The Sibylline Oracles and Queen Zenobia of Palmyra: A Case Study for Apocalypse as a Venue for Political Power and Resistance in the Late Roman Empire

Apocalypse ◽  
2013 ◽  
pp. 115-129
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Power And Resistance ◽  
Sibylline Oracles ◽  
Late Roman

scholarly journals Power and Resistance: A Case Study of Satire on the Internet

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lijun Tang ◽  
Syamantak Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
General Public ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Power Relation ◽  
Symbolic Power ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Power And Resistance ◽  
Resistance To Power ◽  
A Chain ◽  
A Site

Past studies on print and TV satire have revealed that satire can be seen as a site of resistance to power. In light of this, interesting questions can be raised regarding Internet satire: what does the Internet contribute to the resistance and what kind of power relation is played out on this site? Using an example from China, this paper reveals that like its print and TV counterparts, Internet satire reflects a widespread feeling of powerlessness, rather than offering the general public any political power. However, the Internet helps to push the symbolic power of satire to a higher level. This is because it makes satire a tool for the grassroots which facilitates the creation and spread of satirical ideas, and also helps to release and stimulate the enormous reserve of public wit and wisdom. As a result, satire on the Internet has the potential to generate a chain of related satirical work, which can create a satire movement and subject power to sustained shame and ridicule.

The Early Modern Invention of Late Antique Rome: How Historiography Helped Create the Crypt of the Popes

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Denzey Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Social Phenomenon ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Textual Material ◽  
Apostolic Succession ◽  
Important Evidence ◽  
Late Roman

Abstract:At some point in late antiquity, most scholars believe, Christians reversed the powerful valence of death pollution and considered corpses and bones to be sacred. The rise of the ‘Cult of the Saints’ or ‘cult of relics’ is widely accepted as a curious social phenomenon that characterized late antiquity. This paper argues that although present elsewhere in the late Roman Empire, no such ‘corporeal turn’ happened in Rome. The prevailing assumption that it did – fostered by the apologetic concerns of early modern Catholic historiography – has led us to gloss over important evidence to the contrary, to read our own assumptions into our extant textual, material, and archaeological sources. As a ‘case study’, this paper considers the so-called ‘Crypt of the Popes’ in the catacombs of Callixtus, which is universally presented unproblematically as an authentic burial chamber attesting to an age of persecution and the strength of Catholic apostolic succession. This paper argues, by contrast, that the chamber is not what it seems; it is, rather, a case of early modern historiographical artifice masquerading as late antique Roman Christianity.

The solidus hoard of Casa delle Vestali in context

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 107-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svante Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Roman Emperor ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Gold Coins ◽  
Late Roman

In this paper, I discuss the context of a Late Roman solidus hoard found in the Casa delle Vestali on the Forum Romanum in Rome. The hoard consists of 397 solidi, Late Roman gold coins. Most of the hoard consists of uncirculated solidi struck in the name of the Western Roman emperor Procopius Anthemius (AD 467–472). By means of situating the hoard within the context of the reign of Anthemius and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the aim of this paper is to determine if the coins in the Vestal hoard can be related to other contemporary coin hoards by means of numismatic typology; this information could add to our understanding of why Anthemius’ reign is considered such an unmitigated failure and why the Empire collapsed soon after his murder. In this article, the composition of the hoard is examined, and the contents are compared to other contemporary solidus hoards in the Mediterranean, Gaul, Poland and Scandinavia. I argue that this comparison shows that the Vestal hoard is not part of a larger network but that the hoard constitutes the remains of an isolated occurrence—as initially suggested by its unusual composition and location.

Christograms as Signs of Authority in the Late Roman Empire

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ildar Garipzanov
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Rhetorical Device ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Courtly Culture ◽  
Diachronic Change ◽  
Late Roman

The first section tests the main interpretations of Lactantius’ passage on Constantine’s victorious sign in 312 against existing graphic evidence from the 310s and early 320s, and consequently supports the interpretation of Lactantius’ description as a rhetorical device invented or modified by the Christian narrator. The next two sections support the argument that the perception of the chi-rho as Constantine’s triumphant sign became entrenched in courtly culture and public mentalities from the mid-320s onwards, and trace the diachronic change of the chi-rho from its paramount importance as an imperial sign of authority under the Constantinian dynasty to its hierarchic usage alongside the tau-rho and cross in the Theodosian period. The final section presents a contextualized discussion of the encolpion of Empress Maria and mosaics from several early baptisteries, illustrating the paradigmatic importance the chi-rho and tau-rho for early Christian graphicacy around the turn of the fifth century.

Letters and Communication Networks in Merovingian Gaul

2020 ◽  
pp. 530-555
Author(s):  
Andrew Gillett
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Complete List ◽  
Narrative Texts ◽  
Manuscript Tradition ◽  
Letter Exchange ◽  
Late Roman

While some letters from Merovingian-era Gaul are well known—for example, Remigius’s letters to Clovis or Radegund’s letters founding her monastery—the scale and scope of extant and attested letters tell us more about the period than the sum of data from individual documents. The cumulative range of known epistolary communications indicates that Merovingian Gaul, like the late Roman Empire of the previous centuries, hosted multiple, entangled networks of social and political interconnections. This chapter considers how we can set about contemplating both the limitations and value of the evidence we have. Comparison with contemporary Egypt, from which letters are preserved both in manuscript tradition (as with Gaul) and as papyri originals, evokes the possibility of envisaging Merovingian Gaul quite differently from our received image. The extant evidence for letters is surveyed, including “literary” collections of letters, letters preserved in other types of texts, and the extensive number of descriptions of letter exchange in narrative texts. The chapter includes the first checklist of more than 500 extant letters and a list of narrative sources, including the first complete list of references to letters in the works of Gregory of Tours.

Unique Osteoid Osteoma of the Frontal Sinus From the Late Roman Empire

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 965-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Varotto ◽  
Maria Teresa Magro ◽  
Rodolfo Brancato ◽  
Carmine Lubritto ◽  
Lorenzo Memeo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Osteoid Osteoma ◽  
Frontal Sinus ◽  
Late Roman

scholarly journals Non-destructive handheld XRF study of archaeological composite silver objects—the case study of the late Roman Seuso Treasure

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktória Mozgai ◽  
Bernadett Bajnóczi ◽  
Zoltán May ◽  
Zsolt Mráv
Keyword(s):  
Fluorescence Analysis ◽  
The Body ◽  
High Quality ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Composite Objects ◽  
Mechanical Attachment ◽  
Non Destructive ◽  
Made In ◽  
Late Roman

AbstractThis study details the non-destructive chemical analysis of composite silver objects (ewers, situlas, amphora and casket) from one of the most significant late Roman finds, the Seuso Treasure. The Seuso Treasure consists of fourteen large silver vessels that were made in the fourth–early fifth centuries AD and used for dining during festive banquets and for washing and beautification. The measurements were systematically performed along a pre-designed grid at several points using handheld X-ray fluorescence analysis. The results demonstrate that all the objects were made from high-quality silver (above 90 wt% Ag), with the exception of the base of the Geometric Ewer B. Copper was added intentionally to improve the mechanical properties of soft silver. The gold and lead content of the objects shows constant values (less than 1 wt% Au and Pb). The chemical composition as well as the Bi/Pb ratio suggests that the parts of the composite objects were manufactured from different silver ingots. The ewers were constructed in two ways: (i) the base and the body were made separately, or (ii) the ewer was raised from a single silver sheet. The composite objects were assembled using three methods: (i) mechanical attachment; (ii) low-temperature, lead-tin soft solders; or (iii) high-temperature, copper-silver hard solders. Additionally, two types of gilding were revealed by the XRF analysis, one with remnants of mercury, i.e. fire-gilding, and another type without remnants of mercury, presumably diffusion bonding.

scholarly journals VISUALIZING GERMANNESS THROUGH COSTUMES IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
FREDERICK G. CROFTS
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Holy Roman Empire ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scholarly Discourse ◽  
Material Exchange

ABSTRACT Examining the understudied collection of costume images from Heidelberg Calvinist, lawyer, and church councillor Marcus zum Lamm's (1544–1606) ‘treasury’ of images, the Thesaurus Picturarum, this article intervenes in the historiography on sixteenth-century German national imaginaries, emphasizing the import of costume books and manuscript alba for national self-fashioning. By bringing late sixteenth-century ethnographic costume image collections into scholarly discourse on the variegated ways of conceiving and visualizing Germany and Germanness over the century, this article sheds new light on a complex narrative of continuity and change in the history of German nationhood and identity. Using zum Lamm's images as a case-study, this article stresses the importance of incorporating costume image collections into a nexus of patriotic genres, including works of topographical-historical, natural philosophical, ethnographic, cartographic, cosmographic, and genealogical interest. Furthermore, it calls for historians working on sixteenth-century costume books and alba to look deeper into the meanings of such images and collections in the specific contexts of their production; networks of knowledge and material exchange; and – in the German context – the political landscape of territorialization, confessionalization, and dynastic ambition in the Holy Roman Empire between the Peace of Augsburg and the Thirty Years War (1555–1618).

Fortresses of the Tur Abdin and the confrontation between Rome and Persia

2017 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 181-229
Author(s):  
Anthony Comfort
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Crucial Importance ◽  
Substantial Risk ◽  
Urgent Necessity ◽  
Late Roman

AbstractAlthough research is currently impossible on the ground, satellite photographs allow some further information to be gleaned concerning the region of the Tur Abdin, of crucial importance during the wars between the late Roman Empire and Sassanian Persia in the fourth to seventh century AD. This article examines the ancient sources and the reports of visitors to the area in the light of what is now visible to all via Google Earth and other suppliers of free satellite imagery. Apart from describing the remains of the fortresses and their role in defending an important redoubt against Persian attacks, it draws attention to the urgent necessity for proper ground surveys of what remains of the fortifications of various periods before these are completely destroyed by looting and reuse of building materials. Dams also present a substantial risk to some of the monuments discussed here.

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