Ex amicis divi Augusti: P. Vedius Pollio

The present article attempts a comprehensive overview of the career of P. Vedius Pollio, an equestrian and a close associate of Augustus at a time of the constitutional transformation of the Roman Republic. The issues under discussion include Pollio’s political career in the years immediately following the battle of Actium, not least the mission to Asia Minor that Augustus entrusted him with, as well as his business activities, which are better known to us after Pollio’s withdrawal from politics. Much space is devoted to his relationship with the princeps and the birth of the so-called black legend of Pollio, which disparaged him as a cruel and psychopathic.

From Edom to Idumea Septuagint References to Edom and Idumea

This paper compares Hebrew (MT) and Greek (LXX) Biblical references to the Edomites and their homeland. The key terms that have been taken into account in the present paper are Edom (אדום), Edomites (אדומים), Seir (שעיר), and Esau (עשו). The purpose of the comparison of the Hebrew and Greek references is to check whether the LXX passages contain any textual differences that may reflect historical events that occurred between the time of the composition of the Hebrew Bible and the time of the creation of the Septuagint, especially the formation of the province of Idumea directly south of Judea and increased cultural activity between the Judeans and Idumeans. In the most general terms, the LXX renderings of the Hebrew terms Edom Edomites (אדומים), Seir (שעיר), and Esau (עשו) do not contain any changes that would be important in terms of the historical geography of southern Palestine or the emotional attitude of Biblical writers towards the Edomites/Idumeans. The term אדום is rendered as either Ἐδώμ (mostly) or Ἰδουμαία, and in most cases the two Greek names are used as synonyms. In turn, the Greek equivalents of עשו, שעיר, and אדומי are Σηίρ, Ἠσαῦ, and Ἰδουμαῖος. Only in some cases may we speak about important differences. First, the LXX Job appendix (Job 42:17a and 42:17b-e) reflects the very specific historical context of when the Idumeans settled directly south of Judea and became more closely connected with the Judeans, either through actual conversion or increased cultural exchange. Second, although in most cases the Greek names Ἰδουμαία or Ἐδώμ are used interchangeably, one may notice a certain preference for the term Ἰδουμαία in some parts of the LXX, which may not always be a coincidence. For instance, the term Ἰδουμαία is used only for the genealogy of Eliphas (Gen. 36). Given the fact that Eliphas also plays an important role in the genealogy of Job in the LXX Appendix and this is also the only Idumean genealogy that was known to Josephus (in Ant. 2.4-6), it may be suggested that the names of the Eliphas chieftains were particularly well known in Hellenistic and Early Roman times, and the Judeans saw them as being connected with the contemporary Idumeans. Furthermore, the LXX Samuel tends to connect David with (the conquest of) Ἰδουμαία (2 Sam. 8:12-14; while Saul’s con-s quests are attributed to Ἐδώμ). Given the tendency of 1-2 Macc. to refer to David as a model of the Hasmoneans (1 Macc. 2:57, 4:30; 2 Macc. 2:13), this tendency may not be coincidental.

Dancing, Declamation, and Deipnosophistry in the Deiotariana

This article argues that some formal features of Cicero’s speech pro rege Deiotaro reflect Cicero’s understanding of the ideological strains of those days. Some of the charges brought against Deiotarus seem likely to be true. Cicero’s rebuttals of those charges seem weak by the normal conventions of courtroom argument. But the rebuttals draw on modes of speech appropriate for sophisticated dinner parties—literary criticism, poetry, and moral philosophy. The arguments are not necessarily more successful for that, but they do make an ideological point: if political decisions now depend on one man, that brings political decisions very close to questions of taste and sensibility, which in their turn become a valuable and even necessary source of arguments. This aspect of Cicero’s rhetorical approach in the speech exploits the setting, Caesar’s house: Cicero speaks as if he were in a place where, not forensic convention, but intellectual intimacy was the chief value. But Cicero’s artful voice also lapses into patent sophism, making pointedly clever and painfully false argument. That, too, makes an ideological point: if the monarch must depend on intellectual intimates, he is also susceptible to flattery.

Salvia Marcellina and the Collegium of Aesculapius and Hygia in Rome: Some Remarks on the Lex collegii Aesculapii et Hygiae (CIL VI 10234)

Lex collegii Aesculapii et Hygiae is one of the most frequently cited source texts concerning the Roman private corporations. In this article I try to verify the traditional interpretation of this inscription. Firstly, the analysis of the provisions included in the lex collegii Aesculapii et Hygiae leads to the conclusion that what we have here is not the organisation’s statute but an agreement between the collegium and Salvia Marcellina and her brother-in-law, P. Aelius Zeno. Secondly, quite common conviction that the collegium Aesculapii et Hygiae was a funerary one is based on a very meagre source material. The term funeraticium used by the authors of the lex collegii with the utmost certainty is insufficient to claim that it was a collegium funeraticium. The statement that the college owned a graveyard is also based on an erroneous interpretation of the words defunctorum loca, found in the lex collegii, which supposedly meant places in the corporate graveyard, while in fact they referred to the membership of the college (members’ places in the college). Moreover, the commemorative services, collegial feasts and distributions which are mentioned in lex collegii should be considered in a wider social context. For members of the collegium the participation in these ceremonies was first of all an opportunity to demonstrate their position within the college and in the urban community. The same applies to patrons and benefactors of the collegium.

ILat Novae 39: A New Interpretation of the Titulus Pictus from Novae

The article discusses two new readings of line 5 of titulus pictus from (ILatNovae 39). According to the first one, line 5 is to be read as C(aio) Sam(bucio) C(ai) f(ilio) Q(ui- rina) Maiore, and the person mentioned is considered a senatorial legate. According to the other one, line 5 is to be read as C(aio) Sam(mio) C(ai) f(ilio) Q(uirina)/O(ufen- tina) Maiore, and the person mentioned is considered a centurion.

Spuma lunaris. Bringing the Moon Down to Earth, Extraction of ‘Moon Foam’ and Its Use in Ancient Magic

The article is devoted to the ancient ritual of bringing the moon down to the earth. The author has compiled all sources in which you can read about it and discuss in detail how to obtain the so-called ‘Moon foam’ (spuma lunaris), focusing on its use in ancient magic. In addition, the article suggests that in the stories of the seduction of Selene by the god Pan and the hero Endymion may be elements of some aitiological myth explaining the genesis and phenomenon of bringing the moon to the ground. The annex to this article shows a similar ritual in Maroccan magic of the 19th and 20th centuries.