Aurea Mediocritas

Twenty-one essays make a cogent case for reading Latin poet Horace as a verse form innovator--E.A. Fredricksmeyer seconds spring-song Odes 4.7 as a candidate for the most beautiful poem in ancient literature; espouser of the carpe diem theme in his love poems; and astute observer of Augustan era politics. In reprinted articles from classical studies journals and books (1956-89), the contributors address the Odes from Books 1-3 circa 30-23 BC, plus the Satire from his first publication of 35 BC. Lacks an index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Historians have credited--or blamed--Calvinism for many developments in the modern world, including capitalism, modern science, secularization, democracy, individualism, and unitarianism. These same historians, however, have largely ignored John Calvin the man. When people consider him at all, they tend to view him as little more than the joyless tyrant of Geneva who created an abstract theology as forbidding as himself. This volume, written by the eminent historian William J. Bouwsma, who has devoted his career to exploring the larger patterns of early modern European history, seeks to redress these common misconceptions of Calvin by placing him back in the proper historical context of his time. Eloquently depicting Calvin's life as a French exile, a humanist in the tradition of Erasmus, and a man unusually sensitive to the complexities and contradictions of later Renaissance culture, Bouwsma reveals a surprisingly human, plausible, ecumenical, and often sympathetic Calvin. John Calvin offers a brilliant reassessment not only of Calvin but also of the Reformation and its relationship to the movements of the Renaissance.

This book is a collection of essays focusing on homosexual behavior in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome.

The evolution of republican concepts compared to medieval and early modern traditions of political thought.

This study draws a new picture of the invention of the emblem book, and discusses the textual and pictorial means that were developed in order to transmit knowledge, from Alciato to Vaenius, with special emphasis on the emblem commentary and natural history.