Best of
Classical-Studies

1997

Aratus: Phaenomena


Aratus - 1997
    This volume presents for the first time in English an edition of the poem with a full introduction, a facing translation and a line-by-line commentary. The text is based on a new reading of the manuscripts, including one not used before. The work provides a valuable basis for further research on Aratus and on Hellenistic poetry in general.

People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489-554


Patrick Amory - 1997
    This book proposes a new view, through a case study of the Goths of Italy between 489 and 554. The author suggests wholly new ways of understanding barbarian groups and the end of the Western Roman Empire. The book also proposes a complete reinterpretation of the evolution of Christian conceptions of community, and of so-called Germanic Arianism.

Paul and Empire: Religion and Power in Roman Imperial Society


Richard A. Horsley - 1997
    At the time of Paul s conversion, however, Christianity did not yet exist. Moreover, Paul says nothing to indicate that he was abandoning Judaism or Israel. He, in fact, understood his mission as the fulfillment of the promises to Israel and of Israel s own destiny. In brief, Paul s gospel and mission were set over against the Roman Empire, not Judaism. This anthology brings together incisive and groundbreaking essays on: 1) "The Gospel of Imperial Salvation," revealing how the imperial cult, by its dominance in urban public space, created a pervasive presence of imperial beneficence and salvation integrated into traditional Greek religion; (2) "Patronage and Power," disclosing the networks of patronage relations that held the empire together, so as to render occupying troops and imperial bureaucracy unnecessary in urbanized areas such as Corinth and Ephesus, key centers of Paul's mission, (3) "Paul's Articulation of an Alternative Gospel," discerning how Paul borrows much of the key language of the imperial religion in preaching his own gospel of a Lord who had been crucified by imperial rulers but vindicated by God as the true universal Lord, (4) "The Assemblies of an Alternative International Society," exploring ways in which the assemblies Paul founded in Asia Minor and Greece were to embody patterns alternative to the hierarchical human relations that dominated Roman imperial society. Richard A. Horsley is Professor of Classics and Religion at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He is author of Galilee: History, Politics, People and Archaeology, History, and Society in Galilee: Social Context of Jesus and the Rabbis, both published by Trinity Press International.

Trials from Classical Athens


Christopher Carey - 1997
    Carey offers a diverse repertory of legal case studies which deal with different aspects of Athenian law. The volume provides a unique and accessible introduction to the Athenian legal system and how the system reveals the values and social life of Classical Athens. This comprehensive book will be a fundamental resource for students of Ancient Greek history and anyone interested in the law, social history and oratory of the Ancient Greek world.

Aglaia: The Poetry of Alcman, Sappho, Pindar, Bacchylides, and Corinna


Charles Segal - 1997
    Segal provides close readings of the texts, and then studies the literary form and language of early Greek lyric, the poets' conception of their aims and their art, the use of mythical paradigms, and the relation of the poems to their social context. A recurrent theme is the recognition of the fragility and brevity of mortal happiness and the consciousness of how the immortality conferred by poetry resists the ever-threatening presence of death and oblivion, fixing in permanent form the passing moments of joy and beauty. This is an essential book for students and scholars of ancient Greek poetry.