DOCSLIB.ORG

Rostovtzeff and the Yale Diaspora: How Personalities and Communities Influenced the Development of North American Papyrology

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Rostovtzeff and the Yale Diaspora: How Personalities and Communities Influenced the Development of North American Papyrology Stewart 0 Rostovtzeff and the Yale Diaspora: How Personalities and Communities Influenced the Development of North American Papyrology Gabrielle Stewart Presented to the Committee on Degrees in Classical Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the A.B. in Classical Languages with Distinction. Duke University April 12, 2018 Stewart 1 Preface I find myself in awe of the timeliness of this project. In tracing the stories that I cover throughout the thesis, I have turned to a variety of archival, unpublished, and other unconventional sources. A lucky coalescence of time and place has made my investigation of these sources possible. I briefly introduce these sources and then acknowledge my gratitude to those who aided me in navigating them. Archival records have played a key role in my investigation. Two collections of papers were central to my research: the Michael I. Rostovtzeff papers and the American Society of Papyrologists records, both archived in the Rubenstein Library. The insights I have drawn from the correspondence, unpublished autobiographies, and even the driest of financial records in these collections has informed the bulk of my analysis in my first and third chapters. As my readers will soon learn, moreover, there is a fascinating story to how these collections wound up in Durham, North Carolina. To acquaint myself with the 1960s Yale Classics Department (the subject of my second chapter), I also made extensive use of the Eric A. Havelock papers, housed at the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University. Adding depth to my archival research are interviews I have conducted with North American papyrologists, most of whom who are now retired and have far more exciting things to do than talk to an undergraduate about trends in papyrological scholarship. I am ecstatic that I have had the opportunity to learn from elders in the discipline now, during this critical moment when those who witnessed the early development of North American papyrology first hand are still with us. The observations of Roger Bagnall in particular, with whom I conducted an oral history (available upon request), have deepened my Stewart 2 understanding of not only papyrology, but how papyrologists interact with one another. Dr. Bagnall was so kind as to share with me an unpublished autobiography of his, “A Half-life of Learning,” for my research, and that too has figured significantly in my analysis. I ran my manuscript through a text analysis program, and I found that one of my most frequently used words is “community,” which appears 35 times over the course of the paper, three times more than another favorite, Altertumswissenschaft. This makes good sense for multiple reasons. One of the dominant themes weaving through this thesis is how vital community is to papyrological work. While conducting my research, I was able to experience the closeness of this community for myself. When I asked Roger Bagnall and Ann Hanson to interview, both offered to let me stay with them so I could do so in person. The warmth they extended to me—from the donut breakfasts at Roger’s apartment to my late-night prosecco-fueled chats with Ann—has made me feel like I have a place in the amicitia papyrologorum. I cannot thank them enough for their contributions to my project. Now, for the “thank you”s, which are doomed to be but an abridged list of the countless people who have offered me advice and encouragement over these past eight months. I want to express my gratitude to everyone who interviewed with me: Roger Bagnall, Ann Hanson, Kent Rigsby, Peter van Minnen, and Deborah Hobson. I am also indebted to the Duke Classical Studies Department and Sarah Russell and the Duke Undergraduate Research Support Office for funding my trips to New York and New Haven, respectively. I would not have been able to engage with archives in a meaningful way, moreover, if it were not for library staff at Duke and at Yale. I would particularly Stewart 3 like to thank the Rubenstein’s head curator Andy Armacost for graciously giving me a tour through Duke’s papyrus acquisition records. Lucy Vanderkamp and Trudi Abel deserve huge “thank yous” for being so helpful (and patient) as I requested boxes upon boxes of records to sift through at the Rubenstein library. To the brilliant budding classicist Kelsey Stewart (who also happens to be my sister), I want to extend an enormous “gratias tibi ago” for taking on the intrepid task of transcribing over three hours of interviews. Finally, I would never have conceived of writing a thesis on North American papyrology at all if it were not for my advisor and current Secretary-Treasurer of the American Society of Papyrologists, William A. Johnson. His knowledge, guidance, and—above all—patience and encouragement have made this process deeply rewarding (and fun!). With his support, I have become far more confident in myself as a researcher and writer. It was during one of Professor Johnson’s many “linguistic hocus pocus” lectures at the end of his Greek 101 class when I promised myself I would major in Classical Languages, and each step of this project has affirmed that that was one of the best choices I have ever made. Gabrielle Stewart Duke University Stewart 4 Introduction “Like many products of Yale in that era..., Alan Samuel had a strong sense of the Rostovtzeff tradition and his place in it. As Welles had become a kind of son to the childless Rostovtzeff, Samuel saw himself as one of Welles’ scholarly offspring. He cherished the charcoal sketch of Michael Rostovtzeff made in Paris in 1933, which Sophie Rostovtzeff had given to him, and when he passed it on to me a few years ago, his sense of transmission of the tradition was manifest.”1 Roger Bagnall penned the above remark in his obituary for Alan Samuel, published in the Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists. Both Samuel and Bagnall were instrumental in the development of the American Society of Papyrologists, and Bagnall continues to be a leading figure in the field of papyrology. Both were also trained as historians. The term “historian,” however, does not encompass the breadth of Samuel’s and Bagnall’s intellectual pursuits in its traditional sense. The “Rostovtzeff tradition” of which Bagnall speaks is a lineage of historians who consider documents and material culture the most valuable form of evidence for studying the ancient world. This thesis chronicles the story of the Rostovtzeff tradition and how its disciples came to have a profound impact on the development of papyrology in North America. Per its name, the lineage traces back to Russian émigré historian Michael I. Rostovtzeff. Rostovtzeff was an “intellectual titan” in the field of history, according to respected historian Glen W. Bowersock.2 His greatest works—two thick tomes—focus on the social and economic histories of the Roman Empire and the Hellenistic world, respectively. Over a long, prolific career spanning from 1892-1952, Rostovtzeff 1 Bagnall, Roger S. "Alan Edouard Samuel (1932-2008)." Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 46 (2009), 9. 2 Bowersock, G.W., “The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire” Daedalus 103, no. 1 (1974), 15. Stewart 5 developed a revolutionary method for studying antiquity. He conducted his historical investigations via a minute study of documents, the “original sources… which reflect life directly.”3 Accordingly, he devoted much of his life to mastering the various documentary disciplines and made substantial contributions to the fields of archaeology, epigraphy, and—most notable for our purposes—papyrology. To make sense of the cosmos of antiquity, Rostovtzeff turned to its atoms and quarks, seeking truths in its fundamental, unalterable building blocks. To reduce Rostovtzeff to his method would not, however, paint an adequate picture of the scholar. Rostovtzeff’s contributions and influence are due equally to his unique approach and experiences as an exile. A native of Kiev, Russia, the Bolshevik Revolution forced Rostovtzeff to flee his homeland, and his scholarly home at the University of St. Petersburg, in 1918. Before he found a new scholarly home in Yale, Rostovtzeff drifted through numerous institutions as a transient, bereft of a scholarly network, friends, and family. Deep depression resulting from isolation temporarily stunted his work. The only remedy for this debilitation was a support system, a community that could nourish him both intellectually and emotionally. Rostovtzeff found such a community at Yale. The institution was an intellectual match for Rostovtzeff; his approach to history resonated there, and members of the Yale Classics Department were quick to incorporate elements of it into their own studies. Scholars of literature and philology begun dabbling in documentary studies, and the department collectively moved to deepen its involvement in archaeology and papyrology. 3 Rostovtzeff, Michael I. "The Academic Career of M.I. Rostovtzeff." David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library (Subseries 2, Box 3, Autobiographical Writings, 1940; undated): Duke University, 1940, 4, 5. Stewart 6 During this time, Yale started its papyrological shop, one of the first in North America. Moreover, the Classics faculty readily received Rostovtzeff as a friend as well as a colleague. Bonded by deep personal connections as well as an intellectual kinship, Rostovtzeff and his colleagues and students built a Yale Classics Department on two foundations: an ancient history wing dedicated to the study of documents, and a strong sense of interpersonal closeness. Thus, the Rostovtzeff tradition not only refers to the Rostovtzeffian approach for studying history, but also to the web of deep—nearly familial—personal connections—that undergird it. As we will come to find, it was this group of scholars that largely defined the character of North American papyrology.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Clifford Ando Department of Classics 1115 East 58Th Street
    Clifford Ando Department of Classics 1115 East 58th Street Chicago, IL 60637 Phone: 773.834.6708 [email protected] September 2020 CURRENT POSITION • David B. and Clara E. Stern Distinguished Service Professor; Professor of Classics, History and in the College, University of Chicago • Chair, Department of Classics, University of Chicago (2017–2020, 2021-2024) EDITORIAL ACTIVITY • Series editor, Empire and After. University of Pennsylvania Press • Senior Editor, Bryn Mawr Classical Review • Editor, Know: A Journal on the Formation of Knowledge • Editorial Board, Classical Philology • Editorial Board, The History and Theory of International Law, Oxford University Press • Editorial Board, Critical Analysis of Law • Editorial Board, L'Homme. Revue française d'anthropologie • Correspondant à l'étranger, Revue de l'histoire des religions EDUCATION • Ph.D., Classical Studies. University of Michigan, 1996 • B.A., Classics, summa cum laude. Princeton University, 1990 PRIZES, AWARDS AND NAMED LECTURES • Edmund G. Berry Lecture, University of Manitoba, 2018 • Sackler Lecturer, Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies, Tel Aviv University, 2017/2018 • Humanities Center Distinguished Visiting Scholar, University of Tennessee, 2017 • Elizabeth Battelle Clarke Legal History Colloquium, Boston University School of Law, 2017 • Maestro Lectures 2015, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan • Harry Carroll Lecture, Pomona College, March 2015 • Lucy Shoe Merritt Scholar in Residence, American Academy in Rome, 2014-2015 • Friedrich Wilhelm
    [Show full text]
  • Table of Contents Upcoming AAHM Meetings
    Table of contents • General Information • Participant Guide (Alphabetical List) • CME Information • Acknowledgements • Book Publishers’ Advertisements • Program Overview • AAHM Officers, Council, LAC and Program Committee • Sigerist Circle Program • AAHM Detailed Meeting Program • Abstracts Listed by Session • Information and Accommodations for Persons with Disabilities • Directions to Meeting Venues • Corrections and Modifications to Program Upcoming AAHM Meetings 2016 Minneapolis, 28 April – 1 May 2017 Nashville, 4 - 6 May Alphabetical List of Participants and Sessions PC = Program Committee; OP = Opening Plenary; GL = Garrison Lecture; FL = Friday Lunch; SL = Saturday Lunch; RW = Research Workshop; SS = Special Session; SC = Sigerist Circle; DF = Documentary Film Åhren, Eva – I1 De Borros, Juanitia – E1 Heitman, Kristin – FL1 Anderson, Warwick – OP, E1 DeMio , Michelle – F1 Herzberg, David – G3 Andrews, Bridie – D2 Dodman, Thomas – G2 Higby, Greg – B4 Apple, Rima – A5 Dong, Lorraine – I5 Hildebrandt, Sabine - C3 Downey, Dennis – E4 Hoffman, Beatrix – SC, I3 Baker, Jeffrey – A3 Downs, James – F2 Hogan, Andrew – C2 Barnes, Nicole – B5, C1, PC Dubois, Marc-Jacques –C4 Hogarth, Rana – H4 Barr, Justin – D4, E5 Duffin, Jacalyn – G1 Howell, Joel – I4 Barry, Samuel – A2 Dufour, Monique – A5 Huisman, Frank – F2 Bhattacharya, Nandini–D2 Dwyer, Ellen – E2 Humphreys, Margaret - OP,GL Bian, He – D2 Dwyer, Erica - A1 Birn, Anne-Emanuelle –H3 Dwyer, Michael – E2 Imada, Adria - C5 Bivins, Roberta – F5 Inrig, Stephen – PC, D1 Blibo, Frank – C4 Eaton, Nicole – A4 Bonnell-Freidin, Anne - B2 Eder, Sandra - C2 Johnson, Russell- RW Borsch, Stuart – E3 Edington, Claire – E1 Jones, David – C4 Boster, Dea – I4 Engelmann, Lukas – A1 Jones, Kelly – B4 Braslow, Joel – E4 Espinosa, Mariola – FL2, H4 Jones, Lori – E3 Braswell, Harold – C5 Evans, Bonnie – A2 Brown, Theodore M.
    [Show full text]
  • American Council of Learned Societies Annual Report 2004-2005
    AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIES Annual Report 2004–2005 ISSN 0065-7972 Annual Report 2004-2005 (October 1, 2004-September 30, 2005) copyright © 2006 American Council of Learned Societies American Council of Learned Societies Annual Report, 2004-2005 Contents Constituent Societies 1 Board of Directors 2 Investment Committee 2 Executive Committee of the Board 2 Associates of the ACLS 3 President’s Report 5 Current & Emerging Priorities 13 Liberal Arts Colleges & the Humanities 13 Report on Development 14 Individual Giving, 2004-2005 16 Fellowship Programs 21 ACLS Fellowship Program 21 ACLS/Social Science Research Council/ National Endowment for the Humanities International & Area Studies Fellowships 22 ACLS/New York Public Library Fellowships 22 Charles A. Ryskamp Research Fellowships 22 Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowships for Recently Tenured Scholars 23 ACLS Digital Innovation Fellowships 24 Henry Luce Foundation /ACLS Dissertation Fellowship Program in American Art 24 Contemplative Practice Fellowship Program 25 International Programs 26 ACLS Humanities Program in Belarus, Russia, & Ukraine 26 ACLS Committees on East European Studies & Language Training 27 New Perspectives on Chinese Culture and Society 28 Committee on Scholarly Communication with China 28 ACLS/Social Science Research Council International Program 29 Center for Educational Exchange with Vietnam 31 United States-Vietnam Liberal Arts Faculty Exchange Program 32 ACLS/SSRC Programs Administered by SSRC 33 Abe Fellowships 33 International Dissertation Field Research
    [Show full text]
  • Clifford Ando Department of Classics 1115 East 58Th Street Chicago, IL
    Clifford Ando Department of Classics 1115 East 58th Street Chicago, IL 60637 Phone: 773.834.6708 [email protected] April 2021 CURRENT POSITION • David B. and Clara E. Stern Distinguished Service Professor; Professor of Classics, History and in the College, University of Chicago • Chair, Department of Classics, University of Chicago (2017–2020, 2021-2024) EDITORIAL ACTIVITY • Series editor, Empire and After. University of Pennsylvania Press • Senior Editor, Bryn Mawr Classical Review • Editor, Know: A Journal on the Formation of Knowledge • Editorial Board, Classical Philology • Editorial Board, The History and Theory of International Law, Oxford University Press • Editorial Board, Critical Analysis of Law • Editorial Board, L'Homme. Revue française d'anthropologie • Correspondant à l'étranger, Revue de l'histoire des religions EDUCATION • Ph.D., Classical Studies. University of Michigan, 1996 • B.A., Classics, summa cum laude. Princeton University, 1990 PRIZES, AWARDS AND NAMED LECTURES • Edmund G. Berry Lecture, University of Manitoba, 2018 • Sackler Lecturer, Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies, Tel Aviv University, 2017/2018 • Humanities Center Distinguished Visiting Scholar, University of Tennessee, 2017 • Elizabeth Battelle Clarke Legal History Colloquium, Boston University School of Law, 2017 • Maestro Lectures 2015, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan • Harry Carroll Lecture, Pomona College, March 2015 • Lucy Shoe Merritt Scholar in Residence, American Academy in Rome, 2014-2015 • Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel
    [Show full text]
  • 773.834.6708 [email protected]
    Clifford Ando Department of Classics 1115 East 58th Street Chicago, IL 60637 Phone: 773.834.6708 [email protected] May 2016 CURRENT POSITION • David B. and Clara E. Stern Professor; Professor of Classics, History and Law and in the College, University of Chicago • Co-Director, Center for the Study of Ancient Religions, University of Chicago • Research Fellow, Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies, University of South Africa EDITORIAL ACTIVITY • Series editor, Empire and After. University of Pennsylvania Press • Senior Editor, Bryn Mawr Classical Review • Editorial Board, Classical Philology • Editorial Board, The History and Theory of International Law, Oxford University Press • Editorial Board, Critical Analysis of Law • Editorial Board, L'Homme. Revue française d'anthropologie EDUCATION • Ph.D., Classical Studies. University of Michigan, 1996 • B.A., Classics, summa cum laude. Princeton University, 1990 PRIZES, AWARDS AND NAMED LECTURES • Humanities Center Distinguished Visiting Scholar, University of Tennessee, 2017 • Maestro Lectures 2015, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan • Harry Carroll Lecture, Pomona College, March 2015 • Lucy Shoe Merritt Scholar in Residence, American Academy in Rome, 2014-2015 • Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Prize, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 2012 • Robson Classical Lecturer, Victoria University, University of Toronto, 2012 • Rackham Centennial Alumni Lecture, Department of Classical Studies, University of Michigan, October 2012 • Senior Fellow, Society of Fellows, University of Chicago, 2007-2014 • Charles J. Goodwin Award of Merit for Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire, American Philological Association, 2003 2 • Phi Beta Kappa, elected 1990 VISITING POSITIONS • Fellow, Exzellenzcluster "The Formation of Normative Orders," Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften and Johann Wolfgang Goethe–Universität, Frankfurt am Main, June – July 2015 • Cecil H.
    [Show full text]
  • Yale Department of Classics Newsletter
    Yale Department of Classics Newsletter Summer 2009 Greetings from the Chair — Rostovtzeff Lecture An acting chair is perhaps entitled to express relief On November 17, 2008, Nicholas Purcell, that the academic year just closing has been relatively Fellow of St. John’s College and CUF quiet, while the department has been continuing Lecturer in Ancient History, Faculty of its great rebuilding efforts carried out over the past Classics, Oxford University delivered the several years. In September 2008, we were joined first annual Rostovtzeff lecture entitled by our Hellenistic historian, Joe Manning, who “Romans in the Middle: Between bids fair to re-establish the department in one of Class, Status and Geography.” Mikhail the areas of its historic greatness. At the beginning Ivanovich Rostovtzeff (1870-1952), a of 2009/10 we will greet Emily Greenwood, who world renowned expert among other comes to Yale from Cambridge and St. Andrews. things on the social and economic history Emily’s interests are in Greek literature, especially of the Roman and Hellenistic world, was in ways in which ancient writers constructed Sterling Professor of Ancient History historical narratives, in the reception of Greek (later Ancient History and Archeology) culture, in the modern Greek language, and in Caribbean literature. at Yale from 1925 until his retirement in In the Fall term we received our first Rostovtzeff Lecturer, Nicholas Purcell 1944. The lecture series is made possible of St. John’s College, Oxford, who is to be followed in November 2009 by Ian by a generous sum bequeathed by his Morris of Stanford University; his profile appears in the adjacent column.
    [Show full text]