After the past : : essays in ancient history in honour of H.W. Pleket / / edited by Willem Jongman and Marc Kleijwegt.

• Superior document: Mnemosyne supplements ; Volume 233
• TeilnehmendeR: Jongman, Willem,; Kleijwegt, Marc,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands ;, Boston ;, Köln : : Brill,, [2002]; ©2002
• Year of Publication: 2002
• Language: English
• Series: Mnemosyne, bibliotheca classica Batava. Supplementum ; Volume 233.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xxiv, 378 pages) :; maps.

What was funny about ancient jokes, and why? Why did the Roman state legislate to curb the behaviour of its obscenely rich and powerful elite, if it never really expected such laws to be obeyed? Why did it oppress the poor, and lavish public child support on them? These are important questions, but ancient Greeks and Romans could never have thought of them. They never questioned the right of the rich to be rich. They could not improve their understanding of Homeric gift-giving with the experience of ritualized friendship among the Trobriand islanders. Such questions and such answers can only come from those who live after the ancient past. This volume honours the well-known Dutch epigraphist and ancient historian H.W. Pleket. Ten substantial essays reflect his wide range, from early Greece to the Roman Empire, and his taste for comparative economic and social history.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / Willem Jongman and Marc Kleijwegt -- RESTRAINING THE RICH, PROTECTING THE POOR: SYMBOLIC ASPECTS OF ROMAN LEGISLATION / L. de Ligt -- BENEFICIAL SYMBOLS. ALIMENT A AND THE INFANTILIZATION OF THE ROMAN CITIZEN / Willem Jongman -- TEXTILE MANUFACTURING FOR A RELIGIOUS MARKET. ARTEMIS AND DIANA AS TYCOONS OF INDUSTRY / Marc Kleijwegt -- WRECKS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AS EVIDENCE OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE / Fik Meijer -- THE DECAPOLIS: CITY TERRITORIES, VILLAGES AND BOULEUTAI / Steven Moors -- ANCIENT HUMOUR / Paul Schulten -- THE SPARTAN ARMY AT MANTINEA AND ITS ORGANISATION IN THE FIFTH CENTURY BC / Henk Singor -- HERMOPOLIS IN THE CRISIS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE / Peter van Minnen -- COLLEGIA AND CIVIC GUARDS: TWO CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF SOCIABILITY / Onno van Nijf -- GREED, GENEROSITY AND GIFT-EXCHANGE IN EARLY GREECE AND THE WESTERN PACIFIC / Hans van Wees -- SUPPLEMENTS TO MNEMOSYNE / H. Pinkster , H.S. Versnel , D.M. Schenkeveld , P.H. Schrijvers and S.R. Slings.