Medical Writing in the Late Roman West

2018 ◽  
pp. 1012-1034
Author(s):  
Louise Cilliers
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Medical Writing ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Large Group ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
Latin West ◽  
Caelius Aurelianus ◽  
Literary Output ◽  
Late Roman

After Galen, the Latin literary output of the medical sciences in the Latin West consisted of translations of earlier Greek works; new books based on Greek texts, and a large group of anonymous or pseudonymous texts. Elite western Roman society was essentially bilingual through ca 200 ce. The two chief translation centers of the era were North Africa and Ravenna. The most important authors in this period are Vindicianus, around 400 ce, his student Theodorus Priscianus, and Caelius Aurelianus, around 425 ce, who composed works largely based on Soranus the Methodist: each wrote works of recipes for general use, or specifically for female ailments. Cassius Felix, around 450 ce, wrote his Latin treatise for the use of medical students. The author Mustio composed a work of gynecology around 550 ce, for midwives, based on Soranus. Other regions produced writers, such as Marcellus of Bordeaux and Agnellus of Ravenna.

Introduction: Rhetoric and realities

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Maijastina Kahlos
Keyword(s):  
Church Leaders ◽  
The West ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
Imperial Power ◽  
Christian Congregations ◽  
Late Roman

The introduction defines several concepts that are used throughout the book. The religious dissidents in late Roman society were pagans and heretics. These terms are only shorthand: ‘pagans’ for non-Christians, and ‘heretics’ for deviant Christians. They are relational, meaning that there would have been no pagans without the viewpoint of Christians. Similarly, the question of who was a heretic depended on the perceiver. The period under scrutiny saw the Christianization of imperial and ecclesiastical discourses of control. Imperial power is understood as the emperors in both the East and the West, the imperial courts, and the administration. Ecclesiastical power refers to church leaders—mainly bishops, whose authority was increasing during the fourth and fifth centuries. There was no uniform church, and Christian congregations were miscellaneous assemblages of adherents.

Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity, 350-450

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maijastina Kahlos
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Religious Dissent ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Roman

Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity reconsiders the religious history of the late Roman Empire, focusing on the shifting position of dissenting religious groups. The groups under consideration are non-Christians (‘pagans’) and deviant Christians (‘heretics’). The period from the mid-fourth century until the mid-fifth century CE witnessed a significant transformation of late Roman society and a gradual shift from the world of polytheistic religions into the Christian Empire. This book demonstrates that the narrative is much more nuanced than the simple Christian triumph over the classical world. It looks at everyday life, economic aspects, day-to-day practices, and conflicts of interest in the relations of religious groups. The book addresses two aspects: rhetoric and realities, and consequently delves into the interplay between the manifest ideologies and daily life found in late antique sources. We perceive constant flux between moderation and coercion that marked the relations of religious groups, both majorities and minorities, as well as the imperial government and religious communities. Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity is a detailed analysis of selected themes and a close reading of selected texts, tracing key elements and developments in the treatment of dissident religious groups. The book focuses on specific themes, such as the limits of imperial legislation and ecclesiastical control, the end of sacrifices, and the label of magic. It also examines the ways in which dissident religious groups were construed as religious outsiders in late Roman society.

Sin, Citizenship, and the Salvation of Souls: The Impact of Christian Priorities on Late-Roman and Post-Roman Society

1997 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 644-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine MacCormack
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
The West ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
The Third ◽  
Fall Of Rome ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Late Roman

The impact of Christianity on the functioning of the later Roman empire has been examined by historians ever since Gibbon published his Decline and Fall. Had the Christians hastened the decline and fall of Rome? Outlining some themes of his projected work, Gibbon suggested before 1774 that indeed they had. In 1776, when publishing the first volume of his history, he touched on this same issue with considerable circumspection; but five years later, his earlier opinion appeared in print under the heading of “General Observations on the Decline of the Empire in the West” by way of concluding the third volume of the work. Here, Gibbon stated:As the happiness of a future life is the great object of religion, we may hear, without surprise or scandal, that the introduction, or at least the abuse, of Christianity had some influence on the decline and fall of the Roman empire. The clergy successfully preached the doctrines of patience and pusillanimity; the active virtues of society were discouraged: and the last remains of military spirit were buried in the cloister; a large portion of public and private wealth was consecrated to the specious demands of charity and devotion; and the soldiers' pay was lavished on the useless multitudes of both sexes, who could only plead the merits of abstinence and chastity.

scholarly journals Statistics in Ancient History

2020 ◽  
pp. 137-162
Author(s):  
Peter Temin
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Roman Republic ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Ancient History ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
Wheat Market ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Late Roman

This chapter uses new data to extend the argument that there was an integrated wheat market in the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. I explore the meaning of randomness when data are scarce, and I investigate how we recreate the nature of ancient societies by asking new questions that stimulate the discovery of more information. The case for a prosperous Roman society extending the length of the Mediterranean Sea is strong. This chapter draws on and extends work reported in my book: The Roman Market Economy (2013).

scholarly journals Pisma Orybazjusza jako źródło informacji o pożywieniu ludzi w późnym Cesarstwie Rzymskim

Vox Patrum ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 339-357
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Jagusiak ◽  
Maciej Kokoszko
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Products ◽  
Close Friend ◽  
Medical Systems ◽  
Medical Work ◽  
Cereal Products ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
Food Market ◽  
Alcoholic Drinks ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Late Roman

The article makes an attempt at the presentation of medical works written by Oribasius (ca. 325 – ca. 400 A.D.), well educated physician from Pergamon, and a close friend of Julian the Apostate. It discusses the content of the treatises, reasons for their compiling and circumstances accompanying the creation of three of his extant writings, notably Collectiones medicae, Synopsis ad Eustathium fi­lium, and Libri ad Eunapium. Moreover, the study presents available information about his lost medical work, whose title is now unknown. The authors focused on these parts of Oribasius’ works, which concern food and dietetic, i.e. five books of Collectiones medicae (from I to V), book IV of Synopsis ad Eustathium filium and a part of book I of Libri ad Eunapium. The above-mentioned books enlist the most important foods like cereals, cereal products (breads, cakes, groats, pancakes), vegetables, fruits, meats, fishes, and seafood, dairy products, soft and alcoholic drinks as well as enumerating some specific diets and groups of food divided ac­cording to their properties or influence on human body. An important part of the article is a succinct presentation of sources of Oriba­sius’ dietetic expertise, and moreover a brief discussion of the medic’s impact on medical systems in three different cultural circles, namely the Byzantine, Arab, and Latin. The authors’ research corroborates the already existing view that major dietetic parts of Collectiones medicae, Synopsis ad Eustathium filium and Libri ad Eunapium are based on writings of Galen (which he, however, reworked with a view of their simplification), but there are many fragments taken from other authorities, for instance Pedanius Dioscurides, Athenaeus from Attalia, Diocles of Carystus, Rufus of Ephesus to mention but a few. As for medical authors, who excerpted or translated Oribasius’ works, the most renowned are Aetius of Amida, Paul of Aegina, Alexander of Tralles, Hunayn ibn Ishāq, and the representatives of the medical school of Salerno. Finally, the authors claim, that Oribasius’ heritage is important especially for two reasons. First of all, it helped preserve a large amount of citations from an­cient works, which today are lost, and known only thanks to the physician’s pains­taking work. Secondly, it contains a cornucopia of information about food, which reflect culinary habits of Late Roman society, and specifically of the Late Roman food market.

FROM ‘GREEKLING’ TO ‘THUNDERBOLT’: THE MANY NICKNAMES OF EMPEROR JULIAN

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-200
Author(s):  
Mikhail Vedeshkin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Political Career ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
The Many ◽  
Late Roman

The article discusses the nicknames of Emperor Julian. An analysis of the onomastic tradition makes it possible not only to assess the perception of certain aspects of the emperor's activities by various layers of late Roman society at different stages of his political career, but also to trace the metamorphoses of the image of the last open pagan on the throne of the Roman Empire in the later tradition.

Acclamations in the Later Roman Empire: New Evidence from Aphrodisias

1984 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 181-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Roueché
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
The West ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Function ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Late Roman

This article has been engendered by yet another important discovery made during the current excavations at Aphrodisias in Caria, of a unique series of acclamatory texts in honour of a local benefactor, Albinus. The texts were inscribed, probably in the first half of the sixth century, on the twenty columns of the west portico of the Agora, nineteen of which survive. They provide relatively little information either about Albinus or about the history of Aphrodisias; but they are of outstanding interest as the fullest series of inscribed acclamations which has yet been identified anywhere. The purpose of this article is to consider the status and function of acclamations in late Roman society, and their relationship to earlier practice, in order to assess the full significance of the texts presented here.

scholarly journals Christianity and the Legal Status of Abandoned Children in the Later Roman Empire

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-141
Author(s):  
Joshua C. Tate
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Law And Society ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
Actual Impact ◽  
Testing Ground ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Late Roman

A.H.M. Jones, the great British historian of the later Roman Empire, was once asked what difference conversion to Christianity made to Rome. His answer: None. Brutal gladiatorial contests continued to be held, slavery was not abolished, and cruel penalties were laid down for seemingly minor moral infractions. Thus, Jones reasoned, the actual impact of Christianity on secular Roman society is difficult to see. Jones's view, however, has not been universally shared, particularly when it comes to the Roman legal system. Biondo Biondi saw Christianity as bringing about “un profundo rivolgimento” in late Roman law, which had ramifications in many different areas. As a religion, Christianity differed in unmistakable ways from its pagan competitors, and it would be quite surprising if these differences did not have some impact on Roman law and society when Christianity was adopted as the official state religion. The late Roman era offers a fertile testing ground for the impact a nascent religion might have on a society and its legal institutions.

The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity

1971 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 80-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Brown
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Near East ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
The Social ◽  
Patient Work ◽  
Eastern Empire ◽  
And Function ◽  
Holy Man ◽  
Lives Of The Saints ◽  
Late Roman

To study the position of the holy man in Late Roman society is to risk telling in one's own words a story that has often been excellently told before. In vivid essays, Norman Baynes has brought the lives of the saints to the attention of the social and religious historian of Late Antiquity. The patient work of the Bollandists has increased and clarified a substantial dossier of authentic narratives. These lives have provided the social historian with most of what he knows of the life of the average man in the Eastern Empire. They illuminate the variety and interaction of the local cultures of the Near East. The holy men themselves have been carefully studied, both as figures in the great Christological controversies of the fifth and sixth centuries, and as the arbiters of the distinctive traditions of Byzantine piety and ascetic theology.The intention of this paper is to follow well known paths of scholarship on all these topics, while asking two basic questions: why did the holy man come to play such an important rôle in the society, of the fifth and sixth centuries ? What light do his activities throw on the values and functioning of a society that was prepared to concede him such importance? It is as well to ask such elementary questions. For there is a danger that the holy man may be taken for granted as part of the Byzantine scene. Most explanations of his position are deceptively easy.

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