tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/romans-24497/articles
Romans – The Conversation
2024-02-28T11:45:19Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/224433
2024-02-28T11:45:19Z
2024-02-28T11:45:19Z
The leap year is February 29, not December 32 due to a Roman calendar quirk – and fastidious medieval monks
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577972/original/file-20240226-18-8vdn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C609%2C462&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">St Benedict delivering his rule to the monks of his order.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Benedict_delivering_his_rule_to_the_monks_of_his_order.jpg">WikiCommons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you ever wondered why the extra day of the leap year falls on February 29, an odd date in the middle of the year, and not at the end of the year on December 32? There is a simple answer, and a slightly more complex one. </p>
<p>Let’s start with the simple answer. Several ancient cultures (including early Christians) believed the world was created in the spring and therefore March was the beginning of the year. This means that when the Roman calendar added an extra day in February, they were in fact adding a day at the end of their year. So the simple answer is that we put the leap day at the end of February because the Romans did.</p>
<p>Except that isn’t exactly true. The Romans did not add an extra day on February 29, but on February 24, which is where the more complicated answer begins. The Romans kept a calendar by counting backwards from specific set times of the month, the <em>kalends</em> (March 1), the <em>nones</em> (March 7) and <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/%7Egrout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/juliancalendar.html">the ides (March 15)</a>. Julius Caesar was famously told in Shakespeare’s play to: “Beware the ides of March,” also known as March 15, the day of his murder. </p>
<p>If the Romans started counting on the first day of March, which they called the kalends and moved backwards, then their days would progress retrospectively like this: the kalends is March 1, second kalends is February 28, third kalends is February 27 and so on until February 24 is the sixth kalends of March. On a leap day, they added a second sixth kalends of March, which they called the “bissextile day”, that is the second sixth day. In older writings of various kinds, you will still see people call the leap day, February 29, the bissextile day.</p>
<h2>Monks and the leap day</h2>
<p>This practice of adding a leap day in February continued into the middle ages and was taught in monastic classrooms. Writing in the 11th century, the Anglo-Saxon scholar Byrhtferth of Ramsey <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/byrhtferths-enchiridion-9780197224168?lang=en&cc=hr">explained to his students</a>: “[The bissextile day] is so called because <em>bis</em> is ‘twice’ and <em>sextus</em> is ‘sixth,’ and because in that year we say ‘sixth kalends of March’ [February 24] today and the next day we say ‘sixth kalends of March’ [February 25] again.” </p>
<p>Byrhtferth’s students were monks and priests, and they needed to know about the leap day so that they could calculate religious feasts like Easter correctly. Easter is tricky to calculate because it is the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the spring equinox (March 21 in medieval observance, March 20 in modern reckoning). </p>
<p>If you fail to include the leap day, you will also place the spring equinox on the wrong day, and suddenly your parish is celebrating a whole host of religious observances from Ash Wednesday, to Lent, to Holy Week, to Pentecost on the wrong day.</p>
<p>For Byrhtferth and his contemporaries celebrating these holy feasts on the wrong day was no small matter. <a href="https://doi.org/10.7227/BJRL.89.2.7">They believed</a> that the correct reckoning of time lies beneath the very <a href="https://www.academia.edu/15771656/In_Measure_and_Number_and_Weight_Writing_Science">fabric of the universe</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577964/original/file-20240226-46329-vk2tcl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Byrthtferth's most famous diagram." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577964/original/file-20240226-46329-vk2tcl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577964/original/file-20240226-46329-vk2tcl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577964/original/file-20240226-46329-vk2tcl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577964/original/file-20240226-46329-vk2tcl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577964/original/file-20240226-46329-vk2tcl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577964/original/file-20240226-46329-vk2tcl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577964/original/file-20240226-46329-vk2tcl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Byrthtferth’s diagram showing the cosmic correspondence between the times of the year and the solstices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/66a78997-ab65-4059-a9d3-d08a0bba067c/surfaces/688e1e71-6e0e-4153-8d94-1f9c34058c86/">The President and Fellows of St John's College, Oxford</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Byrthtferth was known for elaborate diagrams and this (left) is his most famous one. This diagram shows the cosmic correspondence between the times of the year (represented in the outside circuit by the astrological signs) with the equinoxes and the solstices positioned at the <a href="https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/ms-17/folio.php?p=7v&showitem=7r_2ComputusRelated_20ByrhtferthsDiagram">corners</a>. </p>
<p>As you move to the interior diamond shape, you see the four elements (earth, wind, fire and water), the four stages of a man’s life (youth, adolescence, maturity and old age) and the four seasons. </p>
<p>The interior diamond has the four cardinal directions in Greek (north, south, east and west), positioned in such a way that they spell “Adam”, which refers to the first man, but also the human nature of Christ. Taken together, this diagram shows how elements on earth and heaven relate to each other and are held in balance with Christ at the centre and bound on the outside by time, which controls and orders the world. </p>
<p>For Byrhtferth and many medieval churchmen like him, calculating dates correctly is about more than the proper observance of religious feasts – it is about honouring God’s role in the creation of the universe.</p>
<p>Byrhtferth’s monastic classroom also shows why the simple answer “because the Romans did it” isn’t adequate to explain why we still insert this leap day in February, nearly 1,600 years after the fall of Rome. </p>
<p>At any point, the leap day could have been changed to something that made more sense in a modern calendar. However, the date needed to remain in February throughout the middle ages – and still does – so that the extra day is inserted before the spring equinox and Easter celebrations are kept on track.</p>
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<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Stephenson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Monks who failed to factor in the leap day placed spring equinox on the wrong day, which meant Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week and Pentecost were also marked on the wrong day.
Rebecca Stephenson, Associate Professor of Old English, University College Dublin
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/214518
2024-01-04T07:28:11Z
2024-01-04T07:28:11Z
Ancient Roman wine production may hold clues for battling climate change
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567467/original/file-20231229-29-a7hgqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C5149%2C2574&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Remnants of a mixed ‘alberata’ vineyard in Marche (Italy).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dimitri Van Limbergen</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is no secret that the Romans were heavy wine drinkers. <a href="https://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_2018_num_96_3_9188">Estimates</a> put the average Roman male’s consumption at a litre or more of diluted wine per day. The drink was also a symbol of civilised behaviour, and widely used as a drug, medicine and ritual beverage. Winemaking was therefore a widespread and very profitable activity, and vine growing dominated much of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.6888">agricultural landscape</a>.</p>
<p>Though the Romans consumed even more wine than we do today, ancient vineyards in Italy looked radically different from the typical landscape of rolling hillsides covered by rows of tightly spaced vines.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567261/original/file-20231222-23-v9rcbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A landscape of rolling hillsides covered by rows of tightly spaced vines." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567261/original/file-20231222-23-v9rcbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567261/original/file-20231222-23-v9rcbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567261/original/file-20231222-23-v9rcbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567261/original/file-20231222-23-v9rcbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567261/original/file-20231222-23-v9rcbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567261/original/file-20231222-23-v9rcbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567261/original/file-20231222-23-v9rcbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Typical vines in Tuscany, Italy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pxhere.com/es/photo/1189417">Pxhere</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We can learn a great deal from the methods Romans used to produce wine about adapting our own agricultural systems to a warming planet. </p>
<p>My research has explored the role of <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/whp/ge/2020/00000013/00000002/art00008">vine agroforestry</a> systems in Roman viticulture by looking at <a href="https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/dv13zw278">archaeology</a>, <a href="https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8755970">ancient literature</a> and more <a href="https://agromixproject.eu/in-the-field/trial-sites/restinclieres-agroforestry/">modern sources</a>.</p>
<h2>Forest agriculture</h2>
<p>A very common technique for growing grape vines in Roman times was to attach them to rows of trees in fields that were also used for cereals and vegetables, in a system called <em>arbustum</em>. </p>
<p>In contrast to the low plants that blanket hillsides in modern vineyards, these vines grew high into the trees. Numerous scenes on Roman sarcophagi and mosaics depict harvesters picking grapes using high ladders, and collecting them in small, distinctive cone-shaped baskets.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554216/original/file-20231017-28-qqvxjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2986%2C1500&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sarcophagus representing a Dionysiac Vintage Festival. A.D. 290–300. On the left erotes are picking grapes with the aid of ladders from vines on trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554216/original/file-20231017-28-qqvxjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2986%2C1500&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554216/original/file-20231017-28-qqvxjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554216/original/file-20231017-28-qqvxjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554216/original/file-20231017-28-qqvxjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554216/original/file-20231017-28-qqvxjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554216/original/file-20231017-28-qqvxjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554216/original/file-20231017-28-qqvxjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sarcophagus representing a Dionysiac Vintage Festival, A.D. 290–300. On the left, erotes are picking grapes with the aid of ladders from vines on trees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/109CTJ">Getty Museum Collection</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pre industrial wine production</h2>
<p>The popularity of <em>Arbustum</em> was mainly due to peasants’ need for subsistence. They would combine several crops on one small area of land in order to survive, though more <a href="https://research.flw.ugent.be/en/projects/back-roots-agroforestry-and-rediscovery-roman-viticulture">commercial farms have also been recorded</a>. The practice was so common that even great thinkers weighed in on the matter. Both <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D17%3Achapter%3D35">Pliny</a> and <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0505%3Abook%3D5%3Achapter%3D6%3Asection%3D5">Columella</a> recommended the use of fast growing trees with lots of foliage to protect vines from snooping animals.</p>
<p>Location also played a big role. Almost all ancient texts place the use of vine agroforestry in the low lying, flat, and damp lands of the Italian peninsula. This observation may baffle modern wine growers, as grapevines do not like too much water. However, these lands were often close to rivers and coasts, which were major economic corridors and therefore attractive areas for settlement and agriculture. </p>
<p>Such flat, expansive lands were also ideal for applying <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centuriation">centuriation</a>, the Roman method of subdividing farmland into grids. The system was perfect for inserting and expanding lines of vine covered trees.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567468/original/file-20231229-19-fp08qe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Visible remnants of Roman and later land divisions in the lower Po plain around Padova (Italy)." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567468/original/file-20231229-19-fp08qe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567468/original/file-20231229-19-fp08qe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567468/original/file-20231229-19-fp08qe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567468/original/file-20231229-19-fp08qe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567468/original/file-20231229-19-fp08qe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567468/original/file-20231229-19-fp08qe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567468/original/file-20231229-19-fp08qe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Remnants of Roman and later land divisions in the lower Po plain around Padova (Italy).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Earth</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To modern wine makers, growing vines in damp soil and humid air is unthinkable. It presents a huge risk of fungal diseases that could weaken and kill the vine. Nevertheless, the Romans made it work.</p>
<h2>An enduring, ancient technique</h2>
<p>Luckily for researchers, versions of <em>arbustum</em> remained in use in Italy until the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/27934145/La_rappresentazione_della_vite_maritata_alcune_recenti_identificazioni">early 20th century</a>. This relatively recent documentation, in combination with ancient source material, reveals the ingenuity of the system.</p>
<p>The main tree species used were poplars, elms, elders, willows, maples, and ashes, which grow well in moist areas because they need lots of water to sustain their rapid growth and high transpiration rates. This means that they soak up excess water from the soil, acting as a water pump and contributing to the natural drainage of an area. Their roots meant vines could stay healthy and perform well in humid environments for centuries on end.</p>
<p>But the sophistication of the system goes much further. By training vines to climb high – up to 15 or even 20 meters – the damage done by rising soil dampness was further reduced, while the heating impact of the sun was increased. This made grapes develop and mature better, as long as the right balance between shade (from foliage) and sun exposure was obtained. High climbing vines also have deeper and more developed roots, which makes them more resistant to rot caused by parasites. </p>
<p>Examples in pre industrial <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7560/700109?typeAccessWorkflow=login">Portugal</a> also show that the trees themselves even contribute to the microclimate of the vineyard: they mitigate the impact of winter frosts, offer protection against strong and damaging winds, and reduce the distribution of unwanted seeds.</p>
<h2>An example for a warming world</h2>
<p>Records show that vine agroforestery expanded massively between the years 200 BC and 200 AD, during what is known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Warm_Period">Roman Climate Optimum</a>, a period of several centuries of markedly warmer temperatures that coincided with the expansion of the Roman Empire. This means that Roman winemakers in Italy often operated under <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-81103-7_15">warmer</a> and more <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67281-2">humid</a> conditions than those experienced in much of the 20th century.</p>
<p>The resilience of vine agroforestry under rising temperatures – which bring with them <a href="https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/great-lakes-vineyards-changing/#:%7E:text=Climate%20change%20has%20led%20to,can%20become%20prohibitive%20over%20time">new pests and diseases</a> – becomes most evident when looking at pioneering modern initiatives in the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/better-wines-among-the-pines-agroforestry-can-climate-proof-grapes-french-researchers-show/">south of France</a>. Experiments at the farm of <a href="https://agromixproject.eu/in-the-field/trial-sites/restinclieres-agroforestry/">Restinclières</a> have confirmed the microclimatic benefits of vine agroforestry, including protection against frosts and the presence of beneficial insects. </p>
<p>Most importantly, however, the shade provided by trees seems to delay the ripening of grapes by weeks without problematically decreasing yields. This is a blessing for winemakers who are increasingly faced with grapes that <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-you-get-a-headache-after-a-good-red-wine-this-might-be-why-219649">mature too quickly</a>, have too many sugars, and give lower quality wines with too much alcohol as a result of higher annual temperatures.</p>
<h2>Roman agriculture on the world stage</h2>
<p>The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has recently <a href="https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/agroforestry-is-a-key-climate-solution--director-general-says-at-fao-council-side-event/en#:%7E:text=Rome%20%2D%20Agroforestry%20is%20a%20key,of%20the%20Food%20and%20Agriculture">stressed the benefits</a> of agroforestry in a warming world. It has emphasised in particular the need for scaling up agroforestry and its numerous environmental and socioeconomic benefits, especially in helping millions of smallholder farmers survive in an increasingly hostile climate.</p>
<p>Insights into Roman and pre-industrial practices suggest that this approach may also help winemakers to adapt to an ever-warming planet. It also begs the much wider question of what else we can learn by looking to the past as we confront an uncertain future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214518/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dimitri Van Limbergen no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.</span></em></p>
Roman agricultural techniques may help wine producers to tackle the impacts of climate change, and even the UN is getting on board.
Dimitri Van Limbergen, Postdoctoral Researcher, Ghent University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/218643
2023-11-28T11:48:11Z
2023-11-28T11:48:11Z
Museum classifies Roman emperor as trans – but modern labels oversimplify ancient gender identities
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561913/original/file-20231127-21-32qhzi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2560%2C1571&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Roses of Heliogabalus by Alma-Tadema (1888) depicts a feast thrown by Elagabalus.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roses_of_Heliogabalus#/media/File:The_Roses_of_Heliogabalus.jpg">Musée Jacquemart-André </a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elagabalus">Elagabalus</a> ruled as Roman emperor for just four years before being murdered in AD 222. He was still a teenager when he died. Despite his short reign, Elagabalus is counted among the most infamous of Roman emperors, often listed alongside <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Caligula-Roman-emperor">Caligula</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nero-Roman-emperor">Nero</a>. </p>
<p>His indiscretions, recorded by the Roman chroniclers, <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/thayer/e/roman/texts/cassius_dio/80*.html">include</a>: marrying a vestal virgin, the most chaste of Roman priestesses, twice; dressing up as a female prostitute and selling his body to other men; allowing himself to be penetrated (and by the bigger the penis the better); marrying a man, the charioteer <a href="https://dbpedia.org/page/Hierocles_(charioteer)">Hierocles</a>; and declaring himself not to be an emperor at all, but an empress: <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/thayer/e/roman/texts/cassius_dio/80*.html">“Call me not Lord, for I am a Lady”</a>.</p>
<p>Based on this quote, North Hertfordshire Museum has <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67484645">reclassified Elagabalus as a transgender woman</a>, and will now use the pronouns she/her. The museum has a single coin depicting Elagabalus, which is sometimes displayed along with other LGBTQ+ artefacts from their collection. </p>
<p>When writing about ancient subjects, from emperors to slaves, the first question historians have to ask is: how do we know what we do? Most of our written sources are fragmentary, incomplete and rarely contemporary, amounting to little more than gossip or hearsay at best, malign propaganda at worst. It’s rare that we have a figure’s own words to guide us. </p>
<p>Elagabalus is no exception. For Elagabalus, our principle source is the Roman historian <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dio-Cassius">Cassius Dio</a>. A senator and politician before turning his hand to history, Dio was not only a contemporary of the emperor, but part of his regime. </p>
<p>However, Dio wrote his Roman history under the patronage of Elagabalus’ cousin, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Severus-Alexander">Severus Alexander</a>. He took the throne following Elagabalus’s assassination. It was therefore in Dio’s interest to paint his patron’s predecessor in a bad light.</p>
<h2>Sexual slurs and the Romans</h2>
<p>Sexual slurs were always among the first insults thrown by Roman authors. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julius-Caesar-Roman-ruler">Julius Caesar</a> was accused of being penetrated by the Bithynian king so many times it earned him the nickname “<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html">the Queen of Bithynia</a>”. </p>
<p>It <a href="https://lexundria.com/cic_phil/2.44/y">was rumoured</a> that both Mark Antony and Augustus had prostituted themselves for political gain earlier in their careers. And <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html">Nero was said</a> to have worn the bridal veil to marry a man.</p>
<p>The Romans were no stranger to same-sex relationships, however. It would have been more unusual for a Roman emperor not to have slept with men. Roman sexual identities were complex constructs, revolving around notions such as status and power. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561933/original/file-20231127-17-s9tdj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bust of Elagabalus." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561933/original/file-20231127-17-s9tdj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561933/original/file-20231127-17-s9tdj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561933/original/file-20231127-17-s9tdj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561933/original/file-20231127-17-s9tdj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561933/original/file-20231127-17-s9tdj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561933/original/file-20231127-17-s9tdj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561933/original/file-20231127-17-s9tdj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bust of Elagabalus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bust_of_Elagabalus_-_Palazzo_Nuovo_-_Musei_Capitolini_-_Rome_2016.jpg">Musei Capitolini/José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The gender of a person’s sexual partner did not come into it. Instead, sexual orientation was <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265950340_Masculinity_Appearance_and_Sexuality_Dandies_in_Roman_Antiquity">informed by sexual role</a>: were they the dominant or passive partner?</p>
<p>To be the dominant partner, in business, politics and war as much as in the bedroom, was at the root of what made a Roman man a man. The Latin word we translate as “man”, <em>vir</em>, is the root of the modern word “virile”, and to the Romans there was nothing <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780691219547-003/html?lang=en">more manly than virility</a>. To penetrate – whether men, women, or both – was seen as manly, and therefore <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/roman-homosexuality-9780195388749?cc=gb&lang=en&">as Roman</a>.</p>
<p>Conversely, for a Roman man to be passive, to be penetrated, was seen as <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/roman-homosexuality-9780195388749?cc=gb&lang=en&">unmanly</a>. The Romans thought such an act of penetration stripped a man of his virility, making him <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/542474">less than a man</a> – akin to a woman or, even worse, a slave.</p>
<p>A man who enjoyed being penetrated was sometimes called a <em>cinaedus</em>, and in Latin literature <em>cinaedi</em> are often described as taking on <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3704392">the role of the woman</a> in more than the bedroom, both dressing and acting effeminately. The implication is always that the way they dressed, acted and had sex was somehow subversive – <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003184584-35/history-elagabalus-zachary-herz">distinctly un-Roman</a>.</p>
<p>The word <em>cinaedus</em> appears in Latin literature almost exclusively as an insult — and it’s this literary role that is ascribed to Caesar, Mark Antony, Nero and Elagabalus. The <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3704392">power of the insult</a> stems not from saying that these men had sex with men, but that they were penetrated by men.</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that these rules of Roman sexuality only applied to freeborn adult, male Roman citizens. They did not apply to women, slaves, freedmen, foreigners or even beardless youths. These people were all <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3704392">considered fair game</a> to a virile Roman man, as uncomfortable a concept as that might be to us today.</p>
<h2>Was Elagabalus transgender?</h2>
<p>While the Romans clearly engaged in acts that we today consider gay or straight sex, they would not recognise the sexual orientations we associate with them. The ancient Romans did not share the same conceptions of sexuality that we do. </p>
<p>Many men’s sexual behaviour was what we would now term bisexual. Some lived in a manner we might describe as gender non-conforming. The concept of a person being transgender was not unknown. But an ancient Roman would not have self-identified as any of those things. </p>
<p>We cannot retroactively apply such modern, western identities to the inhabitants of the past and we must be careful not to misgender or misidentify them – especially if our only evidence for how they might have identified comes from hostile writers.</p>
<p>In attempting to fact check the sexual slurs and propaganda from the biographical facts, there is a danger that we lose sight of the fact that ancient Romans did recognise a huge variety of sexual orientations and gender identities – just as we do today. To attempt to crudely ascribe modern labels to ancient figures such as Elagabalus is not only to strip them of their agency, but also to oversimplify what is a wonderfully, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/roman-homosexuality-9780195388749">fabulously broad</a> and nuanced subject.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
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</figure>
<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218643/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Kenrick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
We must be careful not to misgender or misidentify people of the past – especially if our only evidence for how they might have identified comes from hostile writers.
Andrew Kenrick, Visiting Research Fellow, School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing, University of East Anglia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215563
2023-10-30T17:04:08Z
2023-10-30T17:04:08Z
Boudica: Queen of War reviewed by an expert in the real ancient British ruler
<p><em>Warning: this review contains some spoilers for Boudica: Queen of War.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22688572/">Boudica: Queen of War</a> is a lively and violent retelling of the ancient British queen’s story. Written and directed by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0425364/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Jessie V. Johnson</a>, the film draws deeply upon Tacitus’ account of Boudica’s rebellion while also adopting Cassius Dio’s description of Boudica’s appearance and dress. <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-annals-9780192824219?cc=gb&lang=en&">Tacitus</a> was a Roman author writing in the late first century AD, while <a href="https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL083/1917/volume.xml">Dio</a> was a Greek author writing well over a century after the events.</p>
<p>Prasutagus (Clive Standen) is the leader of a peaceful people, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Iceni">Iceni</a>, who live in East Anglia (now in England) and want to avoid conflict with Rome. Content to live at peace on the borders of the new province, Prasutagus and his wife Boudica (Olga Kurylenko) even employ a Roman tutor to teach Latin to their daughters. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nFwuqwVLCl8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for Boudica: Queen of War.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Early in the film, Boudica visits a Roman city apparently quite close to where she is living and dresses as a Roman lady. Boudica has been portrayed in many other accounts (such as Miranda Aldhouse-Green’s <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Boudica-Britannia/Aldhouse-Green/p/book/9781032180083">Boudica Britannia</a>) as instinctively anti-Roman, so the depiction her pro-Roman family at the start of this film provides an interesting contrast. </p>
<p>The Britons are not all peaceful, however. The Iceni’s neighbours, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Trinovantes">the Trinovantes</a>, want revenge on the Romans for overthrowing their oppidum (town) and building the Roman colony at <a href="https://www.visitcolchester.com/explore/colchesters-history/roman-colchester">Camulodunum</a> (now Colchester). The film takes on board an idea emphasised in <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/conquering-the-ocean-9780190937416?cc=gb&lang=en&">recent academic accounts</a> that the ancient peoples of Britain were not united in their actions and that resistance to Rome was piecemeal.</p>
<p>Johnson’s film addresses some of the complex identities of the ancient peoples of Britain and their variable approaches to contact with and conquest by Rome, but with some confusion over the ethnicity of those involved in the action.</p>
<p>For example, Boudica’s followers in her rebellion in this film include “Saxons”, led by a warrior called Wolfgar (Peter Franzén). The Saxons did not arrive in Britain until centuries after Boudica, so they couldn’t have fought against Romans in first-century AD Britain. Films always need to be given some leeway.</p>
<p>The Scottish “Celts” are also deeply involved in the action and appear to be the same people referred to in the film as “northern Britons”. The term “Celt” has sometimes been erroneously used to suggest that the population of Iron Age Britain formed a unified whole. </p>
<h2>Depictions of the Britons and Romans</h2>
<p>The Romans in Britain, by contrast to the British, are depicted as highly aggressive and deceitful. Catus Decianus (Nick Moran), the provincial procurator, arranges the ambushing and killing of Boudica’s peaceful and loyal husband. </p>
<p>Boudica herself is flogged and dispossessed of her territories, while the Romans kill her two young daughters. This is unclear until some way through the film, since the ghostly forms of the young girls appear in subsequent actions to advise Boudica on her campaign.</p>
<p>In rebellion, Boudica abandons her Roman apparel and dresses in a long cloak with a <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/how-do-you-put-torc">torc</a> (stiff gold necklace) around her neck. This costume choice draws on Cassius Dio’s description of her, which is the only detailed account of the appearance of an ancient Briton in the classical texts. </p>
<p>The Britons in the film are dressed in cloaks and trousers and do not fight naked (which I am sure is correct, though <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/%7Egrout/encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/miscellanea/geography.html">classical accounts of barbarians</a> often emphasised their nakedness). And, of course, as always, this Boudica has red hair – another detail drawn from Dio’s description. She is also given a bronze sword handed down from a warrior ancestor. </p>
<h2>A magical touch</h2>
<p>Boudica is challenged for her role as the war leader of the Britons by Wolfgar, who seizes this sword, bends it in two and throws it into a lake which is dangerous to swimmers. This ineffectual nature of this Bronze Age weapon, according to Wolfgar, symbolises Boudica’s unsuitability to lead the rebellion. </p>
<p>Jumping into the lake, Boudica retrieves her sword – remarkably restored to pristine condition – and amply demonstrates its magical properties with a straw dummy. The director seems to have added elements of the medieval legend of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Excalibur-Arthurian-legend">Arthur and Excalibur</a> to his tale of Boudica, but I think that there may be some other inspirations. </p>
<p>This sword reminds me of the ancient weapon drawn upon by Manda Scott in the first of her excellent Boudica novels, <a href="https://mandascott.co.uk/boudica-dreaming-the-eagle/">Dreaming the Eagle</a> (2003). I wonder if Scott, in turn, was influenced by <a href="https://colchesterheritage.co.uk/Monument/MCC1356">the Bronze Age palstave</a> (axe) found in the grave of a late Iron Age king at Lexden (Colchester).</p>
<p>Not all the Romans are depicted as horrid. Emperor Nero (Harry Kirton), who resides in the city of Rome, is a troubled figure who wants to be a musician and seems to abhor violence.</p>
<p>Olga Kurylenko plays a convincing Boudica, transformed from a loving mother into a violent warrior by the events of war.</p>
<p>I found the complex issues explored by the film interesting. I particularly appreciated the way the idea that Britons could change allegiance was used. We cannot assume that Boudica was instinctively deeply anti-Roman. As Tacitus – and Johnson’s film – indicates, she was probably driven to violent action by Roman aggression.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
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</figure>
<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Hingley has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>
A lively and violent retelling of the ancient British queen’s story.
Richard Hingley, Professor of Archaeology, Durham University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/209894
2023-09-01T13:43:36Z
2023-09-01T13:43:36Z
Pulverised fuel ash: how we can recycle the dirty byproduct from coal-fired power stations
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545549/original/file-20230830-15-9481l8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4031%2C2576&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The pulverised fuel ash from coal-fired power stations is typically stored in landfill.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/coal-fired-power-station-cooling-towers-110448884">Sponner/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The ash from burning coal in coal-fired power stations lies in thousands of landfills around the world. This waste material, generally considered a hazard, is now being put to good use in the construction industry.</p>
<p><a href="https://bloombergcoalcountdown.com">More than 6,000</a> coal-fired power stations produce this powdery byproduct, which is properly known as “pulverised fuel ash” (PFA) or “fly ash”. Traditionally, it was released into the atmosphere from the smoke stack after the coal was burned, but, because of its effect on air quality, it is now captured and stored in landfills. </p>
<p><a href="https://pure.southwales.ac.uk/en/publications/effects-of-lysinibacillus-sphaericus-on-physicomechanical-and-che">Our research</a> focuses on how we can recycle and make best use of these types of dirty byproducts for the sake of the environment.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A small heap of a brown/grey ash." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545562/original/file-20230830-23-wovt73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545562/original/file-20230830-23-wovt73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545562/original/file-20230830-23-wovt73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545562/original/file-20230830-23-wovt73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545562/original/file-20230830-23-wovt73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545562/original/file-20230830-23-wovt73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545562/original/file-20230830-23-wovt73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pulverised fuel ash or fly ash is a byproduct from coal-fired power stations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fly-ash-coal-waste-used-concrete-1934812655">alegga/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-decarbonize-concrete-and-build-better-future#:%7E:text=Concrete%20is%20the%20most%2Dconsumed,and%20demand%20for%20infrastructure%20grows.">current demand</a> for concrete worldwide is around 14 billion cubic metres annually. This is projected to increase by 43% to 20 billion cubic metres by 2050. The impact of the carbon dioxide emissions (<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02612-5">8% globally</a>) that is associated with this increase, against the backdrop of the current environmental crisis, is immense. </p>
<p>There is a dire need for a change in lifestyle and for tighter environmental regulation of industrial operations and processes. This should include a serious mitigation of the worsening environmental landscape. Increasing the use of industrial waste and byproduct materials is one such strategy. </p>
<p>Some of the most abundant global waste streams result from the many years of coal mining, so the role that can be played by re-using coal waste, including PFA, is significant. </p>
<p>And this idea is based on old technology if you consider how the Romans used ash. The dome of the Pantheon in Rome, built in AD128, as well as the Colosseum, are examples of successful structures built with <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/why-modern-mortar-crumbles-roman-concrete-lasts-millennia">volcanic ash-based concrete</a>. </p>
<h2>Portland cement</h2>
<p>PFA can be blended with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/portland-cement">Portland cement</a> to make concrete. That’s the most common type of cement in general use around the world and is a basic ingredient of concrete, but also mortar, stucco and some grout. Portland cement is a hydraulic cement, which means that it reacts with water to form a paste that binds sand and rock together, creating concrete. Around <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/221654/best-ways-carbon-emissions-from-cement/">3.5 billion tonnes</a> of Portland cement are produced annually.</p>
<p>The problem, though, is that producing Portland cement uses a lot of energy and also precious natural resources. You must quarry the raw materials, which not only damages the landscape but also results in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542435121001975?dgcid=author">emissions</a> of up to 622kg of carbon dioxide per tonne of cement. </p>
<p>Lessening the impact of Portland cement on the environment is therefore vital. PFA is the most attractive byproduct for this purpose, due to its abundance and low cost. Also, if it is properly used in combination with Portland cement, it can result in stronger and <a href="http://www.xpublication.com/index.php/jcec/article/view/446">more durable concrete</a>.</p>
<p>However, as more coal-fired power stations are decommissioned and fewer come into operation worldwide, stockpiles of PFA become depleted. This means we will need to use the material more efficiently in the future. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A large industrial site featuring several buildings and chimneys" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545915/original/file-20230901-29-xrkzp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545915/original/file-20230901-29-xrkzp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545915/original/file-20230901-29-xrkzp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545915/original/file-20230901-29-xrkzp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545915/original/file-20230901-29-xrkzp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545915/original/file-20230901-29-xrkzp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545915/original/file-20230901-29-xrkzp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The now decommissioned Aberthaw power station in south Wales. On the right of the picture is the grass-topped ash mound.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ben_salter/46572448115/in/photostream/">Ben Salter/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Attention will have to shift to different types of fly ash or unburnt colliery waste. But coal mining waste, either from current or past mining activities, will continue to feature in the construction industry for a long time.</p>
<p>And besides concrete, there are also <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296519/LIT_8272_420835.pdf">other ways</a> in which we can recycle PFA. This includes using it to improve the properties of soils, making abrasives such as sandpaper and grinding wheels, and using it in the manufacturing of a variety of products, such as plastics, paints and rubber.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
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</figure>
<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 20,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209894/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Kinuthia receives funding from industry, research councils, and government sources for the furtherance of research into sustainable construction</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Oti receives receives funding from industry, research councils, and government sources for the furtherance of research into sustainable construction</span></em></p>
Pulverised fuel ash can be recycled and used to manufacture concrete as well as other products.
John Kinuthia, Professor and Manager of the Advanced Materials Testing Centre (AMTeC), University of South Wales
Jonathan Oti, Associate Professor at the Advanced Materials Testing Centre (AMTeC), University of South Wales
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/204574
2023-05-02T11:20:38Z
2023-05-02T11:20:38Z
How archaeologists reconstructed a Roman gateway to tell the story of Britain’s invasion
<p>Visitors to Richborough Roman fort near Sandwich in east Kent will now find a major new addition to the site: <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/pr-2000-year-old-roman-gateway-reconstructed-at-richborough-roman-fort/">a reconstructed Roman fort gateway</a> in timber, flanked by stretches of an earthwork rampart.</p>
<p>The gate has been built on the site of <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/richborough-roman-fort-and-amphitheatre/richborough-gateway-to-britannia/">an actual Roman gateway</a>, thought to date to the invasion of Britain in AD43 under the emperor Claudius. <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/richborough-roman-fort-and-amphitheatre/history-and-stories/gateway-britannia/">Recent re-excavation</a> revealed the emplacements of the post-holes housing the uprights of the gate, inside a pair of north-south defensive ditches.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EVoOHwtNJQ8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Footage of the reconstruction of the gateway.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The soil from these ditches would have been mounded up to create an earth rampart. These would have been a formidable defensive obstacle and typical of <a href="https://www.historyhit.com/why-were-the-romans-so-good-at-military-engineering/">Roman military engineering</a> of the first century AD.</p>
<p>Roman military defences normally enclosed a rectangular area for a camp or fort. The Richborough defences are odd in that they do not do that, but instead cut off a long stretch of land along the shore on the eastern side of the site. </p>
<p>Their full length to the north and south is unknown and much land to their east has undoubtedly been lost to erosion and the construction of the railway.</p>
<h2>What was the purpose of the gateway and defences?</h2>
<p>The defences look to be designed to secure a length of shoreline, leading <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/b-w-cunliffe-ed-fifth-report-on-the-excavations-at-the-roman-fort-at-richborough-kent-society-of-antiquaries-research-committee-report-no-xxiii-oxford-university-press-1968-5-5s/4C67C2A45B836ED503ED91C3F2DF881B">historians to suggest</a> that they were temporary defences for a beachhead. </p>
<p>The pottery from the very bottom of the ditches (therefore close in date to their digging) dates to the middle of the first century AD, so they have <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/b-w-cunliffe-ed-fifth-report-on-the-excavations-at-the-roman-fort-at-richborough-kent-society-of-antiquaries-research-committee-report-no-xxiii-oxford-university-press-1968-5-5s/4C67C2A45B836ED503ED91C3F2DF881B">long been thought</a> to be defending the beachhead for <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/romans/invasion/">the Claudian invasion force</a>.</p>
<p>This force consisted of four legions of heavy infantry (some 20,000 men) along with a probably equivalent number of auxiliary troops, cavalry and light infantry. Such a force would have needed a very large beachhead secure area, to say nothing of anchorage for all the transports for the men, horses and supplies which sailed from <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/warwickclassicsnetwork/romancoventry/resources/interactions/invasion/">the invasion base at Boulogne</a>.</p>
<p>At the time of the invasion, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Isle-of-Thanet">Isle of Thanet</a> really was an island and between it and the Kent coast was the Wantsum Channel (now long since silted up, turning Thanet into a peninsula). Richborough lay on the Kentish shore of the Wantsum, with a sheltered area for an anchorage or for beaching ships at the bottom of the sea cliff.</p>
<p>The model for the new gate structure is one carved on <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/trajan-column/article.html">Trajan’s Column in Rome</a>. The column commemorates the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Trajan">emperor Trajan’s</a> conquest of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Dacia">Dacia</a> (modern Romania) in the opening years of the second century AD, some 60 years after Claudius’ invasion of Britain.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523044/original/file-20230426-18-nhwv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Trajan’s Column in Rome, a tall engraved column with a bronze figure at the top." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523044/original/file-20230426-18-nhwv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523044/original/file-20230426-18-nhwv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523044/original/file-20230426-18-nhwv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523044/original/file-20230426-18-nhwv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523044/original/file-20230426-18-nhwv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1758&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523044/original/file-20230426-18-nhwv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1758&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523044/original/file-20230426-18-nhwv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1758&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trajan’s Column in Rome.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trajan%27s_Column_HD.jpg">Livio Andronico</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The monument was decorated with scenes showing the campaigns, with one showing Roman soldiers building a fort. The gate structure shown is one of the few pieces of evidence historians have for what these timber gateways may have looked like, since normally they have long since been demolished or rotted away.</p>
<p>Though the scenes are very immediate and vivid, there are problems with them. <a href="https://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/all-the-emperor-s-men.html">The column was a propaganda piece</a>, sculpted in marble and set up hundreds of miles from where the fighting took place, so there was quite a bit of artistic licence involved.</p>
<p>For instance, in this scene, the fortifications (which would have been of earth and turf and timber) are shown as if they were of masonry. Realism has been abandoned in favour of effect.</p>
<p>There are also problems in practical terms. The structure recreated in Richborough would have been open to the elements, fine in the campaigning season in Dacia but not very practical in a Kentish winter, with a wind off the North Sea whistling around the sentries’ <em>subligacula</em> (undergarments). </p>
<p>An enclosed, boarded structure would have been much more conducive to military effectiveness.</p>
<h2>Understanding Richborough’s significance</h2>
<p>Richborough remained <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/richborough-roman-fort-and-amphitheatre/history-and-stories/recreating-a-roman-gate/">an important entry point</a> to Britain throughout the Roman period. Remains from nearly four centuries are now visible at the site, making it difficult for visitors to understand.</p>
<p>As well as the Claudian ditches, there is the huge concrete base for a four-way arch built in the late first century or later to commemorate the acquisition of Britannia. Originally sheathed in white Carrara marble from Italy (only fragments survive), it has an inscription in gilt bronze letters.</p>
<p>After the army moved on, Richborough became a major port with, among other things, an amphitheatre, also <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/secrets-of-richborough-roman-amphitheatre-revealed-during-excavation/">recently excavated</a>. In the third century the site was refortified, initially by triple ditches around the base of the arch, then with the impressive stone walls.</p>
<p>In the fourth century it was part of a system of forts from Brancaster in Norfolk to Portchester in Hampshire, known to the Romans as the “<a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/iha-saxon-shore-forts/heag232-saxon-shore-forts/">Saxon shore</a>”, to keep the seaways safe.</p>
<p>These layers of historic developments make Richborough a complex site to understand and the ditches of the Claudian beachhead have long been overshadowed by the later remains. This new initiative by English Heritage should bring one of the most significant monuments of Roman Britain out of the shadows.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204574/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Esmonde Cleary does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The gate has been built on the site of an actual Roman gateway, thought to date to the invasion of Britain in AD 43.
Simon Esmonde Cleary, Emeritus Professor of Roman Archaeology, University of Birmingham
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/204507
2023-05-02T11:20:35Z
2023-05-02T11:20:35Z
DNA study sheds light on Scotland’s Picts, and resolves some myths about them
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523315/original/file-20230427-20-enm6fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C21%2C4716%2C3137&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pictish stones feature distinctive symbols.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Cathy MacIver</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The people known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picts">the Picts</a> have puzzled archaeologists and historians for centuries. They lived in Scotland during the early medieval period, from around AD300 to AD900, but many aspects of their society remain mysterious.</p>
<p>The Picts’ unique cultural characteristics, such as large stones decorated with distinct symbols, and lack of written records, have led to numerous theories about their origins, way of life, and culture. </p>
<p>This is commonly referred to in archaeology as the “Pictish problem”, a term popularised by the <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Problem_of_the_Picts_Edited_by_F_T_W.html?id=EWZEtwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">title of a 1955 edited book</a> by the archaeologist Frederick Threlfall Wainwright.</p>
<p>Our genetic study of human remains from this period challenges several myths about the Picts. These include a proposed origin in eastern Europe, as well as a longstanding idea that the inheritance of wealth passed down the female side of the family.</p>
<p>We attempted to shed light on the Picts’ origins and legacy by sequencing whole genomes – the full complement of DNA in human cells – from skeletons excavated at two cemeteries. </p>
<h2>Stone monuments</h2>
<p>These cemeteries, at Balintore in Easter Ross and Lundin Links in Fife, date to between the 5th and 7th centuries AD. The results of our research have been <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1010360">published in PLOS Genetics</a>.</p>
<p>The Balintore burials are not well understood, but Lundin Links is characterised by <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00766097.2017.1296031">exceptional stone monuments</a>. The burials take the form of round or rectangular cairns – where numerous stones are piled up as markers – and long cists. Cists are stone-built “boxes” that hold the remains of the dead. </p>
<p>The cemetery probably housed people of a high-status, but this is still hypothetical due to the limited knowledge of these burials and society more generally during this period. Human remains in general from the Pictish era are relatively scarce and often poorly preserved.</p>
<p>There is no known settlement associated with Lundin Links. This is a common issue in Pictish archaeology, as the extent of their settlements is still largely unknown. Recently, however, excavations led by Professor Gordon Noble at the University of Aberdeen have <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Picts/J1iZEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0">discovered several new Pictish sites</a>, frequently hillforts, around Scotland.</p>
<h2>Origin myths</h2>
<p>In our study, we looked at how genetically similar the Pictish genomes were to other ancient genomes from Britain and Ireland, Scandinavia and mainland Europe dating to the Iron Age, Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods. Our findings support a prevailing view that the Picts descended from Iron Age groups in Britain and Ireland. </p>
<p>This contrasts with older, often elaborate, myths of exotic origins, such as the one recounted in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesiastical_History_of_the_English_People#:%7E:text=The%20Ecclesiastical%20History%20of%20the,Roman%20Rite%20and%20Celtic%20Christianity.">Ecclesiastical History of the English People</a>, written by the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Bede-the-Venerable">Anglo-Saxon scholar Bede</a> in AD731. This claimed that the Picts migrated from Scythia (a historical region around the northern coast of the Black Sea) to northern Britain.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="DNA double helix" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The researchers used a method that involves looking at long stretches of DNA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/blue-helix-human-dna-structure-1669326868">Billion Photos / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other theories include an origin in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrace">Thrace</a> (a historical region in south-east Europe) and islands to the north of Britain.</p>
<p>We sequenced two genomes to medium or high coverage, meaning that we determined the order of the “letters” in the DNA code multiple times while piecing together the highly fragmented genetic sequence. This allowed us to “zoom in” on the genetic diversity – or variation – in the ancient and modern people from our study, gaining greater analytical resolution.</p>
<p>We were able to look at fine-scale differences among ancient and modern groups across Britain and Ireland. We applied a method that investigates something called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_by_descent">identity-by-descent (IBD)</a>. This involves looking at relatively long stretches of DNA (“chunks” of chromosomes) that are shared by different individuals. </p>
<p>IBD is an indicator of relatedness via shared genetic ancestors. While we all share ancestors, sometimes we share more recent genetic ancestors with some individuals than with others. In this scenario, we would also share more IBD segments of DNA. </p>
<h2>Female inheritance</h2>
<p>The Pictish genomes share more long DNA chunks with present-day people from western Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We interpreted this as a sign of genetic continuity from the Pictish period to the present-day. </p>
<p>But present-day populations in Britain and Ireland also share relatively high amounts of IBD segments with Anglo-Saxon genomes from southern regions, suggesting mixture between populations in a south-to-north direction.</p>
<p>This fascinating insight provides a glimpse into the demographic processes that have shaped genetic diversity and population structure in present-day populations. However, there were also small but significant differences in the genetic similarity between Pictish genomes and other ancient groups, such as Iron Age genomes we compared them with. </p>
<p>This suggests that “Pictish genetic ancestry” was not static or homogenous. Instead, the genetic variation among ancient people reflects dynamic and complex communities.</p>
<p>Lastly, we managed to address an intriguing question. Bede stated that when the Picts stopped off in Ireland before settling in Britain, they were allowed to marry local women on the condition that Pictish succession passed down the female line. </p>
<p>This led to the notion that the Picts followed a tradition of “matrilineal succession”, where the sister’s son inherits the wealth instead of sons on the male line – a system often associated with women marrying locally. Scholars now believe this idea was probably fabricated to boost Pictish identity and validate specific rulers.</p>
<p>We sequenced complete genomes of mitochondria – structures in cells, often described as biological “batteries” – in seven samples from Lundin Links. They all carried unique mutations, meaning that none of the individuals were closely related on the maternal line. </p>
<p>This is more consistent with female exogamy, where women marry outside their social group. This is just one population sample from one location, though, so more research is required to test whether this holds elsewhere.</p>
<p>The study fills gaps in our understanding of the genetic landscape of Britain and Ireland during the early medieval period. It provides a baseline for future studies to investigate the complex genetic ancestry of present-day populations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204507/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linus Girdland Link was supported by the school of geoscience, University of Aberdeen. Kate Britton was supported by the Leverhulme Trust during production of this manuscript. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adeline Morez was supported by ECR strategic support of early career researchers in the faculty of science at LJMU, awarded to Linus Girdland-Flink.</span></em></p>
The genetic study challenges previous theories about the origins and culture of the Picts.
Linus Girdland Flink, Visiting lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, lecturer in biomolecular archaeology, University of Aberdeen
Adeline Morez, Post-doctorate researcher, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, visiting lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/197816
2023-03-22T17:18:31Z
2023-03-22T17:18:31Z
How a local community helped us make incredible prehistoric discoveries
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516900/original/file-20230322-22-l769gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C18%2C4160%2C3095&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Around 400 local children have been involved in this archaeological project in Cardiff, Wales.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vivian Paul Thomas</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The knowledge and control of bronze gave some people who lived between 2200BC and 700BC enormous wealth and power. Their lives and deeds were immortalised by their burial mounds, known as barrows and cairns, which still litter our landscape today. Incredibly though, finding the places where <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Bronze-Age">bronze age</a> people lived has proven to be very difficult. </p>
<p>In south Wales, for example, only a handful of settlements are <a href="https://museum.wales/articles/1339/Prehistoric-feasting-in-south-Wales/">known</a> about. Typically, all that remain are the ruins of a flimsy roundhouse or two. We have little else to tell us about the lives of the inhabitants. Maybe that’s because bronze age people had mobile lifestyles, moving around the landscape with their herds from season to season but never staying in the same place too long. That’s one argument, anyway. </p>
<p>However, in the summer of 2022, a collaborative, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335914255_The_Caerau_and_Ely_Rediscovering_Heritage_Project_legacies_of_co-produced_research">community-led archaeological excavation</a> on the outskirts of Cardiff began to challenge those assumptions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustration depicts a prehistoric bearded man pouring liquid into a mould. Two men in the background are gathered around a fire." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516899/original/file-20230322-399-mcbkan.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516899/original/file-20230322-399-mcbkan.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516899/original/file-20230322-399-mcbkan.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516899/original/file-20230322-399-mcbkan.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516899/original/file-20230322-399-mcbkan.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516899/original/file-20230322-399-mcbkan.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516899/original/file-20230322-399-mcbkan.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The bronze age is the name given to the period of time between 2200BC and 700BC.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/foundry-workshop-on-outskirts-lake-town-1122922061">Morphart Creation</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s hard to imagine how our prehistoric ancestors would have reacted when they first began to make and use metal. They took rocks that sparkled with green and silver, crushed and heated them until they became liquid. They then poured this elixir into moulds before cooling and breaking them open to reveal the dark golden-coloured metallic objects inside. It must have appeared like magic. </p>
<p>Since 2011, our <a href="https://www.caerheritage.org">CAER Heritage Project</a> has mobilised people in the Cardiff suburbs of Caerau and Ely to imagine and explore such history and archaeology. Both areas face challenges such as high unemployment and poor educational attainment. But they are also home to a host of extremely friendly and talented people, not to mention some outstanding heritage too.</p>
<p>Until recently, much of our archaeological investigation had focused on the <a href="https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/130880/1/Davis_and_Sharples_Glamorgan_Hillforts_Caerau.pdf">Caerau hillfort</a>. This is the largest and most impressive iron age (700BC) hillfort in the region and is almost entirely surrounded by houses. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of school children stand in a field with their backs towards the camera. A man stands in front of them pointing towards something." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516749/original/file-20230321-2560-3ljuag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2048%2C1532&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516749/original/file-20230321-2560-3ljuag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516749/original/file-20230321-2560-3ljuag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516749/original/file-20230321-2560-3ljuag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516749/original/file-20230321-2560-3ljuag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516749/original/file-20230321-2560-3ljuag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516749/original/file-20230321-2560-3ljuag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Local schoolchildren gather near the Caerau hillfort.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vivian Paul Thomas</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://caerheritageproject.com/discover/">We discovered</a> that the hilltop was used as a gathering place during the stone age (3600BC), before the hillfort was built around 600BC. </p>
<p>Over the last couple of years, we have taken archaeology into the housing estates themselves. During the COVID lockdowns between 2020 and 2021, local residents did “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-53234395">mini-digs</a>” in their gardens. Many <a href="https://caerheritageproject.com/2020/07/16/caer-big-dig-the-big-discoveries-so-far/">discovered</a> prehistoric items such as flints and pottery shards. </p>
<p>The best chance of finding the places where prehistoric people lived was in a large area of open ground known as Trelai Park, which is around 1,500 metres east of the Caerau hillfort. The park is today used for sport but in its centre are the remains of a <a href="http://www.cardiffparks.org.uk/otheropenspaces/trelaipark/info/romanvilla.shtml">Roman villa</a>, which was excavated in 1922 by the renowned archaeologist, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mortimer-Wheeler">Sir Mortimer Wheeler</a>. </p>
<p>A century later, in April 2022, we completed a “geophysical survey” of the park with local school children and adults. Geophysics is a process using a machine called a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/magnetometer">magnetometer</a>, which allows archaeologists to “see” under the ground without removing the soil and helps us work out where to dig.</p>
<p>We had expected to find more Roman remains, but around 200 metres south of the villa, we discovered an intriguing square enclosure.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Looking over the shoulder of a man wearing a baseball cap who is using a tool to carve out a section of earth." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516908/original/file-20230322-26-zw4oej.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516908/original/file-20230322-26-zw4oej.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516908/original/file-20230322-26-zw4oej.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516908/original/file-20230322-26-zw4oej.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516908/original/file-20230322-26-zw4oej.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516908/original/file-20230322-26-zw4oej.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516908/original/file-20230322-26-zw4oej.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vivian Paul Thomas</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Digging beneath one of the football pitches last summer, we revealed the <a href="https://the-past.com/news/remains-of-a-bronze-age-roundhouse-unearthed-in-near-cardiff/">remains of a substantial roundhouse</a>. It was made from timber and thatch which had long since rotted away, but the big post holes that held up its circular wall still survived. </p>
<p>A radiocarbon date from a piece of burnt wood indicated it was built around 1500BC, which is the middle of the bronze age. That makes it the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-62155069">oldest known house in the Welsh capital</a>. </p>
<p>Even more amazingly, the floor surface that its occupants had walked, worked and slept on was still there. Trampled into this floor were finds of flint and stone tools, pottery and burnt bones which gave us a glimpse into bronze age daily life. </p>
<p>Surrounding the roundhouse was a large ditch and bank which was the square enclosure we had discovered through geophysics. Placed into the ditch was an <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-62155069">extraordinary complete pot</a>, beautifully decorated in bronze age “<a href="https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/details.xhtml?recordId=3246094&recordType=MonographSeries">Trevisker</a>” style. This type of decoration is common in Devon and Cornwall but this pot was made from local Welsh clay. Perhaps it was a copy made by bronze age travellers 3,500 years ago. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A pair of hands wearing rubber gloves holds up a muddy object." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516909/original/file-20230322-1452-pa1ljw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516909/original/file-20230322-1452-pa1ljw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516909/original/file-20230322-1452-pa1ljw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516909/original/file-20230322-1452-pa1ljw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516909/original/file-20230322-1452-pa1ljw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516909/original/file-20230322-1452-pa1ljw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516909/original/file-20230322-1452-pa1ljw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Was this clay pot made by bronze age travellers?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vivian Paul Thomas</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>No other bronze age settlement like this has been discovered in south Wales and we have plenty of questions as a result, which, so far, remain unanswered.</p>
<p>One thing we do know is that none of these discoveries could have been made without the passion and participation of local people. Almost 400 children were involved in the dig as well as hundreds of volunteers, who gave more than 3,000 hours of their time to help out. </p>
<p>What sets CAER apart from many other community archaeology projects is that the people have remained involved in the work way beyond just the excavation process. Children and adults have sieved, cleaned and analysed our finds and continue to research the bronze age in their spare time. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An aerial shot of a green field with three separate archaeological excavations taking place. There are precise holes in the ground and a blue tent set up." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516922/original/file-20230322-18-qmmcss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516922/original/file-20230322-18-qmmcss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516922/original/file-20230322-18-qmmcss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516922/original/file-20230322-18-qmmcss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516922/original/file-20230322-18-qmmcss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516922/original/file-20230322-18-qmmcss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516922/original/file-20230322-18-qmmcss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The archaeological dig in Trelai Park took place on the football pitch.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Crown Copyright RCAHMW</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Buoyed by such enthusiasm, we will be back digging in Trelai Park this summer, where once again we will be working alongside our passionate citizen archaeologist colleagues. We’re excited at the prospect of what we may uncover.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197816/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Oliver Davis receives funding from AHRC, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council Wales, Royal Archaeological Institute, Prehistoric Society, Cambrian Archaeological Association. </span></em></p>
Since 2011, professional and amateur archaeologists in Cardiff have been unearthing prehistoric artefacts. But last summer, they began to discover something even more extraordinary.
Oliver Davis, Senior lecturer, Cardiff University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/201352
2023-03-13T16:29:18Z
2023-03-13T16:29:18Z
Were there gladiators in Roman Britain? An expert reviews the evidence
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514013/original/file-20230307-20-md4g9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4583%2C3215&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Colchester vase, dating to the later second century AD.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flickr.com/photos/41523983@N08/23175635162">Following Hadrian/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1853, <a href="http://teachinghistory100.org/objects/about_the_object/roman_gladiators">a Roman vase</a> was found being used as a container for ashes in a grave outside Roman Colchester. Dating to the later second century AD, it depicted four gladiators with their names scratched into the surface of the vase. </p>
<p>Two of the gladiators, Memnon and Valentinus, were shown as the classic pairing of a lightly armed but nimble <em>retiarius</em> (net man) and heavily armed but cumbersome <em>secutor</em> (pursuer). The <em>retiatius</em>, Valentinus, has lost his weapon – a trident – and holds up his finger as a sign of submission. </p>
<p>Long thought to be an import, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-64855991">fabric analysis has now shown</a> the vessel to be of local manufacture. The ashes the vessel contained were of a male of about 40 years of age and not of local origin. Could he have been a gladiator?</p>
<p>Gladiators are one of the <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203187982/story-roman-amphitheatre-david-bomgardner">emblematic images of the Roman world</a>. Massive amphitheatres, depictions of gladiators in Roman art and literature and more recent portrayals such as Russell Crowe’s portrayal of the Roman general-turned-fighter, Maximus Decimus Meridius in the film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ieIbInFpg">Gladiator</a> (2000) have all contributed to the perception of blood and gore, crowd frenzy, Christians and lions, the caprices of emperors. </p>
<p>The origins of gladiatorial spectacle go back to <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Blood_in_the_Arena.html?id=VRG1m8LjUloC&redir_esc=y">the Roman Republic</a> (the ancient state centred on the city of Rome founded in 509BC), where it was originally associated with funeral games for prominent men. Gladiators represented a propitiatory blood offering, skirting close to being a <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Blood_in_the_Arena.html?id=VRG1m8LjUloC&redir_esc=y">form of human sacrifice</a>. </p>
<p>By the second century BC, gladiators had become professionals, forming corporations under a <em>lanista</em> (trainer). Normally selected from prisoners of war, criminals and slaves, they had little if any social standing. Nevertheless, as the Colchester vase shows, they could become celebrities and could be awarded the <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/rudis-symbol-of-gladiators-freedom-118423"><em>rudis</em></a> (a wooden sword signifying freedom). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An aerial view of the remains of the Caerleon amphitheatre now covered in grass." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514016/original/file-20230307-121-wzbxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514016/original/file-20230307-121-wzbxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514016/original/file-20230307-121-wzbxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514016/original/file-20230307-121-wzbxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514016/original/file-20230307-121-wzbxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514016/original/file-20230307-121-wzbxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514016/original/file-20230307-121-wzbxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Caerleon Roman amphitheatre in Wales.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-welsh-town-caerleon-wales-1775132039">steved_np3/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Gladiatorial weapons training was introduced to the Roman army and thereafter there was a strong link between soldiers and gladiatorial games. Many <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270136142_The_Roman_Amphitheatre_From_Its_Origins_to_the_Colosseum_Book_Review">amphitheatres in the European provinces</a> were built at colonies of military veterans (<em>coloniae</em>), meaning they became part of the monumental equipment of Roman-style cities in the empire and beyond.</p>
<p>So the construction of amphitheatres and the staging of gladiatorial games in a province such as Britain shows the local populations buying into this aspect of Roman cultural values as sponsors and as spectators. </p>
<p>Most amphitheatres in Britain were not constructed in stone, but were instead large banks of earth carrying timber seating, a little like American “bleachers”, either side of an elliptical arena with entrances at either end. Large examples such as that at <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/cirencester-amphitheatre/">Cirencester</a> could have sat several thousand people. They showed off the assimilation to Roman ways of the local nobles who financed their construction and the games. </p>
<p>Gladiatorial combat’s strong links with the army explains why the two major stone amphitheatres in Britain were at the legionary fortresses of <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/chesters-roman-fort-and-museum-hadrians-wall/">Chester</a> and <a href="https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/caerleon-roman-fortress-and-baths">Caerleon</a>. Colchester was a colony for military veterans, so an amphitheatre there would be expected, though archaeologists have not yet located one.</p>
<h2>Evidence of gladiators in Britain</h2>
<p>More tangible evidence of the gladiators themselves in Britain is harder to come by. But some recent discoveries allow us to flesh out the picture. </p>
<p>There must have been an amphitheatre at the long-lived, legionary fortress of York, but it is yet to be discovered. Excavations between 2004 and 2005 at <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c62d8bb809d8e27588adcc0/t/5ce6b7fd9140b77268a26a9f/1558624260806/Romans-lose-thier-heads-AYW6.pdf">York’s Driffield Terrace</a> uncovered 82 Roman burials and 14 cremations dating largely to the third century. </p>
<p>The sex and age profile of the buried bodies was very unusual. They were almost all males and aged from their late teens to their early forties. </p>
<p>These men were generally taller and more robust than the average male burial from Roman Britain. <a href="https://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/new-blog/gladiators">Evidence suggested</a> that they had geographically more varied origins than men from Roman York in general. </p>
<p>Extraordinarily, more than half of the men had been decapitated, the skull placed in the grave with the corpse. </p>
<p>How to interpret them? Given that the age range is that for service in the Roman army, <a href="https://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/new-blog/gladiators">one hypothesis</a> was that they were soldiers executed for serious offences. But <a href="https://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/new-blog/gladiators">further research</a> has shown evidence that they suffered blunt force trauma, often to the head. Could they have been gladiators? </p>
<p>Intriguingly, the pelvis of one of the men has indentations consistent with the bite of a large carnivore. Perhaps an instance of the Roman capital punishment of <a href="https://visit-colosseum-rome.com/damnatio-ad-bestias/"><em>damnatio ad bestias</em></a> – being thrown to the beasts in the arena.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mosaic showing gladiators fighting off a tiger with a spear" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514018/original/file-20230307-20-kjfrr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514018/original/file-20230307-20-kjfrr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514018/original/file-20230307-20-kjfrr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514018/original/file-20230307-20-kjfrr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514018/original/file-20230307-20-kjfrr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514018/original/file-20230307-20-kjfrr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514018/original/file-20230307-20-kjfrr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gladiators fighting a tiger in detail of floor mosaic from the Great Palace of Constantinople.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/ancient-roman-mosaic-museumistanbulturkey-81067159">Sadik Gulec/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Occasionally, other finds suggest an interest in gladiatorial combat in Britain. Three mosaics from villas in <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g23561904-d190074-i330238867-Bignor_Roman_Villa-Bignor_West_Sussex_England.html">Sussex</a>, <a href="http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR046/KAR046_mosaics.htm">Kent</a> and the <a href="https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=2369">Isle of Wight</a> show gladiators, but since at one site this entailed cupids dressed as gladiators, these were probably just artistic conventions rather than representations of Roman British reality. </p>
<p>More convincingly, <a href="https://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/10536181.pictures-unearthed-roman-pottery-fragment-thought-to-depict-lion-killing-gladiator/">pieces of pottery</a> with representations of gladiators have been recovered from both Chester and Cirencester – both places with amphitheatres. These were in red gloss pottery mass produced in present-day France. Perhaps they were imported as souvenirs for people attending gladiatorial spectacles.</p>
<p>Other objects show the hold of gladiators on the popular imagination, such as an <a href="https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en-US/roman/clasp-knife-handle-in-the-form-of-a-gladiator-from-south-shields-2nd-3rd-century-ad-ivory/ivory/asset/44074">ivory clasp knife handle</a> showing a gladiator from the Roman fort at South Shields. </p>
<p>It seems that by the fourth century AD the amphitheatres in Roman Britain were falling into disuse as cultural tastes shifted. But as the Colchester vase has shown, people in Roman Britain – at least for a time – viewed gladiators as celebrities, not unlike modern day sports stars.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201352/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Esmonde Cleary does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Colchester vase contains the remains a male of about 40 years of age and not of local origin. Could he have been a gladiator?
Simon Esmonde Cleary, Emeritus Professor of Roman Archaeology, University of Birmingham
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/200387
2023-02-22T12:11:01Z
2023-02-22T12:11:01Z
Roman dildo could have been made by shoemakers – an expert in ancient prosthetics explains
<p>In 1992, archaeologists excavating at the site of the <a href="https://www.vindolanda.com/roman-vindolanda-fort-museum">Roman fort of Vindolanda</a> on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, England discovered what they thought was a darning tool. The artefact was subsequently ignored and as a result remained unresearched. Until now.</p>
<p>Recently, archaeologists Rob Collins of Newcastle University and Rob Sands of University College Dublin took another look at the artefact and had a shock. Upon examination, they came to a somewhat different interpretation, identifying it not as a darning tool, but as a phallus. And not just any phallus: to date, the only known life size wooden phallus to have survived intact from the Roman period. </p>
<p>Through my research into <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/classical-studies/ancient-history/prosthetics-and-assistive-technology-ancient-greece-and-rome?format=HB">ancient prosthetics</a>, I know that Roman shoemakers often moonlighted in a more daring trade. Could they have been behind this wooden tool, which looks to be an ancient Roman dildo?</p>
<p>Stone, metal, bone and ceramic phalluses are already widely known from other Roman sites. While phalluses made of organic materials such as wood and leather must have been equally popular during the Roman period, they would only survive in the archaeological record under certain environmental conditions – either very wet or very dry. </p>
<p>Vindolanda has the former and has for many years been astounding archaeologists with its treasures. These have ranged from wooden tablets bearing ancient private letters (including an <a href="https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/TabVindol291">invitation to a birthday party</a>) to a pair of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-43120942">leather boxing gloves</a>, to a <a href="https://www.vindolanda.com/toilet-seat">wooden toilet seat</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.vindolanda.com/Blog/wooden-phallus">The Vindolanda phallus</a>, as it is now being called, was recovered from a deposit dating to the late second century CE and is extremely well preserved. </p>
<p>It is carved from ash wood and was probably whittled with a single tool by someone with a degree of woodcarving experience, since there is no evidence of mistakes made in the process. It is 16cm long but it may originally have been longer and larger, as wood is prone to shrinking and warping over time.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pompeiis-house-of-the-vettii-reopens-a-reminder-that-roman-sexuality-was-far-more-complex-than-simply-gay-or-straight-197978">Pompeii’s House of the Vettii reopens: a reminder that Roman sexuality was far more complex than simply gay or straight</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The phallus was a ubiquitous image in the Roman world. Where once phalluses were viewed very literally and thought to point the way to brothels, these days they are usually interpreted as being “apotropaic” – a means of protection and warding off bad luck. Consequently, there are several intriguing possibilities about how this Vindolanda phallus could have been used.</p>
<h2>Theories on the wooden Roman phallus</h2>
<p>Certainly, the artefact could have been used in a sexual context. However, it could equally have been used as a pestle along with a mortar in food or medicine preparation. If so, perhaps the phallic motif was believed to strengthen the properties of the ingredients.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511474/original/file-20230221-14-da3g7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A boys head sits atom a square column with a penis engraved at the appropriate height." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511474/original/file-20230221-14-da3g7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511474/original/file-20230221-14-da3g7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511474/original/file-20230221-14-da3g7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511474/original/file-20230221-14-da3g7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511474/original/file-20230221-14-da3g7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511474/original/file-20230221-14-da3g7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511474/original/file-20230221-14-da3g7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An example of a Roman herm with the head of Mercury.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/image/968544001">The Trustees of the British Museum</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Alternatively, it could have been slotted into a statue, such as a representation of the gods Priapus or Silvanus, or even just a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/herm">herm</a> (a sculpture with a head and squared lower section on which genitals may also be carved), either freestanding or mounted on a building, that people approached to touch or rub for good luck. </p>
<p>The lack of wear indicates that if it was slotted into a statue, that statue was indoors, not exposed to the Northumbrian elements that the soldiers stationed at Vindolanda <a href="https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/TabVindol234">frequently complained about</a> in their correspondence.</p>
<p>The archaeologists who reexamined and re-identified the artefact <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/feb/20/its-not-a-darning-tool-its-a-very-naughty-toy-roman-dildo-found">lean more towards</a> interpreting it as a pestle or a statue component than as a sex toy. </p>
<p>However, that the phallus was discovered in a ditch with dozens of shoes and clothing accessories and waste products such as off cuts of leather and pieces of worked antler, is fascinating. It adds weight to the theory that the phallus could have been a dildo.</p>
<p>Ancient artisans such as shoemakers could turn their hands to all manner of things and while many men’s, women’s and children’s shoes have been excavated at Vindolanda, there would have been plenty of time during the long, dark, Northern nights for shoemakers to indulge in side hustles.</p>
<p>Just as we today like to equate foot size and penis size, in antiquity connections were frequently made between feet and phalluses. The poet Herodas <a href="https://www.elfinspell.com/Mimes.html#refchap6">describes two women</a> named Coritto and Metro discussing Coritto’s newly acquired scarlet leather dildo, with Metro wanting to know where she can get one just like it and Coritto referring her to the local shoemaker, Cerdon. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.elfinspell.com/Mimes.html#refchap7">subsequent instalment</a>, Herodas describes Metro patronising Cerdon in order to make her dream a reality and Cerdon presenting her with an extensive catalogue of “shoes” to choose from. Perhaps the town outside the Vindolanda fort was home to an equally enterprising shoemaker.</p>
<p>Although the excavations at Vindolanda have been going on for decades, the site still has the capacity to surprise and amaze us with the access it gives us to the most intimate aspects of the lives of the Romans living there 2,000 years ago.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200387/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Draycott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
There would have been plenty of time during the long, dark, Northern nights for ancient Roman shoemakers to indulge in side hustles.
Jane Draycott, Lecturer, Classics, University of Glasgow
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/196726
2023-02-13T13:24:14Z
2023-02-13T13:24:14Z
What a second-century Roman citizen, Lucian, can teach us about diversity and acceptance
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509024/original/file-20230208-16-u2rw3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C2309%2C1732&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lucian of Samosata, a high-ranking Roman official.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/lucian-of-samosata-an-assyrian-rhetorician-and-satirist-who-news-photo/526916092?phrase=lucian%20of%20samosata&adppopup=true">Michael Nicholson/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People who don’t fit the dominant demographic of where they live can often be asked, “Where are you really from?” </p>
<p>In 2017, CNN surveyed about 2,000 people who shared their stories on social media with the hashtag <a href="https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2017/08/opinion/where-im-really-from/">#whereiamreallyfrom</a>. The participants included first- and second-generation immigrants, naturalized individuals and others who were native-born citizens. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://classics.ufl.edu/people/faculty/bozia/">classical studies scholar</a> with a focus on linguistic and cultural diversity in Imperial Greek and Latin literature, I am aware that this question is not a new one.</p>
<p>Take Lucian, a high-ranking Roman official in the second century. Born in Syria, he later chose to be a naturalized Roman. As a non-native speaker of Greek and Latin who, by his own admission, looked different from many people in Greece and Rome, he dealt with <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Lucian-and-His-Roman-Voices-Cultural-Exchanges-and-Conflicts-in-the-Late/Bozia/p/book/9780367870676">issues of ethnicity, language use and social acceptance</a>.</p>
<h2>The Roman world</h2>
<p>The time of the Roman Empire is a unique historical period that, in many respects, can be seen as a lived lesson for issues of diversity and inclusion. By Lucian’s time, the <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631492228">Romans had conquered</a> Spain, France, parts of Germany and Britain, Greece, the North Africa coast and much of the Middle East, among other territories.</p>
<p>As occupiers, they did impose their rule with military means. Still, they accepted their subjects’ differences, granted privileges to several provinces and gave citizenship on a case-by-case basis until A.D. 212, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-roman-citizenship-9780198148470?cc=us&lang=en&">when everyone was given Roman citizenship</a>.</p>
<p>Their pragmatic aim was to maintain stability and ensure cooperation. The result was a multilingual, multicultural and cosmopolitan empire. People were allowed to retain their ethnicity, language, culture and religion for the most part. Latin was [not imposed except in the army] and administration; Greek was established as the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511627323">language of the educated</a>. </p>
<p>This period could be said to resemble our current times: People traveled, relocated and worked in different parts of the empire. Also, there were scholars and writers who were trilingual and multicultural. For instance, there were African authors who wrote in Latin and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Apuleius-and-Africa/Lee-Finkelpearl-Graverini/p/book/9780367867157">were also fluent in Greek</a>, and Romans <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009840X00114982">who were fluent in Greek</a>, too. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Page of an old manuscript with writing in Latin." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509025/original/file-20230208-19-3b8lg7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Title page of a 1619 Latin translation of Lucian’s complete works.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lukian_von_Samosata_Opera.jpg">Private collection via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These authors wrote about their <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/greek-literature-and-the-roman-empire-9780199240357?cc=us&lang=en&">sense of identity and belonging</a> and were proud of their ability to remain true to their origins while also adapting to the conditions of the global world of the empire. On the other hand, there were also other authors who were anti-immigration and <a href="https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/_flysystem/fedora/pdf/141160.pdf">critical of new citizens and non-native speakers</a>, and others who showed that Roman occupation weighed heavily on their subjects. </p>
<h2>So, where was Lucian really from?</h2>
<p>Lucian is a <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/hellenism-and-empire-9780198152316?cc=us&lang=en&">cosmopolitan</a> individual. He was born in Samosata, which was in Syria until it was incorporated into the Roman Empire. He traveled to Cappadocia, Pontus, Athens, Rome, Gaul and Egypt. He wrote in perfect Greek; he was in the entourage of the Roman Emperor Lucius Verus and served as the secretariat of the Roman prefect in Egypt. </p>
<p>Throughout all his works, Lucian clearly suggests that he should be accepted in this new world as the model of the new citizens – individuals who were open about their ethnic identity yet embraced the Greco-Roman culture and contributed to advancing contemporary social inclusion.</p>
<p>In his essay “<a href="http://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=home:texts_and_library:essays:the-vision">The Dream</a>,” Lucian imagines his future as an underrepresented citizen. He writes that two women appeared in his sleep: an elegant one representing Greek education and a rugged one representing a craftsman’s life. The former promised him a life of popularity among the world’s elite. He chooses to be a well-to-do man of letters who overcame his humble origins and succeeded in a cosmopolitan society, even though he was not a native speaker or a native citizen.</p>
<p>In another one of his writings, “Zeuxis,” he writes about about his fluency in Greek and insists that <a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl207.htm">he should not be seen as an outsider</a> because he is as articulate as any native-born Greek speaker. </p>
<p>He becomes more emboldened in his treatise “<a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl204.htm">A Slip of the Tongue in Greeting</a>.” Here, he intentionally makes a mistake in a salutation and supposedly writes to apologize. In reality, however, he shows his knowledge of Greek cultural norms and, at the same time, clearly proves that he is versed in Roman culture, too. </p>
<p>On the other hand, he also wrote a piece titled “<a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl4/wl404.htm">My Native Land</a>,” in which he says that no matter the languages one learns, the cultures one acculturates oneself to, and the global recognition, they are always their motherland’s sons and daughters – proud of them and indebted to them.</p>
<p>Lucian’s work provides a unique insight into a world of imperialism that also fostered multilingualism and multiculturalism and gave birth to the first global citizens. His writings show what diversity and inclusion can look like through the eyes of the empire’s newest citizens – and offers illuminating lessons from an often forgotten classical past.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196726/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eleni Bozia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Lucian’s work provides insight into the second-century Roman world, which fostered multilingualism and multiculturalism.
Eleni Bozia, Associate Professor of Classics and Digital Humanities, University of Florida
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/181454
2022-04-26T12:35:06Z
2022-04-26T12:35:06Z
Going underground: Ukraine’s subterranean fighters highlight the benefit – and long history – of tunnels in warfare
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459531/original/file-20220425-26-z10wv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C51%2C3431%2C2229&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ukrainian fighters entering a tunnel.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ukrainian-soldiers-walk-through-a-tunnel-of-a-trench-on-the-news-photo/1239919477?adppopup=true">Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Faced with the prospect of sending Russian troops into subterranean combat, Vladimir Putin demurred. “There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground,” he <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-cancels-russian-plans-storm-mariupol-steel-plant-opts-blockade-instead-2022-04-21/">told his defense minister on April 21, 2022</a>, ordering him to cancel a planned storming of a steel plant in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.</p>
<p>While Putin’s back-up plan – to form a seal around trapped Ukrainian forces and wait it out – is no less brutal and there are reports that Russians <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-presidential-adviser-says-russian-forces-trying-storm-azovstal-plant-2022-04-24/">may still have mounted an offensive on the site</a>, Putin’s hesitancy to send his forces into a sprawling network of tunnels under the complex hints at a truth in warfare: Tunnels can be an effective tool in resisting an oppressor.</p>
<p>Indeed since the war began in February, reports have emerged of Ukrainian defenders <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10714221/Ukrainian-tunnel-fighters-Mariupol-hellish-stand-Stalingrad-esque-steel-plant.html">using underground tunnel networks</a> in efforts to deny Russian invaders control of major cities, as well as <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/preparing-odesas-catacombs-for-a-russian-assault">to provide sanctuary</a> <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-invasion-kyiv-underground-shelter-russia/31721685.html">for civilians</a>.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/ACSC/Display/Article/2480528/department-of-research/">expert in military history and theory</a>, I know there is sound thinking behind <a href="https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/190444/springer_-_tunneling_in_warfare.pdf">using tunnels as both a defensive and offensive tactic</a>. Such networks allow small units to move undetected by aerial sensors and emerge in unexpected locations to launch surprise attacks and then essentially disappear. For an invader who does not possess a thorough map of the subterranean passages, this can present a nightmare scenario, leading to massive personnel losses, plummeting morale and an inability to finish the conquest of their urban objective – all factors that may have factored in Putin’s <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mariupol-ukraine-putin-russia-plans-cancel/">decision not to send troops underground</a> in Mariupol.</p>
<h2>A history of military tunneling from ancient roots</h2>
<p>The use of tunnels and underground chambers in times of conflict is nothing new.</p>
<p>The use of tunnels has been a <a href="https://www.fpri.org/article/2015/04/fighting-under-the-earth-the-history-of-tunneling-in-warfare/">common aspect of warfare for millennia</a>. Ancient besieging forces used tunneling operations as a means to weaken otherwise well-fortified positions. This typically required engineers to construct long passages under walls or other obstacles. Collapsing the tunnel weakened the fortification. If well-timed, an assault conducted in the immediate aftermath of the breach might lead to a successful storming of the defended position. </p>
<p>One of the earliest examples of this technique is <a href="https://blog.britishmuseum.org/introducing-the-assyrians/">depicted on Assyrian carvings</a> that are thousands of years old. While some attackers climb ladders to storm the walls of an Egyptian city, others can be seen digging at the foundations of the walls. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An engraving shoes Assyrian fighters climbing ladders, engaged in combat and digging tunnels under a fortification." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459477/original/file-20220425-12-1manao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459477/original/file-20220425-12-1manao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459477/original/file-20220425-12-1manao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459477/original/file-20220425-12-1manao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459477/original/file-20220425-12-1manao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459477/original/file-20220425-12-1manao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459477/original/file-20220425-12-1manao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Assyrian engraving of the siege of an Egyptian fort.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://blog.britishmuseum.org/introducing-the-assyrians/">The Trustees of the British Museum</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.warhistoryonline.com/ancient-history/roman-sieges-used-mining-operations.html">Roman armies</a> relied heavily upon sophisticated engineering techniques such as putting arches into the tunnels they built during sieges. Roman defenders also perfected the <a href="https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2014/07/21/history-tunnel-warfare">art of digging counter-tunnels</a> to intercept those used by attackers before they presented a threat. Upon penetrating an enemy tunnel, they flooded it with caustic smoke to drive out the enemy or launched a surprise attack upon unsuspecting miners.</p>
<p>The success of tunneling under fortifications led European engineers in the Middle Ages to design ways to thwart the tactic. They built castles on bedrock foundations, making any attempt to dig beneath them much slower, and <a href="https://www.exploring-castles.com/castle_designs/medieval_castle_defence/">surrounded walls with moats</a> so that tunnels would need to be far deeper. </p>
<p>Although tunneling remained an important aspect of sieges through the 13th century, it was eventually replaced by the introduction of gunpowder artillery – which proved a more effective way to breach fortifications. </p>
<p>However, by the mid-19th century, advances in mining and tunnel construction led to a resurgence in subterranean approaches to warfare.</p>
<p>During the Crimean War in the 1850s, British and French attackers attempted to tunnel under Russian fortifications at the <a href="https://historyofyesterday.com/hell-on-earth-the-siege-of-sevastopol-d9c5b1a5f757">Battle of Sevastopol</a>. Ten years later, Ulysses S. Grant authorized an attempt to tunnel <a href="https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/calamity-crater">under Confederate defenses</a> at the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. In both cases, large caches of gunpowder were placed in chambers created by tunneling under key positions and detonated in coordination with an infantry assault. </p>
<h2>Tunneling in the age of airpower</h2>
<p>With warfare increasingly relying on aircraft in the 20th century, military strategists again turned to tunnels – undetectable from the skies and protected from falling bombs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo shows two soldiers in the First World War listening to a device while sat in a tunnel." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459556/original/file-20220425-13-obg0jq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459556/original/file-20220425-13-obg0jq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459556/original/file-20220425-13-obg0jq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459556/original/file-20220425-13-obg0jq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459556/original/file-20220425-13-obg0jq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459556/original/file-20220425-13-obg0jq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459556/original/file-20220425-13-obg0jq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Listening in under enemy lines during the First World War.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/world-war-i-listening-in-a-tunnel-under-the-enemy-lines-in-news-photo/526496610?adppopup=true">adoc-photos/Corbis via Getty Images)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In World War I, tunneling was attempted as a means to launch surprise attacks on the Western Front, potentially bypassing the other side’s system of trenches and remaining undetected by aerial observers. In particular, the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1296207416304216">Ypres salient</a> in war-ravaged Belgium was the site of hundreds of tunnels dug by British and German miners, and the horrifying stories of combat under the earth provide one of the most terrifying vignettes of that awful war.</p>
<p>During World War II, Japanese troops in occupied areas in the Pacific <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/japanese-tunnels-of-baguio">constructed extensive tunnel networks</a> to make their forces virtually immune to aerial attack and naval bombardment from Allied forces. During amphibious assaults in places such as the Philippines and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iwo-jima-world-war-ii-battle-photo-marines-japan-backstory-2018-2">Iwo Jima</a>, American and Allied forces had to contend with a warren of Japanese tunnel networks. Eventually they resorted to using high explosives to collapse tunnel entrances, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/15/world/iwo-jima-journal-a-pacific-isle-that-can-t-quite-rest-in-peace.html">trapping thousands</a> of Japanese troops inside. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/cu-chi-tunnels">Viet Cong tunnel networks</a>, particularly in the vicinity of Saigon, were an essential part of their guerrilla strategy and remain a popular tourist stop today. Some of the tunnels were large enough to house hospital and barracks facilities and strong enough to withstand anything short of nuclear bombardment.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A drawing depicts men and women crawling along a tunnel structure in Vietnam" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459553/original/file-20220425-2721-wwyj5d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459553/original/file-20220425-2721-wwyj5d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459553/original/file-20220425-2721-wwyj5d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459553/original/file-20220425-2721-wwyj5d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459553/original/file-20220425-2721-wwyj5d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459553/original/file-20220425-2721-wwyj5d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459553/original/file-20220425-2721-wwyj5d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Diagram of typical tunnel structure in Cu-Chi, Vietnam.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/cu-chi-tunnels-vietman-asie-news-photo/947633266?adppopup=true">Didier Noirot/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The tunnels not only protected Vietnamese fighters from overwhelming American airpower, they also facilitated hit-and-run style attacks. Specialized “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/opinion/vietnam-war-tunnel-rat.html">tunnel rats</a>,” American soldiers who ventured into the tunnels armed only with a knife and pistol, became adept at navigating the tunnel networks. But they could not be trained in sufficient numbers to negate the value of the tunnel systems.</p>
<h2>Tunnels for terrorism</h2>
<p>In the 21st century, tunnels have been used to facilitate the activities of terror organizations. During the American-led invasion of Afghanistan, military operatives soon discovered that al-Qaida had fortified a series of tunnel networks connecting naturally occurring caves in the <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CPRT-111SPRT53709/html/CPRT-111SPRT53709.htm">Tora Bora</a> region.</p>
<p>Not only did they hide the movement of troops and supplies, they <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CPRT-111SPRT53709/html/CPRT-111SPRT53709.htm">proved impervious to virtually every weapon</a> in the U.S.-led coalition’s arsenal. The complexes included air filtration systems to prevent chemical contamination, as well as massive storerooms and sophisticated communications gear allowing al-Qaida leadership to maintain control over their followers.</p>
<p>And tunneling activity <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/06/04/1003387937/civilians-paid-a-steep-price-for-destroyed-tunnels-in-israeli-hamas-conflict">in and around Gaza</a> continues to provide a tool for Hamas to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/21/how-hamas-uses-its-tunnels-to-kill-and-capture-israeli-soldiers/">get fighters into Israeli territory</a>, while at the same time allowing Palestinians to circumvent Israel’s blockade of Gaza’s borders.</p>
<h2>Soviet tunnels and Ukraine</h2>
<p>Many of the tunnels being utilized today in Ukrainian efforts to defend the country were built in the Cold War-era, when the United States <a href="https://www.airforcemag.com/article/0601overfly/">routinely engaged in overflights</a> of Soviet territory.</p>
<p>To counteract the significant air and satellite advantage <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293174/nato-russia-military-comparison/">held by the United States and NATO</a>, the Soviet military dug underground passages under major population centers. </p>
<p>These subterranean systems offered a certain amount of shelter for the civilian population in the event of a nuclear attack and allowed for the movement of military forces unobserved by the ever-present eyes in the sky. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 150,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-150ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>These same tunnels serve to connect much of the <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220413-mariupol-s-tunnel-warriors-seek-to-slow-russian-onslaught">industrial infrastructure</a> in Mariupol today – and have become a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mariupol-ukraine-putin-russia-plans-cancel/">major asset</a> for the outnumbered Ukrainian forces.</p>
<p>Other Ukrainian cities have similar systems, some dating back centuries. For example, Odesa, another key Black Sea port, has a <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44745/odesas-massive-maze-like-catacombs-could-be-bad-news-for-russian-invaders">catacomb network</a> stretching over 2,500 kilometers. It began as part of a limestone mining effort – and to date, there is <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44745/odesas-massive-maze-like-catacombs-could-be-bad-news-for-russian-invaders">no documented map</a> of the full extent of the tunnels. </p>
<p>In the event of a Russian assault on Odesa, the local knowledge of the underground passages might prove to be an extremely valuable asset for the defenders. The fact that more than 1,000 entrances to the catacombs have been identified should surely give Russian attackers pause before commencing any attack upon the city – just as the tunnels under a steelworks in Mariupol forced Putin to rethinks plans to storm the facility.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181454/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul J. Springer is a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. His comments represent his own opinion and do not reflect the official policy of the United States Government, the U.S. Department of Defense, or the U.S. Air Force.</span></em></p>
Ukrainian fighters are utilizing a maze of tunnels in Mariupol and other key cities. The use of the underground in conflict has a rich history.
Paul J. Springer, Professor of Comparative Military Studies, Air University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/176994
2022-02-24T15:29:22Z
2022-02-24T15:29:22Z
Climate change: effect on forests could last millennia, ancient ruins suggest
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448348/original/file-20220224-47365-17bb4bt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4031%2C3017&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jonathan Lenoir</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Forests are home to <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/biodiversity/">80%</a> of land-based biodiversity, but these arks of life are under threat. The rising average global temperature is forcing tiny plants like <a href="https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ORSE">sidebells wintergreen</a> on the forest floor (known as the understory) to <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1156831">shift upslope</a> in search of cooler climes. Forest plants can’t keep up with the speed at which the climate is changing – they <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10548">lag behind</a>.</p>
<p>The pace at which forests adapt to changing conditions is so slow that species living in forest understories today are probably responding to more ancient changes in their environment. For instance, the Mormal Forest floor in northern France is, in several places, covered by a carpet of quaking sedge. This long grass-like plant betrays the former settlements of German soldiers who used it to make straw mattresses during the first world war.</p>
<p>Changes in how people managed the land, sometimes dating back to the Middle Ages or even earlier, leave a lasting fingerprint on the <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/05-1314">biodiversity</a> of forest understories. Knowing how long the presence of a given species can carry on the memory of past human activities can tell scientists how long climate change is likely to have an influence. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447820/original/file-20220222-17-r2wgts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A forest carpeted with tall grass." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447820/original/file-20220222-17-r2wgts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447820/original/file-20220222-17-r2wgts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447820/original/file-20220222-17-r2wgts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447820/original/file-20220222-17-r2wgts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447820/original/file-20220222-17-r2wgts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447820/original/file-20220222-17-r2wgts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447820/original/file-20220222-17-r2wgts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The wind whispering through Mormal’s sedge evokes the region’s wartime past.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jonathan Lenoir</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ecologists are turning to technologies such as <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/109/32/12916">lidar</a> to rewind the wheel of time. Lidar works on the same principles as radar and sonar, using millions of laser pulses to analyse echoes and generate detailed 3D reconstructions of the surrounding environment. This is what driverless cars use to sense and navigate the world. Since the late 1990s, lidar has enabled amazing discoveries, such as the imprints of Mayan civilisation <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aau0137">preserved beneath the canopy</a> of tropical forest.</p>
<p>In a new <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.13837">paper</a>, I, along with experts in ecology, history, archaeology and remote sensing, used lidar to trace human activity in the <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/histoiremesure/6136">Compiègne Forest</a> in northern France back to Roman times – much later than historical maps could ever do.</p>
<h2>Illuminating ghosts from the past</h2>
<p>Compared to farm fields, which are ceaselessly disturbed, forest floors tend to be well-preserved environments. As a result, the ground below the forest canopy may still bear the imprints of ancient human occupation.</p>
<p>Archaeologists know this pretty well and they increasingly rely on lidar technology as a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/arp.374">prospecting tool</a>. It allows them to virtually remove all the trees from aerial images and hunt artefacts hidden below treetops and fossilised under forest floors.</p>
<p>Using airborne lidar data acquired in 2014 over the Compiègne Forest in northern France, a team of archaeologists and historians found well-preserved <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/histoiremesure/6136">Roman settlements</a>, farm fields and roads. Long considered a remnant of <a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k695760.texteImage">prehistoric forest</a>, the Compiègne was, in fact, a busy agricultural landscape 1,800 years ago.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448107/original/file-20220223-19-1hy3548.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black-and-white aerial photo of a landscape marked by depressions and boundaries." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448107/original/file-20220223-19-1hy3548.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448107/original/file-20220223-19-1hy3548.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448107/original/file-20220223-19-1hy3548.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448107/original/file-20220223-19-1hy3548.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448107/original/file-20220223-19-1hy3548.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448107/original/file-20220223-19-1hy3548.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448107/original/file-20220223-19-1hy3548.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lidar can reveal the terrain hidden beneath forests.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jonathan Lenoir</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A closer look at these ghostly images of the Compiègne Forest reveals several depressions within a fossilised network of Roman farm fields. Archaeologists excavated numerous depressions like this across many forests in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169555X10004824">north-eastern France</a> and found that people from the late iron age and Roman era carved them. </p>
<p>These depressions were made to extract marls (lime-rich mud) to enrich farm fields in carbonate minerals for growing crops and to create local depressions where rainwater collects naturally for livestock to drink. Marling is still a widespread practice in crop production in northern France.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445893/original/file-20220211-19-1bf6rea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A hillside with a large, white crater in." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445893/original/file-20220211-19-1bf6rea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445893/original/file-20220211-19-1bf6rea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445893/original/file-20220211-19-1bf6rea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445893/original/file-20220211-19-1bf6rea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445893/original/file-20220211-19-1bf6rea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445893/original/file-20220211-19-1bf6rea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445893/original/file-20220211-19-1bf6rea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A pit for extracting marl in Northern France.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jonathan Lenoir</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The long-lasting effects of human activity</h2>
<p>These signs of Roman occupation in modern forests provide clues to why some plant species are present where we wouldn’t expect them to be.</p>
<p>On a summer day in 2007 in a corner of the Tronçais Forest in central France, <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/05-1314">a team of botanists</a> found a little patch of nitrogen-loving species – blue bugle, woodland figwort and stinging nettle – nestled among more acid-loving plants.</p>
<p>Nothing special at first sight. Until archaeologists found that Roman farm buildings had once stood in that spot, with cattle manure probably enriching the soil in phosphorous and nitrogen.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A shrub with bright blue flowers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448312/original/file-20220224-13-1imh2sv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448312/original/file-20220224-13-1imh2sv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448312/original/file-20220224-13-1imh2sv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448312/original/file-20220224-13-1imh2sv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448312/original/file-20220224-13-1imh2sv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448312/original/file-20220224-13-1imh2sv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448312/original/file-20220224-13-1imh2sv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Blue bugle heralds an ancient Roman farm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/blooming-blue-bugleweeds-ajuga-summer-meadow-427110145">Kateryna Pavliuk/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If a clutch of tiny plants can betray ancient farming practices dating back centuries or millennia, ongoing environmental changes, such as climate change, will have similarly long-lasting effects. Even if the Earth stopped heating, the biodiversity of its forests would continue changing in response to the warming signal, in a delayed manner, through the establishment of more and more warm-loving species for several centuries into the future.</p>
<p>Just as the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/reports/">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> has a mission to provide plausible scenarios on future climate change, the <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/global-assessment">Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services</a> aims to provide plausible scenarios on the fate of biodiversity. Yet none of the biodiversity models so far incorporate this lag effect. This means that model predictions are more prone to errors in forecasting the fate of biodiversity under future climate change.</p>
<p>Knowing about the past of modern forests can help decode their present state and model their future biodiversity. Now lidar technology is there to help ecologists travel back in time and explore the forest past. Improving the accuracy of predictions from biodiversity models by incorporating lagging dynamics is a big challenge, but it is a necessary endeavour for more effective conservation strategies.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 10,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176994/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Lenoir receives funding from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Grant Number: ANR-19-CE32-0005-01) and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Grant Number: Défi INFINITI 2018 du CNRS) within the framework of the IMPRINT and MORFO project, respectively.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tommaso Jucker receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (grant number: NE/S01537X/1)</span></em></p>
Scientists have uncovered Roman farms beneath what was thought to be prehistoric forest in France.
Jonathan Lenoir, Senior Researcher in Ecology & Biostatistics (CNRS), Université de Picardie Jules Verne (UPJV)
Tommaso Jucker, Research Fellow and Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/176915
2022-02-23T16:45:23Z
2022-02-23T16:45:23Z
Curious Kids: why is February shorter than every other month?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447571/original/file-20220221-23-11pnz15.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C5%2C3615%2C2725&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A fragment of mosaic showing February from the Sousse mosaic calendar. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sousse_mosaic_calendar_February.JPG"> © Ad Meskens / Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>Why does February has the least number of days? Why does it not have 30 or 31 days like the rest of the eleven months? – Simi, aged 15, Mauritius</strong></p>
<p>The reason February is shorter than other months comes down to the history of how we measure and divide the year. </p>
<p>We know that the Earth takes 365 days and just under six hours to go <a href="https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/years-on-other-planets/en/">around the Sun</a>. The division of those days into twelve months is a human invention to measure time. But it hasn’t always been divided that way. </p>
<p>In the first surviving <a href="http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-roman.html#:%7E:text=The%2010%20months%20were%20named,calendar%20in%20the%20700s%20B.C.E.">ancient Roman calendar</a>, there were ten months. The calendar was shaped by the agricultural year, so began in spring with March and ended 304 days later in December. There was no work to be done in the fields during the two months of winter, and the rest of days in the year were simply not counted in the calendar.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782">Curious Kids</a> is a series by <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk">The Conversation</a> that gives children the chance to have their questions about the world answered by experts. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskids@theconversation.com">curiouskids@theconversation.com</a> and make sure you include the asker’s first name, age and town or city. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we’ll do our very best.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>In 731BC <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198606413.001.0001/acref-9780198606413-e-5218">Numa Pompilius</a>, the second king of Rome, decided to line the calendar up with the phases of the moon. There are 12 cycles of the moon each year, so the calendar was divided into twelve months. January and February were added and the new calendar year lasted 355 days.</p>
<p>The Romans believed that even numbers were <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/751261">unlucky</a>, so the length of the months in Pompilius’ calendar alternated between 29 or 31 days. However, the length of the calendar year meant that the final month – February – was left with only 28. </p>
<p>In Rome, February was linked with rituals of purification, or februum – giving it its name. During the festival of <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/lupercalia#:%7E:text=Lupercalia%20was%20an%20ancient%20pagan,in%20Rome%20on%20February%2015.&text=Unlike%20Valentine's%20Day%2C%20however%2C%20Lupercalia,off%20evil%20spirits%20and%20infertility.">Lupercalia</a> purification ceremonies took place to prepare buildings and people for the feasts and sacrifices of the festival. During the festival of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Feralia">Feralia</a> food and gifts were brought to cemeteries, to honour the dead and keep them happy so they would not rise and haunt the living.</p>
<p>However, a calendar year lasting 355 days created its own problems. Because the Earth takes longer than this to go round the Sun, as years went by the months and the seasons started to fall out of alignment. So an extra month <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/e/mercedonius/">called Mercedonius</a> was added to the calendar before the start of March. </p>
<p>Mercedonius was not used every year. It was added whenever it was necessary to re-align the months and the seasons. It had either 27 or 28 days, creating a year that lasted for either 377 or 378 days. </p>
<p>But this had unfortunate consequences for February. Mercedonius started on 24th February, cutting four days from a month that was already the shortest in the calendar. And although Mercedonius helped to link the months with the seasons, its use was unpredictable. People living far from Rome might not realise that the extra month had been added to the calendar.</p>
<h2>Another calendar</h2>
<p>Another new calendar tried to fix this problem. In the <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-calendar.html">Julian Calendar</a>, named after Julius Caesar and dating from 45 BCE, a year lasted 365 days. </p>
<p>None of the extra ten days were added to February. There were twelve months, each of which were the same length as in our calendar. To keep the calendar accurate, an extra day was added to February once every four years – a leap year. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447778/original/file-20220222-17-d5yl7i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447778/original/file-20220222-17-d5yl7i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447778/original/file-20220222-17-d5yl7i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447778/original/file-20220222-17-d5yl7i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447778/original/file-20220222-17-d5yl7i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447778/original/file-20220222-17-d5yl7i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447778/original/file-20220222-17-d5yl7i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A coin showing Julius Caesar and dating from February-March 44BC.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gaius_Julius_Caesar,_denarius,_44_BC,_RRC_480-3.jpg">Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, an extra day each four years is actually a bit too much to correct the difference between a 365-day year and the 365 and just under a quarter days in which the Earth orbits the Sun. By the middle of the sixteenth century, the Julian calendar was out of alignment with the seasons and cycles of the year by ten days.</p>
<p>This led to the creation of another calendar. The <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/gregorian-calendar.html">Gregorian Calendar</a> was introduced in 1582, named after Pope Gregory XIII, and is still in use today. In the Gregorian calendar, no century year can be a leap year unless it is exactly divisible by 400 - so 2000 was a leap year, with an extra day in February, but not 1900. This prevents the problems caused by the Julian calendar.</p>
<p>This sounds simple enough, but that ten-day error in the Julian calendar still needed to be corrected. In 1582, ten days were <a href="https://www.britannica.com/story/ten-days-that-vanished-the-switch-to-the-gregorian-calendar">taken out of the calendar</a> in countries that adopted the Gregorian calendar. This meant that the day after 4 October was 15 October - and the dates in between never existed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176915/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Parish does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The answer comes from how the Romans measured the year.
Helen Parish, Professor in History, University of Reading
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/176760
2022-02-10T22:17:09Z
2022-02-10T22:17:09Z
What the mythical Cupid can teach us about the meaning of love and desire
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445736/original/file-20220210-17-1y1uhco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C6417%2C4707&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A part of the fresco "Triumph of Galatea," created by Raphael around 1512 for the Villa Farnesina in Rome.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-triumph-of-galatea-1512-14-news-photo/151324283?adppopup=true">Art Images via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Each Valentine’s Day, when I see images of the chubby winged god Cupid taking aim with his bow and arrow at his unsuspecting victims, I take refuge in my training as <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/facultyguide/person.html?emplid=1be7ee967d45605afddf7da9ad4ca2c049a26c0b">a scholar of early Greek poetry and myth</a> to muse on the strangeness of this image and the nature of love.</p>
<p>In Roman culture, Cupid was the child of the goddess Venus, popularly known today as the goddess of love, and Mars, the god of war. But for ancient audiences, as myths and texts show, she was really the patron deity of “sexual intercourse” and “procreation.” The name Cupid, which comes from the <a href="https://www.online-latin-dictionary.com/latin-english-dictionary.php?parola=cupido">Latin verb cupere</a>, means desire, love or lust. But in the odd combination of a baby’s body with lethal weapons, along with parents associated with both love and war, Cupid is a figure of contradictions – a symbol of conflict and desire.</p>
<p>This history isn’t often reflected in the modern-day Valentine celebrations. The Feast of Saint Valentine started out as a celebration of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-real-st-valentine-was-no-patron-of-love-90518">St. Valentine of Rome</a>. As <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/tr/moss-candida.aspx">Candida Moss</a>, a scholar of theology and late antiquity, explains, the courtly romance of holiday advertisements may have more to do with <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/arts-blog/did-love-begin-middle-ages">the Middle Ages</a> than with ancient Rome. </p>
<p>The winged cupid was a favorite of artists and authors in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, but he was more than just a symbol of love to them.</p>
<h2>Born of sex and war</h2>
<p>The Romans’ Cupid was the equivalent of the Greek god Eros, the origin of the word “erotic.” In ancient Greece, Eros is often seen as the son of Ares, the god of war, and Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, as well as sex and desire.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustration of Greek god Eros, showing a young boy withe wings against a black background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445735/original/file-20220210-27-esyybo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C104%2C1896%2C1571&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445735/original/file-20220210-27-esyybo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445735/original/file-20220210-27-esyybo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445735/original/file-20220210-27-esyybo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445735/original/file-20220210-27-esyybo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445735/original/file-20220210-27-esyybo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445735/original/file-20220210-27-esyybo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A painting of Eros from 470 B.C.– 450 B.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/EROS_Louvre.jpg">The Louvre via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Greek Eros often appears in early Greek iconography along with <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1888-1015-13">other Erotes</a>, a group of winged gods associated with love and sexual intercourse. These ancient figures <a href="https://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Erotes.html">were often pictured as older adolescents</a> – winged bodies sometimes personified as a trio: eros (lust), himeros (desire) and pothos (passion).</p>
<p>There were younger, more playful versions of Eros, however. Art depictions from the fifth century B.C. show <a href="https://art.thewalters.org/detail/2068/red-figure-chous-with-eros/">Eros as a child</a> pulling a cart on a red figure vase. A famous <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/254502">sleeping bronze of Eros</a> from the Hellenistic period of second century B.C. also shows him as a child.</p>
<p>By the time of the Roman Empire, however, the image of chubby <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/251403">little Cupid</a> became more common. The Roman poet Ovid writes about <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0029%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D452">two types of Cupid’s arrows</a>: one that metes out uncontrollable desire and another that fills its target with revulsion. Such depiction of Greek and Roman deities holding the power to do both good and bad was common. The god Apollo, for example, could heal people of disease or cause a plague to ruin a city.</p>
<p>Earlier Greek myths also made it clear that Eros was not merely a force for distraction. At the beginning of Hesiod’s “Theogony” – a poem telling the history of the creation of the universe told through the reproduction of the gods – Eros appears early as a necessary natural force since he “<a href="http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:104-138">troubles the limbs and overcomes the mind and counsels of all mortals and gods</a>.” This line was an acknowledgment of the power of the sexual desire even over gods. </p>
<h2>Balancing conflict and desire</h2>
<p>And yet, Eros was not all about the sexual act. For the <a href="https://history.hanover.edu/texts/presoc/emp.html">early Greek philosopher Empedocles</a>, Eros was paired with Eris, the goddess of strife and conflict, as the two most influential forces in the universe. For philosophers like Empedocles, Eros and Eris personified attraction and division at an elemental level, the natural powers that cause matter to bring life into existence and then tear it apart again.</p>
<p>In the ancient world, sex and desire were considered an essential part of life, but dangerous if they become too dominant. Plato’s <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0174:text=Sym.">Symposium</a>, a dialogue on the nature of Eros, provides a survey of different ideas of desire at the time – moving from its effects on the body to its nature and ability to reflect who people are.</p>
<p>One of the most memorable segments from this dialogue is when the speaker Aristophanes humorously describes the origins of Eros. He explains that all humans were once two people combined in one. The gods punished humans for their arrogance by separating them into individuals. So, desire is really a longing to be whole again.</p>
<h2>Playing with Cupid</h2>
<p>Today it might be commonplace to say that you are what you love, but for ancient philosophers, you are both what and how you love. This is illustrated in one of the most memorable Roman accounts of Cupid that combines elements lust along with <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3556532?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">philosophical reflections</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445748/original/file-20220210-47794-1atc7xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painting showing a young woman holding a lamp to view a sleeping, naked Cupid." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445748/original/file-20220210-47794-1atc7xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445748/original/file-20220210-47794-1atc7xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445748/original/file-20220210-47794-1atc7xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445748/original/file-20220210-47794-1atc7xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445748/original/file-20220210-47794-1atc7xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445748/original/file-20220210-47794-1atc7xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445748/original/file-20220210-47794-1atc7xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Psyche lifts a lamp to view the sleeping Cupid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Vouet-Psych%C3%A9-Lyon.jpg">Painting by Simon Vouet, Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon Collection via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this account, the second-century North African writer Apuleius puts Cupid at the center of his Latin novel, “The Golden Ass.” The main character, a man turned into a donkey, recounts how an older woman tells a kidnapped bride, Charite, the story of how Cupid used to visit the young Psyche at night in the darkness of her room. When she betrays his trust and lights an oil lamp to see who he is, the god is burned and flees. Psyche must wander and complete nearly impossible tasks for Venus before she is allowed to reunite with him.</p>
<p>Later authors explained this story as an allegory about the relationship between <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20188784?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">the human soul and desire</a>. And Christian interpretations built upon this notion, seeing it as detailing the <a href="https://pillars.taylor.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=inklings_forever">fall of the soul thanks to temptation</a>. This approach, however, ignores the part of the plot where Psyche is granted immortality to remain by Cupid’s side and then gives birth to a child named “Pleasure.” </p>
<p>In the end, Apuleius’ story is a lesson about finding balance between matters of the body and spirit. The child “Pleasure” is born not from secret nightly trysts, but from reconciling the struggle of the mind with matters of the heart.</p>
<p>There’s more than a bit of play to our modern Cupid. But this little archer comes from a long tradition of wrestling with a force that exerts so much influence over mortal minds. Tracing his path through Greek and Roman myth shows the vital importance of understanding the pleasures and dangers of desire.</p>
<p>[<em>This Week in Religion, a global roundup each Thursday.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/this-week-in-religion-76/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=religion-global-roundup">Sign up.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176760/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joel Christensen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A scholar of early Greek classics explains what the myth of the weapon-carrying god of love, Cupid, a child of the gods of love and war, conveys about the pleasures and dangers of desire.
Joel Christensen, Professor of Classical Studies, Brandeis University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/175180
2022-02-03T14:05:43Z
2022-02-03T14:05:43Z
Challenging the whiteness of classics – remembering the Black Romans
<p>As with every humanities discipline, classics has responded to Black Lives Matter with justifiable introspection. As the study of the ancient world, and particularly that of the Mediterranean cultures, classics has a significant colonial legacy: British, French and Italian colonialists saw themselves as inheriting or continuing a “civilising mission” which they associated with the Romans. They assumed that the Romans shared their prejudices, particularly those associated with elitism and racism. When they thought about or represented Roman imperial history, they imagined it as dominated by White men, who were the political leaders and were responsible for cultural achievements. </p>
<p>This is a legacy that has proved tenacious. Although there is no evidence to suggest that Roman leaders, cultural and political, were uniformly White, classics and ancient history have been associated with whiteness. Many of my students have worried about a lack of representation that works on many levels in the classics. There are few lecturers of colour – that is changing, though much too slowly. But there is also alienation from what is being studied: the Romans are not seen by these students “as people like them”. </p>
<p>The Roman world is seen as white and one in which people of colour had no place or were at the social margins. However, one of the central elements of my teaching is to emphasise the cultural diversities of the ancient Mediterranean peoples and their social distance from contemporary societies and values. </p>
<p>There is a gap here between the likely racial make-up of the Roman population and how that has been understood. This gap, I suggest, derives from a systematic erasure of Black Romans from Roman history. This erasure is similar to the “whitening” of histories and cultures, in which the presence and contribution of Black people is ignored.</p>
<h2>Thinking about race in antiquity</h2>
<p>Racism is understood as the use of various minor corporeal differences, in particular skin colour, to create categories of people. Those categories are subsequently associated with identities, which reinforce that categorisation. Such categorisation is a peculiar and perverse modern idea. </p>
<p>Greeks and Romans didn’t think in these ways. They were aware of differences. But for Romans, White or Black were not meaningful social categories. As a result, our sources hardly ever mention skin pigmentation, since it wasn’t important to them. It is normally impossible for us to associate particular ancients with those modern racial categories. But this absence of evidence has allowed the assumption that most prominent Romans were, in our terms, White.</p>
<p>However, there is every reason to think that many leading Romans were, in our terms, Black.</p>
<p>Septimius Severus was a Roman general who became emperor in 193 CE. He was born in Leptis Magna in modern Libya. Almost all depictions of Severus are statues or on coins. They show him as having curly short hair and a beard, which is sometimes forked. Such depictions do not represent his skin pigmentation. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Round portrait of a roman family with oldest child's face destroyed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444088/original/file-20220202-15-cswq6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444088/original/file-20220202-15-cswq6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444088/original/file-20220202-15-cswq6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444088/original/file-20220202-15-cswq6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444088/original/file-20220202-15-cswq6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444088/original/file-20220202-15-cswq6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444088/original/file-20220202-15-cswq6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Portrait of the family of Septimius Severus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severan_Tondo#/media/File:Portrait_of_family_of_Septimius_Severus_-_Altes_Museum_-_Berlin_-_Germany_2017.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But unusually we have a painting of Severus, the <a href="http://www.smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=681547&viewType=detailView">Severan Tondo</a> in the Altes Museum in Berlin. The Tondo shows Severus, Julia Domna, his wife, and their children – the future emperor Caracalla and Geta. </p>
<p>Geta’s face was obscured after his murder by Caracalla. The greying Severus clearly has dark skin. Painted depictions of emperors circulated widely, partly through the military and partly through imperial cult, as we can see in this marvellous bust of Severus himself in the Archaeological Museum at Komotini, Greece. There can be little doubt that this is what people thought Severus and his family looked like. And yet, Severus’ <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4064853">Blackness has historically been questioned</a>.</p>
<h2>Roman North Africa</h2>
<p>Leptis was a place twice colonised, first by the Phoenicians in the <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/183/%20and%20then%20by%20the%20Romanshttps://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.3651">seventh century CE</a>. The Roman colony was formed around the veterans of Legion III Augusta. That legion had served in Africa since its formation in 30 CE. </p>
<p>Although the first generation of soldiers may have been mainly Italian, like all other legions, III Augusta increasingly drew recruits from local communities. The new Roman colony likely enrolled resident locals and certainly the pre-Roman elite. </p>
<p>After centuries of interaction, it is almost impossible to imagine that there were visible differences between the citizens of Leptis and the surrounding African inhabitants. We cannot prove Severus’ skin colour, but it is wrong to assume that he was light-skinned.</p>
<p>Roman Africa was an economic and cultural powerhouse in the later Roman Empire. Goods from Africa circulated throughout the Roman world. One of the first Roman dramatists, Terence, came from Carthage in Tunisia and his appearance is described by the historian <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/de_Poetis/Terence*.html#5">Suetonius as fuscus</a>, “dark”. </p>
<p>The second-century CE rhetorician, philosopher and novelist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucius-Apuleius">Apuleius</a> was from Madouros, modern M’Daourouch, Algeria. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Augustine">Saint Augustine of Hippo</a> studied in the same town. He and Cyprian of Carthage were major figures in Christian theology. Egypt was a major centre of literary and theological innovation in the late imperial period. Why would we imagine any of these individuals as White?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cracked portrait fo a man with white hair and beard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444315/original/file-20220203-21-1dz6f4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444315/original/file-20220203-21-1dz6f4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444315/original/file-20220203-21-1dz6f4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444315/original/file-20220203-21-1dz6f4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444315/original/file-20220203-21-1dz6f4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444315/original/file-20220203-21-1dz6f4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444315/original/file-20220203-21-1dz6f4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A portrait of Appulius that depicts him as White.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apuleius#/media/File:Apuleuis.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Empires move people about. The mitochondrial DNA of <a href="https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/surprising-diversity-roman-london-docklands">skeletons in early Roman London</a> showed that Greeks, Syrians and North Africans were among the first Londoners. Africans reached this remotest corner of the Empire. Many Romans were dark-skinned. Yet for moderns, this seems surprising and an assertion that requires justification.</p>
<p>The classical world is a part of our cultural traditions. Colonialism has whitened classics. Such Whitening marginalises Black people. Making Black Romans visible resists colonial mentalities. It embeds Black people in that cultural tradition. </p>
<p>Black Romans were central to Classical culture and not as an exceptional few or as slaves or servants. They were soldiers and traders, dramatists, poets, philosophers, theologians, and emperors. We need to re-imagine imperial Romans as having a completely unsurprising diversity of skin pigmentation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175180/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Alston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
We can’t judge the Roman period by our standards and assume that it was predominantly White.
Richard Alston, Professor of Roman History, Royal Holloway University of London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/162889
2021-06-29T12:04:49Z
2021-06-29T12:04:49Z
How did the superstition that broken mirrors cause bad luck start and why does it still exist?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408719/original/file-20210628-15-wxbbbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=99%2C0%2C4028%2C2357&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Damaging a mirror was believed to invite the wrath of the gods in ancient cultures.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-adjusts-his-tie-in-a-broken-mirror-6-january-2003-afr-news-photo/540163605?adppopup=true">Fairfax Media via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every human culture has <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-of-superstition-and-why-people-believe-in-the-unbelievable-97043">superstitions</a>. In some Asian societies people believe that sweeping a floor after sunset brings bad luck, and that it’s a curse to leave chopsticks standing in a bowl of rice. <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/297156/united-states-common-superstitions-believe/">In the U.S.</a>, some people panic if they accidentally walk under a ladder or see a black cat cross their path. Also, many tall buildings <a href="https://skepticalinquirer.org/2020/09/are-you-afraid-of-the-thirteenth-floor-superstition-and-real-estate-part-2/">don’t label their 13th floors as such</a> because of that number’s association with bad luck.</p>
<p>The origins of many superstitions are unknown. Others can be traced to <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Encyclopaedia_of_Superstitions.html?id=r7AZ4U2HA3UC">specific times in history</a>. Included in this second category is a superstition that is between 2,000 and 2,700 years old: Breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck. It so happened that in both <a href="https://people.howstuffworks.com/why-is-it-bad-luck-to-break-mirror.htm">ancient Greece</a> and <a href="https://www.scribd.com/book/358393132/Superstitions-And-why-we-have-them">the Roman Empire</a>, reflected images were thought to have mysterious powers. It is likely in one of these times and places that the broken mirror superstition began its rise in popularity. </p>
<p>As a social psychologist <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/sop.2001.44.1.21">who studies various ways that people influence one another</a>, I am fascinated when groups generate beliefs that are pure “social constructions” without necessarily having any basis in reality. I argue that the superstition about broken mirrors may be rooted in these ancient beliefs. </p>
<h2>Historical origins</h2>
<p>The Greeks believed that one’s reflection on the surface of a pool of water revealed one’s soul. But it was Roman artisans who actually learned to manufacture mirrors from polished metal surfaces, and believed their gods observed souls through these devices. To <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Superstitions.html?id=yUKYCwAAQBAJ">damage a mirror was considered so disrespectful</a> that people thought it compelled the gods to rain bad luck on anyone so careless. </p>
<p>Around the third century mirrors were being made from glass, and breakage became a lot more commonplace. But the Romans did not believe that the ensuing bad luck would last forever. They believed that the <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/PerLtdiAKx0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA281&dq=romans+life+renews+itself+every+seven+years">body renewed itself every seven years</a>. </p>
<p>The belief that good luck would eventually return was surely comforting, and people have always tended to <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/05/alternative-facts">believe things that make them feel good</a>, even when untrue. </p>
<h2>Psychological and social origins</h2>
<p>The human mind continuously and unconsciously <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/patternicity-finding-meaningful-patterns/">searches for useful patterns</a>. For example, we survive by recognizing feeding patterns and put ourselves in the right places at the right times for meals. We also avoid injury or death when crossing a busy street by recognizing traffic patterns. Getting fed and avoiding being squashed in traffic both involve learning real cause-and-effect patterns.</p>
<p>Sometimes, however, our brains infer cause-and-effect patterns that aren’t real. Suppose that a friend gives you a “lucky penny.” You’re skeptical, but a few days pass and nothing bad happens. Though it’s only a coincidence, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470939376.ch25">your brain may still infer a pattern</a>, and you may begin to believe the penny caused the run of good luck. A superstition is born. </p>
<p>We also acquire superstitious beliefs during socialization, <a href="https://sociologydictionary.org/socialization/">learning about them from parents and other trusted authorities</a> while still young and open to a world full of magical possibilities. Then our superstitions circulate indefinitely among families and friends, reinforced by word of mouth, social media and mass media. <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190418131334.htm">The more people there are supporting the superstition</a>, the more believable it will seem and the longer it will persist. </p>
<h2>Helpful or harmful?</h2>
<p>If a superstition happens to make us more cautious around mirrors, there’s no harm in that. More generally, superstitions can <a href="https://www.livescience.com/8392-superstitions-bring-real-luck-study-reveals.html">lower stress and improve performance</a> when we find ourselves in difficult situations. They also can be fun and interesting to talk about, and promote <a href="https://insights.osu.edu/life/sports-superstitions">group solidarity</a>.</p>
<p>On the other hand, one does need to proceed with caution. Superstitions are false beliefs that can often produce anxiety and guilt. They can make us feel responsible for bad outcomes we didn’t cause, or waste our energy seeking untenable shortcuts to desired outcomes. </p>
<p>Common sense alone ought to be reason enough to deter us from smashing mirrors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162889/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barry Markovsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
In both ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, reflected images were thought to hold mysterious powers. Damaging a mirror was believed to invite the wrath of the gods.
Barry Markovsky, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of South Carolina
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/162527
2021-06-21T20:12:14Z
2021-06-21T20:12:14Z
Unearthing Falerii Novi’s secrets in the hot Italian summer: an archaeologist reports from the dig
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406922/original/file-20210617-23-175mj9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=77%2C51%2C5647%2C3742&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/walls-ancient-city-falerii-novi-260nw-1805172547.jpg">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Located about <a href="https://www.google.com.au/maps/dir/Rome,+Metropolitan+City+of+Rome/01034+Falerii+Novi,+VT/@42.1036845,12.1495407,75455m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x132f6196f9928ebb:0xb90f770693656e38!2m2!1d12.4963655!2d41.9027835!1m5!1m1!1s0x132f3c751f2608b7:0xc0c25340082147d1!2m2!1d12.348941!2d42.294212!3e0">50 kilometres north of Rome</a>, the ancient city of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falerii">Falerii Novi</a> lies buried beneath agricultural fields and olive groves. City walls still stand in an almost complete circuit and visitors pass through the monumental western gate to enter the site. </p>
<p>The findings from detailed <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/groundpenetrating-radar-survey-at-falerii-novi-a-new-approach-to-the-study-of-roman-cities/BE7B8E3AE55DB6E03225B01C54CDD09B">ground-penetrating radar mapping</a> were published a year ago. Now the real business of digging has begun. </p>
<p>At the ancient site, our teams have already discovered remnants of daily life from more than 2,000 years ago. We hope excavation will yield rare insight into antiquity with its preserved urban layout, just like at the buried city of Pompeii.</p>
<h2>A ‘new’ city</h2>
<p>Ancient authors <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Polybius">Polybius</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Livy">Livy</a> tell us the city was founded by Rome in 241 BCE, following the defeat of a revolt led by the inhabitants of nearby <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0006:entry=falerii-veteres">Falerii Veteres</a> (now Civita Castellana). According to one source, 12th-century chronicler <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joannes_Zonaras">Zonaras</a>, Rome forcibly resettled the defeated Faliscans to a less defensible location — Falerii Novi or “new Falerii”. Its construction, intimately associated with the Roman road <a href="https://www.comune.fabricadiroma.vt.it/falerii-novi/la-via-amerina/">Via Amerina</a>, is a rare example of preserved Roman Republican urban planning.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406918/original/file-20210617-19-ukkvf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="ancient ruins" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406918/original/file-20210617-19-ukkvf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406918/original/file-20210617-19-ukkvf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406918/original/file-20210617-19-ukkvf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406918/original/file-20210617-19-ukkvf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406918/original/file-20210617-19-ukkvf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406918/original/file-20210617-19-ukkvf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406918/original/file-20210617-19-ukkvf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Ancient Roman road Via Amerina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/via-amerina-600w-581326363.jpg">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The city was occupied through Roman antiquity and to the early medieval period (6th and 7th centuries CE). It was on a key strategic trading route leading north from Rome, perhaps from <a href="http://www.sovraintendenzaroma.it/i_luoghi/roma_antica/monumenti/ponte_milvio">Ponte Milvio</a>, through central Italy. </p>
<p>We know little of its later history, except that the still-standing church of <a href="https://www.comune.fabricadiroma.vt.it/falerii-novi/s-maria-di-falleri/">Santa Maria di Falleri</a> was founded by Benedictines in 1036, disbanded in 1392 and the building was in ruins by 1571. It is now largely restored with excavated Roman roads visible beneath the floor.</p>
<p>When and how Falerii Novi became buried remains a mystery. How did such a large walled city become covered in so much soil? And what happened in late antiquity to cause its abandonment? The current dig may answer those questions too.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406804/original/file-20210616-13-1tfdujt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406804/original/file-20210616-13-1tfdujt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406804/original/file-20210616-13-1tfdujt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406804/original/file-20210616-13-1tfdujt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406804/original/file-20210616-13-1tfdujt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406804/original/file-20210616-13-1tfdujt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406804/original/file-20210616-13-1tfdujt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406804/original/file-20210616-13-1tfdujt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The church of Santa Maria di Falleri in 1972.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cave-of-horror-fresh-fragments-of-the-dead-sea-scrolls-echo-dramatic-human-stories-157423">Cave of Horror: fresh fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls echo dramatic human stories</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Old digs, new tricks</h2>
<p>Three scattered attempts at excavation have been made previously. From 1821–30 a Polish team explored around the theatre area and in a (now lost) residential and commercial street-side strip. Towards the end of the 19th century work was attempted at a number of locations near city gates. And local <em>Soprintendenza</em> <a href="https://www.inagrofalisco.it/in-agrofalisco/faleri-novi">archaeologists</a> looked at an area on the western flank of the suspected forum from 1969-75. </p>
<p>The site’s historical importance and immense potential, alongside developing technology, led to renewed archaeological attempts. </p>
<p>From 1997–8, topographic survey and surface collection <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/papers-of-the-british-school-at-rome/article/abs/falerii-novi-a-new-survey-of-the-walled-area/2B230DC150F4A50BED56B5A16B284D79">were combined with magnetometry</a> to get a broader sense of the city’s urban layout, chronology and neighbourhoods. This revealed structures including theatres, bathhouses, villas, temples and a forum a few feet under the ground. </p>
<p>Later, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/papers-of-the-british-school-at-rome/article/abs/falerii-novi-further-survey-of-the-northern-extramural-area/FE27B76317E9E506ACF0880C77DA9E78">this was extended outside</a> the city walls, revealing tombs, buildings and roads leading towards an amphitheatre.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407302/original/file-20210619-34876-zg2t1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407302/original/file-20210619-34876-zg2t1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407302/original/file-20210619-34876-zg2t1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407302/original/file-20210619-34876-zg2t1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407302/original/file-20210619-34876-zg2t1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407302/original/file-20210619-34876-zg2t1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407302/original/file-20210619-34876-zg2t1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407302/original/file-20210619-34876-zg2t1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ground-penetrating radar map of buried structures at Falerii Novi, entire city on right and detail of possible bathhouse on left.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">L. Verdonck, Google Earth, Antiquity Journal</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/groundpenetrating-radar-survey-at-falerii-novi-a-new-approach-to-the-study-of-roman-cities/BE7B8E3AE55DB6E03225B01C54CDD09B">Recently</a> a survey of the entire city using cutting-edge ground-penetrating radar produced sharper images and created a three-dimensional rendering of sub-surface features. Completely new structures were revealed, including a colossal structure, over 100 metres long, thought to be a colonnaded temple against the north city wall.</p>
<p>The detailed map produced by these efforts is now being used to pin-point excavation areas. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/six-reasons-to-save-archaeology-from-funding-cuts-161465">Six reasons to save archaeology from funding cuts</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Breaking new ground</h2>
<p>I’m one of the people working on the first season of systematic excavation (started in June) by a collaborative team from the Universities of <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/margaretandrews/home">Harvard</a> and <a href="https://classics.utoronto.ca/people/faculty/seth-bernard/">Toronto</a>, the <a href="https://www.bsr.ac.uk/">British School at Rome</a> and under the concession of the <a href="http://www.sabap-rm-met.beniculturali.it/">Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per la Provincia di Viterbo e l'Etruria Meridionale</a>. </p>
<p>We have opened a series of over 120 small test pits across the site. These will provide an initial understanding of various neighbourhoods — domestic, productive, religious, civic — along with chronological and spatial densities of habitation and material.</p>
<p>We start digging at 8am, stopping for breaks through the heat of the day, and finishing around 4pm. The work is sweaty and dirty in the hot Italian summer, but the promise of this site excites and energises everyone.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406807/original/file-20210616-3738-1x2m74.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="people sifting dirt in field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406807/original/file-20210616-3738-1x2m74.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406807/original/file-20210616-3738-1x2m74.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406807/original/file-20210616-3738-1x2m74.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406807/original/file-20210616-3738-1x2m74.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406807/original/file-20210616-3738-1x2m74.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406807/original/file-20210616-3738-1x2m74.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406807/original/file-20210616-3738-1x2m74.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sampling via test pits is under way but larger trenches will follow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">B. Fochetti</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Work so far has revealed clues to the early occupancy of the site soon after founding in 241 BCE. What archaeologists call “<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Group_of_Campanian_ware_02.JPG">black gloss ware</a>” — a typical type of Roman Republican pottery — has been pulled out of test pits. Small pieces of Roman glass, metal slag and other ceramics are also present. Pieces of shimmering, iridescent green-glazed medieval pottery were also found, highlighting continued, post-Roman occupancy.</p>
<p>Next, larger-scale trenches will be opened at areas of interest. Perhaps around domestic structures and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/insula">insulae</a> (groups of buildings). Revealing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macellum"><em>macellum</em></a> marketplace, might tell us what was bought and sold, what commercial structures looked like and who was engaged in these activities. A <em><a href="https://www.romanports.org/en/articles/human-interest/687-tabernae-at-ostia.html">taberna</a></em> (typically a one-room shop) on the edge of the central <em><a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Forum.html">forum</a></em> may tell us about the goods and services on offer.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-batshit-experiment-bones-cooked-in-bat-poo-lift-the-lid-on-how-archaeological-sites-are-formed-156865">A batshit experiment: bones cooked in bat poo lift the lid on how archaeological sites are formed</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Testing the soil</h2>
<p>A team from <a href="https://www.ugent.be/lw/archeologie/en">Ghent University</a> is following up previous work on site with Cambridge University. This year they are taking core samples (called <a href="http://www.archeox.net/fact-sheets/auguring.html#:%7E:text=Augering%20is%20where%20archaeologists%20use,cores'%20or%20'boreholes'.&text=A%20hand%20auger%20is%20a,drilling%20down%20into%20the%20ground.">augering</a>) up to 5 metres below the current ground level. This gives archaeologists a snapshot of the site across time: human impacts on the landscape, environmental data, habitation and material changes. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407304/original/file-20210619-26003-3ydug4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407304/original/file-20210619-26003-3ydug4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407304/original/file-20210619-26003-3ydug4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407304/original/file-20210619-26003-3ydug4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407304/original/file-20210619-26003-3ydug4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407304/original/file-20210619-26003-3ydug4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407304/original/file-20210619-26003-3ydug4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407304/original/file-20210619-26003-3ydug4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Analysing core samples from up to 5m below the surface.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">A. Hoffelinck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Early results are starting to show the very real and profound effect of Roman settlement in the area. Pottery from cores also indicates occupancy over a long time, perhaps even earlier than told to us by Polybius and Livy.</p>
<p>Work will continue in 2022 when the first large trenches are opened and a new view of life at Roman Falerii Novi is illuminated.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pompeii-ancient-remains-are-helping-scientists-learn-what-happens-to-a-body-caught-in-a-volcanic-eruption-157979">Pompeii: ancient remains are helping scientists learn what happens to a body caught in a volcanic eruption</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162527/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emlyn Dodd receives funding from the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Macquarie University, Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens (AAIA), Australasian Society for Classical Studies, and the British School at Athens. He is affiliated with Macquarie University, the AAIA and Centre for Ancient Cultural Heritage and Environment.
The author wishes to acknowledge and thank Stephen Kay (BSR), Margaret Andrews (Harvard) and Seth Bernard (Toronto), as well as the team from Ghent University.</span></em></p>
New technology mapped the buried ancient Roman site of Falerii Novi. Now archaeologists have started targeted excavation and soil testing to reveal details of life from more than 2,000 years ago.
Emlyn Dodd, Assistant Director of Archaeology, British School at Rome; Honorary Postdoctoral Fellow, Macquarie University; Research Affiliate, Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens, Macquarie University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/157761
2021-03-30T20:59:16Z
2021-03-30T20:59:16Z
Politicians have ‘washed their hands’ and blamed others since Jesus’s crucifixion
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392380/original/file-20210329-13-raget4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C73%2C2035%2C1260&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sixth-century mosaic depicting Jesus before Roman governor Pontius Pilate washing his hands, at Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">(Nick Thompson/Flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Handwashing has gotten substantial coverage this past year during the COVID-19 pandemic, and not just for hygiene. You may have encountered <a href="https://ca.granthshala.com/pastors-and-parishioners-test-the-right-to-congregate-during-the-pandemic">some of the many</a> accusations in both the U.S. <a href="https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/albertans-asking-whereiskenney-as-province-sets-covid-19-record-again-1.5200269">and Canada</a> that a politician has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/opinion/sunday/trump-coronavirus-national-emergency.html">“washed his hands” of pandemic responsibilities</a>. </p>
<p>Sometimes the reference includes a nod to the historical figure associated with this phrase: Recently in the U.S., a conservative commentator faulted President Joe Biden, saying he is “<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/sean-hannity-trashing-joe-biden-day-one-presidency-1563256">like Pontius Pilate: just washes his hands and stays quiet</a>.”</p>
<p>These handwashing images derive from iconic biblical scripture referring to events preceding Jesus’s crucifixion. </p>
<p>In one of the earliest versions of these events, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea from <a href="https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/book/studies-in-the-jewish-background-of-christianity-9783161573279?no_cache=1">at least 26 to 37 CE</a> — the only man with the power to order a crucifixion — <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2027%3A24&version=NRSV">washes his hands before a crowd</a>. In the Gospel of Matthew, he simultaneously assents to Jesus’s execution and claims no personal responsibility.</p>
<p>Throughout the history of Christianity, representations of Pilate’s handwashing have often been used to shift blame for Jesus’s death to Jews, and have been part of a toxic legacy of Christian and western antisemitism.</p>
<h2>The historical Pilate</h2>
<p>In the first century CE, the Roman empire ruled the sub-province of Judea through military governors like Pilate, who were tasked with quashing any rebellions against Roman rule. Pilate was the only person in Judea with the authority to execute someone by crucifixion, a brutal form of <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=p_uwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA147&lpg=PA147&dq=%E2%80%9CThe+Lynching+Tree+and+the+Cross:+James+Cone,+Historical+Narrative,+and+the+Ideology+of+Just+Crucifixion%22&source=bl&ots=s3s6DdAfig&sig=ACfU3U1G1zsuT-5uHxQ8pVf85hHmwga6gQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5vMHXn9jvAhVthuAKHcNEAKcQ6AEwA3oECAUQAw#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CThe%20Lynching%20Tree%20and%20the%20Cross%3A%20James%20Cone%2C%20Historical%20Narrative%2C%20and%20the%20Ideology%20of%20Just%20Crucifixion%22&f=false">capital punishment reserved for slaves and non-citizens</a> deemed subversive.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511585166">Helen Bond, professor of Christian origins explains</a> that “the execution of Jesus was in all probability a routine crucifixion of a messianic agitator” by a Roman governor. </p>
<p>Jewish sources convey that Pilate was hostile toward Jews and their customs. Philo of Alexandria even lamented Pilate’s “<a href="http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book40.html">continual murders of people untried and uncondemned</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="17th-century painting of Pilate washing his hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392391/original/file-20210329-19-1xivmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Pilate Washing his Hands,’ by Hendrick ter Brugghen, 17th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shipley Art Gallery; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation/Wikimedia Commons)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Exonerating Pilate</h2>
<p>Yet, the New Testament gospels offer ambivalent portraits of the man who ordered Christ’s execution. There are four different accounts of Jesus’s sentencing and death, but all agree Pilate was reluctant to declare Jesus guilty. </p>
<p>Each gospel depicts Pilate finding Jesus blameless but acquiescing to execute him, whether due to personal <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+23%3A23&version=NRSV">weakness</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark+15%3A15&version=NRSV">to appease the crowds</a> or <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+19%3A15&version=NRSV">to legitimate his own authority and the emperor’s</a>. Instead of impugning Pilate, the gospels <a href="https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/people/main-articles/pontius-pilate">shift the blame for Jesus’s death to Jewish authorities</a>.</p>
<p>Each of these gospels was written during the decades following the destruction of the Jerusalem temple by the Romans (70 CE), the climax of the First Jewish Revolt. This was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/15700631-12494235">a period of rampant anti-Judaism</a>: imperialist media such as coins and monuments indiscriminately linked Jews from across the empire to the rebels in Judea and cast Jews as barbaric traitors. The empire punished all Jews, for instance, with a tax.</p>
<p>This created a challenge for those early followers of Jesus — both Jews and gentiles — who proclaimed that their Saviour was a Jew whom Rome executed as a criminal. The gospel authors stressed that Jesus opposed the Jewish authorities and was not found guilty by the Roman governor.</p>
<h2>Jewish and gentile Jesus followers</h2>
<p>How to understand depictions of “Jews” in gospels written before the self-identification “Christian” became widespread in the early second century is thus immensely <a href="https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9780800662097/The-Ways-That-Never-Parted-Jews-and-Christians-in-Late-Antiquity-and-the-Early-Middle-Ages">complicated</a>. The Gospel of John, for instance, emerged from a gentile community. It never uses the term “Christian” yet distinguishes followers of Christ from Jews through hostile rhetoric demonizing “the Jews” as <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+8%3A44&version=NRSV">children of the devil</a>, as the New Testament scholar <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781978701175/Cast-Out-of-the-Covenant-Jews-and-Anti-Judaism-in-the-Gospel-of-John">Adele Reinhartz has shown</a>. </p>
<p>Matthew’s gospel, however, was produced by a community of <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo3632737.html">Christ-followers who more clearly fit within the spectrum of Jewish identities</a>, yet were eager to distinguish themselves from Jewish leaders who had been involved in the revolt and post-war Jewish leaders (namely, the rabbis). In this case, rhetorical attacks against certain Jewish leaders reflect an inter-sectarian argument among Jews. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Statue of Jesus in front of Pilate washing his hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392393/original/file-20210329-23-1avwss8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Catholic devotional practice the Stations of the Cross sometimes shows Pilate washing his hands as Jesus is condemned to death. Here, The Shrine of Christ’s Passion, St. John, Indiana.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">(Contemplative imaging/Flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Transferring guilt</h2>
<p>The pattern of exonerating Pilate by blaming Jewish leaders is unmistakable in Matthew’s gospel. It includes a “blood curse” that is the basis of <a href="https://www.hmhco.com/shop/books/constantine-and-x27s-sword/9780618219087">a toxic formula that Christians have used to justify centuries of Christian anti-Judaism, often resulting in reprehensible acts of violence against Jews</a>: “So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing … he took some water and washed his hands … saying, ‘<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+27&version=NRSV">I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’ Then the people as a whole answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children</a>!’” </p>
<p>Matthew also writes “the chief priests and the elders” were <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+27%3A20&version=NRSV">manipulating the crowds</a>. He often accuses Jewish leaders of such corruption as well as <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300171563/matthew-within-sectarian-judaism">hypocrisy and misunderstanding the Jewish law</a>. </p>
<p>Pilate’s handwashing alludes to an older account from Jewish scripture. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2021%3A1-9&version=NRSV">Deuteronomy 21:1-9</a> prescribes a ritual through which Israel can be “absolved of bloodguilt” for a murder committed by an unknown person. Because the culprit can’t be prosecuted, this ritual removes “bloodguilt,” or communal liability for “innocent blood,” that would otherwise remain in the midst of the people of Israel.</p>
<p>The rite entails the people’s elders washing their hands of bloodguilt while priests break a heifer’s neck. Matthew inverts Deuteronomy’s ritual, and casts the priests and elders as hypocrites who invited bloodguilt onto their kinfolk.</p>
<h2>Pilate’s redemption and anti-Judaism</h2>
<p>Through early Christian writers, Pilate became an even more positive figure by the time the Roman Empire adopted Christianity. Some considered Pilate a Christian, at least “<a href="http://www.tertullian.org/articles/reeve_apology.htm">in his conscience</a>,” as the early theologian Tertullian wrote. The <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/what-pilate-knew">Coptic Church</a> proclaimed him a saint in the sixth century. Pilate even appears in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nicene-Creed">Niceno-Constantinopolitan creed</a>, a Christian statement of faith: Jesus was “crucified for us under Pontius Pilate.” Note the statement says “under” and not “by” Pilate.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.oxfordbiblicalstudies.com/article/book/acprof-9780198261827/acprof-9780198261827-div1-67">Ancient Christian texts doubled down</a> on the New Testament gospels’ shifting of blame from Pilate to Jews, as professor of the New Testament <a href="https://litpress.org/Products/5113/Interfaces-Pontius-Pilate">Warren Carter has shown</a>. </p>
<p>Christian authors deployed ambivalent and positive images of Pilate to show that Christianity was not a threat to Roman law and order. In doing so, they <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691139562/pontius-pilate-anti-semitism-and-the-passion-in-medieval-art">fanned the flames of anti-Judaism</a>. Art historian Colum Hourihane has explored how these anti-Jewish interpretations eventually led to negative characterizations of Pilate himself as a Jew during the medieval period in Europe. At this time, Christians blamed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/health/01plague.html">Jews for plagues</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-pandemic-shattered-the-harmony-of-medieval-europes-diverse-cities-134578">How pandemic shattered the harmony of medieval Europe's diverse cities</a>
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</em>
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<h2>Politics of handwashing</h2>
<p>Some accusations of handwashing rightly seek to hold political leaders accountable, or point to the tightrope politicians walk to meet political objectives. Pope Francis declared that those who ignore suffering caused by COVID-19 are “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-pope-idUSKBN2601JG">devotees of Pontius Pilate who simply wash their hands of it</a>.” </p>
<p>But the expression should also remind us of the dangers of vilification: As we saw under former president Donald Trump’s pandemic leadership, when leaders or communities distinguish themselves through <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/trumps-chinese-virus-tweet-helped-lead-rise-racist/story?id=76530148">scapegoating, this facilitates a dangerous redistribution of guilt to other parties, often marginalized and racialized communities</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/12/anti-asian-attacks-united-states-covid/">Like Trump, political influencers</a> have vilified people of Asian descent, and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-crimes-increased-nearly-150-2020-mostly-n-n1260264">both the U.S.</a> <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/reports-of-anti-asian-hate-crimes-are-surging-in-canada-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-1.5351481">and Canada have seen</a> a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/anti-asian-racism-during-coronavirus-how-the-language-of-disease-produces-hate-and-violence-134496">Anti-Asian racism during coronavirus: How the language of disease produces hate and violence</a>
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<p>Some conspiracy theorists have falsely <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/anti-semitic-and-anti-asian-incidents-on-the-rise-during-covid-19-reports-1.4924306">blamed Jews and Israel</a> for the virus. Some politicians and commentators have divided communities directly or indirectly through blaming or singling out <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/02/illness-obesity-racism-who-gets-blamed-for-our-crises-the-poor-of-course">people living in poverty</a> <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/race-and-blame/609946/">or Black</a>, racialized and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/opinion-sinclair-pallister-vaccine-first-nations-1.5828578">Indigenous communities</a>. </p>
<p>The history of interpretations of Pilate’s handwashing is stained by malicious attempts to define Christian identity through the demonization of Jewish others. Whether seeking to explain problems, to hold people accountable or to assert our own identities, let’s do so in ways that don’t dehumanize anyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Keddie receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>
The expression to “wash one’s hands of responsibility” comes from Christian scripture and has been part of a toxic legacy of blaming Jews for Jesus’s death.
Tony Keddie, Assistant Professor of Early Christian History and Literature, University of British Columbia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/149527
2020-12-20T21:12:48Z
2020-12-20T21:12:48Z
The borrowed customs and traditions of Christmas celebrations
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372195/original/file-20201201-18-1fl360e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=297%2C595%2C2738%2C1418&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruslan Kalnitsky/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not long to go now before many of us get to spread some good tidings and joy as we celebrate Christmas.</p>
<p>The main ways we understand and mark the occasion seem to be rather <a href="https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/">similar across the world</a>. It’s about time with community, family, food-sharing, gift-giving and overall merry festivities.</p>
<p>But while Christmas is ostensibly a Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus, many of the rituals and customs come from other traditions, both spiritual and secular.</p>
<h2>The first Christmas</h2>
<p>The journey of Christmas into the celebration we know and recognise today is not a straight line.</p>
<p>The first Christmas celebrations were <a href="https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/the-1st-recorded-celebration-of-christmas-11629658.html">recorded</a> in Ancient Rome in the fourth century. Christmas was placed in December, around the time of the northern <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/winter-solstice.html">winter solstice</a>.</p>
<p>It is not difficult to spot the similarities between our now long-standing <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas">Christmas</a> traditions and the Roman festival of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saturnalia-Roman-festival">Saturnalia</a>, which was also celebrated in December and co-existed with Christian belief for a period of time.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/feeling-pressured-to-buy-christmas-presents-read-this-and-think-twice-before-buying-candles-150174">Feeling pressured to buy Christmas presents? Read this (and think twice before buying candles)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Saturnalia placed an emphasis on the sharing of food and drink, and spending time with loved ones as the colder winter period arrived. There is even evidence that the Romans exchanged little gifts of food to mark the occasion.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A table with food, wine and candles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372457/original/file-20201202-22-ipw85o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some people still celebrate Saturnalia today with food and drink.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/carolemage/38396036234/">Carole Raddato/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>As Christianity took greater hold in the Roman world and the old polytheistic religion was left behind, we can see the cultural imprint of Saturnalia traditions in the ways in which our well-known Christmas celebrations established themselves across the board.</p>
<h2>A Yule celebration</h2>
<p>Turning an eye to the Germanic-Scandinavian context also provides intriguing connections. In the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas">Norse religion</a>, Yule was a winter festival celebrated during the period we now roughly associate with December.</p>
<p>The beginning of Yule was marked by the arrival of the Wild Hunt, a spiritual occurrence when the Norse god Odin would ride across the sky on his eight-legged white horse.</p>
<p>While the hunt was a frightening sight to behold, it also brought excitement for families, and especially children, as Odin was known to leave little gifts at each household as he rode past.</p>
<p>Like the Roman Saturnalia, Yule was a time of drawing in for the winter months, during which copious amounts of food and drink would be consumed.</p>
<p>The Yule festivities included bringing tree branches inside the home and decorating them with food and trinkets, likely opening the way for the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees">Christmas tree</a> as we know it today.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A decorated Christmas tree in a home." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372477/original/file-20201202-16-m4og1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The decorated Christmas tree can trace its roots back to Northern Europe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfsavard/3145328220/">Laura LaRose/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The influence of Yule on the festive season of Northern European countries is still evident in linguistic expression too, with “Jul” being the word for Christmas in Danish and Norwegian. The English language also maintains this connection, by referring to the Christmas period as “Yuletide”.</p>
<h2>Here comes Santa</h2>
<p>Through the idea of gift-giving, we see the obvious connections between Odin and Santa Claus, even though the latter is somewhat of a popular culture invention, as put forward by the famous poem <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43171/a-visit-from-st-nicholas">A Visit from St Nicholas</a> (also known as The Night Before Christmas), attributed to American poet <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Clement-Clarke-Moore">Clement Clarke Moore</a> in 1837 (although <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/86071888/who-really-named-santas-reindeer-its-not-who-you-thought">debate continues</a> over <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/night-before-christmas-poem-1.4446455">who actually wrote the poem</a>).</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yeb_oH5_OJE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The poem was very well-received and its popularity spread immediately, going well beyond the American context and reaching global fame. The poem gave us much of the staple imagery we associate with Santa today, including the first ever mention of his reindeer.</p>
<p>But even the figure of Santa Claus is evidence of the constant mixture and mingling of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33574172-christmas">traditions, customs and representations</a>.</p>
<p>Santa’s evolution <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1493195.Christmas">carries echoes</a> of not only Odin, but also historical figures such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Nicholas">Saint Nicholas of Myra</a> — a fourth-century bishop known for his charitable work — and the legendary Dutch figure of <a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/11/ten-things-you-need-to-know-to-celebrate-sinterklaas/">Sinterklaas</a> that derived from it.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sinterklaas has a white beard and is dressed in a red jacket, speaking with some children." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372717/original/file-20201203-19-mc5oyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Dutch figure Sinterklaas looks a lot like Santa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/archeon/4141592110/">Hans Splinter/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Christmas down under in the summer</h2>
<p>The idea of connecting Christmas to winter festivals and drawing in customs makes the most sense in the colder months of the Northern hemisphere.</p>
<p>In the Southern hemisphere, in countries such as New Zealand and Australia, the traditional Christmas celebrations have evolved into their own specific brand, which is much more suited to the warmer summer months.</p>
<p>Christmas is an imported event in these areas and acts as a constant reminder of the spread of European colonialism in the 18th and 19th centuries.</p>
<p>Celebrating Christmas still carries the influence of European contexts, being a time for merriment, gift-giving and community spirit.</p>
<p>Even some of the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45310198-christmas-food-and-feasting">traditional foods</a> of the season here are still indebted to Euro-British traditions, with <a href="https://thisnzlife.co.nz/12-tips-cooking-perfect-christmas-turkey/">turkey</a> and <a href="https://dish.co.nz/recipes/raspberry-glazed-christmas-ham">ham</a> taking centre stage.</p>
<p>All the same, as Christmas falls in the summer down under, there are also different ways to <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/kiwi-christmas">celebrate it in New Zealand</a> and <a href="https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/">other regions</a> that clearly have nothing to do with winter festivals.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-choose-the-right-christmas-gift-tips-from-psychological-research-149739">How to choose the right Christmas gift: tips from psychological research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Barbecues and beach days are prominent new traditions, as borrowed practices co-exist with novel ways of adapting the event to a different context. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A plate of mini tropical fruit pavlovas with berries" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372759/original/file-20201203-13-no0rb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Try a pavlova, something more summery for Christmas in New Zealand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/50194313052/">Marco Verch Professional/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The wintery Christmas puddings are often exchanged for more summery pavlovas, whose fresh fruit toppings and meringue base certainly befit the warmer season to a greater extent.</p>
<p>The transition to outdoor Christmas celebrations in the Southern hemisphere is obviously locked in common sense because of the warmer weather.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, it also shows how both cultural and geographical drivers can influence the evolution of celebrating important festivals. And if you really want to experience a cold Christmas down under, there is always a mid-year Christmas in July to look forward to.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149527/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorna Piatti-Farnell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Christmas we celebrate today around the world, whether in northern winter or southern summer, has its roots in many cultures and traditions.
Lorna Piatti-Farnell, Professor of Popular Culture, Auckland University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/147619
2020-10-19T18:32:53Z
2020-10-19T18:32:53Z
The history of oath ceremonies and why they matter when taking office
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364018/original/file-20201016-15-16p6muc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett is sworn in Oct. 12 for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXSupremeCourtBarrett/84957f0f66364503a02770b7643b1e8f/photo?Query=Amy%20coney%20BArrett&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=2982&currentItemNo=18">Leah Millis/Pool via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/21/politics/amy-coney-barrett-supreme-court/index.html">confirmation hearings for</a> Amy Coney Barrett have <a href="https://www.deseret.com/faith/2020/10/15/21517518/judge-thomas-griffith-amy-coney-barrett-catholic-faith-supreme-court-mormon-lds">drawn much</a> notice for her religious worldview.</p>
<p>Barrett’s <a href="https://peopleofpraise.org/about/who-we-are/covenant/">alleged commitment</a> to a small Christian religious group, People of Praise, has raised concerns. This <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/covenant">covenant</a> is a formal pledge to remain a member for life, following its authority structures, religious beliefs and expectations for service or charitable activities.</p>
<p>Barrett must take an oath – both governmental and judicial – swearing impartiality if she is approved for the post of a Supreme Court justice. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-amy-coney-barrett-archive-courts-social-issues-7407908faa001844bcf835bb53bb0731">Some commentators have questioned</a> this apparent permanent commitment to an ultraconservative “fringe” group and whether that might interfere with her ability to <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/amy-coney-barrett-conservative-anti-catholic-complaints.html">genuinely practice this impartiality</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/joanne-pierce">scholar of medieval Christian liturgy and ritual</a>, I believe this is a moment to understand why oaths are so important, as well as how they came to be such an important tradition. </p>
<h2>What is an oath?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/speech-act-theory-1691986">Some philosophers</a> and <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=8NLm78cziU4C&pg=PA319&dq=oath+ritual+act&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZp4eAmrbsAhUJd6wKHasiD0U4ChDoATAHegQICRAC#v=onepage&q=oath%20ritual%20act&f=false">anthropologists</a> define an oath as a <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/speech-acts/">ritual act</a>, or more specifically a “<a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/speech-act-linguistics-1692119#:%7E:text=In%20linguistics%2C%20a%20speech%20act,or%20any%20number%20of%20declarations">speech act</a>.” </p>
<p>An oath is one kind of speech act. Taking an oath expresses a specific intention to others, using words like “I promise to” or “I swear that.” The intention when taking an oath is not limited to the moment someone articulates the words of the oath. </p>
<p>Oath-taking is also about the intention in the future to commit to act in a certain way. One example is the vows taken by couples during their wedding in front of witnesses. </p>
<p>British philosopher <a href="http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/aust.htm">John L. Austin</a> <a href="http://semantics.uchicago.edu/kennedy/classes/f09/semprag1/austin56.pdf">called oaths</a> “<a href="http://www.glottopedia.org/index.php/Performative">performative utterances.”</a> The engaged couple, for example, declare their act of marrying each other by speaking their vows to each other. They make a deliberate choice of their own free will. </p>
<h2>Roman soldiers and allegiance</h2>
<p>The ritual of taking oaths goes back centuries in Western Europe.</p>
<p>In antiquity, oaths were often demanded of religious and governmental leaders, as well as those in certain professions. In ancient Rome, oaths were also demanded of soldiers. </p>
<p>The most solemn military oath – directly invoking the Roman gods – was the “<a href="https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-5653">sacramentum</a>.” By this oath, soldiers swore allegiance to their specific general or commanding consul and, later, to the emperor. Disobedience could earn <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Conflict_in_Ancient_Greece_and_Rome_The/npNUDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=roman%20soldier%20punishment">severe punishments</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364019/original/file-20201016-23-1om2x7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tapestry scene showing swearing oath on holy relics to William, Duke of Normandy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Bayeux_Tapestry_scene23_Harold_sacramentum_fecit_Willelmo_duci.jpg/1024px-Bayeux_Tapestry_scene23_Harold_sacramentum_fecit_Willelmo_duci.jpg">Myrabella via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On some occasions, oath-breaking was tested by resorting to divine intervention. The virgin goddess Vesta was one of the most important in Roman religion. Her priestesses, <a href="https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1099&context=his">the Vestals, or Vestal Virgins</a>, therefore took an oath of chastity for their 30-year term of service tending to the ever-burning sacred fire of Rome, Vesta’s sacred hearth, as well as other rites.</p>
<p>Vestals accused of breaking that oath were judged by the high priest of Rome. Since a priestess was a sacred person, her blood could not be shed. If found guilty, the priestess was buried alive, with a lamp and a little food, and left to the judgment of Vesta. If any condemned Vestal were innocent, it was believed that surely the <a href="https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1099&context=his">goddess would free her</a> from her living death. </p>
<h2>Oaths in the Middle Ages</h2>
<p>In medieval Europe, Christians continued to take oaths. The religious and secular worlds were closely interconnected for most of these centuries, and most oaths referred to Christian beliefs. </p>
<p>In the early Middle Ages, Christians <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Oaths_and_the_English_Reformation/Al4gAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=medieval+oaths&pg=PA31&printsec=frontcover">took oaths</a> in the name of God, often while holding a religious object like a <a href="https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/feud-fief1.asp">relic of a saint</a> or a book of the Gospels. </p>
<p>In most cases, oaths were not strictly person to person, but involved the wider community in some important way. Kings took <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/old-english-coronation-oath">coronation oaths</a>, swearing to rule justly and safeguard the people of the kingdom; lesser nobles took <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Shorter_Cambridge_Medieval_History/mcI8AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=oath+fealty+medieval&pg=PA418&printsec=frontcover">oaths of fealty</a> to greater nobles, often for protection and material advantage. </p>
<p>Religious leaders like bishops and abbots also became part of this oath-based system, since they, too, had secular jurisdiction over important tracts of land. Breaking an oath was believed to bring down the wrath of God in time, but other than that, upholding one’s personal honor and reputation within the local community was a key consideration. </p>
<p>Until the early 13th century, Christian rites would <a href="https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3387&context=mlr">accompany</a> the earlier Germanic practice of trial by ordeal. In these earlier centuries, most local people accused of a crime could be found not guilty by compurgation – that is, through oaths made by other respected members of the community <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jury_State_and_Society_in_Medieval_Engla/McDIAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=medieval+oath+compurgation&pg=PA77&printsec=frontcover">testifying to the accused’s honest character</a>. </p>
<p>In other cases, often involving strangers to the local community, the accused could be cleared only by a divine intervention. </p>
<p>After a night of fasting and prayer, the accused would undergo a physical ordeal, like carrying a heated block of iron over a set number of steps or by being thrown into a pond to sink or float. </p>
<p>If the accused did not develop blisters or was “accepted” by the water and sank, that was understood as God’s declaration of his innocence. As time went on, scholars and ordinary people increasingly <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LgTzXwdJKUoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=criticism+medieval+trials+ordeal&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipyKPpzLnsAhWBGc0KHWmaBeUQ6AEwAHoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=criticism%20medieval%20trials%20ordeal&f=false">criticized the reliability of trials</a> by ordeal. </p>
<p>By the 13th century, the procedures of the court trial were defined and adopted, both in canon law – that is, the church law – and in secular law.</p>
<h2>Why oaths matter</h2>
<p>When drafting the U.S. Constitution in 1787, the Founding Fathers rejected some of the legal practices of the British system of law. One such rejection was of the “<a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/interpretation/article-vi/clauses/32#:%7E:text=After%20requiring%20all%20federal%20and,as%20the%20No%20Religious%20Test">religious test</a>.” </p>
<p>In Great Britain, all office holders had to affirm the religious doctrines of the Church of England. But in the independent United States, there was to be no such religious restriction placed on federal officeholders. Preserving religious liberty was a primary concern protected by the Constitution.</p>
<p>One of the British legal practices the Founding Fathers did include in the Constitution was the swearing of oaths upon entering federal governmental service. However, these oaths were not taken to pledge loyalty to a single monarch, but to “protect and defend” the Constitution itself. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364022/original/file-20201016-19-i9c991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sandra Day O'Connor being sworn in as a Supreme Court justice by Chief Justice Warren Burger in September 1981.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1696015">Series: Reagan White House Photographs, 1/20/1981 - 1/20/1989 Collection: White House Photographic Collection, 1/20/1981 - 1/20/1989</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But “swearing-in ceremonies” communicate far more. Supreme Court justices <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/oath/oathsofoffice.aspx">take two oaths</a>, one judicial, and the other constitutional. The oath ceremony is still a serious performative utterance.</p>
<p>The appointees take these oaths in front of witnesses, who are themselves representative of the entire community the appointees will serve. </p>
<p>Appointees to the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/oath/oathsofoffice.aspx">commit themselves</a>, not to a partisan political agenda, and not to a cult of personality or to the judgment of popular opinion. They commit themselves to “protect and defend the Constitution” and “administer justice without respect to persons … faithfully and impartially.” </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Justices might be <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artIII_S1_2_1_3/">impeached by Congress</a> for failing in “good behavior.” But in practice, justices serve for life, until death or retirement, and are bound in good conscience to carry out their “duties” as they have sworn to do. </p>
<p>The conscience of appointees, not the preservation of their personal reputations, has been the focus of these “oaths of office” for almost 250 years. This is as true today as it was in 1787.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147619/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne M. Pierce does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Taking oath is an important tradition before assuming charge of a public office. It entails a commitment to the future. What is the history of oath-taking?
Joanne M. Pierce, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/134730
2020-03-30T12:15:54Z
2020-03-30T12:15:54Z
What early Christian communities tell us about giving financial aid at a time of crises
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323663/original/file-20200327-146662-fsh230.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C13%2C1176%2C916&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Apostle Paul and his followers collected aid, likely for early Christians.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giovanni_Paolo_Pannini_-_Apostle_Paul_Preaching_on_the_Ruins_-_WGA16977.jpg">Giovanni Paolo Panini /Hermitage Museum via Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sometime in the late second century A.D., Christians in the city of Rome <a href="https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.ix.xxiii.html">organized</a> a collection to send to the followers of Jesus in the city of Corinth. </p>
<p>Modern-day scholars don’t know what the crisis was that prompted the donation – it could have been a plague or a famine. What they do know from fragments of a letter sent by the Corinthian bishop, Dionysios, is that a large sum of money was shipped to Corinth.</p>
<p>As a scholar of early Christianity, I have <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/assembling-early-christianity/1DF721088E8AAC0B8CB76FD099DA891D">written</a> about this act of generosity. At a time when countries across the globe are struggling to fight the coronavirus and its economic impact, I argue modern society could learn from the actions of these early Christians. </p>
<h2>Sharing resources</h2>
<p>Some of the earliest Christian texts, written in the first and second centuries A.D., even before the time of Dionysios, show evidence for the pooling of economic resources. </p>
<p>The letters of the apostle Paul, written during the first century, are among the earliest sources for Christian life. These letters <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=452249498">frequently</a> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=452249533">discuss</a> aid that Paul and his followers collected in Greece and Turkey. The aid was intended for the “saints” in Jerusalem – likely a group of early followers of Jesus. </p>
<p>Paul <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=452249570">says in his letters</a> that the purpose of the aid was to “remember the poor” in Jerusalem. </p>
<p>Scholars debate whether Paul hoped to help a community in financial need or to show Jewish followers of Jesus in Jerusalem that Paul’s gentile converts were real members of the Jesus movement. </p>
<p>Paul got contributions from multiple cities and regions. But this was the exception rather than the rule. The pooling of resources and their use among the early Christians were generally <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/9872/pdf">directed locally</a>. </p>
<p>Later literary evidence provides many examples of local charity.</p>
<p>The second-century “Acts of the Apostles,” which provides a history of the early church, contains legends about Jesus’ apostles shortly after his death. One such <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=452249815">story</a> describes how Jesus’ followers organized a commune in Jerusalem soon after his death. Members relinquished property rights and shared everything in common. </p>
<p>Similarly, the “Pastoral Epistles,” a collection of letters from the second century, <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=452250761">speak of a fund</a> that entitled widows, provided they were over 60 and had no other family to support them, to financial support from the community.</p>
<p>Two texts written by Roman Christians in the second century, the “<a href="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/shepherd-lightfoot.html">Shepherd of Hermas</a>” and the “<a href="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/justinmartyr-firstapology.html">First Apology</a>” of Justin Martyr, a Christian philosopher, show that local groups in the city collected offerings from their members that could be used for the common good.</p>
<p><a href="http://philipharland.com/greco-roman-associations/">Literature</a> from this period shows that local, organized groups were common in ancient cities, ranging from burial societies, to guilds, to devotees of particular gods. Members of these groups paid dues that helped to fund burials, communal meals and other social activities. </p>
<p>These groups provided community, but also helped to manage risk.</p>
<h2>A collection for Corinth</h2>
<p>By the end of the second century, a network of Christian groups in Rome had begun directing some of their local capital toward non-local needs. This included helping Christians who had been sent to the mines, which may have been linked to persecution of Christian communities.</p>
<p>This network also <a href="https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9780800627027/From-Paul-to-Valentinus-Christians-at-Rome-in-the-First-Two-Centuries">provided</a> financial support for impoverished Christian groups in other cities. </p>
<p>Dionysios wrote a number of letters to Christian communities in the eastern Mediterranean regarding matters relating to theology, sexual practice and persecution of Christians. Fragments of these letters survive in the <a href="https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.ix.xxiii.html">accounts</a> of Eusebius, a fourth-century Christian historian. </p>
<p>Dionysios’ letter to the Romans mentions the financial aid that was collected in Rome and sent to Corinth.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323669/original/file-20200327-146712-18s7nsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323669/original/file-20200327-146712-18s7nsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323669/original/file-20200327-146712-18s7nsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323669/original/file-20200327-146712-18s7nsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323669/original/file-20200327-146712-18s7nsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323669/original/file-20200327-146712-18s7nsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323669/original/file-20200327-146712-18s7nsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The ruins of Corinth show that there might have been a plague or another disaster.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rmarksphotography/1633314880/in/photolist-3ukaBo-a84HcQ-3ufPFZ-3ukh2m-QdkaQy-YU3aJj-3ukjoQ-29pmw5J-DvbLxv-2caRbLg-LALFPt-5msJdk-2T3sfc-MqKg24-a81QPv-2T7ca1-2T7T4U-29pmrNY-qbWcHv-2T7SBQ-M77BsL-29pmqAs-Q2LM5E-My78aH-qBzNNw-2caR1XD-2caRdFZ-2pEHz9-2b4UcV1-29pmpPY-29pmrmW-NpF87P-M77XEu-Gp9g4x-M77ZaU-My7CxF-5xMQjq-Mv2KFY-NpFbMp-My7pDp-Q2LKjW-MqKuNH-2caR8jr-21hUxch-My7kF4-2caR9GB-2c6o7JN-29pmrb5-My7Jh6-2aM74Lp">bighornplateau1/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Archaeological <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/assembling-early-christianity/1DF721088E8AAC0B8CB76FD099DA891D">remains</a> from Corinth around this time speak to a heightened concern over health. During this period, healing deities appeared for the first time on local Corinthian coinage. It was during this time that the first inscriptions honoring doctors appeared.</p>
<p>There may have been fears of a plague, or an economic downturn in the city. The archaeological record indicates a marked drop in imports to the city at this time. Regardless of the cause, Corinth’s Christian community found itself in trouble. </p>
<p>When a network of Christians in Rome learned about the situation in Corinth, a local leader named Soter organized a collection to provide aid, according to Dionysios. Thanking the Romans for their gift, Dionysios <a href="https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.ix.xxiii.html">speaks</a> about how the gift was part of a longer tradition in this network of Roman Christians: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“For from the beginning this has been a custom for you, always acting as a benefactor to siblings in various ways and sending financial support to many assemblies in every city, thus relieving the need of those in want and supplying additional help to the siblings who are in the mines.” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A network of support</h2>
<p>This story offers a window into an early shift occurring within some forms of early Christianity. </p>
<p>While early Christians had formed networks that provided for hospitality and the sharing of news, ideas, and texts, sharing money was definitely not the norm in the second century. </p>
<p>For example, news, ideas and texts moved through the network of <a href="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ignatius.html">Ignatius of Antioch</a>, the bishop of Antioch in the middle of the second century. However, despite the fact that the community in Antioch was experiencing distress, financial help was not offered.</p>
<p>Dionysios’ letter is an indication of how some early Christian networks had begun to grow extensive and stable enough to direct their resources both to local and non-local needs. </p>
<p>Further, this could happen because members of this network of Christian associations thought of themselves as “siblings,” as family. Sibling – or, in Greek, “adelphos” - was the name most frequently used by Christians for members of their associations.</p>
<h2>Christians and crises</h2>
<p>This impulse to channel care into the wider world during a crisis appears to stands in sharp contrast to how a few high-profile American Christians reacted early in the coronavirus pandemic, and as time considered.</p>
<p>Jerry Falwell Jr., a prominent evangelical leader and then-president of Liberty University, was <a href="https://www.ktvu.com/news/criticism-mounts-after-liberty-universitys-jerry-falwell-jr-welcomes-back-students-amid-coronavirus-outbreak">heavily criticized</a> after announcing that <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/briannasacks/coronavirus-liberty-university-jerry-falwell">students would be allowed to return to campus</a>. He’s said the concerns about the virus are <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/briannasacks/coronavirus-liberty-university-jerry-falwell">overblown</a>. </p>
<p>Conservative political commentator, Glenn Beck, who has <a href="https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/journeys-faith-paula-faris-glenn-beck-mormon-faith-63341070">spoken often of his faith</a>, urged the government not to sacrifice the economy for the sake of protecting the vulnerable, elderly, and immunocompromised. </p>
<p>[<em>Interested in science headlines but not politics? Or just politics or religion?</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-interested">The Conversation has newsletters to suit your interests</a>.]</p>
<p>On his March 24, 2020 radio show, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/03/25/coronavirus-glenn-beck-trump/">Beck said</a>, “I would rather have my children stay home and all of us who are over 50 go in and keep this economy going and working even if we all get sick. I’d rather die than kill the country. ’Cause it’s not the economy that’s dying, it’s the country.”</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/19/most-white-evangelicals-satisfied-with-trumps-initial-response-to-the-covid-19-outbreak/">polling</a> by the Pew Research Center released on March 19, 2020, a majority of white evangelicals believe “that the crisis has been blown out of proportion by the media.” </p>
<p>This stands in contrast to the impulse among some early Christians, and, no doubt, many modern Christians as well. In times of crisis, they sought to connect and share.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134730/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cavan W. Concannon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
In the late second century, some Christian groups in Rome began directing financial aid toward people living in another city, who were going through a crisis. That act of giving has lessons for today.
Cavan W. Concannon, Associate Professor of Religion, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/130567
2020-02-14T13:55:24Z
2020-02-14T13:55:24Z
Ancient spells and charms for the hapless in love
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315490/original/file-20200214-10980-1bzsjqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C187%2C1295%2C756&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Magic was an every day part of life in the Graeco-Roman empire.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_in_the_Graeco-Roman_world#/media/File:Circe_Offering_the_Cup_to_Odysseus.jpg">John William Waterhouse</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Valentine’s Days is not all love hearts and roses for everyone. For the hapless in love, the day can be a yearly reminder of failed romances, unrequited love and the seemingly unending search for the illusive “one”.</p>
<p>Such problems of the heart span cultures and history. The inhabitants of the Graeco-Roman world suffered the same heartaches and the same emotional highs and lows as we do today. While we are left with apps to swipe on, a greater belief in magic in this period provided interesting opportunities to find love. </p>
<p>Hope was placed on spells, mysterious words and magical objects to grant the gift of love on their users or to take it away from rivals.</p>
<h2>Ticks and fish blood</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://archive.org/details/TheGreekMagicalPapyriInTranslation/page/n2/mode/2up%3C">Greek Magical Papyri</a> are a series of ancient spell books from Egypt from between the 2nd century BC and the 5th century AD. They are a sort of do-it-yourself guide to magical rituals that offers solutions to problems like finding a thief, keeping calm, curing fevers and demonic possession. Unsurprisingly, love charms feature prominently.</p>
<p>Depending on the lengths a hopeful lover was willing to go (and their level of lust/obsession/desperation) there was something for all levels of effort. Some spells are “simple”: “To get a certain [her] at the baths: rub a tick from a dead dog on the loins.”</p>
<p>Others require a bit more preparatory work. One advertised as the “irresistible love spell of attraction” asks the unlucky lover to use fish blood to write a spell invoking demons on the skin of an ass. They must then wrap it in <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/common-vetch">vetch</a> (a plant with pink flowers) and hide it in the mouth of a recently deceased dog. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315487/original/file-20200214-10980-1i1dv52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315487/original/file-20200214-10980-1i1dv52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315487/original/file-20200214-10980-1i1dv52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315487/original/file-20200214-10980-1i1dv52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315487/original/file-20200214-10980-1i1dv52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315487/original/file-20200214-10980-1i1dv52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315487/original/file-20200214-10980-1i1dv52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Harpocrates seated on a lotus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/253781">The Met Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most spells required a special ingredient to be used in a specific way in combination with arcane words. These spells don’t leave archaeological traces for us to find. One love spell asked the user to have an iron ring inscribed with <a href="https://exhibitions.kelsey.lsa.umich.edu/art-science-healing/harpocrates.php">Harpocrates</a> (the Hellenistic god of silence) seated on a lotus in their hands while they shouted magical words at the moon from a rooftop. Several such <a href="http://www2.szepmuveszeti.hu/talismans/object/search?lang1=default&mdesc=false&lang2=default&element=482&multiple_cond=and">gemstones matching this description</a> have been found. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/spells-charms-erotic-dolls-love-magic-in-the-ancient-mediterranean-98459">Love potions</a> themselves have a long history and are discussed in several ancient texts. A Demotic (written in ancient Egyptian) spell proposed the following method: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Take the fragment of the tip of your fingernail and apple seed together with blood from your finger… Pound the apple, add blood to it and put it in the cup of wine. Recite [the given spell] seven times over it and you should make the woman drink it at a special time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This visceral recipe is a variant of a spell that also added semen, and the hair of a dead man to the mixture.</p>
<h2>Rings, curses and more blood</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315489/original/file-20200214-11005-54s2m6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315489/original/file-20200214-11005-54s2m6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=773&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315489/original/file-20200214-11005-54s2m6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=773&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315489/original/file-20200214-11005-54s2m6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=773&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315489/original/file-20200214-11005-54s2m6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=972&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315489/original/file-20200214-11005-54s2m6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=972&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315489/original/file-20200214-11005-54s2m6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=972&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Polemious’s gold ring.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=96038001&objectId=1364758&partId=1">The Trustees of the British Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A <a href="https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1364758&partId=1&searchText=polemios&page=1">gold ring found in Corbridge</a>, Northumberland, in 1935 is inscribed in Greek with <em>ΠOΛEMIOYΦIΛTPON</em>, “<a href="https://romanmagic.wordpress.com/2018/07/13/object-in-focus-the-love-charm-of-polemius/">The love charm of Polemius</a>”. Polemius was a man who either wore this ring to enhance his allure and sexual qualities or gave it to the object of his affections. If it was the latter, it may have been given conspicuously as a gift or hidden on or around them as a clandestine token. It is a uniquely personal object from the edge of the Roman Empire that speaks of the unfulfilled desires of a Greek-speaking man over 1,700 years ago.</p>
<p>Curses were used in the ancient world to condemn thieves, protect businesses, ruin rival chariot teams and to create better opportunities for lovers. Sometimes a desired partner was already in a relationship, and cursing their partner (to discredit, harm or kill them) offered a chance to change this. A lead curse tablet from Boetia, Greece, was written by someone jealously in love with a man called Kabeira and tries to damn his wife Zois:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I assign Zois the Eretrian, wife of Kabeira, to Earth and to Hermes — her food, her drink, her sleep, her laughter, her intercourse, her playing of the kithara, and her entrance, her pleasure, her little buttocks, her thinking, her eyes… </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Curses were personal, private contracts between a person and a deity. The leaden tablets were often folded over and sometimes pierced with a nail, which often went through the written name of the curse’s target. They were thrown into rivers, sacred springs, hidden in secret places and <a href="https://mckies.wordpress.com/2014/11/03/curse-tablet-of-the-month-9-november-2014/">even dug into the graves of the recently dead</a>. </p>
<p>Magical and medicinal means were also suggested for resolving relatable problems in ancient relationships. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aelius_Promotus">Aelius Promotus</a>, an Alexandrian physician, recommended that barley soaked in menstrual blood and wrapped in mule skin could be tied onto a woman as a contraceptive.</p>
<p>Opposingly, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcellus_Empiricus">Marcellus of Bordeaux</a> (4th-5th century AD) suggested that a waning sex drive could be cured by finding the right aphrodisiac. He suggested wearing the right testicle of a rooster in a pouch around the neck.</p>
<p>Roman magic may have been a cathartic experience for the heartbroken or an exhilarating one for the lovestruck. The idea that people will do whatever is within their power to find love belongs to a long and ever-evolving tradition. These spells, rituals, tokens and curses highlight the essential nature of love and heartbreak in the ancient world and implicitly connects our cultures across time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130567/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Parker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Across the Graeco-Roman Empire, the romantically challenged turned to magic to improve their chances
Adam Parker, PhD Candidate in Classical Studies, The Open University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/128761
2020-01-13T11:48:20Z
2020-01-13T11:48:20Z
Why are there seven days in a week?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308681/original/file-20200106-123407-oogvyu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C120%2C5760%2C3656&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Your calendar dates back to Babylonian times. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/blue-circle-mark-on-calendar-7-288594710">Aleksandra Pikalova/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Why are there seven days in a week? – Henry E., age 8, Somerville, Massachusetts</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>Waiting for the weekend can often seem unbearable, a whole six days between Saturdays. Having seven days in a week has been the case for a very long time, and so people don’t often stop to ask why. </p>
<p>Most of our time reckoning is due to the movements of the planets, Moon and stars. Our day is equal to one full rotation of the Earth around its axis. Our year is a revolution of the Earth around the Sun, which takes 365 and ¼ days, which is why we add <a href="http://www.maa.clell.de/Scholar/times.html">an extra day in February</a> every four years, for a leap year. </p>
<p>But the week and the month are a bit trickier. The phases of the Moon do not exactly coincide with the solar calendar. The Moon cycle is 27 days and seven hours long, and there are 13 phases of the Moon in each solar year. </p>
<p>Some of the earliest civilizations observed the cosmos and recorded the movements of planets, the Sun and Moon. <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo3615508.html">The Babylonians</a>, who lived in modern-day Iraq, were astute observers and interpreters of the heavens, and it is largely thanks to them that our weeks are seven days long. </p>
<p>The reason they adopted the number seven was that they observed seven celestial bodies – the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. So, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1179/030801882789801278">that number held particular significance</a> to them.</p>
<p>Other civilizations chose other numbers – like the Egyptians, whose week was 10 days long; or the Romans, whose week lasted eight.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308683/original/file-20200106-123377-vgoylp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308683/original/file-20200106-123377-vgoylp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308683/original/file-20200106-123377-vgoylp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308683/original/file-20200106-123377-vgoylp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308683/original/file-20200106-123377-vgoylp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308683/original/file-20200106-123377-vgoylp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308683/original/file-20200106-123377-vgoylp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308683/original/file-20200106-123377-vgoylp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some of the earliest civilizations recorded the movements of planets, the Sun and Moon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/milky-way-rises-over-pine-trees-384983128">Andrey Prokhorov/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Babylonians divided their lunar months into seven-day weeks, with the final day of the week holding particular religious significance. The 28-day month, or a complete cycle of the Moon, is a bit too large a period of time to manage effectively, and so the Babylonians divided their months into four equal parts of seven. </p>
<p>The number seven is not especially well-suited to coincide with the solar year, or even the months, so it did create a few inconsistencies. </p>
<p>However, the Babylonians were such a dominant culture in the Near East, especially in the sixth and seventh centuries B.C., that this, and many of their other notions of time – such as a 60-minute hour – persisted. </p>
<p>The seven-day week spread throughout the Near East. It was adopted by the Jews, who had been captives of the Babylonians at the height of that civilization’s power. Other cultures in the surrounding areas got on board with the seven-day week, including the Persian empire and the Greeks. </p>
<p>Centuries later, when Alexander the Great began to spread Greek culture throughout the Near East as far as India, the concept of the seven-day week spread as well. Scholars think that perhaps India later introduced the seven-day week to China. </p>
<p>Finally, once the Romans began to conquer the territory influenced by Alexander the Great, they too eventually shifted to the seven-day week. It was Emperor Constantine who decreed that the seven-day week was <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/283524?seq=3#metadata_info_tab_contents">the official Roman week</a> and made Sunday a public holiday in A.D. 321. </p>
<p>The weekend was not adopted until modern times in the 20th century. Although there have been <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_calendar">some recent attempts to change the seven-day week</a>, it has been around for so long that it seems like it is here to stay. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article has been updated to correct the details on Earth’s revolution around the Sun.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristin Heineman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Babylonians’ calendar was passed down from civilization to civilization.
Kristin Heineman, Instructor in History, Colorado State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/124861
2019-10-29T12:58:32Z
2019-10-29T12:58:32Z
Before Martin Luther, there was Erasmus – a Dutch theologian who paved the way for the Protestant Reformation
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298761/original/file-20191025-173558-1tmxpep.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch humanist and theologian.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quentin_Massys-_Erasmus_of_Rotterdam.JPG">Quentin Matsys </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Martin Luther, a German theologian, is often credited with starting the Protestant Reformation. When he nailed his 95 Theses onto the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany on Oct. 31, 1517, dramatically demanding an end to church corruption, he <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/protestantism-after-500-years-9780190264796?q=%22remembering%20the%20reformation%22&lang=en&cc=us#">split Christianity</a> into Catholicism and Protestantism. </p>
<p>Luther’s disruptive act did not, however, emerge out of nowhere. The Reformation <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/erasmus-the-reformer/oclc/247822964&referer=brief_results">could not have happened</a> without Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch humanist and theologian. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268033873/transforming-work/">scholar of medieval Christianity</a>, I have noticed that Erasmus does not get much attention in conversations on the Reformation. And yet, in his own time, when Christianity was facing many controversies, he was accused of paving the way for Martin Luther and even of being a heretic. His contemporaries charged him with “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9780802059765">laying the egg that Luther hatched</a>.” </p>
<h2>Who was Erasmus?</h2>
<p>Born in A.D. 1467, about 20 years before Luther, Erasmus grew up in the Netherlands. The world of his youth, like that of Martin Luther’s, was almost entirely defined by medieval Christianity. Educated by monks, Erasmus joined the religious life. He studied Christian theology at the University of Paris and followed this interest even after he left the university.</p>
<p>At the same time, <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/literary-and-educational-writings-1-and-2-2">Erasmus was greatly inspired by the classics</a>. For Erasmus, ancient Greek and Roman authors – while technically pagan – were “the very fountain-head” of “almost all knowledge.” </p>
<p>Because of his love of the ancients, he is <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/From_humanism_to_the_humanities.html?id=VGPuAAAAMAAJ">often called a Renaissance humanist</a>, or, more appropriately, a Christian humanist. At a time when training in Greek and Latin was highly valued, Erasmus’ remarkable abilities made him much sought after. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298998/original/file-20191028-113991-utgh2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298998/original/file-20191028-113991-utgh2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298998/original/file-20191028-113991-utgh2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298998/original/file-20191028-113991-utgh2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298998/original/file-20191028-113991-utgh2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298998/original/file-20191028-113991-utgh2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298998/original/file-20191028-113991-utgh2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298998/original/file-20191028-113991-utgh2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hans Holbein’s portrait of Erasmus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/rl/original/DP164857.jpg">Robert Lehman Collection, 1975</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With the support of wealthy patrons, he traveled around Europe, teaching at universities, writing books and meeting many prominent people. In England, he formed a close, intellectual friendship with the English author and fellow humanist <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/286334/utopia-by-thomas-more/">Thomas More</a>, whose book “Utopia” was about an imaginary society.</p>
<p>Together with More, Erasmus helped launch the career of one of the greatest artists of the 16th century, Hans Holbein, who <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/459080">painted</a> both of their portraits. Erasmus’ portrait, along with many other masterpieces by Holbein, is now held at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. </p>
<h2>Erasmus paves way for Luther</h2>
<p>Luther famously used the printing press to publish polemical tracts that attacked the church and called for changes. The rapid and broad distribution of his ideas accelerated the Reformation. </p>
<p>It was Erasmus, however, who provided a model for Luther in how to take advantage of this new technology, how to use print as “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/printing-press-as-an-agent-of-change/7DC19878AB937940DE13075FE839BDBA">an agent of change</a>.” </p>
<p>Erasmus began publishing his books widely beginning in 1500, about 50 years after the first printed books appeared in Germany. He helped create an audience for Luther’s writings by popularizing Christian topics, such as how to be a good Christian and how to interpret the Bible. <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691165691/erasmus-man-of-letters">Many of his books were best-sellers</a> during his lifetime. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298762/original/file-20191025-173548-1caw34k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298762/original/file-20191025-173548-1caw34k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298762/original/file-20191025-173548-1caw34k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298762/original/file-20191025-173548-1caw34k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298762/original/file-20191025-173548-1caw34k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298762/original/file-20191025-173548-1caw34k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298762/original/file-20191025-173548-1caw34k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luther95theses.jpg">Ferdinand Pauwels</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Erasmus also prepared the way for one of Luther’s most radical ideas: that the Bible belongs to everyone, including common people. Luther translated the Bible into German in 1534 so that everyone could read it for themselves.</p>
<p>This idea can be found in Erasmus’ guide to reading the Latin Bible, “Paraclesis,” which he published in 1516 in Latin. Here he <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/the-new-testament-scholarship-of-erasmus-2">vividly describes</a> his own dream of the future, that common people would use the Bible in their everyday lives. </p>
<p>“I would to God the plowman would sing a text of scripture at his plow and that the weaver at his loom would drive away the tediousness of time with it,” he wrote.</p>
<h2>Not a supporter of radical change</h2>
<p>Although Erasmus was sympathetic to Luther’s critique of church corruption, he wasn’t ready for the kind of radical changes that Luther demanded.</p>
<p>Erasmus wanted a broad audience for his books, but he wrote in Latin, the official language of the church. Latin was a language that only a small number of educated people, typically priests and the nobility, could read. </p>
<p>Erasmus had criticized the church for many of the same problems that Luther later attacked. In one of his most famous books, The “Praise of Folly,” he <a href="https://www.bartleby.com/library/prose/1914.html">mocked priests</a> who didn’t read the Bible. He also attacked the church’s use of indulgences – when the church took money from people, granting them relief from punishment for their sins in purgatory – as a sign of the church’s greed. </p>
<p>When Luther started getting into trouble with church authorities, Erasmus defended him and wrote him letters of support. <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Erasmus_Reader.html?id=kBaNBgAAQBAJ">He thought</a> Luther’s voice should be heard. </p>
<p>But he did not defend all of Luther’s teachings. Some, he felt, were too divisive. For example, Luther preached that <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/iustitia-dei/B793BE71FC1887876C09E73769B3AF98">people are saved</a> only by faith in God and not by good deeds. Erasmus did not agree, and he did not want the church to split over these debates. </p>
<p>Throughout his life, Erasmus forged his own approach to Christianity: knowing Christ by reading the Bible. He called his approach the “<a href="https://www-worldcat-org.colorado.idm.oclc.org/title/erasmus/oclc/614381485&referer=brief_results">Philosophia Christi</a>,” or the philosophy of Christ. He thought that learning about Jesus’ life and teachings would <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/literary-and-educational-writings-5-and-6-2">strengthen people’s Christian faith</a> and teach them how to be good.</p>
<p>Erasmus’ ability to defend different points of view, the church’s and Luther’s, seems to have been particular to him. He wanted concord and peace within the church. Scholar Christine Christ von-Wedel <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/erasmus-of-rotterdam-3">describes him</a>, therefore, as a “representative and messenger of a free and open-minded Christianity founded on scripture.”</p>
<p>After his death in 1536, his reconciliation of different views became impossible. The Reformation <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674088054">began a splintering</a> that persists today. </p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend.</a> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124861/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Little does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Martin Luther is credited with initiating the split in Christianity that came to be called the Protestant Reformation. But don’t count out Erasmus, an early proponent of similarly radical ideas.
Katherine Little, Professor of English Literature, University of Colorado Boulder
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.