Introduction: Tacitus on Law and Luxury'quid enim primum prohibere et priscum ad morem recidere adgrediar? villarumne infinita spatia? familiarum numerum et nationes? argenti et auri pondus? aeris tabularumque mir...Introduction: Tacitus on Law and Luxury'quid enim primum prohibere et priscum ad morem recidere adgrediar? villarumne infinita spatia? familiarum numerum et nationes? argenti et auri pondus? aeris tabularumque miracula? promiscas viris et feminis vestis atque illa feminarum propria,展开更多
In his Annals(1.1-4),Tacitus highlights his own view on principes viri in different historical periods.During the period of kingdom,people had no freedom,hence the author holds a very negative stance on kingship.Right...In his Annals(1.1-4),Tacitus highlights his own view on principes viri in different historical periods.During the period of kingdom,people had no freedom,hence the author holds a very negative stance on kingship.Right from the start of the Roman Republic,people's freedom began to be dominated and tamed by the consuls.Other ruling authorities such as decemvirs and military tribunes did not exercise longer command,and the several commanders of the Late Republic who held military power failed to turn dominatio and potentia into auctoritas.Yet,in the Principate,people's freedom has begun to be directed by the princeps.Augustus eventually converted balanced rule within the framework res publica into imperium and dominatio centered on the emperor,the new core of the imperial res publica.And in this hereditary imperial rule,the princeps is the master of the state,similar to a king.Hence,the Principate perverted and degenerated into another form of regnum.Through Tacitus'comments on Tiberius and Agrippa Postumus,the identification of imperial authority as similar to kingship but on a more sophisticated level becomes visible and includes two interrelated aspects:great deeds and temperament of the ones exercising them.展开更多
According to Felice Vinci＇s revolutionary theory of the Nordic origins of the Homeric poems, the Achaeans who migrated to the Aegean Sea to found the Mycenaean civilization--whose language actually was an Ionian dial...According to Felice Vinci＇s revolutionary theory of the Nordic origins of the Homeric poems, the Achaeans who migrated to the Aegean Sea to found the Mycenaean civilization--whose language actually was an Ionian dialect, similar to that of Homer--were the laones, deriving their origin from Sweden. The Italian scholar offers significant analogies to prove his hypothesis, drawing them from several scientific disciplines, such as history （the movement appears similar to that of Varangians, who in the Middle Ages moved from Sweden to found the kingdom of Rus＇）, geography （the promontory of Cape Sounion, located 43 miles south-southeast of Athens, seems to be a souvenir of the same name）, archaeology （the spiral shape, one of the most popular ones in the volutes of the Ionic capitals, was a common decoration also during the Nordic Bronze Age）, and literature （especially a remarkable quotation taken from Plato, Critias 111e）. In the author＇s contribution, he tries to check Felice Vinci＇s interpretation through a careful survey in ancient literature and linguistics, in order to verify the etymological connections between the ancient people of laones and the Tacitean Suiones.展开更多
文摘Introduction: Tacitus on Law and Luxury'quid enim primum prohibere et priscum ad morem recidere adgrediar? villarumne infinita spatia? familiarum numerum et nationes? argenti et auri pondus? aeris tabularumque miracula? promiscas viris et feminis vestis atque illa feminarum propria,
文摘In his Annals(1.1-4),Tacitus highlights his own view on principes viri in different historical periods.During the period of kingdom,people had no freedom,hence the author holds a very negative stance on kingship.Right from the start of the Roman Republic,people's freedom began to be dominated and tamed by the consuls.Other ruling authorities such as decemvirs and military tribunes did not exercise longer command,and the several commanders of the Late Republic who held military power failed to turn dominatio and potentia into auctoritas.Yet,in the Principate,people's freedom has begun to be directed by the princeps.Augustus eventually converted balanced rule within the framework res publica into imperium and dominatio centered on the emperor,the new core of the imperial res publica.And in this hereditary imperial rule,the princeps is the master of the state,similar to a king.Hence,the Principate perverted and degenerated into another form of regnum.Through Tacitus'comments on Tiberius and Agrippa Postumus,the identification of imperial authority as similar to kingship but on a more sophisticated level becomes visible and includes two interrelated aspects:great deeds and temperament of the ones exercising them.
文摘According to Felice Vinci＇s revolutionary theory of the Nordic origins of the Homeric poems, the Achaeans who migrated to the Aegean Sea to found the Mycenaean civilization--whose language actually was an Ionian dialect, similar to that of Homer--were the laones, deriving their origin from Sweden. The Italian scholar offers significant analogies to prove his hypothesis, drawing them from several scientific disciplines, such as history （the movement appears similar to that of Varangians, who in the Middle Ages moved from Sweden to found the kingdom of Rus＇）, geography （the promontory of Cape Sounion, located 43 miles south-southeast of Athens, seems to be a souvenir of the same name）, archaeology （the spiral shape, one of the most popular ones in the volutes of the Ionic capitals, was a common decoration also during the Nordic Bronze Age）, and literature （especially a remarkable quotation taken from Plato, Critias 111e）. In the author＇s contribution, he tries to check Felice Vinci＇s interpretation through a careful survey in ancient literature and linguistics, in order to verify the etymological connections between the ancient people of laones and the Tacitean Suiones.
