The JOURNAL OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS (JAC) is published annually in two fascicles by the Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations (IHAC, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin Province, People’s Republic of China). The aim of JAC is to provide a forum for the discussion of various aspects of the cultural and historical processes in the Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean world, encompassing studies of individual civilizations as well as common elements, contacts, and interactions among them (e.g., in such traditional fields as Assyriology, Egyptology, Hittitology, Classics, Byzantine Studies, and Sinology, among others). JAC is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal. Articles must not have been published in, or submitted to, another publication at the time of submission. All articles submitted are first carefully read by at least two editors of JAC, who will give a feedback to the author. Articles (excluding book reviews or research reports) are afterwards reviewed anonymously by at least two referees in the specific field, appointed by the editorial board. The whole peer-review process as well as any judgment is based on the quality of the article and the research conducted therein only. In cases where the reviewers recommend changes in the manuscript, authors are requested to revise their articles. The final approval of articles is at the editorial board. Throughout the whole peer-review process, articles are treated confidentially. In case of (alleged or supposed) interest conflict, misconduct, or plagiarism of any party involved the editor in chief and/or the executive editor in chief (or, if necessary, another member of the editorial board) will pursue the case and should the situation of taking action arise, will notify the respective party.
MANNING, SEAN: The Armies of the Teispids and Achaemenids: The Armies of an Ancient World Empire (147-192)
SCHULZ, RAIMUND: Between War of Conquest and Pre-emptive Attack: New Perspectives on the Background to the Persian Wars (193-224)
BURSTEIN, STANLEY M. / FINCH, CALEB E.: Lead Poisoning in Ancient Rome: The State of the Question (225-246)
LAFLI, ERGÜN / LIDDEL, PETER / ÇETINGÖZ, ALEV: Three Inscriptions from Upper Mesopotamia (247-265)
FORUM: WHAT REMAINS OF CLASSICS? WALTER, UWE: Review of Anderson, G. 2018. The Realness of Things Past. Ancient Greece and Ontological History. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press (267-274)
Abstracts
Sean MANNING (Independent scholar, Victoria BC, Canada) THE ARMIES OF THE TEISPIDS AND ACHAEMENIDS: THE ARMIES OF AN ANCIENT WORLD EMPIRE (pp. 147–192) doi: 10.16758/j.cnki.1004-9371.2022.04.013 Although ancient warfare and the Teispid-Achaemenid empire are common topics for research, no concise and up-to-date overview of Teispid and Achaemenid armies and warfare exists. The most recent syntheses were published in the period 1986–1992 when the current understanding of the empire was only beginning to form. This article combines indigenous and Greco-Roman texts, art, and artifacts to provide a short introduction to the armies and navies of the so-called Persian Empire. It focuses on the reigns of Darius I and Xerxes (522–465 BC) from which a variety of texts and artwork survive from Persis, Babylonia, and Greece. Ten main sections cover the history of research, the seemingly contradictory evidence for a uniform army and a patchwork army under Darius I and Xerxes, how the very rapid conquests of the Teispids lead to an army very different than the Roman or imperial British armies, recruitment, organization and equipment, combat mechanics, army organization, siege warfare, naval and riverine warfare, and numbers and effectiveness. Whereas the author’s recent monograph focused on methodological problems and the origin of different theories, this article offers usable answers to many difficult questions.
Raimund SCHULZ (University of Bielefeld) BETWEEN WAR OF CONQUEST AND PRE-EMPTIVE ATTACK: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE BACKGROUND TO THE PERSIAN WARS (pp. 193–224) doi: 10.16758/j.cnki.1004-9371.2022.04.014 This paper aims to re-investigate the premises and causes of the Persian Wars, examining recent theories of a pre-emptive Persian attack against Athens. Indeed, as early as the sixth century BC, and before Themistocles, Athens’ foreign policy displayed aggressive tendencies towards the northern Aegean involving war fleets. Both Athens’ engagement in the Ionian Revolt and the later campaigns of the Delian League were consistent with this policy. Darius and Xerxes were compelled to react to Athenian aggression, which endangered both their plan of a Persian Aegean and Asia Minor’s safety.
Stanley M. BURSTEIN / Caleb E. FINCH (California State University, Los Angeles / The University of Southern California) LEAD POISONING IN ANCIENT ROME: THE STATE OF THE QUESTION (pp. 225–246) doi: 10.16758/j.cnki.1004-9371.2022.04.015 Ancient reports on lead toxicity from Roman era writers are substantiated by data concerning the extent and effects from lead content in their environment. Contrary to the theory that connects lead poisoning with the decline of the Roman Empire, our review of data from ice cores and skeletons shows much lower levels of lead pollution in Late Antiquity than during the Roman Republican and Imperial periods. While no level of lead is safe to brain development, such behavioral disorders cannot be evaluated from ancient reports. Given the current state of the evidence, severe lead toxicity in ancient Roman adults was probably limited to those whose occupations brought them in close contact with lead such as miners and artisans. We conclude, therefore, that lead pollution in antiquity was more strongly associated with economic expansion than contraction.
Ergün LAFLI / Peter LIDDEL / Alev ÇETINGÖZ (Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, İzmir / University of Manchester / Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, İzmir) THREE INSCRIPTIONS FROM UPPER MESOPOTAMIA (pp. 247–265) doi: 10.16758/j.cnki.1004-9371.2022.04.016 In this brief paper we present two inscriptions from the Museum of Mardin and one inscription built in the wall of Ulu Mosque in Diyarbakır, both in southeastern Turkey. The first inscription in Mardin is a pedimental funerary stele of a man and his wife, and dated to the late 3rd to early 4th century AD. Its translation is as follows: "Argeios son of Papinios, while living and of good mind, for Kyria his wife as a memorial." The second inscription in Mardin is a slab with baptismal iconography and an inscription. It originates from the Mardin region and could be dated to the 5th century AD. Its translation is as follows: "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters. A vow." The last inscription is an Early Byzantine inscription from Diyarbakır. Its translation is as follows: "+On behalf of a vow of your servant Akakios, comes of Caesarea and his child. He made it from his own resources in the times of the most pious abbot Gourias.+"
FORUM: WHAT REMAINS OF CLASSICS? In our often declared global, post-modern societies with the frequent claim of being “post-structuralist,” “post-colonial,” and “post-imperial,” among others, it has become common to challenge seemingly familiar truths, institutions, concepts, and the like. Naturally, this has not excluded Ancient Studies, and Classics in particular. But how and to what extent does, and should, this affect the epistemological and heuristic core of our discipline(s)? The review by Uwe Walter (University of Bielefeld) critically assesses a mind-challenging approach to studying the “reality” of ancient Greece, particularly the Athenian democracy, and is intended to trigger, and provoke, thoughts on that important topic.
Uwe WALTER (University of Bielefeld) REVIEW OF ANDERSON, G. 2018. THE REALNESS OF THINGS PAST. ANCIENT GREECE AND ONTOLOGICAL HISTORY. NEW YORK & OXFORD: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS. (pp. 267–274) doi: 10.16758/j.cnki.1004-9371.2022.04.017