The double-blind peer-reviewed Journal of Ancient Civilizations (JAC) is published by the Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations (IHAC), Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China. The current first fascicle of JAC 37 comprises articles from Ancient Near East-ern Studies and Classics. Frank Simons analyzes a bilingual proverb about exotic animals, and by using linguistic as well as comparative approaches, he argues that one of these animals is to be identified with an Indian rhinoceros, what would make it the first mention of this animal in world history. Vasileios Adamidis deals with the hot topic of populism and asks whether and to what extent we can apply this concept to the Athenian dēmokratia of the late 5th century BC. Houliang Lü investigates how the Greek traveler and 2nd-century-AD author Pausanias selected classical sites for his Description of Greece while omitting or criticizing Roman-influenced institutions or buildings, in order to form a cultural memory of “Independent Greece” at times of Roman rule, which could nevertheless allow philhellenic Roman emperors to enter his narrative. The final paper by Oliver Stoll examines the sources for the often-neglected topic of the involvement of the Roman military in the organization of entertainment, especially at the frontiers of the Imperium Romanum.
Contents & Abstracts
Frank SIMONS (Trinity College Dublin) THE DONKEY OF ANŠAN: A RHINO IN MESOPOTAMIA? NOTES ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING IN A BILINGUAL PROVERB (pp. 1–31) doi: 10.16758/j.cnki.1004-9371.2022.02.013
This paper is a detailed study of a short bilingual proverb about exotic animals. It is suggested that one of these animals is an Indian rhinoceros, and that the proverb is the earliest textual reference to this animal in world history. In support of this suggestion a comprehensive investigation of the evidence for rhinoceroses in Mesopotamia is presented, and a wide array of comparative material from ancient Greece, Rome, India, China, Persia, and Arabia is adduced. Alongside the discussion of the animals involved, the form and structure of the proverb is investigated, with consideration of the ways in which its poetic quality influenced its construction, and of the nuances behind the concluding simile.
Vasileios ADAMIDIS (Nottingham Trent University) POPULISM IN POWER? A RECONSIDERATION OF THE ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY OF THE LATE 5th CENTURY BC (pp. 33–63) doi: 10.16758/j.cnki.1004-9371.2022.02.014
The function and the nature of the Athenian dēmokratia have been much contested issues over the centuries. This study aims to offer an original and cross-disciplinary examination of this system. By reference to the latest trends in modern political theory concerning the salient phenomenon of populism, the paper demonstrates the suitability of this concept for close analysis of the Athenian political structures and practices, revealing that it is time for the Athenian dēmokratia and its ideology to be critically reconsidered. The danger of anachronism notwithstanding, the dēmokratia of late 5th century BC Athens exhibits characteristics that could classify it as a prototype populist regime.
Houliang LÜ (Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) PAUSANIAS’ CULTURAL MEMORY AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN HIS DESCRIPTION OF GREECE (pp. 65–95) doi: 10.16758/j.cnki.1004-9371.2022.02.015
As one of the most important extant examples of ancient Greek περιήγησις, the Description of Greece by the traveler Pausanias, who lived during the Antonine Dynasty, offers a highly selective narrative to its readers. On the one hand, Pausanias generally ignores or criticizes monuments, institutions, and the history of Greece under Roman imperial rule, and excludes these elements from the cultural memory of “Independent Greece.” On the other hand, the author intentionally constructs close correspondences between archaic and classical Greek history and the philhellenic policies of certain Roman emperors, assigning cultural memory an overriding importance in the contemporary political behavior and literary discourse of Pausanias’ time in the Description of Greece. The unique structure of Pausanias’ cultural memory reflects the character of hypolepse in the historical perspective of ancient Greek intellectuals, and to some extent proves the influence of the philhellenic policies of the Roman emperors in the second cen-tury AD.
Oliver STOLL (Universität Passau) SCHAUSPIELER, JÄGER UND GLADIATOREN: BEMERKUNGEN ZUR „TRUPPENBETREUUNG“ IN DER KAISERZEITLICHEN ARMEE ROMS (pp. 97–141) doi: 10.16758/j.cnki.1004-9371.2022.02.016
Roman imperial soldiers were no philistines. In and outside of service there were manifold connections to multifunctional building types as amphitheatres and theatres, to games, plays, music and dance. Was there a “troop entertainment,” what about military theatre groups, hunters and gladiators? A short look is taken at the embedding (or the affiliation), the question of status, hierarchy and the “Rangordnung” of these men. The article aims at a critical look on the source-material from different frontier-regions, which is manyfold (archaeological, epigraphical, historiographical/ juridical), but not always open to easy interpretation. Of course, we know basically something about the vice-versa influence of gladiators and soldiers (e.g., training) or about soldiers as animal-hunters for the organization of imperial games. But many aspects are still nebulous: Are the organisation and the application area of such troop-entertainment-arrangements (closely linked to the calendar-dates of the Emperor Cult and a welcome opportunity for creating a “festive cohesion” with the surrounding civilians) also connected with economic considerations? Can we know anything about “the” general organization of such entertainment on the frontiers of the Imperium? Some answers must be given tentative in the end or can only be problematized and left open to further scientific investigation.