Prof John Atkinson
University of Cape Town
THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER: MALARIA AND MIND-GAMES?
While no one had a particular interest in Alexander surviving his last illness in Babylon in 323, it remains possible that he died of natural causes. This paper surveys the range of theories on the causes of his death, and considers the 'hijacking' of the hearse to Egypt and the interment of his remains first in Memphis-Saqqara and then Alexandria.
Miss Nicole Barbarossa
University of Pretoria
SOULS AND BUTTERFLIES
This paper investigates the possible reasons as to why the soul or psyche, in ancient Greek iconography, is depicted as a butterfly. Psyche is the name of the girl in Lucius Apuleius’ The Golden Ass and it is the name given to a winged-female figure, often accompanied by Cupid in many artworks. In Plato’s philosophy of the soul, he describes the soul and Love as inseparable bodies. The links between The Golden Ass, the iconography and Platonic philosophy seem to substantiate the view that the butterfly’s metamorphosis is the strongest reason for the symbolic association between the butterfly and the soul.
Prof Henry Bayerle
Emory University, USA
LUCAN AND MEDIEVAL LATIN EPIC
Medieval Latin authors used the descriptions of Pompey, Caesar, and Cato in
Lucan’s Bellum Civile to embellish their own characterizations. Medieval
commentators claimed Lucan’s poem taught virtue through the example of Cato and
also functioned as a dehortatio a civili bello. In my paper, I survey
Medieval Latin epics, including the anonymous twelfth-century Carmen de
gestis Frederici I. in Lombardia, to argue that their authors created
negative portrayals of their protagonists using aspects of Lucan’s Caesar and
laying claim to the traditions of Republican Rome.
Mrs Martjie Bosman
N.P. VAN WYK LOUW AND THE GODS: TRANSITION IN NUWE VERSE (1952)
The Afrikaans Dertiger poet N.P. van Wyk Louw was very interested in Roman history since early childhood. He had a sound knowledge of Latin, in which he majored at the University of Cape Town in 1925. It is therefore no surprise that references to the Classics often occur in his poetry, with the verse drama Germanicus (1956) and his last volume of poetry, Tristia (1962), as clear examples. Louw’s fifth volume of poetry, Nuwe verse (1954), is sometimes viewed as a rather enigmatic volume of transition in terms of the “technical” nature of the poems, but also as somewhat loosely constructed and diverse regarding its main themes. In this paper it will be contended that the references to the three pre-Christian emperors in “Drie keisersportrette” (Three imperial portraits”), the reference to the Punic War in “Beeld van ’n jeug: Duif en perd” (“Image of youth: Pigeon and horse”) and a number of cursory references to “the gods” may provide a key to understanding the more comprehensive investigation of the transition from the late Roman to Christianity in this volume.
(Afrikaans Version)
N.P. VAN WYK LOUW EN DIE GODE: DIE OORGANGSGEDAGTE IN NUWE VERSE (1952)
Die Afrikaanse Dertigerdigter N.P. van Wyk Louw het van jongs af ’n sterk belangstelling in die Romeinse geskiedenis gehad. Hy het Latyn daarom as hoofvak op universiteit gekies en het volgens sy biograaf J.C. Steyn ’n formidabele kennis van Latyn gehad. Dit is daarom nie verbasend nie dat die Klassieke ’n betekenisvolle plek in sy poësie inneem, soos die versdrama Germanicus (1956) en sy laaste digbundel Tristia (1962) demonstreer. Louw se vyfde digbundel, Nuwe verse (1954), word soms as ietwat enigmaties beskou, as ’n oorgangsbundel wat die verstegniese betref, maar ook as taamlik los wat die tematiek betref. In hierdie referaat sal aangetoon word dat die “Drie keisersportrette”, die verwysing na die Puniese oorlog in “Beeld van ’n jeug: Duif en perd” en ’n aantal kursoriese verwysings na die gode in die bundel sleutels verskaf tot die groter projek in die bundel om die oorgang van die laat-Romeinse tyd na die Christendom onder die soeklig te plaas.
Prof Phlip Bosman
University of South Africa
DIVINE INTERVENTIONS IN PLUTARCH’S ALEXANDER
The theme of Alexander at the borders of the human realm appears to be prominent from very early in the tradition and attains grotesque dimensions in the Romance. Plutarch makes light of miraculous stories and claims to divinity he finds in his sources, but allows numerous references to and anecdotes on portents, omens, dreams and the like. In this regard, he selects, dismisses and fashions his material according to his own standards of responsible biography, but is also guided by his narrative purposes. This paper explores how signs from the ‘beyond’ relate to leading notions identified by scholars in terms of moral philosophy (thymoeides, arête, tyche) and literature (epic and tragedy), and how this prominent but neglected aspect of the biography impacts on the various stages of Plutarch’s eidopoiia of the great Macedonian.
Prof Clive Chandler
University of Cape Town
SURVEILLANCE IN PLATO’S REPUBLIC
In the last century a great deal of attention has been devoted to investigating and theorising issues around vision and viewing in both interpersonal and social contexts (‘Power and the Gaze’, Foucault etc.). As a category of ‘viewing’, the practice of surveillance has been regarded frequently as a tool of social control and has even been linked with political regimes which display totalitarian tendencies. The current paper examines the difficulties in applying the concept of ‘surveillance’ as a hermeneutical tool within an ancient work where one could reasonably expect it to emerge – Plato’s Republic. It will be argued that although there are occasions where surveillance does seem to be practised in the Republic one is not justified in simply adopting the 20th century understanding of what is entailed by our modern term.
Dr James Chlup
University of Manitoba, Canada
IMPERIUM CUM FINE: AELIUS GALLUS’ INVASION OF ARABIA FELIX
Twice during the first decade of his reign Augustus authorized two campaigns with a view to expanding the imperium Romanum. This paper examines Aelius Gallus’ misadventure in Arabia Felix (modern day Yemen) in 26/25—25/24 BCE. Gallus’ failure to establish Roman control over Arabia, which was followed shortly by the failure of Gaius Petronius in Ethiopia, threatened to weaken Augustus’ political position by defining him as a failed imperialist. This paper explores the consequences of Gallus’ failure vis-à-vis shaping Roman attitudes towards Arabia in particular and imperial expansion in general. One obvious consequence was Augustus’ new imperial policy, which sought to establish the permanency of the borders of the empire. The settlement with the Parthians in 20 BCE enabled Augustus to redeem failure in Arabia and advertise the success of his new policy.
Prof Jo-Marie Claassen
University of Stellenbosch
CROSS-CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUTH AFRICAN ‘CLASSICAL’ ARCHITECTURE: THE ROLE OF RHODES AND BAKER
This paper will consider the various strands that make up the classical architectural tradition in South Africa. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, under British rule the tradition of the Palladian style for civic buildings and of Graeco-Roman building styles for institutions of higher learning reflected the imperial ideals of South Africa’s political overlords. This was the tradition in which Sir Herbert Baker had been trained and which he encountered when he reached South Africa late in the nineteenth century. South African architecture would have been less rich without the strong influence of Cecil John Rhodes’ admiration for indigenous Cape Dutch architecture on Baker’s architectural taste. This architecture was strongly rooted in another aspect of the classical tradition. During Dutch economic and imperial rule, the northern European style of classicistic or baroque gabling on perpendicular buildings had at the Cape been translated into the gables of sprawling low buildings. Power-Point illustrations will show earlier examples of classical styles at the Cape, including examples of the second classical strain (via Holland and Germany) in South African architecture, so much admired by Rhodes. The paper will continue with an examination of some of Baker’s best known buildings that show a blending of these two strands. It will end with some thoughts on the durability of the Classical tradition and neo-classical vestiges in post-colonial (and post-apartheid) South Africa.
Miss Paula de Castro
University of Cape Town
EILEITHYIA: IN ANTICIPATION OF A PROFESSIONAL MIDWIFE
This paper is intended to be a brief survey of the development of the profession of midwifery, and the professionalism of the midwife. How does Eileithyia in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo (c. 522 BC) develop into Soranus’ professional midwife (c. AD 130)? And indeed, how does Eileithyia as a character anticipate the professionalism of the midwife we see in Soranus? Using various texts from fifth century Athens (Aristophanes and Plato) and texts closer in time to Soranus (Plutarch – c. AD 120), as well as a few others we can attempt to trace the development of this vital profession
Miss Lieve Donnellan
Ghent University, Belgium
ETHNIC BOUNDARIES AND CROSSINGS IN THE ANCIENT GREEK COLONIAL SOCIETY IN ISTROS/HISTRIA (PRESENT DAY ROMENIA)
Especially in the study of ethnicity the concept of “borders” has been widely applied (Barth, F., 1969, Introduction in Barth, F. (ed.), Ethnic groups and boundaries, Bergen/Oslo). Following ancient texts and inscriptions it is thought that ethnic borders between Greek colonists and native populations in general were rather rigid. Only in the later classical period there are some indications for a progressive intrusion of local people in Greek colonial society. The paper argues that ethnic borders between colonists and natives have not always been that strict. Drawing on evidence of the Greek colony in Histria (historical, epigraphical, archaeological) it is shown that Greek colonists and local populations lived closely together and that boundaries were often social rather than ethnic.
Prof Niko Endres
Western Kentucky University, USA
ATHENS AND APARTHEID: MARY RENAULT’S DEMOCRATIC BOUNDARIES
After she emigrated to South Africa in 1948, Mary Renault engaged in Black Sash and joined the Progressive Party. Still, several critics focused on Renault’s refusal (or failure) to address the volatile political situation of her time at the expense of “escapist” classical fiction. We therefore have to turn to her novels for her attitude toward democracy. Especially in her presentation of Alexander the Great, Renault stresses a democratic eros. Alexander, unaffected by racial prejudice, accepts, to use a modern term, a multicultural society, where even a Persian eunuch features as an erotic subject. Moreover, while sexual relationships in ancient Greece were normally hierarchical, Renault presents Alexander and Hephaestion as equals, an erotic reciprocity that could flourish only in Athens, not in Africa. Finally, with remarkable foresight, Renault emphasizes post-tyrannical turmoil, be it Syracuse or Soweto. The small miracle of establishing democracy is no easy feat – as any present-day South African can testify to.
Prof John Hilton
University of KwaZulu-Natal
ROMAN ELEMENTS IN ACHILLES TATIUS
The author whom we know as Achilles Tatius (or, possibly Achilles Statius) is an enigma. His first name, Achilles, identifies him as a Greek, and his evident interest in Alexandria (cf. 5.1) suggests that he was a Greek living in Egypt. However, his second name, Tatius or Statius, may be Egyptian or, more probably, Roman. Since he lived at the height of Roman power in Egypt (the second century) it is likely that he would have been familiar with Roman ways, and of all the novelists who have survived from antiquity, his fiction resembles Petronius’ Satyricon most closely. This paper investigates traces in his narrative of Roman culture: his language, his descriptions of paintings, his account of the Roman army in action, and his version of the burial of the phoenix, amongst other things. His work emerges from this analysis, like the phoenix he describes (3.25), as a whole new bird with variegated and multi-cultural plumage.
Mr John Jackson
Rhodes University
PORTRAITS OF BOUDICA: TACITUS AND BEYOND
Tacitus expresses not only his fascination with the “otherness” of Boudica – as one who dwells beyond the boundaries of “the civilised world” and as a woman – but also his admiration for her courage and the value she places on libertas: it is inferred that Romans of his age undervalue it. Since then the figure of Boudica has continued to reflect the times and the values of her presenters, especially those claiming to be her successors. Many liberties have been taken with the story, even to the extent of making two people out of one; she has been praised as a fighter for and against imperialism.
Mr Mark Kirby-Hirst
University of South Africa
DRAGONOLOGY: COMPARING DRAGON-SNAKES IN GREEK AND ZULU MYTHOLOGY
The dragon as a creature of legend occurs in many and various forms the world over, and is, according to Jungians at least, a key representation of self in the human psyche. In the East they are seen as benevolent beings, rain-bringers and lucky charms, while Western literature is replete with examples of more destructive beasts like the mighty foe of Beowulf. Working with the generic Greek term drakôn, and defining it as “dragon-snake”, a position that thus allows for far greater flexibility in creating a definition of what a dragon is, I intend to study several Greek examples of dragons and great snakes, along with their attendant mythology. I shall then juxtapose these with similar Zulu tales to provide an African flavour to my sociological and psychological perspective.
Dr Annemaré Kotzé
University of Stellenbosch
PROTREPTIC AND PARAENETIC: DOES THE CONCEPT OF CROSSING OF A BOUNDARY PROVIDE A USEFUL ANALYTICAL TOOL TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE TWO?
The issue of audience remains a crucial aspect of theorizing about protreptic and paraenetic literature. Protreptic was traditionally distinguished form paraenetic according to the criterion that the former was typically addressed to outsiders and the latter to insiders. In the case of protreptic, it was argued, the audience is exhorted to make a significant decision, a life-changing choice which may be described as the crossing of a boundary. Current research seems to point to the fact that the distinction between protreptic and paraenetic is by far not as clear cut as scholars used to assume and that also the distinction between outsiders and insiders is problematic. The paper illustrates its main thesis through an analysis of a work by Justin Martyr and one by Clement of Alexandria, both known under the English title Exhortation to the Greeks, but the former called a paraenetikos logos in manuscripts, while the latter bears the title protreptikos.
Mr Michael Lambert
University of Kwazulu-Natal
BOUNDARIES AND CROSSINGS: THE CLASSICS AND SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICAL HISTORY
Dutch and British colonisers, Afrikaner and African nationalists, communists, capitalists and fascists have all used the study of classical antiquity to support particular ideologies in the course of South Africa’s colonial and post-colonial history. In the course of this paper, I examine how the ever-porous boundaries of the discipline have been crossed and reset, in reaction to the shifting dynamics of power, thus prompting one to interrogate the nature of the discipline itself.
Dr Liana Lamprecht
University of South Africa
CONSOLATION OF THE BEREAVED IN THE EARLY CHURCH: REFLECTIONS ON THE FUNCTIONS
OF PASTORAL CARE FROM A POST-MODERN PERSPECTIVE
In spite of the origin and inherent meaning of pastoral care, Biblical and
theological perspectives no longer shape the practice of all pastoral work in a
post-modern context. In this article consolation of the bereaved in the Early
Church is viewed from a post-modern perspective, more specific through the lens
of narrative therapy. This paper aims to explore the value of revisiting
representative examples of consolation literature from the 2nd to the 5th
century AD, as part of the classical tradition of pastoral care and counselling.
The point of departure is that the ancient practice of consolation, rooted in
the Christian narrative, can in fact be investigated as the first rudimentary
example, albeit unwittingly, of narrative therapy. The reading of these
classical pastoral authors may also encourage us to think critically about the
purpose and practice of pastoral care in our post-modern society.
Prof Deborah Logan
Western Kentucky University, USA
LADIES’ GREEK: VICTORIAN WOMEN WRITERS AND THE CLASSICS
Victorian-era women were notoriously under-educated, due to social prejudice and the corresponding limitations of educational opportunities available to females. At best, they aspired to the second- or third-hand education afforded through their tutored brothers or, perhaps, they taught themselves. My paper considers three of the period’s defining intellectual women: Harriet Martineau, an eclectic author with wide-ranging literary interests; the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning; and novelist and journalist, George Eliot. As young women, all three writers felt compelled to study the Classics as part of their self-styled literary apprenticeships. My discussion considers the ways this intellectual influence enabled their careers as writers and facilitated the development of their distinctive authorial voices.
Mr Cullen Mackenzie
University of KwaZulu-Natal
THE BOUNDARIES OF EVIL – A COMPARATIVE DISCUSSION OF THE CONCEPTION OF EVIL IN ANCIENT GREEK AND CONTEMPORARY ZULU THOUGHT
This paper draws on the conceptions of evil deduced from an analysis of a selection of amulets written in Greek from the 3rd and 4th centuries CE, comparing those conceptions with ideas expressed in interviews with contemporary Zulu-speakers. The hope of this paper is, through this comparison, to highlight more clearly the boundaries of a conception of evil in both cultures, as well as to discuss how this definition may contribute to a clearer picture of popular thought among inhabitants of the Greco-Roman world in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE. As such, the paper uses a crossing of two cultures from vastly separate times and places in order to understand an area at the boundary of the generally literature-centred conception of the Classical world – the thoughts of the everyday people.
Mr Johann Lodewyk Marais
HISTORY AND LITERATURE IN N.P. VAN WYK LOUW’S GERMANICUS (1956)
Since his youth, the Afrikaans poet and intellectual N.P. van Wyk Louw (1906–1970) was interested in Roman history, which resulted in a number of literary works. In his verse drama Germanicus (1956) Louw utilises historical evidence to portray central events during the life of the cultivated young Roman general Germanicus Julius Caesar (16/15 B.C.–19 A.D.) during a restless era. According to the classical scholar P.J. Conradie, Louw used three sources to write his drama, namely the first two books of the Annales of Tacitus, the biographies of Tiberius and Caligula, the son of Germanicus, by Suetonius and the fifty-seventh book of Dio Cassius’s Roman history. Louw also utilizes, to a lesser extent, other sources to colour in the world of his characters as convincingly as possible. By using methods that are applied by present-day historians, this paper looks critically at the way in which Louw applies historical material in his drama and the value of a literary text such as this for our understanding of Roman history.
(Afrikaans Version)
GESKIEDENIS EN LITERATUUR IN N.P. VAN WYK LOUW SE GERMANICUS (1956)
Die Afrikaanse digter en intellektueel N.P. van Wyk Louw (1906–1970) het van jongs af in die Romeinse geskiedenis belanggestel, wat mettertyd in ’n aantal literêre werke neerslag gevind het. In sy versdrama Germanicus (1956) benut Louw historiese gegewens om sentrale gebeure tydens die lewe van die gekultiveerde jong Romeinse generaal Germanicus Julius Caesar (16/15 v.C.–19 n.C.) in ’n onrustige tydperk uit te beeld. Volgens die klassikus P.J. Conradie het Louw veral van drie bronne gebruik gemaak om sy drama te skryf, naamlik “die eerste twee boeke van die Annales van Tacitus, die lewensbeskrywings van Tiberius en Caligula, die seun van Germanicus, deur Suetonius en die sewe-en-vyftigste boek van Dio Cassius se Romeinse geskiedenis”. Louw het in ’n mindere mate ook ander bronne benut om die wêreld van sy karakters so oortuigend moontlik in te kleur. Deur middel van metodes wat deur hedendaagse geskiedkundiges aangewend word, word in hierdie referaat krities gekyk na die wyse waarop Louw in sy drama met historiese gegewens omgaan en die waarde wat ’n literêre teks soos hierdie vir ons bestudering en verstaan van die Romeinse geskiedenis het.
Mrs Samantha Masters
University of Stellenbosch
SEEING EYE TO EYE: ICONOGRAPHY AND EMOTION ON RECOVERY OF HELEN SCENES IN VASE PAINTING
The extended narrative that begins with the abduction of Helen by Paris and ends with her recovery by Menelaus is one of the most frequently appearing stories in the repertoire of Attic vase painters. While the interest in the Trojan saga as a whole is fairly consistent, the emphasis or preference for a part of the story changes over time. Similarly the manner in which specific episodes are portrayed, including the composition, iconography and gestural codes used also shifts repeatedly through several moments of change. In this paper I will explore what I consider to be the increasing complexity of the emotional vocabulary of these recovery scenes. In particular I will focus on what appears to be an interest in eye contact in 5th century BCE scenes, through exploring the use and abandonment of certain icons such as the helmet and the cloak. I will investigate whether this artistic trend can be borne out by other discourse with which the world of images necessarily intersects.
Mr Jeffrey Murray
University of KwaZulu-Natal
ONCE UPON A TIME ... IN THERMOPYLAE: THE RECEPTION OF THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
The Battle of Thermopylae has received renewed interest and attention in recent years among scholars. This is due largely to the box office success of the 2007 film 300 (Dir. Zack Snyder). In fact there has never been a period of history where this battle hasn’t proved popular and been appropriated or adapted for political, artistic or intellectual aims. One area of this battle’s reception history that has been overlooked by scholars, however, is in the field of children’s literature. But now academic interests are moving toward researching this branch of literature and the tide of scholarly discussion of the reception of the ancient world in juvenile fiction is turning. By using the battle of Thermopylae as my case study, I hope to examine its use in children’s literature at the end of the Victorian Period.
Miss Szerdi Nagy
University of KwaZulu-Natal
FROM THE DIVINE ALEWIFE TO THE DREAD GODDESS. THE BRIDGE FROM SIDURI TO CIRCE
This paper will examine the apparent connections between Siduri and Circe in the Gilgamesh Epic and the Odyssey. This will be achieved by examining their roles in their respective epics and by tracing the origins of their myths, as well as by examining Homer’s reception of the Near Eastern Epic. The similarities they share will then be highlighted and will form a basis on which to further develop the connection between female guides and the katabasis of the hero in epic literature.
Dr Grant Parker
Stanford University, USA
MAPPING INDIA
If ancient maps are generally little known, then those depicting India present particular problems. Here I shall survey evidence for what might be considered ‘maps’ of India (incl. Claudius Ptolemy). Special attention is given to the historical contexts that generated or demanded cartographic knowledge about India; and to the relation of text and image in Roman geography. The recent publication of the Artemidorus Papyrus potentially provides comparanda from the far end of the ancient world. Though this evidence remains inconclusive it adds new point to some old questions (cf. Small, Parallel Worlds of Classical Art and Text; Jacob, Sovereign Map).
Mr Francois Pauw
University of Stellenbosch
HYPERTEXTUAL ALLUSIONS IN MARGARET DOODY’S ARISTOTLE AND POETIC JUSTICE
The object of this paper is to examine hypertextual allusions in Aristophanes and Poetic Justice. With that in view, the novel is approached as a work of fiction which reflects a literary and historical hypotext rather than as a detective mystery. First, the author and her genre are introduced; then, a plot summary is provided. In the body of my paper I examine some allusions to Greek hypotexts in Doody’s novel. In a concluding section Aristotle’s musings on the Ars Poetica are explored as a tool by which he attempts to get a generic grip on the experiences of the characters.
Dr FP Retief
University of the Free State
JULIUS CAESAR: DID HE HAVE A BRAIN TUMOUR?
Julius Caesar, one of the outstanding leaders of antiquity, had quartan malaria early in life, but was otherwise very healthy up to his fifties. Various contempo-rary historians reported that he then developed epilepsy. Evidence is that he had only two attacks of this disease, almost certainly at the ages of 51 and 54 years. At this stage of life the onset of epilepsy almost invariably points at significant underlying intracranial pathology. It is suggested that he did indeed suffer from a benign brain tumour. Scrutiny of other symptoms described at this time, suggests that there may be further clinical evidence in support of this diagnosis.
Mr André Roos
University of Stellenbosch
THE ROLE OF THE HOLY MAN IN ST ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA’S VITA ANTONII
The rise of the holy man was the leitmotiv of the religious revolution of Late Antiquity. St Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria from 328 until his death in 373, wrote the Vita Antonii (Life of Antony), within a year after St Antony of Egypt’s death in 356. The Vita was the first biography of a holy man, a saint, and made Antony and the other desert monks of Egypt famous throughout the Late Roman Empire. Athanasius was renowned for his firm theological views on orthodoxy and heresy, which often caused animosity in political and ecclesiastical circles. He also played a pivotal role in promoting asceticism and in developing monasticism by allying the monks of Egypt to the Patriarchate of Alexandria. This paper investigates if, and to what extent, Antony, as holy man, was used in the Vita Antonii to advance Athanasius’ own theological agenda – did Athanasius use Antony as mediator between him and his reading public to convince others of the correctness of his theological doctrine, and the importance of asceticism and monastic spirituality for salvation? The paper explores the Vita Antonii as both literary and theological work in order to show how Athanasius used the hagiography of a holy man as a vehicle to advance his theological viewpoints.
Dr Roman Roth
University of Cape Town
EXCAVATING A BOUNDARY TOWN: CAPENA BETWEEN ROME AND ETRURIA
Capena is a small urban (c. 9 ha) settlement, situated some 30 km north of Rome within close proximity of the Tiber. Having been closely tied into the cultural networks of South Etruria and the Tiber Valley since the early Iron Age, the town increasingly came under the influence of the rapidly expanding city of Rome. Building on recent work concerning the cultural and socio-economic connectivity of the Tiber Valley, our current excavations aim to explore the architecture and infrastructure of Capena as the town changed from being a minor regional centre to a significant supplier of foodstuffs to the nearby metropolis.
Prof Denis Saddington
University of the Witwatersrand
A BISHOP AND THE LESS PRIVILEGED IN AN AFRICAN DIOCESE IN THE LATE ROMAN EMPIRE – AUGUSTINE AT HIPPO REGIUS
In the late fourth century A.D. St. Augustine was one of the most highly educated men in the Roman Empire and an author of genius. He wrote numerous classics in theology and philosophy. He corresponded on equal terms with the nobility of the time, like Ambrose in Milan, and noted scholars of the period, like Jerome in Bethlehem. Yet he served as the bishop of an unimportant harbour town in North Africa, preaching and ministering to the people there. What was his approach to the less privileged in his diocese?
Dr Lionel Sanders
Concordia University, Canada
THE DIONIS LEGATIO (CIC. ATTIC. 15.10)
Cicero, writing to Atticus (Attic. 15.10) in June 44 BC, describes the Sicilian and Asian corn commission, bestowed upon Brutus and Cassius by the Senate, as a Dionis legatio. The “Dion” referred to in this passage has traditionally been identified as the Sicilian liberator, Dion of Syracuse, whose honorary exile and peaceful exit from the political scene, it is argued, paralleled that experienced by the conspirators, three centuries later, whence the significance of Cicero’s use of the term Dionis legatio in the letter. This view, which thus far has not been argued in detail, has been challenged by F.X. Ryan (RBPH 78.1 (2000), 191-94) and K. Bringmann Klio 85 (2003), 114-19), mainly on the grounds that Dion was not an ambassador when he left Syracuse. These scholars propose instead that other personages named Dion are to be identified with the Dion of the Dionis legatio, specifically an ambassador of Arsinoe II to Ptolemy Keraunos in 281 BC or Dion the Academic, who led a delegation to Rome protesting Ptolemy Auletes’ quest for his restoration in 57 BC. This paper provides a challenge to the theses of Ryan and Bringmann and offers detailed argumentation to sustain the traditional interpretation that Cicero is referring to Dion of Syracuse who, during his exile, did indeed enjoy quasi-ambassadorial status.
Mrs Alta Schoeman
Stellenbosch Academy
CROSSING THE BOUNDARIES: THE HERSTORY OF REBEL QUEEN ZENOBIA
Claiming descent from the likes of Dido and Cleopatra, Zenobia of Palmyra crossed every possible boundary not only in a physical but also in a metaphorical sense. As one of the most influential political and military leaders in the eastern Roman Empire and hailed by her army as Most Illustrious and Pious Queen, she assumed the title Augusta and removed the image of the Roman emperor from Alexandrian coins. Her empire-building efforts led the Roman emperor Aurelian to state that Zenobia had ruled longer than could be tolerated from a woman and to defend his reputation in the “unmanly” undertaking of defeating a woman. Perhaps Zenobia’s true greatness lies in the boldness she displayed in breaking through the boundaries faced by women of the third century CE.
Dr Suzanne Sharland
University of KwaZulu-Natal
HORACE’S SATIRIC CORPUS AND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE BODY
It has often been observed that the satiric body is a misbehaving body: it is a body that is constantly testing its seams and threatening to burst its boundaries. In Horace’s Satires a number of misbehaving bodies can be found cavorting through the text. These bodies eat, sweat, leak, fart, fornicate, ejaculate unexpectedly, disguise themselves, fall apart, run away, have verbal diarrhoea, and even, in one case, seem on the verge of exploding. This paper proposes, first, to examine bodily imagery in Horace’s Satires and to investigate the extent to which these bodies depicted by the poet conform to the idea of the misbehaving body. Paul Allen Miller has suggested that the bodily images of satire tend to be negative, ‘sterile’ ones which do not exhibit the positive, renewable aspects of Bakhtin’s ‘Carnivalesque’ body. This paper therefore proposes, second, to discover whether the bodily imagery of Horace’s Satires adheres to Miller’s hypothesis, or whether there is something uncharacteristically positive and renewable in this particular satirist’s depictions of bodies.
Mr Jörn Soerink
University of Groningen, Netherlands
BETWEEN UPPER AND NETHER WORLD: THE LIMINAL NATRUE OF FURIES IN LATIN LITERATURE
In Latin literature Furies are fond of thresholds. Instances in Ovid or Seneca may be explained in terms of imitatio and aemulatio, but the four instances of Furies sitting on thresholds in the Aeneid ask for a different explanation. The anthropo-logical concept of liminality as developed by Victor Turner, who successfully applied it to the archetypical trickster figure, enables us to understand Furies as antinomian creatures hostile to society. Although they occasionally rear their heads, Furies, like tricksters, are excluded from normative social discourse. Vergil significantly locates them in the uestibulum, between upper and nether world. Accordingly, the emphasis on thresholds symbolises their ambiguous identity, and marks the moments when they cross the boundaries and intrude upon society.
Mr Johan Steenkamp
University of Pretoria
PROPERTIUS, CRASSUS AND THE EUPHRATES
It seems that when the Augustan poet’s mind turns to the eastern boundaries of the Roman world, it naturally also turns to the Euphrates and the defeat Marcus Licinius Crassus suffered there in 53 BCE, to the issues of Roman pride, Roman military success and the need to retrieve the lost standards, but also to illegal warfare, insatiable avarice and vulgar materialism. The Euphrates, however, also conjured up other associations. In his famous rebuttal of his critics Callimachus defends his shorter poems saying that big rivers, like the Euphrates, carry refuse and filth, poetry should be pure and undefiled, like water from a spring. Both these sets of associations are important in the poetry of Vergil and Propertius. Vergil used his references to the Euphrates to refer back to Callimachus and his programmatic statements, while Propertius would use his to discuss war, greed and Vergil.
Miss Marlene van den Berg
North-West University
THE ANCIENT USE OF OPIUM POPPY: IS IT VALID IN MODERN TERMS?
Ancient literary and medical treatises of Dioscorides, Theophrastus, Celsus and Pliny contain references to sedation and pain relief during surgery. These texts discuss not only medical conditions, but also give pharmaceutical advice and provide recipes for treatment of different illnesses. The extracts from the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, (family Papaveraceae), were used (either alone or in combination with other plants with sedative properties) to dull the pain of surgery in ancient times. The phytochemistry and modern pharmacology are used to explain en justify the ancient uses of opium poppy.
Dr Rogier van der Wal
VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands
FRONTINUS’ STRATEGEMATA: SOME IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO CROSS A BORDER AND WIN A WAR
The works of Sextus Julius Frontinus (ca. 30/35-103/104) are not widely read these days. Only his De Aquaeductu Urbis Romanae still attracts some attention, mainly from specialists. But his Strategemata are now almost neglected. I will argue that this work deserves better and that it has a certain charm and attractiveness of its own. By some well-chose examples I hope to demonstrate that it can be quite an interesting read, and that besides we can learn much about ancient warfare and its tactical niceties. We may even learn from Frontinus how to cross borders when the enemy is off guard, or how to mislead him.
Mr David Van Schoor
Rhodes University
BELIEVING IS SEEING: AVOCATIO IN LUCRETIUS TO WORLD HISTORICAL IRONY IN OVID
This paper discusses the complicated relation in Antiquity between philosophy and literature by reflecting on the case of Ovid and his adaptation of and response to Lucretius. It posits the hypothesis that the narrative structure and style of Ovid’s Metamorphoses are the features we should look to in an ideo-logical and philosophical analysis of his work. Conventional philosophical content is taken up by the poet only as lexical and contextual resource rather than with any didactic or moral purpose. By drawing on the example of avocatio in Lucretius as a principle secularized and transformed into a kind of radical irony in Ovid, for his own particular ends, it hopes to show that Ovid’s work is most politically significant and even dangerous, in its recurrent drawing attention to itself as artifice, exploring the status of images and its making play of the ambiguity and unnaturalness of language.
Dr Betine van Zyl Smit
University of Nottingham, UK
THE AMOROUS QUEEN AND THE COUNTRY BUMPKIN – CLYTEMNESTRA AND AEGISTHUS IN DRACONTIUS’ ORESTIS TRAGOEDIA
This paper will investigate the literary influences shaping the depiction of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus in the narrative poem of the North African poet, Dracontius. A close reading of the Latin epyllion will explore the similarities between this Clytemnestra and the Clytemnestra of the Greek and Roman tradition.
Prof David Wardle
University of Cape Town
SUETONIUS, ON AUGUSTUS AND THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN MAN AND GOD
The Roman state operated with a very clear distinction between the human and the divine; its public policy with regard to the consecration of emperors was clear: no deification before death. Suetonius, however, faces up to the more complex realities of the Roman empire in his Vita Caesarum and presents a range of approaches to the divinity of the emperor that were made. His Life of Augustus provides the best example of the issues and the imperial response to them: the structure of the life highlights the divine destiny of Augustus and the reality of his divinity; among fellow Romans Augustus was restricted in what honours he accepted during his lifetime, but more widely within the empire he did not reject the worship that was offered him by Greek and Egyptian alike. Unofficially Augustus (or those close to him) were able to suggest a divine ruler. Suetonius subtly and accurately negotiates the myths and realities of imperial divinity.
Prof Hansie Wolmarans
University of Johannesburg
BOUNDARIES AND CROSSINGS IN THE RETURN OF HEPHAISTOS TO OLYMPOS
The crippled Hephaistos was banished from Olympos by his mother, Hera. He retaliated by sending her a throne as present. When she sat down, she was held by invisible bonds and no one could free her. After a failed attempt by Ares to bring Hephaistos back, Dionysos succeeded. His return is depicted visually on various vases and differs from literary accounts of the myth. The crossings of various boundaries are portrayed: an inebriated Hephaistos rides on a donkey (not a horse) whilst silens and nymphs perform various acts of anti-social behaviour. It is argued that these visuals convey the proposition that a stable society can only be reached by including the marginalised
Mr Gert Young
University of Stellenbosch
FROM FOREIGNERS TO CITIZENS: CONCEPTUALISING STUDENTS’ ENTRY INRO DISCIPLINARY COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE
The Classics discipline, like most other disciplines in Higher Education contexts, face numerous challenges related to changed national and international expec-tations. These include changes in the student body, resulting changes in practice and curriculum, changes in the conditions of academic work, changes in the structures and requirements of accountability (Nixon, Marks, Rowland and Walker 2001) and “… a global tendency towards … direct economic viability” du Toit (2008:424). This paper argues that in order to meet these challenges the discipline needs to reflect on its activities and teaching practices in a structured and deliberate way. Such reflection can be facilitated by theoretical frameworks designed in education research. In the paper we present one such framework, the “Communities of practice” framework as designed by Wenger (1998) and show how the framework can be employed, at a theoretical level, to conceptua-lise the challenges facing the discipline as well as to enhance teaching practices in an undergraduate Greek class, through an institutionally supported project. It is argued that the creative nature of the discipline is ideally suited to such interdisciplinary endeavors.
Dr Hartmut Ziche
University of the Antilles and Guyane
DIVIDING THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE
The Western and Eastern Roman Empire are modern inventions. Regardless of the number of emperors and the degree of cooperation between them, there was, even in late antiquity, just one Empire for its contemporaries. And yet numerous factors seem to divide East from West in the 5th and 6th century: language and christological controversy, the evolution of imperial power and, of course, the diverging strategic and military trends. This paper will attempt to demonstrate that beyond these superficial differences, the real border increasingly separating East from West is the diverging socio-economic development in the two parts of the Empire. We will try to show that the eventual fate of East and West is fundamentally determined by their respective degree of urbanisation and differences in the distribution and concentration of property within the economic elites.
Prof Christoff Zietsman
University of the Free State
CROSSING THE ROMAN FRONTIER – EGYPT IN ROME AND BEYOND
After the death of Pompey, Julius Caesar took the side of Cleopatra in a dynastic quarrel between her and the Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, both her brother and husband. Ptolemy was defeated in 47 BC and Cleopatra ascended the throne of Egypt. Caesar fell in love with the Egyptian queen at first sight - and in a way it was the same for the two countries. Shortly after the assassination of Caesar in 45 BC, Marc Anthony met Cleopatra during his campaigns in Asia Minor. Their eventual marriage resulted in Marc Anthony being declared an enemy of Rome. This was sufficient justification to declare war against Marc Anthony and Cleopatra. Octavian defeated them at Actium in 31 BC and conquered Egypt in 30 BC. A coin issued by Octavian in 27 BC, when he became the Emperor Augustus, proclaims AEGYPTO CAPTA, “Egypt is captured”. In actual fact Egyptian culture, architecture, art and religion crossed the Roman frontier and captured the imagination of the Roman world, as it eventually did even that of the modern world. With the exception of Greece no other country ever had greater influence over the Romans than Egypt had. This paper will look at the fate of Egyptian obelisks in the eternal city and beyond after the fall of Rome.