Past Imperfect (Journal)
Not a member yet
269 research outputs found
Sort by
A Legal Interpretation of Livy\u27s Caudine Sponsio: Using Roman Law to test the validity of Livy\u27s Caudine Forks Narrative
No full textAlthough much has been written about Livy\u27s account of the defeat of a Roman army at the hands of the Samnites at the Caudine Forks in 321 B.C., commentators do not agree as to whether the account describes an historical event. This paper offers a new approach to the problem, by analyzing the legal form and content of the sponsio (agreement) that acts as the backbone of Livy\u27s narrative. The body of the paper analyzes Livy\u27s sponsio in detail, from a legal perspective. The analysis leads to the conclusion that Livy based his narrative upon the sponsio of Roman civil law. Since it is unlikely that the Romans and Samnites conducted their agreement on the basis of Roman private law, it is concluded that the events at the Caudine Forks are either fictional, or did not happen as Livy describes them
Power, Arabism and Islam in the Writings of Muhib al-Din al-Khatib in al-Fath
No full textThe writings of Muhib al-Din al-Khatib reveal a deep concern over Muslim weakness in the face of European domination in the interwar period. In his weekly newspaper al-Fath, al-Khatib confronted the issues which threatened to increase Muslim division following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. He considered Islam the common bond by which all Muslims could unite to resist the West. While Arabism could fit into and uphold this unity, separatist nationalisms threatened it and caused further divisions inspired by the West. In his editorial writing, al-Khatib suggested various reforms aimed at reviving Muslim control of their own lands
Uncovering the Reality of State Violence in Western Zimbabwe, 1982-1987
No full textThe Zimbabwean slate waged a sustained terror campaign in the southern and western parts of the country from 1982 to 1987. An estimated twenty thousand men, women, and children died during the campaign. Most victims were murdered by state security forces, and others succumbed to conditions of disease and deprivation. The origins, nature, and impact of this conflict are the subject of considerable contention, particularly between analysts, human rights activists, and the government of President Robert Mugabe. Official inquiries into the conduct of the state and its agents have had difficulty gaining access to relevant records, and the government has repeatedly denounced the findings of independent investigations as slanderous. The terror operation waged in Matebeleland and the Midlands provinces can be used as evidence to argue that the government of President Mugabe from early on in its rule developed a tradition of using violence and intolerance as a tool for consolidating political power
Divided Once More: Social Memory and the Canadian Conscription Crisis of the First World War
No full text
Operation “Lifesaver”: Canadian Atomic Culture and Cold War Civil Defence
No full textOn September 28th 1955, the city of Calgary executed one of the only major civil defence evacuation operations in Canadian history. The exercise, Operation “Lifesaver,” was a product of careful planning over a series of months but failed to attract the interest of most Calgary citizens. The operation exhibited both the Canadian government’s concern for civil defence during the 1950s and the desire for civic pride in a decade that favoured a homogenous and functional society. Operation “Lifesaver” was not an accurate representation of a nuclear attack; instead it was a controlled exercise devised to calm the fears of civilians in the face of possible war. Despite the rich primary sources available, Canada’s civil defence experiences during the Cold War remain an allusive topic in Canadian historiography. Operation “Lifesaver” holds a prominent position in Alberta history in an era that defined much of Canada’s nationality and society. This article is the third chapter of my History MA thesis which examines the place of Atomic Culture in Canadian history and the Canadian Cold War experience
"Indian\u27s Bygone Past:" The Banff Indian Days, 1902-1945
No full textoai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/1356Between 1902 and 1945, the Banff Indian Days and annual Indian Exhibition promoted by local Banff entrepreneur Norman Luxton, were a success both locally and internationally. Tourists came from around the world to attend the week-long festivities. The Banff Indian Days could be considered the Canadian equivalent of Buffalo Bill\u27s Wild West show. These Banff Indian Days form not only an undescribed part of Canada\u27s popular culture history, but are also an important source of information on the nature of Indian-White relations in the province of Alberta between 1902 and 1945 - a period and region relatively little investigated by historians interested in Native history. In this paper the structure and function of the Banff Indian Days are investigated using traditional historical methods as well as theoretical concepts borrowed from the discipline of Anthropology. The article concludes that the Banff Indian Days constituted a form of public ritual through which participating Indians were able to invent, assert, and have sanctioned, their separate and unique identities
Edward Hallett Carr: Historical Realism and the Liberal Tradition
No full textThe works of Edward Hallett Carr represent an important contribution to the historiography of Soviet Russia and to the study of international relations in general. Yet his work is often dismissed, primarily because Carr was considered \u27ideologically unsound,\u27 that is, a Stalinist. This essay examines the validity of that charge and concludes instead that Carr was in fact firmly realistic in his writings on the Soviet Union and on international relations. In the case of the Soviet Union, this paper argues that Carr\u27s realism produced works of balance and judgement in a period - the Cold War- when such characteristics were anathema to the historiography of the subject. In at least one of his works on international relations, The Twenty Years\u27 Crisis, this realism represented a novel and revolutionary approach to the the subject
Concubinage in Seventeenth-Century Chinese Literature: A Historical Study of Xing-shi yin-yuan zhuan
No full textThis study explores the subtle patterns, variety, and changes in Chinese concubinage during the seventeenth century by focusing on cases described in Xing-shiyin-yuan zhuan, a seventeenth-century Chinese novel, and other literary and historical sources. It argues that the various social practices of concubinage in late Ming China diverged from government regulations. Chinese concubinage underwent remarkable changes by the seventeenth century in comparison with earlier periods. Even as concubinage was widely accepted, certain Confucian intellectuals of this period criticized the institution