Transgendering Clytemnestra
Many Greek tragedies have mysteriously evaded the controlling influence of time; they are read today with as much admiration and emotion as they would have inspired in their first audiences.
Wrongfully Accused: The Political Motivations Behind Socrates’ Execution
In 399 B.C.E., Socrates was executed by the Athenian court on charges of impiety and corrupting the youth. The controversial decision lingers atop the great legacy of Athens, a city praised for its intellectual and political liberty. However, the reasons behind Socrates’ execution are themselves questionable.
Treason and Related Offenses in the Roman Germanic Law
Intellectual and spiritual treason represent the final depths of public crime in which the individual sets his personal will against the established legal order, representing the collec- tive wisdom of the race. Indeed, in a large philosophic sense treason underlies all crime, for the ultimate effect of crime is the subversion of society and the death of the state.
Roman Banditry: Scorning Senatorial Skullduggery in Sallust
The fundamental question we must ask in a discussion of banditry and its relation to other expressions of power is ‘who sanctions whom?’
Livy and the Bacchanalia
Livy begins his account by claiming that the Bacchanalia had come to Rome from Etruria and Campania.9 Classical Bacchic cult was a ritual enactment of the maenads
The Death of Philip of Macedon
Who caused the assassination of Philip II, King of Macedon from c. 355 to 336 BC? Was it his wife Olympias, his son Alexander, or some other person or group?
Poisons, Poisoning and the Drug Trade in Ancient Rome
The first recorded instance of poisoning in ancient Rome occurred in 331 BC when, during an epidemic, a large number of women were accused of concerted mass poisoning.
Who's Your Daddy? Explaining the Rise of Roman Criminal Law
As a staunchly patriarchal society, it can be said with confidence that Ancient Rome firmly adhered to the adage that ‘father knows best.’
Robbers and Soldiers: Criminality and Roman Army in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses
This paper aims at discussing the relationship between ancient robbers and Roman army in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. As Apuleius’ Metamorphoses has a great deal of information about banditry, deserters and ex-soldiers that can be explored in different ways, I suggest that this ancient author can provide us the possibility to rethink some historiographical approaches used to study the Roman plebs.
Medical theories on the cause of death in crucifixion
It has been used in many parts of the world and in many time periods; but is perhaps best known today as a cruel method of social control and punishment in the Roman Empire around 2000 years ago.