Pious Empire, II

In the title essay of his 1980 collection, Pietas: Selected Studies in Roman Religion , the Dutch classicist Hendrik Wagenvoort traces the Roman notion that their success was a result of their piety back to the Roman conquest of Greece. How, the Greeks wondered, could the culturally inferior Romans . . . . Continue Reading »

New Temple

In his contribution to The Old Testament in Byzantium , Robert Ousterhout examines the efforts of Eusebius and others to draw connections between Solomon’s temple and the church of the Holy Sepulcher: ““‘holy sites’ and relics previously associated with the Temple . . . . Continue Reading »

Attack of the Theocrats

It’s rare to see a book utterly miss its target. When it purports to expose a mortal threat to our Republic, it’s a rather astonishing achievement. But Sean Faircloth has done it in his Attack of the Theocrats! How the Religious Right Harms Us All—and What We Can Do About It . The . . . . Continue Reading »

Byzantine Israel?

In the introduction to their Dumbarton Oaks symposium on The Old Testament in Byzantium , Paul Magdalino and Robert Nelson observe that the Byzantine empire’s use of the Old Testament seems to involve a strange reversion to Judaism: “the New Testament threw open the election of one . . . . Continue Reading »

Achilles’s Survival

In the aforementioned article, Charlesworth points to a passage from Procopius where he describes a bronze equestrian statue of Justinian, which was, the writer says, “arrayed as Achilles.” Charlesworth observes: “why should Justinian, in the sixth century, have chosen Achilles? . . . . Continue Reading »

Pious Empire

In a 1943 article in the Journal of Roman Studies , MP Charlesworth notes that for the Romans pius , felix , and invictus were intimately, even causally, connected: “because the Emperor is pius the gods will render him felix (for felicitas is their gift to their favourites) and his felicitas . . . . Continue Reading »

Not Great

Hans A. Pohlsander’s The Emperor Constantine is a miracle of concision. In under 100 pages he summarizes the life of his subject, assesses his reign, and provides some pithy summaries of his legacy, real and in legends. He also withholds the title “the Great.” Pohlsander . . . . Continue Reading »

Galateo

Giovanni Della Casa’s Galateo: Or, The Rules of Polite Behavior was one of the most important Renaissance treatises on civility, written in an age obsessed with civility. As M.F. Rusnak points out in his excellent introduction to his charming new translation, civility and politeness was not a . . . . Continue Reading »

Royal Wives

Four women appear in Matthew’s genealogy, all of them connected with some scandal - Tamar, who fathered twins by her father-in-law, Judah; Rahab, retired prostitute; Ruth, a forward Moabitess; and Bath-sheba, whom David seized from Uriah. Though unnamed, three of the same women are implied in . . . . Continue Reading »