Inscribing Death

This nuanced study traces how Chinese came to view death as an opportunity to fashion and convey social identities and memories during the medieval period (200–1000) and the Tang dynasty (618–907), specifically. As Chinese society became increasingly multicultural and multireligious, to achieve these aims people selectively adopted, portrayed, and interpreted various acts of remembrance. Included in these were new and evolving burial, mourning, and commemorative practices: joint-burials of spouses, extended family members, and coreligionists; relocation and reburial of bodies; posthumous marriage and divorce; interment of a summoned soul in the absence of a body; and many changes to the classical mourning and commemorative rites that became the norm during the period. Individuals independently constructed the socio-religious meanings of a particular death and the handling of corpses by engaging in and reviewing acts of remembrance. Drawing on a variety of sources, including hundreds of newly excavated entombed epitaph inscriptions, Inscribing Death illuminates the process through which the living—and the dead—negotiated this multiplicity of meanings and how they shaped their memories and identities both as individuals and as part of collectives. In particular, it details the growing emphasis on remembrance as an expression of filial piety and the grave as a focal point of ancestral sacrifice. The work also identifies different modes of construction and representation of the self in life and death, deepening our understanding of ancestral worship and its changing modus operandi and continuous shaping influence on the most intimate human relationships—thus challenging the current monolithic representation of ancestral worship as an extension of families rather than individuals in medieval China.

Drawing upon scholarship of cultural identity, anthropology and historical linguistics, this book offers a novel and contextual approach to the interpretation of archaeological evidence for Jewish populations in North Africa and elsewhere in the ancient Mediterranean.

This volume sheds new light on the experience of ancient Greek warfare by identifying and examining three fundamental transitions undergone by the classical Athenian hoplite as a result of his military service: his departure to war, his homecoming from war having survived, and his homecoming from war having died. As a conscript, a man regularly called upon by his city-state to serve in the battle lines and perform his citizen duty, the most common military experience of the hoplite was one of transition – he was departing to or returning from war on a regular basis, especially during extended periods of conflict. Scholarship has focused primarily on the experience of the hoplite after his return, with a special emphasis on his susceptibility to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but the moments of transition themselves have yet to be explored in detail. Taking each in turn, Owen Rees examines the transitions from two sides: from within the domestic environment as a member of an oikos, and from within the military environment as a member of the army. This analysis presents a new template for each and effectively maps the experience of the hoplite as he moves between his domestic and military duties. This allows us to reconstruct the effects of war more fully and to identify moments with the potential for a traumatic impact on the individual.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1845.

Myth and the Church Augustus Caesar, Son of God, started the Christiancalendar. Moreover, he also contributed massively to thepersona of Christ, to Christianity and to the ChristianChurch. Indeed, Jesus, a Jewish prophet, was transformedin the process to become the God of Christian Europe. Augustus, the Godfather of Europe, spawned a religion aliento Rome and the world of Rome he had created. This was not the work of Augustus himself. However, Augustus was the luminary of the Roman state religion before he was transformed into the second person of the Trinity. The processes involved in these changes are followedthrough the first four centuries of the Christian era. A brieflook at developments since highlight the Christian church’s continued influence on the western European knowledgebase. Here you can check out your own mindset, against factors that are still crazily influential. The cover illustration is of a restored cult figure of Augustus, one of thousands destroyed by Christian zealots let loose in 395. Most of the hood of the toga of Pontifex Maximus is missing. This example is at Thyatira, to where John sent a copy of his Revelations. All seven churches of the Apocalypse were in the Roman province of Asia. Just off the coast is the island of Samos, where Augustus lived when he was in the area. Patmos, where John wrote his Revelations during his exile there, is a bit further out in the Aegean Sea. The reverse of an Augustan aureus, on the spine, shows the winged victory standing on the globethat Augustus had installed as centerpiece of the Roman Curia. It was carried at his funeral to leadthe procession from the forum to his mausoleum. At the end of the fourth century it was removed from the Curia and reinstated three times. Finally Ambrosius, Bishop of Milan, insisted it be takenout and utterly destroyed. Rome and the world of Rome collapsed shortly afterwards. Augustus’ last 100 days were extremely busy. He was supposedto have suffered from the weariness of old age before then. But after official functions in Rome he went to Capri for a few days, thenon to the Games in Naples, where heindulged in horse play with the athletes and on to Beneventum to review his armies, before they set off to war. His death at the old family home atNola is well documented, down totime and day. It’s the year that’s in dispute here. Christian historians strove to proveJesus was the Messiah by his dateof birth. They also wanted to knowwhen the Second Coming of Christwould occur. In the process they hadto alter the date of Augustus death. Much was destroyed to cover their tracks. Fortunately enough remainsin the debris to reconstruct the real chronology of the period. Surprisingly much else remainedto be unearthed. Cicero, not Herod,ordered the massacre of the innocents. Wise men from the east visited Augustus. It’s all there for the digging.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1872. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

This volumepresents acollection of essays on different aspects of Roman sarcophagi. These varied approaches will produce fresh insights into a subject which is receiving increased interest in English-language scholarship, with a new awareness of the important contribution that sarcophagi can make to the study of the social use and production of Roman art. The book will therefore be a timely addition to existing literature. Metropolitan sarcophagi are the main focus of the volume, which will cover a wide time range from the first century AD to post classical periods (including early Christian sarcophagi and post-classical reception). Other papers will look at aspects of viewing and representation, iconography, and marble analysis. There will be an Introduction written by the co-editors.