Eunuchism was a subject which both intrigued and embarrassed the ancient world. The special virtue attributed to the castrated male at court, of undistracted loyalty to his ruler, aided the promotion of numerous eunuchs to positions of great power. A literary discourse developed, reviling and sometimes defending the eminence of these 'half-men'. Here, thirteen new studies from an international cast explore how eunuchs were perceived, and also reconstruct the realities of eunuchs' lives in Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Eastern culture.
Eunuchism was a subject which both intrigued and embarrassed the ancient world. The special virtue attributed to the castrated male at court, of undis...
This study of the last pagan Roman emperor provides remarkable insight into the man and his times. The figure of Julian demands the attention of historians. As the last pagan Roman Emperor, he provides a focus for studying the religious transformations that were taking place in the empire in the fourth century. Further, his secular policies and concerns concentrate attention on other transformations--social and political--within the period. Notably, Julian elicited sharply divided opinion from his contemporaries, which is largely polarised between pagan supporters and Christian...
This study of the last pagan Roman emperor provides remarkable insight into the man and his times. The figure of Julian demands the attention of hi...
As the Roman empire expanded eastwards, Rome began to encounter foreign powers which used eunuchs in the roles of court attendants, religious figures and teachers. Initially an alien and unacceptable practice, the use of eunuchs in Roman society increased with the emergence of the Roman Emperors. Sporus was the young lover of Nero and in the later Empire Eutropius was the only eunuch ever to be consul. More surprisingly eunuchs such as the orator Favorinus could be free citizens, and the reconquest of Italy under Justinian I was led by a eunuch, Narses. Shaun Tougher examines themes of...
As the Roman empire expanded eastwards, Rome began to encounter foreign powers which used eunuchs in the roles of court attendants, religious figur...
This volume offers the first comprehensive analysis in English of all the writings of Julian (r. AD 361-363), the last pagan emperor of Rome, noted for his frontal and self-conscious challenge to Christianity. The book also contains treatments of Julian's laws, inscriptions, coinage, as well as his artistic program. Across nineteen papers, international specialists in the field of Late Antique Studies offer original interpretations of an extraordinary figure: emperor and philosopher, soldier and accomplished writer. Julian, his life and writings, are here considered as parts of the tumult in...
This volume offers the first comprehensive analysis in English of all the writings of Julian (r. AD 361-363), the last pagan emperor of Rome, noted fo...
The subject of the emperor in the Byzantine world may seem likely to be a well-studied topic but there is no book devoted to the emperor in general covering the span of the Byzantine empire. Of course there are studies on individual emperors, dynasties and aspects of the imperial office/role, but there remains no equivalent to Fergus Millar's The Emperor in the Roman World (from which the proposed volume takes inspiration for its title and aims). The oddity of a lack of a general study of the Byzantine emperor is compounded by the fact that a series of books devoted to Byzantine...
The subject of the emperor in the Byzantine world may seem likely to be a well-studied topic but there is no book devoted to the emperor in general...
