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This article reinterprets an incident that Livy (8.18.4-11) and derivative later sources place in the year 331 BCE: a wave of poisonings whose perpetrators are brought to light after an enslaved woman contacts a Roman magistrate. Its main objectives are to show that the incident is best understood in connection with the transmission of novel--or perceived as novel--pharmacological knowledge, and in conjunction with shifts in the institution of slavery at Rome that were set in motion by the Republic's expansion; that a key figure in the mythological encoding of this transmission was the legendary Circe; and that moving away from previous scholarship's concern with the matronae alleged to have carried out the poisonings and focusing instead on "la servant délatrice" (Jean-Marie Pailler) opens up new corridors into the cultural history of this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These four books, all exemplary, attest the vibrancy of patristic scholarship today, and especially the fascination which the pre‐Nicene period increasingly exerts. Stepping back behind Nicaea demands a refined sense for the texture of history, which may bring to light possibilities later lost as well as tensions later smothered. The four authors have illuminated afresh the theological profiles of Ignatius, Clement, and Origen, and also the figure of Christ as it emerges in these pristine centuries between the New Testament and Nicaea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most prolific approaches to the comparative study of Buddhist and Christian philosophy has been the use of Buddhist anti-metaphysicism to overcome the allegedly obsolete metaphysical discourse of Christianity. This approach has been practiced, among others, by Edgar Bruns, Frederik Streng, Joseph O'Leary, and John Keenan. Keenan's 1980–1990s seminal works were determinative in that they appeared to rely on intuitive and evident premises: Christianity became infused with Greek metaphysical concepts early on; consequently, it adopted the forms of essentialism and ontological discourse practiced in metaphysics. That discourse has now become obsolete and must be overcome; Buddhist anti-metaphysicism helps overcome it; hence, Christianity can learn from Buddhism. In this paper, I show that although Keenan presents the first of these claims as self-evident, it is in fact highly polemical. Its origins lie in Albrecht Ritschl's and Adolf von Harnack's Hellenization theory. While the theological and historical background to this theory has been debated, Keenan does not engage in these debates. Even more, he transforms the theory in such a way that it becomes incongruent with its inherent aim. Following the problems implied on these two levels, I suggest that Keenan's project makes itself vulnerable to incoherencies. In the end, I argue for the overcoming of antimetaphysicism as a basis for Buddhist-Christian dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Judaism and Hellenism, Hengel described Judean society and literature as torn between absorption and rejection of Hellenism. Following the publication of that work the idea of a clear-cut dichotomy between several social circles and their assorted literary productions remained hugely popular, although the identification of the sides in conflict varied between scholars, with "hellenization" being located either within or without (and against) the temple. This article offers an historiographic survey before proposing a new paradigm inspired by the New Empire Studies. At its core, it identifies the Jerusalem temple as a lively site of learning, whose literati selectively appropriated ideas, literary forms, and technologies not only from the Greek, imperial culture(s) but also from neighboring temple cultures (Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Phoenician), in a bid to keep their ancestral traditions relevant as they made sense of the ever-changing world that they lived in. Everything was adapted, or subverted and hybridized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phrase "Hellenistic Judaism" often assumes an underlying picture of the relationship between "Judaism" and "Hellenism" as self-contained cultural containers. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Philip Alexander, Gregory Sterling, and Erich Gruen argued against such an assumption, and their work moved towards developing theories of globalization, which regard cultures as porous and dynamic. Beginning from the insights of these three scholars, I argue that globalization theory has advantages for the study of Jews in the Hellenistic Mediterranean oikoumenē , which moves beyond static notions of Judaism and Hellenism and prompts questions of whether Hellenization works as an analytical category. In order to illustrate the case, I examine three Jewish writers—the author of the Letter of Aristeas, the sage Joshua Ben Sira, and his translator/grandson—and how their knowledge and use of Greek language and sources demonstrates both the homogenizing and disjunctive aspects of globalization in the Hellenistic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archivio Giuridico is the property of Mucchi Editore and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Interaction between Greeks and non-Greek peoples is a central theme of contemporary Greek historiography. Most such studies, however, involve the peoples of the successor states of Alexander's empire. Less well known were the encounters between Greeks and the independent peoples living beyond the frontiers of the Greek world. A noteworthy example of such an encounter is that between Ptolemaic Egypt and the kingdom of Kush in Nubia. Early interpretations of this encounter relied on the concept of Hellenization, arguing that objects of Mediterranean origin found in Nubia and examples of Greek influence observed in Kushite art were evidence of Hellenization. My purpose in this paper is to offer a new interpretation of the encounter of Kush with Ptolemaic Egypt, one that emphasizes the function of Greek culture in Kush and does not rely on the concept of Hellenization but highlights instead the agency of the Kushites in determining the extent and character of that influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Espacio, Tiempo y Forma: Serie II, Historia Antigua is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the classical period, the scholars built the division of science into two groups namely, the science of religion called “al-‘ulûm al-dîniyah”, and the science of non-religious or “al-‘ulûm al-dunyawiyah”. In the science of religion, they have the science of exegesis, the science of h}adîth, the science of kalâm, the science of fiqh, and the science of tasawuf. While on non-religious sciences, they have history, medicine, astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, optic, physics, cosmography, and many more. On that time, the scholars were imbued with high appreciation of tought, so they succeeded in making rapid progress in various fields of life, including the field of knowledge and philosophy. The peak of progress occurred at the time of the ‘Abbâsids, the previous Khalîfah alMa’mûn. In the view of Greek or Hellenic thought there were two expert views, rejecting Hellenism or accepting it. The differences lied in the views of Islam, Islam as ‘aqîdah (creed) and Islam as a civilization. Those who reject Hellenism view Islam as a creed with revelation as the source of knowledge. While those who accept Hellenism view Islam as not a creed, but Islam as civilization.

Two distinct archaeological phenomena appeared between the middle of the second century BCE and the middle of the first century: the Hasmonean folded wheel-made lamp and the standing pit burial cave. Following an examination of their dating, distribution, and social significance we suggest that this material culture was characteristic of the Jews in Judaea during this time and that it reflects the creation of an ethnic identity. The fact that the Hasmonean folded wheel-made lamp and the standing pit burial cave were typical of Jews in Judea indicates that they were ethnic features of Jewish society. By these means the Jews emphasized their dissimilarity from the rest of the population. The archaic appearance of the lamps and the burial caves, which replicates the cultural characteristics of the Kingdom of Judah during the monarchic/first Temple period, indicates that Jewish society in the Hasmonean period sought to legitimize its existence through the use of its former culture and memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I assert that currently the world has been experiencing the Third Hellenization Period that started with the Italian Renaissance, instigated by the teachings of the theologian and philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274 CE). Unlike philosophers in previous periods (First and Second Hellenization as well as Medieval), St. Thomas preached that Truth is a function of both Natural Revelation and Supernatural Revelation. This resulted in, simultaneously, Christianizing Aristotle (St. Thomas' most referenced philosopher) and Aristotleizing Christianity, thus opening up the doors to human reason that had been muted during the Medieval centuries. I also assert that the basic constituent of Hellenization is freedom: the freedom to think or reason, the freedom to seek gratification from aesthetics, and the freedom to undertake a spiritual journey towards a less restraining life through empowerment and metamorphosis. Ancient Greeks realized that freedom to pursue their desires, subject to constraints (geographical, cultural and legal) as well as balance of mind and body, would give them the capability to excel in whatever they set their minds to, a freedom that sparked an unyielding endeavor for truth, perfection and excellence that made them achieve phenomenal accomplishments which astound us to this day. It appears that, despite obstacles, this kind of freedom drives the current Hellenization period on a path to higher levels of wellbeing for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to analyze the historiographical concept of "Hellenization"' in light of the book of 2 Maccabees and the historical reality of Hellenistic Judaism. The central theme of this investigation, therefore, is the relationship between the Jews and the Greek culture in the Hellenistic period, in order to ascertain the validity of the term "Hellenization" to express the situation of this historical context. The author, after explaining the specific use of the Greek term Έλληυισμόϛ in 2 Maccabees as the Greek way of life imposed over Jewish culture (Ἰουδαïσμόϛ), analyzes how the very book of 2 Maccabees and the historical reality contradict the opposition that the author of such book proposes to the terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article researches the phenomenon of so-called philosophia togata examining such issues as the emergence of Roman philosophy during one of the most exciting periods in Roman history. It considers the themes being a subject for study for a long time: the processes of social-psychological and cultural changes in Rome in Hellenistic age, the significance and extent of Greek influence, the new Roman life-styles and the reception of the philosophical doctrines of Greek thinkers such as Stoics, Epicureans and other philosophical schools. To my opinion, it is a subject on which there are still important and interesting questions to be asked and many worthwhile things to be said. An attempt is made to combine history of philosophy with history of culture and to place Roman philosophy and philosophers in a cultural context of Hellenization of Latin west and Roman response to this challenge. Focusing on topics such as Roman attitudes towards Greek culture, images of Greeks in Italy, crises of traditional values of mores maiorum, Roman intelligentsia, the article considers practices of philosophy in Rome as phenomenon of restricted identification or participation as a result of negative assessment of philosophy as otium in Roman society. An emphasis is made on the paradoxical status of philosophy in the Roman way of life and in the contradictions of playing the role of a Roman philosopher. The traditional roman mentality was scandalized by advent of Greek philosophers to Italy and strongly opposed to the first attempts of transplantation of philosophy into social organism of civitas. Roman authorities viewed Greek visitors and their intellectual shows, foreign ideas in general as a serious danger for mores maiorum and a kind of so-called nova flagitia. The expulsion of philosophers followed several times during the 2nd century B.C. It took hundreds of years to overcome the general prejudice and to legalize philosophy in Rome not only as tolerated otium cum dignitate but needful and commonly respected medicina animae. As we can see, wars against philosophy took place from time to time not only in republican period, but also during Early Empire, under the principate regime. So, the process of appropriation of philosophy by Roman cultural elite was slow, often frustrated and essentially limited being localized in private life and non-formal contacts in social microgroups (amical circles). Its territory was Roman otium (leisure as a part of traditional Roman way of life) and it met negative public and official assessment that cannot be ignored by aristocratic elite in this so-called shame culture. The representatives and enthusiasts of philosophy (for example Cicero) had to justify their philosophical conversion. Therefore the Roman soul was divided in its own reactions towards alien philosophy and felt uneasiness in practicing it. The conduct of its Roman adepts is often very different and depends on various social contexts and situations. We consider the antagonism between Roman philhellenism and traditionalism in general not as a struggle of two cultural (or even political) parties but as an inner conflict of two elements of divided Roman psyche which determines the phenomenon of restricted participation in philosophical pursuit during the period of Roman cultural history viewed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely accepted that the Liburni, at some point in the Iron Age, ruled over much of the Adriatic. Professor Slobodan Čače was the first scholar to truly challenge these narratives through a critique of the written sources. The aim of this paper is to build upon the work of Čače in seeking to rethink identities in pre-Roman Liburnia through analysis of ancient literary sources. It also takes a multidisciplinary approach, and seeks to address ideas about identity and cultural change through material culture. A re-examination is undertaken into Liburnian identity through archaeological evidence, and the transformations it apparently went through during the Iron Age, focusing on ideas about ethno-cultural identities and ‘Hellenization’ in interpretations of developments in Liburnia during the last 4 centuries BCE.

In the beginning faith was the alpha and omega of revolutionary dreams and terrorist actions. This article will examine case studies among the Peoples of the Book—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—for religious terrorism is not the product of one faith. It argues that the cultural resonance of each movement examined offers a blank slate on which contemporary seekers, dreamers, and fighters may write. The title, borrowed from a popular novel, is the leitmotif of this form of violence. By all objective forms of analysis, the movements chronicled in these pages are a parade of seemingly stupid ideas held by idealists, fools, and fanatics who dreamed that, with God at their side, they could bring perfection to a fallen world. In such a cause, antinomian violence is inevitable and genocide its logical outcome. Yet these early movements are not to be despised, for together it was they, not the huddled masses cowering before the powers that be, that created the modern world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consumption and adaptation of Greek material culture by non-Greek peoples in ancient western Sicily, and the wider Mediterranean, has been an ongoing point of contention in scholarship: do Greek objects influence the peoples that use them, and by their movement and trade are these objects and their figured surfaces active agents of Hellenization? Acknowledging that framing future discussion through postcolonialism only perpetuates the anachronistic colonialist model, this dissertation applies the materialist theory of transculturality to an understudied class of terracotta objects distributed and adapted through Ancient Sicily: louteria, arulae, and other ritual furniture impressed with cylinder-roll matrices. This announcement summarizes the results of an interdisciplinary methodology combining technical and iconographic analyses of the stamp series, reconstruction of the then-stamped terracottas’ contexts, and spatial and statistical modelling of their distribution patterns. This holistic approach to material study reveals a highly complex network of exchange, adaptation, and local production in sixth and fifth century Sicily far more dynamic than the simple binary of colonizer and colonized.

The term “diaspora” is nowadays used in connection with many different groups and peoples. Greek-speaking Judaism provides early models of diasporic self-consciousness and techniques for political and cultural survival, including forms of quiet resistance available to the un-empowered. This essay examines the impact of the diaspora on the evolving self-understandings of what it means to be Jewish, with both ethnic and religious elements. The writings of Josephus and Philo, Paul and Luke-Acts reveal striking religious diversity and a lively awareness of the role of ruling powers in the formation and flourishing of a people in diaspora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the way Greek nationalism changed Aromanians identity over the last century. Regarding this issue, I focus on how Megali Ideea (in fact, the Greek national project) was constructed in nineteenth century and how Hellenism influenced the ethnic perception of the Balkan Romanity. Hellenism designates a set of values belonging to a historical community, not only in its ancient manifestation, but also in the Greek-Roman expression, a synthesis of the Byzantine heritage and the grandeur of classical Hellas (Elade). The Ecumenical Patriarchate through the clergy had a profound role in establishing the sense of Greek identity and transmitting these new values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excavations of a Hellenistic neighborhood at Ashkelon revealed a suite of heavily plastered rooms, one with a mosaic floor, decorated in Greek Masonry Style. These rooms resemble the bathing suite identified in an elite 2nd-century residence at Tel Anafa and likely reflect a Phoenician style of "cleansing bathing" documented at Phoenician sites from the 4th through 2nd centuries b.c. Such suites differ in character, bathing type, and placement from Greek public and private baths in the Mediterranean and Levant, as well as from ritual baths in the Judaean tradition. The bathing suites appear at Phoenician and Phoenician-influenced sites in Israel during the Persian and Hellenistic periods but are presently under-recognized. This article presents a set of criteria by which to understand and identify Phoenician bathing suites and argues that the preference for this bathing style may, in part, explain why immersion bathing--popular in the western Mediterranean--failed to catch on in the Hellenistic East until the era of Roman control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising of the phanariots to the thrones of the two Romanian Principalities represented a landmark in their history, one of the consequences of the enthronement of Greek leaders being a certain degree of hellenization for all institutions. Marginalization and utter disregard of Romanian language led to a state of degradation for it, which was eloquently captured by reports from contemporans, but the end of the Phanariot period allowed a full reinstatement of Romanian language, metropolitan Veniamin Costachi of Moldavia having a contribution of great importance in its growth, modernization and unification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural change in the "barbarian" world of the North Pontic region from the 3rd century BC to the mid-3rd century AD was not a special field of interest for ancient authors. Classical narratives only contain information about certain manifestations of such processes. In Russia, interest in studying the cultural changes that took place in the steppes of Eastern Europe in Antiquity appeared in the early 18th century, in connection with the accession of new territories to the East and West. The core of the cultural-historical model, which took shape and then developed in Russian historical research, was the idea of a constantly changing succession of peoples in the North Pontic region and of the historical role of this region as a buffer zone between East and West. On this basis, an aetiological myth of the Russian Empire took root, justifying its impressive size, its length along the meta-geographical axis of Eurasia and its historic role in the destiny of Europe. This concept assumed its definitive form in the early 20th century in the works of Mikhail Rostovtsev. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Romanian Kingdom was sustaining an interventionist policy in the Balkans, consolidated especially as a result of the enthronement of King Carol and justified by the powerful Aromanian communities, inhabiting mainly the region of the Pindus Mountains, on the actual territory of Greece, but also those of Macedonia and Albania, regions belonging to the Ottoman Empire and revendicated by the Greek Kingdom. The main aims for Bucharest's implication were the cultural and spiritual protection and preservation of the Aromanian communities during a time in which these aspects were threatened by the Hellenizating assimilation current. The opening of the three Romanian consulates in Thessaloniki, Bitolia, and Ioannina, on territories inhabited by Aromanians, for organizing the school and church networks represented another proof for the interest of Romanian politics in this matter. Our study tries to catch the reactions and attitudes of some diplomats, cultural, and church personalities from the Hellenic world, who at the beginning of the 20th century have expressed their positions concerning the politics of the Romanian Kingdom in the Balkans with regard to the situation of Aromanian communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the arrival of the Galatians in central Anatolia, Phrygian cities such as Gordion and Ankyra continued to exist, but the little interest the new rulers took in them became apparent when those cities were not re-founded after the Romans had sacked them in 189 BC. Neither his­torio­graphic nor geographical sources provide any evidence for a city built by the Galatians, and the lack of archaeological remains appears to concur with this negative assessment. The same even seems to hold true for King Deiotaros, although he was most closely connected with Roman sena­tors, occasionally acted as a benefactor in the Greek world, and effectively succeeded to the throne of Pontus: so as a (late) Hellenistic king some interest in constructing, fostering or at least dynastic naming of cities would fit his role well. But only one isolated reference in Plutarch's Life of Crassus (17.1) credits the king with the foundation of a city (54 BC). However, so far it has been impos­sible to identify any Galatian site with this city. It is therefore suggested that we might have to look for it in Armenia Minor near the Euphrates, for there was a settlement with the Celtic name Sin­toion which Stephanos of Byzantion explicitly attests as a Galatian foundation. Even more interest­ing is the case of Synhorion, originally a frontier fort established by Mithradates VI Eupator: in all like­li­hood, this was renamed or rather reinterpreted as Sinorix Phrourion (App. Mithr. 101.463; 107.503) or *Sinorigia by Deiotaros, son of Sinorix, which yielded the later form Sinoria (Strab. geogr. 12.3.37). Here the dynastic naming pattern – so widespread among Hellenistic kings, and so often applied by Mithradates – is manifest. One may thus go on and venture the hypothesis that this was also the city Deiotaros was building when Crassus came along on his ill-fated Parthian cam­paign.

The issues of cult, ritual, religion, and magic are important though to a large extent neglected and theoretically insufficiently developed subjects in the current archaeological literature. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate, on particular examples of potentially ritual activities associated to the erection and subsequent “ritual killing” of the water supply system at the site “Kale” in the village Krševica, that this neglect is not merely the consequence of trends in choices of research topics, but that it further points to certain disadvantages of current approaches based upon the archaeology of identity and the concepts of structured or symbolic deposition.

From 278 BC, Celtic mercenaries started to be involved in the dynastic wars of Asia Minor and began to settle in eastern Phrygia as 'Galatians'. From there they ruled substantial parts of central and western Anatolia until the creation of the Roman province of Galatia in 25 BC. Despite their historical importance, little is known about their cultural identity, so that a closer look at their personal names helps to fill some of the gaps in our knowledge. After a general intro­duction to the onomastic resources for central Anatolia, it is pointed out that Celtic compound names dominated among the aristocracy of Hellenistic Galatia. Proso­po­graphical information is then employed to explain that the rare use of foreign names in the course of the 1st century BC was mainly due to intermarriage with the nobility of neighbouring territories. Despite the growing impact of Hellenization and Romanization in the same period, Greek and Roman personal names became more popular than Celtic names only in the latter half of the 1st century AD, though Celtic names only disappear in the course of the 3rd century. Surprising is the resurgence of Phrygian names in imperial inscriptions, which may at least partly be explained by the amalgamation of the priestly elite of Pessinus and the Tolistobogian nobility. But in some places, there seems to have been a continuity of Phrygian settlement that may go back to the early Hellenistic period if not beyond. This appears to be implied in rural naming patterns, where a high degree of homogeneity as to the use of either Phrygian or Celtic names is attested in the epigraphic record. The evidence becomes even more striking if the implications of intercultural naming practices are also considered. The assumption of an early 'Galatization' of central Anatolia, soon followed by its 'Hellenization', is therefore in need of modification.

The doctrine of the Logos has a central place in the thought of Justin. The article explains its meaning on the basis of the Apology. It shows how Justin understood the mediation of the Logos between God and the world; then it comments his assertions on the “Logos spermatikos” and the “seeds of the Logos”. It shows that the thought of Justin should not be interpreted in the light of the later Arianism, but that, considered in its context, it represents an important contribution to the understanding of the relationship between God and the world. It underlines finally that his doctrine of “Logos spermatikos” does not imply an “hellenization” of Christianity; it is rather, for Justin, a way of asserting the universality of the gift of God.

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