scholarly journals The spread of the cult of Asclepius in the context of the Roman army benefited from the presence of physicians: A spatial proximity analysis

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256356
Author(s):  
Tomáš Glomb
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Transportation Network ◽  
Spatial Proximity ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Roman Army ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Proximity Analysis ◽  
Military Presence ◽  
Traditional Scholarship ◽  
Suitable Area

The article applies a GIS based approach to the study of the spread of the cult of Asclepius, the Greco-Roman healing god, during the Roman period. It explores the role of soldiers and physicians in the spatial dissemination of the cult along the transportation network of Roman roads in the border provinces of Britannia, Germania Superior and Inferior, Raetia, Noricum, Pannonia Superior and Inferior, Moesia Superior and Inferior, and Dacia. These provinces were selected as a suitable area for quantitative GIS exploration because they were all on the outer border of the Roman Empire, had a significant military presence, and there is a representative amount of inscriptions attested that can be used as proxies for the spatial occurrence of the three measured variables: the cult of Asclepius, Roman soldiers, and Roman physicians. After establishing by means of spatial proximity analysis that the cult of Asclepius occurred frequently in the context of the Roman army, the article proposes and quantitatively evaluates a more specific hypothesis; i.e., that the spatial occurrences of Roman physicians in inscriptions are a relevant predictor for the spatial occurrences of the worship of Asclepius in the environment of the Roman army because of the shared focus between physicians and the cult of Asclepius—health and medicine. The highly significant results of the statistical analysis reveal a positive trend in the spatial relationships between Roman physicians and the worship of Asclepius in the context of the Roman army in the majority of provinces of interest, thus supporting the proposed hypothesis. The results presented in the article demonstrate the potential of the GIS approach in testing assumptions produced by traditional scholarship and in nuancing our understanding of a specific process of cultural spread.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Otto
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Philo Of Alexandria ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Text Production ◽  
Church Father ◽  
Intellectual Formation ◽  
The Relationship

Between the second and the sixteenth centuries CE, references to the Jewish exegete Philo of Alexandria occur exclusively in texts written by Christians. David T. Runia has described this phenomenon as the adoption of Philo by Christians as an “honorary Church Father.” Drawing on the work of Jonathan Z. Smith and recent investigations of the “Parting of the Ways” of early Christianity and Judaism, this study argues that early Christian invocations of Philo reveal ongoing efforts to define the relationship between Jewishness and Christianness, their areas of overlap and points of divergence. The introduction situates invocations of Philo within the wider context of early Christian writing about Jews and Jewishness. It considers how Philo and his early Christian readers participated in the larger world of Greco-Roman philosophical schools, text production, and the ethical and intellectual formation (paideia) of elite young men in the Roman Empire.

Keeping Military Discipline

2013 ◽  
pp. 311-329
Author(s):  
Stefan G. Chrissanthos
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Major Step ◽  
Roman Army ◽  
Modern System ◽  
History Of ◽  
Military Discipline

This chapter offers a brief history of military discipline in ancient armies, and also investigates how and to what degree societies inflicted discipline on their soldiers, and how, in various ways, soldiers imposed discipline on themselves. Then, it addresses the evolution of military discipline from Greece until eventually something similar to a modern system developed in the early Roman Empire. The death of Alexander had precipitated almost fifty years of continuous warfare that ultimately resulted in the development of the Hellenistic monarchies. The Roman army represented something completely new in ancient Mediterranean warfare. It is observed that the Principate represented a major step in the evolution of ancient military discipline.

scholarly journals CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL, HIERARCHICAL AND EGALITARIAN: SOCIAL-POLITICAL USES OF THE CONCEPT OF “HOME” IN GRECO-ROMAN ANTIQUITY AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY

Phronimon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Strijdom
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
House Churches ◽  
The Family ◽  
George Lakoff ◽  
The One ◽  
Roman Antiquity ◽  
Point Of Departure

The cognitive linguist George Lakoff has argued that in the human brain two concepts of the family are mapped onto two contrasting political concepts, which reveal two kinds of systemic morality: a hierarchical, strict and disciplining father morality of conservatives on the one hand, and an egalitarian, nurturing parent morality of progressives or liberals on the other. Taking Lakoff’s thesis as point of departure, I offer a critical comparison of social-political uses of the concept of “home” in the early Roman Empire and Pauline Christianity. For this case study I engage primarily with the work of John Dominic Crossan, a prominent scholar of early Christianity within its Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts. Although “home” does not constitute the focus of his analysis, a close reading of his oeuvre does allow us to identify and highlight this as a crucial theme in his work. The focus will be on the patriarchal home under Greco-Roman imperial conditions as model of the imperial system, the Pauline egalitarian concept of the Christian home and house churches, and the deutero-Pauline return to the imperial model. By comparing these case studies from another epoch and another culture, thevalidity of Lakoff’s thesis will be tested and our understanding of the concepts “liberal” and “conservative” will be enriched.

scholarly journals Prve kršćanske zajednice / First Christian communities

2019 ◽  
pp. 181-193
Author(s):  
Drago Župarić
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Roman Province ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
New Religion

Christianity, having developed in a Jewish setting, quickly separated from Judaism and opened itself to the aspirations of the Greco-Roman world. This paper will explore the first Christian communities in Jerusalem, Antioch and Rome, from whence Christianity spread to the ends of the Mediterranean basin, that is to say, through the Roman Empire. Each of the aforementioned  communities, which were very well respected, will be discussed with regards to  the date of their foundation, the source material concerning these communities, and their prominent characteristics. In other words, this paper will discuss  the spread of Christianity, with reference to the question of the triumphant  campaign of the young Church from Jerusalem to Rome. After the acceptance of pagans into their communities, Christianity as a new religion began to gain importance, and the number of adherents grew quickly. The Christian community was declared an opposition to imperial government, and was already heavily repressed by the mid-1  century. The communities that survived repression sought peace; that is, collaboration between the  Roman state and the “early Church”, which was seen as a new institution. The  cult opened itself more and more to the outside world and different cultures,  which led to the mingling of Christians and pagans, leading to many theological disputes, especially concerning the “divinity” of Jesus Christ. Between the 1st  and 2nd st  century the beginnings of Christianity should be viewed as an organization in which commissions and administrations are present, as the number of believers grew and the need for better organization arose. The basis of the rapid expansion of Christianity in the old world should  certainly be viewed in its universality. The author of this paper touches upon  the question of the beginnings of Christianity in Dalmatia and Pannonia, side by side with Roman culture. Christianity was not very influential in the Roman province of Dalmatia until the mid-3  century, even though it is likely that there were smaller Christian groups here, as well as organized Christian communities.

Paul

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry L. Sumney
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
Rhetorical Analysis ◽  
New Rhetoric ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Justification By Faith ◽  
Pauline Studies ◽  
Paul's Letters ◽  
The Church

Paul is one of the most important figures in the earliest church. Although he was not a follower during the ministry of Jesus, he came to be recognized as an apostle. Seemingly the most successful missionary of the church during its first few decades, his converts were mostly non-Jews. He was not the first to admit gentiles into the church, but his work among them and his understanding of how they participate as full members permanently shape the history of the church. Paul is also the author of the earliest extant writings from the church. He begins writing his letters to churches approximately twenty years before the earliest of the canonical Gospels was composed. He is, then, a valuable source of information about the situation and beliefs of the earliest churches. Pauline studies have experienced several important shifts since the middle of the 20th century, even as the work of F. C. Baur continues to exert extraordinary influence. The groundbreaking work of E. P. Sanders on 1st-century Judaism has affected nearly every aspect of Pauline studies. Sanders’s view of Judaism supported new discussions about Paul’s theology, particularly some growing doubts about identifying justification by faith as its center. J. C. Beker’s emphasis on the contextual nature of Paul’s theologizing and the importance of eschatology for Paul began a move to examine the theology of each letter individually before producing a theology of the whole corpus. Sanders’s work also made room for a reexamination of the relationship between Paul’s churches and the synagogue, with most scholars seeing a closer relationship than had been hypothesized previously. Other developments in Pauline studies include the recognition of a closer relationship between Paul’s theology and his ethical instructions. Studies of ancient letters discovered since the 1920s opened ways to analyze the structure and categorize Paul’s writings by comparing them with contemporaneous materials. New methodologies were also introduced, particularly in understanding the social and cultural context of the letters. Methods from anthropology and postcolonial studies have shifted understandings of Paul’s stance with respect to Greco-Roman culture and the Roman Empire, such that he is often seen to possess a more countercultural stance. The rise of narrative theology contributed to a new interest in investigating the way Paul uses Israel’s Scriptures in his argumentation. Finally, there has been a renewed interest in a rhetorical analysis of Paul’s letters, with some scholars using ancient rhetorical categories; others, the “new rhetoric”; and still others devising distinctive methodologies.

Lead pollution and the Roman economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 354-364
Author(s):  
Damian Pavlyshyn ◽  
Iain Johnstone ◽  
Richard Saller
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Roman Economy ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Institutional Frameworks ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Industrial Societies ◽  
Somatic Energy

More than a decade ago, the Oxford Roman Economy Project (OXREP)1 and the Cambridge economic history of the Greco-Roman world put the question of the performance of the Roman economy at the center of historical debate, prompting a flood of books and articles attempting to assess the degree of growth in the economy.2 The issue is of sufficient importance that it has figured in the narratives of economists analyzing the impact of institutional frameworks on the potential for growth.3 As the debate has continued, there has been some convergence: most historians would agree that there was some Smithian growth as evidenced by urbanization and trade, while acknowledging that production remained predominantly agricultural and based primarily on somatic energy (i.e., human and animal).4 This is, of course, a very broad framework that does not differentiate the Roman empire from other complex pre-industrial societies. The challenge is to refine the analysis in order to put content into the broad description of “modest though significant growth”5 and to offer a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the economy.

Raised on Christian Milk

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John David Penniman
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Augustine Of Hippo ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Food And Feeding ◽  
Religious Cultures ◽  
Corinthians 3

What if the idea that “you are what you eat” weren’t a simple metaphor? What if it revealed a deeper medical, moral, and religious history about the relationship between food and the soul? In the early Roman Empire, food (and especially breast milk) was invested with the power to transfer characteristics, improve intellect, and establish bonds of kinship. Ancient Jews and Christians participated in this discourse surrounding the symbolic power of food and feeding. This book explores the legacy and complex history of food, feeding, and the formation of ancient religious cultures. Highlighting the apostle Paul’s reference to breastfeeding in 1 Corinthians 3, the book argues that this metaphor must be viewed as the result of social ideologies and embodied practices focused on the feeding of infants that were prominent throughout the Greco-Roman world. Drawing upon Paul and this broader cultural context, a wide range of early Christian authors (including Irenaeus of Lyon, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Augustine of Hippo) used milk and solid food to think about how humans become what they eat—for good or for ill. In so doing, the book demonstrates the deep connection between “eating well” and “being well” for diverse models of growth, education, and identity within early Christianity.

No Patriotic Fervor for Pella: Aelius Aristides and the Presentation of the Macedonians in the Second Sophistic

Mnemosyne ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sulochana Ruth Asirvatham
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
The Other ◽  
Second Sophistic ◽  
Philip Ii ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The World

AbstractThis paper examines four speeches by Aelius Aristides that contrast the image of Macedonian history negatively with Greek past and Roman present. Aristides' literary milieu of the 'Second Sophistic' is characterized by Greek self-consciousness and nostalgia in the Roman Empire. While writers like Plutarch and Arrian mythologize the figure of Alexander as a second Achilles and a philosopher-of-war as a means of offering subtle proof of 'Hellenic' primacy over the Romans, Aristides chooses to focus on the more negative aspects of the Macedonian legacy. To the Thebans I and II elaborately update the 'barbaric' image of Philip II found in Demosthenes, making him parallel not only, perhaps, to the Persian enemy of old but also to Rome's contemporary Parthian enemy. The Panathenaic Oration and To Rome, on the other hand, idealize the world of the present, where Athens reigns supreme in culture, Rome in conquest. Aristides' stance suggests that, despite the attractions of the 'Hellenic' Alexander, pride in Greece does not necessarily have to include Macedonian history. What is more important is that writers have some means of Hellenizing Rome, whether by idealizing a 'Greco-Roman' Alexander, or by seeing Rome as the ultimate polis.

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