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Given the recent (since 9/11) widespread attention across academic disciplines paid to the theme of Empire, the author considers a primary question which emerges: What might we learn from and about the Bible which was composed in the context of Empire and has functioned in communities which both benefited from and suffered under imperial rule? Attention is given to critical 're-readings' of the New Testament in light of the reality of the Roman Empire and its overriding, pervasive imperial rule. Consideration is given to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (325/381 B.C.E.) and Christology for 'hidden transcripts' of the radical alternative message of the Gospel vis-à-vis the power of emperor and Empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper discusses the attitude of Bohemian ecclesiastical circles towards the papal monopoly of the canonisation and translation of saints. Three cases known from sources dated to the first half of the twelfth century are analysed, all pointing to widespread adoption in the Bohemian Church at a relatively early date of the view that both the canonisation of new saints and the translation of those already recognised required papal approval. The issue is discussed against the wider background of contacts between Bohemian ecclesiastical elites and Rome, as well as Germany. It was the influence of the German Church, where the notion of papal monopoly of the canonisation and translation of saints was widely accepted early on, that provides the key to understanding the phenomenon in Bohemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The treatise of Saint Augustine, bishop of Hippo, intituled De bono coniugali presents the unique dogmatist and at the same time moralistic view on the topic of marriage, which did not have, at the time, the analogy in the patristic literature. In this paper we focus on the Saint Augustine’s apology of the marriage. In centre of our interest will be the moral principles of the married couples issued from the main characteristic rudiments of the marriage defined by our bishop of Hippo that are used in the catholic Church almost without any changes also in nowadays. The marriage as the union of man and woman was from the beginning viewed as the base of the human society of any religion. Also the pagan Rome esteemed a lot the family and the spouses procreating and raising the children for the fatherland. The Christianity brings to the marriage the new aspect by giving to it the character of the sanctity and inviolability. The marriages were united with the goal of the procreation of the legitimate offspring but its absence, according Saint Augustine, did not make the obstacle of the sanctity and the purpose of the marriage. The Church in the confrontation with the pagan customs and traditions, or the sinful concupiscence of the man, well maintained the observation of the sacrament of the marriage, which provides with the new content. That is why the marriage became the sacred union based on the norm of the inviolability, the equality of both spouses, the procreation of the offspring and mutual fidelity. By theses rules the Church helped the women to gain the more dignify position in the society than it given by the roman legislative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first part of the paper the author presents the key theses of Vickie Sullivan’s reading of Machiavelli. Sullivan argues that, in order to prevent corruption, Machiavelli innovatively reworks elements of Christian teaching for entirely temporal purposes and offers a specific, modern solution, ‘new Rome’, in the form of an irreligious, fearful republic which early and effectively punishes the ambitious few seeking to establish tyranny. In the internal realm of the city, the Florentine reduces class desires of the plebs and the greats under the common goal of acquisition. A bellicose, tumultuous republic satisfies the desires of all the social actors, resulting in a lasting political order. In the second part the author critically engages with Sullivan’s interpretation, drawing on Claude Lefort’s interpretation of Machiavelli. Surprisingly, Lefort’s groundbreaking work on Machiavelli has been absent in Straussian readings of the Florentine. By highlighting the authentically democratic nature of Machiavelli’s project, in contrast with Sullivan’s reading, an entirely different ‘new Rome’ arises on the horizon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students of late antiquity or early Christian studies have long been accustomed to the existence of the parallel and much older and more traditional discipline of patristics, but students of patristics may be less familiar with the main developments that have characterized the other two in recent years. This paper, originating in a lecture directed at them, and with a British audience attended by many theologians, returns to the question of disciplinary borderlines and the ways in which late antique studies have distanced themselves from patristics. It also points to recent developments in late antique studies and the study of religion that argue for a more integrated approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a reconstruction and analysis of the Herodian family as a presence in the city of Rome over more than three generations. The scholarly tendency to view the Herods as an aspect of a broader governmental system overlooks the workings of the particular relationships that elevated the Herods in their own land as well as at the centre of Roman power. Beginning with the foundation of a lasting connection between the Herods and the Julio-Claudians laid by Herod the Great and Augustus, this paper traces the legacy of that connection and its impact on affairs in both Judaea and Rome. The peculiar challenges of retaining status in both Roman and Jewish contexts are assessed and their importance as a vital aspect of our understanding of first-century Judaean politics is established. Examination, finally, of the development of their aspirations and their negotiation of dynastic change shows vividly the processes of 'Romanisation' in the context of an elite family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around the beginning of the fifth century the praetorian prefect for Gaul and the governor of Viennensis relocated their headquarters from Trier and Vienne respectively to Arles, which created a dispute between the bishops of Vienne and Arles as to whom should be metropolitan of the province of Viennensis. While the synod of Turin had proposed dividing the province in two ecclesiastically, problems emerged in 417 when Zosimus, bishop of Rome, within the first week of his election, asserted in his Epistula 1 (JK 328) that the bishop of Arles was to be metropolitan not only of Viennensis but over several provinces in the civil diocese of Septem Provinciae as well (depriving the bishops of Marseille, Vienne, and Narbonne of their metropolitan status) and thereby making him virtual papal vicar in the exercise of Roman prerogatives. This new arrangement created enormous religious conflict, as a further seven letters and synod in Rome in September 417 attest, including the efforts of Zosimus to declare the synod of Turin invalid. Ralph Mathisen investigated this episode and concluded that Zosimus's efforts to assert his own authority over Gaul resulted only in uniting the Gallic churches against him. This paper seeks to analyse Zosimus's involvement in Gaul and argues that this was not really his plan but rather that of the bishop of Arles. It also seeks to ask whether or not Zosimus anticipated the resultant conflict, as well as the authority by which he sought to make these changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]