A tall order : writing the social history of the ancient world ; essays in honor of William V. Harris

This volume commemorates the 65th birthday of William Vernon Harris (on September 13, 2003), when a group of his former students agreed to honor him with a collection of essays that would represent the wide variety of interests and influences of our advisor and friend. The fifteen papers in fact range chronologically from the first Olympics to late antiquity and discuss various questions of imperialism, law, economy, and religion in the ancient Mediterranean world. The essays share a social historical perspective from which they challenge as many commonly accepted notions in ancient history. The contributors acknowledge their intellectual debt to the formative scholarly acumen of William V. Harris, which adds up to the "tall order" of engaging with his work. Abbreviations 7 Illustrations 9 Preface 11 William V. Harris: the first forty years of scholarship (1965-2005) 15 Religion in context 25 1. A God of Reäprocity: Torah and Soda/ Relations in an Ancient Mediterranean Society 27 2. Distinguishing Jemshness in Antiquity 61 3. Jesus, an Adulteress, and the Development of Early Christian Scripture 83 4. Constantius II and the First Removal of the Altar of Victory 109 5. Du lard ou du cochon?’ The Testamentum porcelli as a Jewish Anti-Christian Pamphlet 131 Imperialism and its soldiers 167 6. Aristocratic Competition, Horses, and the Spolia Opima Once Again 169 7. An Architecture of Human Heads: Gallic Responses to Roman Power 185 8. From Conquest to Civilisation: The Rhetoric of Imperialism in the Early Prindpate 209 9. Soldiers’ Slaves, Dirty Work’ and the Social Status of Roman Soldiers 227 Law and economy in ancient society 251 10. Veterans, Agriculture, and Monetisation in the Late Roman Republic 253 11. Country Villas in Roman Central Italy: Reassessing the Evidence 265 12. The Delicts of the Countryside in Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe 287 13. Raman Governments and Collegia: A New Appraisal of the Evidence 309 Historiography 341 14. Imagining Olympia: Hippias of Elis and the First Olympic Victor List 343 15. A Sense of Change and the Historiography of the Turn from Republic to Empire 381 Afterword 401 Contributors 403 Main description: This volume commemorates the 65th birthday of William Vernon Harris (on September 13, 2003), when a group of his former students agreed to honor him with a collection of essays that would represent the wide variety of interests and influences of our advisor and friend. The fifteen papers in fact range chronologically from the first Olympics to late antiquity and discuss various questions of imperialism, law, economy, and religion in the ancient Mediterranean world. The essays share a social historical perspective from which they challenge as many commonly accepted notions in ancient history. The contributors acknowledge their intellectual debt to the formative scholarly acumen of William V. Harris, which adds up to the "tall order" of engaging with his work Discussing various questions of imperialism, law, economy, and religion in the ancient Mediterranean world, this work contains essays, organised chronologically from the first Olympics to late antiquity. These essays share a social historical perspective from which they challenge as many commonly accepted notions in ancient history. Edited By Jean-jacques Aubert And Zsuzsanna Várhelyi. 'william V. Harris : The First Forty Years Of Scholarship (1965-2005)' : P. [xv]-xxiv. Includes Bibliographical References.