RELIGION IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE – NEW ISSUE

This week, we would like to call your attention to the still very much new journal called “Religion in the Roman Empire” whose issue 2.2 has just been published. The journal has set its sight on encouraging new and cross-disciplinary debate in the field of Religion and Classical Studies: “Religion in the Roman Empire (RRE) is bold in the sense that it intends to further and document new and integrative perspectives on religion in the Ancient World combining multidisciplinary methodologies. Starting from the notion of "lived religion" it will offer a space to take up recent, but still incipient, research to modify and cross the disciplinary boundaries of History of Religion, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classics, Ancient History, Jewish History, Rabbinics, New Testament, Early Christianity, Patristics, Coptic Studies, Gnostic and Manichean Studies, Late Antiquity and Oriental Languages. We hope to stimulate the development of new approaches that can encompass the local and global trajectories of the multidimensional pluralistic religions of antiquity.”

Following the link, you will be directed to the new issue entitled “Discourses and Narratives, Experiences and Identities”. You will also be able to download a lengthy sample of the journal for free.

NOTIZIARIO ITALIANO DI ANTICHISTICA

In case you were not aware of this useful source of information on classical studies in Italy, we would like to introduce you to the Notiziario Italiano di Antichistica, that is a periodical newsletter providing up-to-date news on multiple aspects of Italian scholarship pertaining to Antiquity. The news bulletin is published by La Accademia Fiorentina di Papirologia e di Studi sul Mondo Antico (The Florentine Academy of Papyrology and Classical Studies) and contains the latest information not only on upcoming events, but also on recent publications and research projects.

            Please follow the link to read more about the Notiziario. You will also find an archive holding the past issues of the newsletter, the latest one having been published on 25 June 2015.

3 PHD POSITIONS AND 1 POSTDOC IN LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS

We would like to bring to your attention the following job openings at the University of Leiden. Please note that the deadline for applications is 14 September 2016. Read below the information published by Prof. Petra M. Sijpesteijn:

“For my ERC project I am looking for 3 PhD students (fully funded) - 2 in history (Arabic and Persian) and 1 in papyrology (Coptic and Greek) - and 1 postdoc (social linguistics/history/philology) starting February 1 2017.

The 3 PhD candidates and the Postdoc will carry out research in the framework of the ERC-funded project, “Embedding Conquest: Naturalising Muslim Rule in the Early Islamic Empire (600-1000)”. This project is to understand the success of the early Islamic empire (600-1000 CE) using the vastly important but largely neglected documentary evidence from the Muslim world. Examining all written expressions of social hierarchical relations, the goal of this project is to uncover the deeper social structures that underlay the Arab-Islamic empire and to reconstruct the system of shared expectations, assumptions and codes that underwrote its cohesion, and how these changed over time.

The three PhD candidates will each study one of three specified topics within the project focusing on different linguistic sources and concentrating on specific geographical areas. They will also identify and prepare materials from their respective source base for the project’s online database of linguistic expressions describing social hierarchical relations. They will participate in regular team meetings and present their research findings at scholarly venues. For details, see the advertisement.

The postdoctoral fellow will be responsible for designing and developing an online database of linguistic expressions incorporating the vocabulary of documents, conversations, speeches, audiences and other communications cited in the literary sources in the different languages of the Empire. For the design of the database, the researcher will work together with IT specialists and the PI (Sijpesteijn). Data collection will be done by the project team. The postdoc coordinates the gathering of linguistic terminologies by the project team. The post holder is expected to participate in the team’s meetings, maintain relations with related projects and conduct (carry out and publish) original research on what and how language is used to establish and reinforce social ties and networks based on the data set. The fellow facilitate joint activities and data sharing and disseminate the project to non-academic parties and on social media. For details, see the advertisement.

The project emphasises the use of documentary and primary literary (“books”) sources and candidates should have the necessary linguistic skills. Experience working with documents is a definite asset.

For further information, please contact me directly: P.M.Sijpesteijn@hum.leidenuniv.nl”

“INTERFECTUM” DISFIGURES TEXAS MONUMENT

On another note, we may bring to your attention the rather embarrassing story of a monument dedicated to the 17 victims of the Texas University Tower sniper (1966). The memorial, which was revealed on the 50^th anniversary of the atrocious rampage, displays the names of all those who fell victim to the sniper Charles Whitman. Oddly and unfortunately enough, however, the list is headed by the words “INTERFECTUM AUGUST 1, 1966” unintentionally impairing the dignity of the monument. Seeing that the University’s Classics Department is only about a hundred yards away from the memorial, the mistake hardly appears unavoidable. Follow the link to read the full story.

THE TRUE VALUE OF THE OLYMPICS

In view of the occasion, we would like to make you aware of an interesting op-ed by David Pritchard in which he compares the significance of the Olympic Games now and in Ancient Greek times. The author poses the question of whether modern countries such as the UK and Australia are justified in spending several million Dollars on their Olympic teams and whether the games can still be seen as an international contest offering a peaceful alternative to war as a means of proving one’s national or regional standing.

The op-ed has been published in English (The Age , 8 August) as well as in French (The Conversation, French edition, 13 May) and in German (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 9 June). You might also be interested in Pritchard’s new monograph entitled “Sport, Democracy and War in Classical Athens”.

MEMORIAL WEBSITE FOR ELAINE FANTHAM

The death of Elaine Fantham at the age of 83 has been followed by an outpouring of sympathy far beyond the circles of Classics. We would like to express our sincere condolences to Prof. Fantham’s family and friends; we know that she will be missed by colleagues, students, and so many more people with whom she was in contact. Since we feel that it is almost impossible to find words more appropriate than those which have already been said by those closest to her, we would like to forward you to a website dedicated to her commemoration: The site, which has been launched by Princeton University, contains links to other published notices of her death, to her CV and personal website, and to an audio archive of her appearances on National Public Radio’s “Weekend Edition”. The hosts invite her friends and students, and other admirers of her work, to post memories and tributes there. Please follow the link to access the website.

BREXIT: A LESSON FROM ANCIENT GREECE

This week we would like to call your attention to a newspaper article by Uwe Walter that was published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on the 1^st of July. The writer points out a striking parallel between the UK’s recent decision to leave the European Union and a most spectacular series of democratic ballots carried out in Athens in the 5^th century BC.

            The morning after the UK’s referendum created the illusion of a fresh start of British politics. Just a few days later, however, things look markedly different: Whereas EU officials are urging the UK to put the Brexit into effect, British MPs now appear to prefer waiting to swift action. Perhaps, they are waiting for an opportunity to reverse their decision or to declare it irrelevant after all. Interestingly, this constellation is not without precedent in history: Uwe Walter reminds us of Thucydides’ account of the situation in Athens in 428 BC, i.e. after the first few years of the Peloponnesian War. It is an article about a rash political decision to make an example of those who are the first to leave an international union, about second thoughts and remorse on the following day, about a minority that does not give up fighting for what is deemed right by a steadily increasing number of people…

Please follow the link to read the full article.