1,721,052 research outputs found
"Discors Exercitus". Uno stereotipo dell’armata persiana nella tradizione classica
Get PDFIl lavoro si propone di raccogliere e discutere le testimonianze antiche relative all'immagine letteraria dell'esercito persiano come di un discors exercitus, di una sterminata ma disorganizzata massa di armati, "orda disordinata simile a una folla minacciosa" (V.D. Hanson), composta di soldati di lingua, armamento e tattiche di combattimento assai diverse. A quest'immagine si contrappone costantemente quella, opposta, degli eserciti dei Greci e dei Macedoni, meno numerosi, ma in cui disciplina e ordine costituiscono le chiavi del successo. L'immagine stessa, e quella del confronto fra esercito persiano ed eserciti greco-macedoni sono molto comuni nelle fonti greche e latine a partire dal IV secolo a.C., ma negli autori più antichi non appare sempre usata nello stesso senso né con la stessa finalità: di contro, questa immagine ha una storia lunga e articolata, che in questo saggio si cerca di sbrogliare e di ricostruire nelle varie fasi.
This paper aims at collecting and discussing the evidence concerning the literary image of the Persian army as a discors exercitus, composed by huge but badly organized "mob-like frightening hordes" (V.D. Hanson), made of soldiers of different languages, armed with a variety of weapons and trained in many different tactics: to this image is constantly opposed that of the smaller Greek and Macedonian armies, where discipline and order were the real key of their success. The image itself, and the comparison, are very popular in the Greek and Latin sources from the IVth century BC onwards, but in earlier authors they are not always used in the same sense and with the same aim: these contrasting images have instead a long and articulated history, which the author of the essay tries to disentangle and to put to the test
"Presbeis", "presbeutai" e "legati" fra il mondo greco e Roma.
No full textThe essay examines the terminology used, in the Greek literary and epigraphical sources – from the classical age down to Roman times –, to indicate the ambassadors: while the nouns presbeis and presbeutai are indifferently used to define the diplomatic agents sent abroad by the Greek poleis in the classical and early Hellenistic times, as both the literary and the epigraphical evidence make clear, and while the literary sources show no recognizable effort to distinguish between Greek and Roman envoys (though they had a much different status) there is a more technical usage in the Greek inscriptions, copies of Roman documents. The examination of the epigraphical dossier concerning the Roman commissions of decem legati, sent to the East in various occasions, allows to conclude that the Roman envoys (legati) were always called presbeutai, while the noun presbeis was only reserved to the Greek ambassadors
Francesca Gazzano, Recensione a: Angela Cinalli, Τὰ ξένια: la cerimonia di ospitalità cittadina. Studi e Ricerche, 27. Studi umanistici - Antichistica. Roma: 2015. Pp. xii, 101. ISBN 9788898533497
No full textreview of: Jean-Christophe Couvenhes (ed.), La symmachia comme pratique du droit international dans le monde grec: d'Homère à l'époque hellénistique. Dialogues d'histoire ancienne supplément, 16. Besançon: Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté, 2016. Pp. 246. ISBN 9782848675466. €20.00 (pb).
No full textRecensione a: ANNE QUEYREL BOTTINEAU - MARIE-ROSE GUELFUCCI (sous la dir. de), Conseillers et ambassadeurs dans l’Antiquité (DHA - Supplément 17), Besançon, Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté, 2017.
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I 'Lydiaka' di Xanto nella tradizione letteraria: osservazioni preliminari
No full textThe essay offers a detailed discussion of the somehow evanescent and often overlooked historian of the V century BC Xanthus the Lydian, whose historical works (Lydiaka, Magika and maybe a Peri Empedokleous), written in Greek, survive only in fragments, scattered in the literary tradition. The survey takes briefly into account all the main problems which modern critics must face, namely his not-Greek origin, the chronological relationship with Herodotus and his Lydikos logos on one side, and the historiographical one with Nicolaus of Damascus on the other, the question of the survival of his works in Hellenistic and Roman times (and the more complex question of possible Pseudepigrapha under his name), finally the nature and general tone of the evidence preserved. More detailed is the analysis of the judgments he received by ancient authorities, from Ephorus to Strabo, Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Roman authors such as Pliny the Elder and Solinus, who put Xanthus among the Asiatica Ingenia and the "historiae conditores". In conclusion, the essay tries to demonstrate that there is a clear gap between the fame and the good reputation he enjoyed in antiquity and the modern (mis)judgement about his poor historical value
Celebrity diplomacy? Poeti e attori nelle ambascerie delle città greche
No full textStarting from an analysis of the relationship between poetry (or culture) and diplomacy in the Greek
poleis, this paper discusses the case of some IVth century «star–actors» who were involved in the
awkward negotiations between Athens and Philip II of Macedonia; the aim is to test if the common
assumption that they were chosen because of their theatrical fame – as a form of “celebrity
diplomacy” of nowadays – can be accepted, or if their choice depended in fact on more intentional
interests, as part of a strategic use, by the Athenians, of their «soft power».Après une introduction générale sur le rapport entre la culture (notamment poétique) et la
diplomatie dans les cités grecques, on considère de plus près le cas de quelques « acteurs–vedette »
du IVe siècle qui ont oeuvré dans les délicates négociations entre Athènes et Philippe II de
Macédoine. Ces acteurs sont considérés couramment comme des exemples de « celebrity diplomacy
», qui auraient été choisis en raison de leur notoriété. Dans cette communication, on testera si cette
hypothèse est correcte, tout en essayant de vérifier si le choix de ces acteurs ne dépendait également
d’une stratégie plus intentionnelle, visant à les utiliser comme instruments du « soft power » de la
cité athénienne
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