Browsing by Author "Germany, Robert"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Educatio et alimenta puellis: Munificence or political tricks of emperors?
    (2009) Derbew, Sarah; Germany, Robert
    I aim to explore Trajan's motive for providing grand munificence to poor girls by examining depictions of poor girls on coins and his arch in Beneventum. I also explore the use of education as part of this political agenda of emperors to create this debt. Through my examinations, I suggest that Trajan used his munificence to create an obligatory debt to reduce the possibility of poor girls gaining freedom and autonomy. Emperors depended on these poor girls because when they became older, they had the ability to populate the Empire with their children. Their children then could become laborers and soldiers, or future vessels of more children for the Roman Empire.
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    Jeeves and the Servus Callidus: Scheming Servants in Wodehouse and Plautus
    (2015) Boudreau, Marielle; Germany, Robert
    In P.G. Wodehouse’s short stories, the valet Jeeves plays the same role as a servus callidus, or clever slave, in the Roman comedies of Plautus; both Jeeves and the Plautine slaves act as the driving forces of their works, assisting their young masters and bringing off forbidden romances. But Jeeves, as an individual character rather than a comic mask, is characterized with more depth and nuance than the Plautine slaves, and is presented as a more infallible, benevolent figure. This lends a very different feeling to the two authors’ forms of social commentary: while the clever slaves are sympathetic for their potential failures, and the natural violence of slavery grounds the holiday atmosphere of Roman comedy in reality, Jeeves is so completely in control of his plots that the social question is about why he is in such a subservient role. Both works use canny servant characters to reflect and comment on their respective societies; though Jeeves and the clever slaves play the same role in the plot, they are different in personality.
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    The Charge of φάσις in Lysias 19
    (2015) Rajamani, Kiran; Germany, Robert
    Modern scholars on Lysias 19 “On The Property Of Aristophanes” have been divided about whether the plaintiffs who prosecuted the politician Aristophanes’ brother-in-law charged him by γραφή or πογραφή. This paper argues that they charged him by neither of these procedures, but rather charged him by φάσις. The argument that he faced γραφή is unsupportable because none of the extant γραφαί could have been used against him, even those which, at first glance, seem as if they plausibly could have been used. The plausible γραφαί are γραφὴ γραφίου to force registration as a debtor, γραφὴ κλοπῆς for theft of private property, and γραφὴ κλοπῆς for theft of public property. Although he would have owed a debt if found guilty, the text of the speech provides no evidence that he could have faced γραφὴ γραφίου. γραφὴ κλοπῆς for theft of private property was not used to prosecute theft of public property, so the plaintiffs could not have used it to prosecute the defendant, who was on trial for theft of public property. γραφὴ κλοπῆς for private property could not have been used because, based upon the interpretation of Athenaion Politeia 48.4-5 by Cohen 1983, that charge could only be used at a public official’s εὔθυνα, and Aristophanes’ brother-in-law was not a public official. The theory that he was charged by πογραφή has so far been the most widely accepted, but because Aristophanes’ brother-in-law probably did not face disfranchisement, the plaintiffs probably did not charge him by πογραφή. That the charge was φάσις is the most plausible theory. There are two arguments in favor of this: it was the only other procedure that could be used to confiscate property, and a defendant found guilty by φάσις probably did not faced the penalty of disfranchisement.
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    The Pivotal Theios Aner: (Re)invented Conservatism in Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana
    (2011) Lopatin, Alexander J.; Edmonds, Radcliffe G., III, 1970-; Germany, Robert
    The eponymous hero of Philostratus’ first work, the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, uses his status as a unique representative of perfected and divinely ordained Hellenic philosophy on earth—that is, as the quintessential theios aner—to articulate and implement Philostratus’ own ideal world order. This order was in some ways deeply conservative in its vision of political, economic, social, and religious systems--a reflection of Philostratus’ status as an establishment elite figure, but equally radical in others--a reflection of the counter-cultural philosophical tradition that Philostratus and his “Second Sophistic” milieu were channeling. Philostratus successfully uses Apollonius as a pivot, or link, between the heavenly and mortal realms. This enables the author to defend the infusion of ethical philosophy from the former realm into the latter one as a fundamentally tradition-upholding move. The changes that Apollonius effects are not new; rather, they represent a return to a long-forgotten era of Hellenic philosophical purity. The effect of this “orthodox” infusion is that ethical philosophy legitimizes and defends the established world order--political, socioeconomic, and religious--insofar as the latter adjusts to meet the demands of the former. When tensions between the two systems arise, Philostratus cleverly takes advantage of the oscillating “active” and “marginal” nature of his theios aner to prevent a collision. The Life of Apollonius of Tyana is a well-crafted, contingency-anticipating synthesis of Hellenic “culture” and “counter-culture” that makes a valiant attempt to inject new life and new direction into the author’s civilization.