“There Are Two”

2021 ◽  
pp. 157-166
Author(s):  
David Lloyd Dusenbury

This chapter introduces a letter written in Rome in the 490s CE by an African pope, Gelasius I. This papal letter is addressed to a Roman augustus at the imperial court in Constantinople. And in this letter, there is a world-historical idea. Gelasius formulates a claim without which the political history of Rome—and thus, of Europe (and many of its former colonies)—cannot be reconstructed. And this form of words could not be simpler. For, this African pope merely writes in Latin: duo sunt. This means in English: “there are two”. If roughly a century of historiography can be trusted, the history of empire is altered by this late antique pope’s cool insistence that “there are two”. How could such a minimal claim ignite centuries of legal reflection and political contestation in Europe? This chapter begins to answer that question.

Author(s):  
Christoph Eger

The years 507 and 711 frame the period of the Spanish Visigothic kingdom, although the history of the Visigoths in Spain dates back to the fifth century. The political history of the Visigoths in Spain is well known from the fifth century onwards, but we know much less from written sources about the history of the population and the settlement process. By the 1920s and 30s, researchers had already interpreted several late antique necropolises as Visigothic because they contained grave goods deposited in a specific form that distinguished them from native tombs. However, in the last twenty years, critics have taken aim at the interpretive model used.


Author(s):  
Rembert Lutjeharms

This chapter introduces the main themes of the book—Kavikarṇapūra, theology, Sanskrit poetry, and Sanskrit poetics—and provides an overview of each chapter. It briefly highlights the importance of the practice of poetry for the Caitanya Vaiṣṇava tradition, places Kavikarṇapūra in the (political) history of sixteenth‐century Bengal and Orissa as well as sketches his place in the early developments of the Caitanya Vaiṣṇava tradition (a topic more fully explored in Chapter 1). The chapter also reflects more generally on the nature of both his poetry and poetics, and highlights the way Kavikarṇapūra has so far been studied in modern scholarship.


2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 550-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Assef Ashraf

AbstractThis article uses gift-giving practices in early nineteenth-century Iran as a window onto statecraft, governance, and center-periphery relations in the early Qajar state (1785–1925). It first demonstrates that gifts have a long history in the administrative and political history of Iran, the Persianate world, and broader Eurasia, before highlighting specific features found in Iran. The article argues that the pīshkish, a tributary gift-giving ceremony, constituted a central role in the political culture and economy of Qajar Iran, and was part of the process of presenting Qajar rule as a continuation of previous Iranian royal dynasties. Nevertheless, pīshkish ceremonies also illustrated the challenges Qajar rulers faced in exerting power in the provinces and winning the loyalty of provincial elites. Qajar statesmen viewed gifts and bribes, at least at a discursive level, in different terms, with the former clearly understood as an acceptable practice. Gifts and honors, like the khil‘at, presented to society were part of Qajar rulers' strategy of presenting themselves as just and legitimate. Finally, the article considers the use of gifts to influence diplomacy and ease relations between Iranians and foreign envoys, as well as the ways in which an inadequate gift could cause offense.


Author(s):  
Alexander MacDonald

Mankind will not remain forever confined to the Earth. In pursuit of light and space it will, timidly at first, probe the limits of the atmosphere and later extend its control to the entire solar system. —Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Letter to B. N. Vorobyev, 1911 What do we learn from this long-run perspective on American space exploration? How does it change our understanding of the history of spaceflight? How does it change our understanding of the present? This book has provided an economic perspective on two centuries of history, with examinations of early American observatories, the rocket development program of Robert Goddard, and the political history of the space race. Although the subjects covered have been wide-ranging, together they present a new view of American space history, one that challenges the dominant narrative of space exploration as an inherently governmental activity. From them a new narrative emerges, that of the Long Space Age, a narrative that in the ...


Author(s):  
Adebowale Adeyemi-Suenu

The use of terror as a ratio for resolving internal fundamental differences is not uncommon in neo-colonial societies. This is not saying that flashes of same are not recogn ised in the developed environment. The prevalence of this alternative appears as old as the political history of Nigeria. This work underscores the theoretical and historical basis of rebellion in Nigeria primarily focusing on the rise, fundamental philosophy and the vision of the Boko Haramists. The central thesis of this work is that Boko Haram activities have negative effects on Nigeria’s external image and fundamentally, it exposes the nature and dynamics of Nigeria’s security problems. The work contributes in part to the literature on this issue but significantly, it situates the problems within strategic logic which amplifies the degeneration of the problems and the incessant rebellion against the Nigerian State.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 251-274
Author(s):  
Jorge Alberto Morales Agudelo

El artículo analiza la acusación política en San Vicente, municipalidad del departamento de Antioquia en Colombia, durante el primer quinquenio de la década de 1930. El trabajo describe su dinámica con el apoyo de múltiples memoriales, que desde la localidad se dirigen a la gobernación. La presencia de un gamonalismo local que influyó en todos los ámbitos de la vida comunal en San Vicente, configura la importancia de estudiar el fenómeno. La síntesis de la historia política del país vista desde las municipalidades todavía está en construcción, y este trabajo aporta un caso en el que la acusación permanente y el poder del gamonalismo local fueron obstáculos para generar gobernabilidad en municipios pequeños e incomunicados.  Palabras clave: acusación, intimidación, conservadores, liberales, alcaldía, gamonal.Impeachment as a Form of Bullying Policy in San Vicente (Antioquia-Colombia), 1930-1935Abstract The article analyses the political accusation in San Vicente, a municipality of the department of Antioquia in Colombia, in the first quinquenal of the decade of 1930. The work describes its dynamics supported on multiples memorials that are addressed from the locality to the governorship. The presence of a local political boss influence known as “gamonalismo” that affected all the domains of the communal life in San Vicente, shapes the importance of studying this phenomenon. The synthesis of the political history of the country seen from the municipalities is yet under construction, and this work provides a case in which the permanent accusation and the local “gamonalismo” were obstacles to generate governability in small and isolated towns. Keywords: accusation, intimidation, conservatives, liberals, mayoralty, gamonal. 


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rizka Wahyu Nurmalaningrum

Often the link between politics, economics and history escapes our attention so far. Much of the history of Indonesian development even the political history of the Indonesian nation itself has been forgotten by this millennial era society. They prefer mobile phones rather than books. Prefer cellphones from history. Even though history is important. The successors of the nation in the millennial era are more concerned with social media than knowing the origin of a country. Many do not understand the history of someone who can become president. There are various theories about history, such as Aristotelian theory, and the theory of plateau. Arisstoteles can be made a reference for learning for the ideals of the State with a fair and calm manner. The discussion with this theme takes the example of the fall of Soeharto as President of the Republic of Indonesia.


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