in all our citizens

A Final Muse

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wendell Moller
Keyword(s):  
Human Beings ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich

Why are kings without pity for their subjects? Because they count on never being common human beings. Why are the rich so hard toward the poor? It is because they have no fear of being poor. . . .—Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Émile; or, On Education1In Shakespeare’s ...

“One law for the rich and one law for the poor.”

1890 ◽  
Vol s7-IX (224) ◽  
pp. 288-288
Author(s):  
H. Fishwick
Keyword(s):  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich

THE FINANCIAL RETURN OF CEREAL FARMING FOR SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF ETHIOPIA

2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
LALISA ALEMAYEHU DUGUMA ◽  
IKA DARNHOFER ◽  
HERBERT HAGER
Keyword(s):  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
Important Variable ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Financial Return ◽  
Net Return ◽  
Net Returns ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Central Highlands ◽  
The Rich

SUMMARYA study was conducted in Suba area, central highlands of Ethiopia, to assess the net return, land and labour productivity, and the return to scale of cereal farming practice. Seventy-five farmers belonging to three local wealth classes (poor, medium and rich) were randomly selected and interviewed about inputs and outputs related to cereal farming for the production year 2007/2008. Farm soil properties were investigated to check the variability in soil quality among the wealth classes. Benefit:cost ratio (BCR), net returns and annual profit were used to indicate the worthiness of the cereal farming activity. The return to scale was estimated by using the Cobb–Douglas production function. The results show that cereal farming is a rewarding practice, with the rich households gaining more profit than the poor. Farm size was the most important variable that affects the net return. There is an increasing return to scale. However, it is unlikely that farmers will have more land than they own at present because of the land shortage problem in the country caused by the increasing human population. Thus, attention should be given to minimizing the costs of production through proper regulation of domestic fertilizer costs and increasing labour productivity especially for the poor and medium households. The use of manure and compost as an additional fertilizer should also be promoted.

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