The Philosopher’s Diet in Porphyry’s De Abstinentia: Characterizing a Historical Legacy of Minimalism in Food Consumption

Historical legacy, as an important constituent for the evaluation of the extent to which the past influences the present, sheds much light on some of the broader issues of the relation between the past and the present. One of the components of historical legacy is human food consumption habits. The domain of food consumption habits, in traditional Greek and Roman culture, contains a fairly noticeable diversity as it fluctuates between what seems to be two wide poles of dietary practices such as a simple diet, with the focus on minimalism and health and a luxury diet, with the focus on excess and extravagance. These poles, upon close analysis, have determined the dietary customs of antiquity while also formed a gastronomic identity. The impact of this historical legacy seems to have not only flavored Porphyry’s discussion of the nature of the philosopher’s diet in On Abstinence from Killing Animals but has also served in characterizing an advanced stage of minimalism in Greek and Roman food consumption habits.

An Analysis of Historical and Political Evolution of Kashmir State

The innocent people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) continuously struggled for the protection of their lives. In most of the areas which are under the administrative control of Indian Military, the survival of Kashmiris is becoming more challenging due to the imposed social, political and economic sanctions posed by the Indian government. The first part of this paper examines the historical legacy of Kashmir and the middle of the paper attempts to highlight how the people are demanding their rights as well as freedom from the Indian troops. Even thou, the international media has highlighted and unveiled the true picture of Indian brutality and the open murder of Kashmiri public. But, unfortunately the world community is still salient and watching the cruel actions taken by the Indian forces in the valley. Overall, this paper attempts to highlight the analytical approach about the history, status, equity and struggle of freedom of the Kashmiris.

Living the past? Do historical legacies moderate the relationship between national chauvinism/cultural patriotism and xenophobic attitudes toward immigrants

This study seeks to understand how national chauvinism and cultural patriotism are related to xenophobic attitudes toward immigrants. It does this by examining the extent to which historical legacy, in terms of geopolitical threats and national identity, moderates this relationship. A multilevel analysis across 24 European countries combines measures of national chauvinism, cultural patriotism, and xenophobic attitudes at the individual level with historical data, the geopolitical threat scale, and the national identity longevity index at the country level. Findings demonstrate that, according to these measures, historical legacies of threats and conflicts do not have an interaction effect, but the longevity of national identity moderates the relationship between national chauvinism/cultural patriotism and xenophobic attitudes. That is, in countries with greater national identity longevity, the positive relations between national chauvinism and xenophobic attitudes are weaker, but the negative relations between cultural patriotism and xenophobic attitudes are stronger. These findings contribute to the understanding of national identity by suggesting how it is related to a nation’s historical legacy.

Water Dams of the Krakow Fortress: Potential of a Vanishing Heritage

Cultural heritage conservation is a constant process of preserving the valuable historical legacy and transferring it to future generations. The ability to adapt the matter under conservation to changing needs and environmental conditions is an essential element of this process. In this context, climate change and its consequences are a growing challenge, requiring innovative and often simultaneous efforts. This study was conducted in response to the discovery of previously unknown documents on nineteenth-century impoundment structures of the Krakow Fortress’s defensive system. At present, the facilities are almost entirely ruined, yet the need to restore and preserve the memory of their culturally valuable legacy merits investigation. The conditions and requirements of the management of Krakow’s changing hydrological environment became a vital component of this study. The uncovered archival documents were subjected to historical-interpretative analysis. Virtual modeling contributed to identifying the original scope of the dams’ impact. Analysis of the city’s spatial planning documents pointed to their contemporary potential. The entirety of the material collected aided in determining the framework in which protective measures targeting this dying heritage are currently possible. This study features a proposal for a new form of recreating the structures under investigation by assigning them a range of possible simultaneous uses. Thus, the presented research proposal is a form of concern for preserving this historical legacy and an attempt at rising to contemporary challenges posed by an intensively changing environment.

Sustainability Challenge of Eastern Europe—Historical Legacy, Belt and Road Initiative, Population Aging and Migration

The historical legacy of Eastern European and the Balkans’ health systems was mutually interdependent and shaped by local socioeconomic circumstances. Three distinctive systems of risk sharing and health financing developed since the late XIX century were the Bismarck, Beveridge, and Semashko systems. Modern day healthcare systems in these countries are challenged by population aging, accelerated innovation in medical technology, growing purchasing power and rising demand for healthcare services. Supply-side changes contribute to demand-side efficiency bottlenecks in financing, driving up the costs of the already expensive medical care. All of the nations have a large share of citizens experiencing difficulty with affordability and access to medical care, particularly in rural and remote areas. Network of health technology assessment agencies have mushroomed over the past three decades. Principles of health economics theory and cost-effective resource allocation are slowly gaining ground in governing authorities’ mindset and decision-making processes. For many years to come, pharmaceuticals and medical services will remain dependent on out-of-pocket spending. Currently, accelerating and spreading 4.0 Industrial Revolution, together with the Belt and Road Initiative, are likely to substantially impact the further economic development of this vast region. Post-pandemic “green” recovery strategies adopted by many of the Eastern European governments shall also make this transition toward sustainable development more difficult and challenging, given the large dependency of all these economies on traditional carbon fuels.

Introduction—Corona A(e)ffects

Right from the emergence of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, national governments and international institutions have been relentlessly qualifying it as an “unprecedented” event. We have been told that the virus sees no color or class and that equal sacrifices from each one of us are and continue to be necessary to contain its spread. We have been instructed to look at the virus in scientific, neutral terms as if we had equal chances of being affected by it—as if its routes, that is, did not follow the roots of sedimented histories of oppression, exploitation, dispossession, and structural violence. This forum departs from such narratives to look at how the current COVID-19 pandemic intersects with other pre-existing and enduring pandemics, such as those produced by racism, capitalism, and speciesism. In building on the emerging critiques by Indigenous, feminist, Black, and queer academics, movements, and activists, the contributions it hosts offer multimedia reflections on affects triggered or evoked by the current pandemic, such as rage, fear, despair, restraint, care, and hope. Coming from different parts of the globe and disciplinary approaches, authors convey the “Corona(virus) a(e)ffects” in multisensorial ways, combining written essays, poetry, videos, and photographs. By contextualizing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic within a historical legacy of structural violence within and across species, this forum moves beyond deceitfully single-focus and temporally flat narrations. In so doing, it provides a space for the expression of radical affectivities of dissent and hope that its outburst has arguably made only more visible and pressing.

After Fulvia’s Death

Two of Fulvia’s sons, Curio and Antyllus, died at Alexandria alongside Antonius and Cleopatra in 30 BCE. Her other two sons flourished in reign of Augustus, as Octavian was then known. Claudius, almost an adult when his mother died, reached the praetorship. Iullus was just a toddler when Fulvia died. He became a close confidant of Augustus and was honored with a consulship in 10 BCE. He committed suicide eight years later, after being accused of adultery with Augustus’s daughter. Fulvia’s nachleben in popular media (art, literature, and drama) is in keeping with her treatment by ancient sources: they focus on tales of her cruelty and greed, and they often allow her to be overshadowed by the more sexualized characters of her sister-in-law, Clodia, and her romantic successor, Cleopatra. Fulvia’s historical legacy is best seen in the precedents she set for the brazen women of Rome’s imperial house.

Theology and culture in dialogue towards harmonious multi-religious and multi-cultural South Africa

South Africa is the country of many cultures and many religions. This diversity had not created or led to significant internal strife, especially after 1994 when South Africa entered the era of democracy from the shackles of colonialism and apartheid. The previous regimes marginalised cultures as tools of unity, but preferred to use them as tools of separation, segregation, and isolation. This context calls for some dialogue between theology and cultures within South African multi-cultural and multi-religious context. Social divisions perpetuate discrimination based on culture and religion. The scope of this article is to demonstrate that when theology and culture have a dialogue with each other, an understanding of each other is heightened and harmony becomes inevitable. Through literature on history, sociology, theology, and current events, the hypothesis was made that there is a gap between culture and theology. This has created divisions in societies. Conclusions are based on theological findings that when dialogue is used, people of different cultures and religions come to understand each other. Dialogue is a biblical and theological tool to unite diverse people. It brings mutual understanding and promote cooperation and coexistence. South Africa can be a united diversified society living in peace if dialogue is given a chance. As much as there can be understanding and acceptance of people of other cultures and religions, there can be some resistance due to the historical legacy of separateness and societal isolation. Openness to others and dialoguing with them, however, breaks down walls of hostility.Contribution: This article demonstrates the importance of theo-cultural interaction within a multi-cultural and multi-religious society. It points out the importance of the theology of dialogue engaging culture and theology to build a harmonious coexistence in a diverse society such as South Africa.