Patrzenie jako źródło cierpień (z rzymskich dziejów pewnego motywu literackiego)

The paper examines a number of Roman literary texts (by Ennius, Cicero, Vergil, Ovid, Seneca the Younger, Lucan, Tacitus, Jerome, etc.) in which viewing is connected with mental or emotional suffering. Usually, the emphasis is laid on a character’s viewing of some dramatic events – a close relative’s death, for example – and on his or her emotional response to what is being seen. In some works, especially in consolatory contexts, someone’s premature death is presented as advantageous because the dead person is now spared the necessity of viewing misfortunes which the living have to witness. Also, people may be compelled (e.g. by an emperor) to watch evil things; in such a situation they are usually viewers and objects of viewing at the same time, since their gestures and facial expression are carefully observed.

A Reconnoitre of The Fascination with Psychosis in Literature and Film - A Study in Archetypes

Literature and art in all their forms have done well in representing man’s mental disorders and afflictions in various ways, consecutively resulting in educating its consumers, moving its connoisseurs and inspiring future authors. “Psychosis” is a mental disorder, wherein reality is distorted, and “madness” denotes insanity, dementia; rash or irrational conduct. In this paper, these terms will be treated as such but, with an essential connotation toward heroism and eccentricity- both of which are character attributes that are of typical intrigue to readers. The aim of this study is to recognize, explore and expose the presence of a certain kind of fascination that the characters in literature and films embodying or representing certain kinds of madness have upon individuals. Recently, Todd Phillips’s Joker (2019), a movie featuring mental illness witnessed an extraordinary box-office turnout. Upon examination, it can be established that this ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­appeal or inclination towards eccentric characters bordering on madness is not a recent phenomenon but an ongoing trend since the Greek plays of Euripides (c.315 BC) and Seneca, the younger (1 BC). The theory of Archetypes is employed to streamline the recurrence of characters embodying psychosis, and have an appeal among the targeted consumers.

Purposes and Functions of Public Punishment in Roman Law in the Perspective of Justinian's Codification

The objectives and functions of the punishment for a public offence (crimen) had already been discussed by M. Tullius Cicero, Seneca the Younger, or Aulus Gellius many centuries before Emperor Justinian. According to their statements, the Romans distinguished in principle all the types of punitive functions known today: deterrence (special and general prevention), reprisal (retaliation), elimination (protection of society against the perpetrator), and even the rehabilitation (educative) function. The emergence of the imperial judiciary extra ordinem in criminal matters could have been conducive to performance of various functions assigned to various penalties, along with the possibilities offered by the discretionary power of judicial decisions. However, when reading Emperor Justinian’s Constitutio Tanta and the numerous accounts from the Roman jurists included in his codification, contained in Book 48 of the Digest, one may be convinced that the function of paramount importance for the emperor was to deter potential perpetrators by means of severe penalties, including notably the death penalty. The educational function was rather marginal. The primary objective of the imperial criminal policy was the ruthlessly severe punishing for criminal offences (severitas, atrocitas) and the implementation of the postulate of inevitability of criminal responsibility.

Seneca’s De Beneficiis and non-verbal politeness in ancient Rome

This paper examines the philosophical treatise De Beneficiis written by Seneca the Younger (c. 4 bce to 65 ce) and discusses some of the insights that it offers regarding the pragmatics of interpersonal encounters in ancient Rome. In particular, it identifies types of appropriate and inappropriate non-verbal behaviour sometimes employed when making requests. Seneca’s close observation of these social nuances alerts us to the importance of non-verbal elements for a complete understanding of (im)politeness in everyday life.

Roman Thoughts on the Rebuilding of Rome

This chapter explores how Rome’s inhabitants responded to the destruction and rebuilding of the city of Rome as a whole. The discussion revolves primarily around three authors—Seneca the Younger, Martial, and Tacitus—who all experienced and wrote about the dramatic transformation of Rome’s urban fabric in this period. We see that the way in which these authors characterize the development of the cityscape is indicative of, and informed by, a series of related attitudes towards the historic built environment. In short, that innovative restoration tended to be positively received, that the destruction of existing buildings could often be perceived as a positive occurrence, and that there was no sense of nostalgia for lost structures as architectural relics of the past.

Architectural Restoration and Heritage in Imperial Rome

This book addresses the treatment and perception of historic buildings in imperial Rome, examining the ways in which public monuments were restored in order to develop an understanding of the Roman concept of built heritage. The study considers examples from the first century BC to second century AD, focusing primarily on the six decades between the Great Fire of AD 64 and the AD 120s, a period of dramatic urban transformation and architectural innovation in Rome. Through analysing how the design, materiality, and appearance of buildings, including the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus and hut of Romulus, developed with successive restorations, the case is made for the existence of a consistent approach to the treatment of historic buildings in this period. With the purpose of uncovering attitudes to built heritage in Roman society more widely, the book also explores how changes to particular monuments and the urban fabric as a whole was received by the people who experienced it first-hand. By examining descriptions of destruction and restoration in literature of the first and second centuries AD, including the works of Seneca the Younger, Pliny the Elder, Martial, Tacitus, and Plutarch, a picture is formed of the conflicting ways in which Rome’s inhabitants responded to the redevelopment of their city. The results provide an alternative way of explaining key interventions in Rome’s built environment and challenge ideas that heritage is a purely modern phenomenon.