St. Paul's Episcopal Church the Fourth Sunday in Lent March 28

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

St. Paul's Episcopal Church the Fourth Sunday in Lent March 28 St. Paul’s Episcopal Church The Fourth Sunday in Lent March 28, 2021 9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite II This bulletin accompanies our service on the Zoom platform. To link to the service go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/647333282?pwd=WmtlR3ppamVET1dhNHAxU0JVZUZmQT09 or call 1-646-558-8656 (Meeting ID:647 333 282; passcode 173902). Everything you need to participate is incorporated here. We encourage you to follow, say the responses, and allow yourself to be pulled closer to God. Welcome. We are delighted you are joining us for worship today. Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. One of the earliest accounts of the liturgies we will celebrate this week comes from The Pilgrimage of Egeria, the account of this early Christian woman’s journey to the Holy Land in the early 380s. By the end of the 4th century, many elements of this service, and others for this week, were already in regular practice. We will begin today’s service with the blessing of the palm crosses that were sent to every family on our roster. (If you didn’t receive a palm cross, more are available in the church.) Today’s service also features the reading of the Passion story, this year from the gospel of Mark. As we gather, you are invited to center yourself and prepare for worship. First, enjoy three deep breaths • The first one to help you fully arrive in your body, • The second one to clear your mind so you may be present to yourself and others, • The third one to open your heart and welcome the Holy Spirit to engage you Second, select one of these three entries into worship Notice whichever one you feel drawn to… then do what you’re invited to do with it Are you hopeful today? • Pray a simple prayer of thanksgiving for the beacon of hope drawing you forward. Are you looking for light today? • Pray for the light of Christ to illumine you especially this morning, and also to illumine the world. Are you in need of joy this morning? • Pray that God would show you the simple, profound joys that surround you now. Third, be still until worship begins Empty your hands, Close your eyes, Breathe deeply and slowly, Empty your mind. Let sounds pass by you. Find interest only in silent waiting upon God. The Celebrant says Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. People Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Celebrant Let us pray. Assist us mercifully with your help, O Lord God of our salvation, that we may enter with joy upon the contemplation of those mighty acts, whereby you have given us life and immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A Reading from the Gospel of Mark (11:1-11) When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,“Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. The Celebrant then says The Lord be with you. People And also with you. Celebrant Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. People It is right to give God thanks and praise. Celebrant It is right to praise you, Almighty God, for the acts of love by which you have redeemed us through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. On this day he entered the holy city of Jerusalem in triumph, and was proclaimed as King of kings by those who spread their garments and branches of palm along his way. Let these branches be for us signs of his victory, and grant that we who bear them in his name may ever hail him as our King, and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life; who lives and reigns in glory with you and the Holy spirit, now and for ever. Amen. Celebrant Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. People Hosanna in the highest. Priest Let us go forth in peace. People In the name of Christ. Amen. Collect of the Day Celebrant The Lord be with you. People And also with you. Celebrant Let us pray. Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 2 Homily The Rev. Samuel J. Smith The Passion Of our Lord Jesus Christ, according To St. Mark 14:1-15:27 The congregation takes the role of Jesus (in bold). The congregation may be seated after the Passion is announced, until the verse that mentions the arrival at Golgotha, indicated in the text. NARRATOR: It was two days before the Passover NARRATOR: On the first day of Unleavened Bread, and the festival of Unleavened Bread. when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, The chief priests and the scribes were his disciples said to him, looking for a way to arrest Jesus by DISCIPLES: “Where do you want us to go and stealth and kill him; for they said, make the preparations for you to eat CHIEF PRIESTS: “Not during the festival, or there may the Passover?” be a riot among the people.” NARRATOR: So he sent two of his disciples, saying NARRATOR: While he was at Bethany in the house to them, of Simon the leper, as he sat at the JESUS: “Go into the city, and a man carrying table, a woman came with an a jar of water will meet you; follow alabaster jar of very costly ointment him, and wherever he enters, say to of nard, and she broke open the jar the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher and poured the ointment on his asks, Where is my guest room where head. But some were there who said I may eat the Passover with my to one another in anger, disciples?’ He will show you a large DISCIPLES: “Why was the ointment wasted in room upstairs, furnished and ready. this way? For this ointment could Make preparations for us there.” have been sold for more than three NARRATOR: So the disciples set out and went to hundred denarii, and the money the city, and found everything as he given to the poor.” had told them; and they prepared the NARRATOR: And they scolded her. But Jesus said, Passover meal. When it was evening, he came JESUS: “Let her alone; why do you trouble with the twelve. And when they had her? She has performed a good taken their places and were eating, service for me. For you always have Jesus said, the poor with you, and you can show JESUS: “Truly I tell you, one of you will kindness to them whenever you betray me, one who is eating with wish; but you will not always have me.” me. She has done what she could; NARRATOR: They began to be distressed and to she has anointed my body say to him one after another, beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell DISCIPLES: “Surely, not I?” you, wherever the good news is NARRATOR: He said to them, proclaimed in the whole world, what JESUS: “It is one of the twelve, one who is she has done will be told in dipping bread into the bowl with me. remembrance of her.” For the Son of Man goes as it is NARRATOR: Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of written of him, but woe to that one the twelve, went to the chief priests by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! in order to betray him to them. When It would have been better for that they heard it, they were greatly one not to have been born.” pleased, and promised to give him NARRATOR: While they were eating, he took a money. So he began to look for an loaf of bread, and after blessing it he opportunity to betray him. broke it, gave it to them, and said, JESUS: “Take; this is my body.” 3 NARRATOR: Then he took a cup, and after giving JESUS: “Simon, are you asleep? Could you thanks he gave it to them, and all of not keep awake one hour? Keep them drank from it.
Recommended publications
  • Reshaping East Roman Diplomacy with Barbarians During the 5Th Century
    Chapter 1 From Hegemony to Negotiation: Reshaping East Roman Diplomacy with Barbarians during the 5th Century Audrey Becker Introduction During the first half of the 4th century ad, thanks to their military power, the Romans had been giving the barbarian tribes bordering the Danube and the Rhine no choice but to accept the conclusion of deditio after losing the war, leav- ing them in a very humiliating position.1 Yet, the military and political events of the second half of the 4th century ad, and even more of the 5th century ad, led the Romans to reconsider their relationship with the barbarian tribes.2 The characteristics of diplomatic relationship changed even before the defeat at Andrinople in 378, because the barbarian tribes, in the middle of the 4th cen- tury, gradually became able to restore the balance of power, leading the Eastern Roman Empire to reconsider its relations with its barbarian neighbours. This compelled the Byzantine Empire, from the end of the 4th century onward, to take into account barbarian leaders or kings who became, at that time, real dip- lomatic actors playing, of necessity, with formal rules of diplomatic protocol to 1 For instance, Constantinus with the Sarmatians in 323: Zosimus, Historia Nova 2.21.3, ed.Paschoud (Paris, 2000), p. 92; Julian in 358 with the Alemanni kings Suomarius and Hor- tarius: Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae 17.10.3, ed. Sabbah (Paris, 1989), p. 64; Ammianus Marcellinus 17.10.9, p. 66; Constantius ii, in 358 as well, with the kings of the Sarmatians and Quadi: Ammianus Marcellinus 17.12.9–16, pp.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Construction, Labor, and Society at Middle Republican Rome, 390-168 B.C
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2012 Men at Work: Public Construction, Labor, and Society at Middle Republican Rome, 390-168 B.C. Seth G. Bernard University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Bernard, Seth G., "Men at Work: Public Construction, Labor, and Society at Middle Republican Rome, 390-168 B.C." (2012). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 492. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/492 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/492 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Men at Work: Public Construction, Labor, and Society at Middle Republican Rome, 390-168 B.C. Abstract MEN AT WORK: PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION, LABOR, AND SOCIETY AT MID-REPUBLICAN ROME, 390-168 B.C. Seth G. Bernard C. Brian Rose, Supervisor of Dissertation This dissertation investigates how Rome organized and paid for the considerable amount of labor that went into the physical transformation of the Middle Republican city. In particular, it considers the role played by the cost of public construction in the socioeconomic history of the period, here defined as 390 to 168 B.C. During the Middle Republic period, Rome expanded its dominion first over Italy and then over the Mediterranean. As it developed into the political and economic capital of its world, the city itself went through transformative change, recognizable in a great deal of new public infrastructure.
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliography: Female Pilgrims in the 4Th Century A.D
    Bibliography: female pilgrims in the 4th century A.D. 1.1. Primary sources AMBROSIUS, Sancti Ambrosii Mediolanensis: episcopi De Obitu Theodosii Oratio, uitgegeven door JACQUES-PAUL MIGNE (Patrologiae cursus completus), Parijs, 1845. AELIUS ARISTIDES, The Complete Works, vol. 1, Orations I-XVI with an Appendix Containing the Fragments and Inscriptions, translated into English by CHARLES A. BEHR, Leiden, 1981-1986. ATHANASIUS, ‘Epistula ad Virgines’, Athanasiana Syriaca, uitgegeven door W. ROBERT THOMSON (Corpus scriptorum christianorum Orientalium), Leuven, 1965-1977. AUGUSTINUS, Het werk van monniken, vertaald door LAURENS BAAS en VINCENT JAN CHRISTIAAN HUNINK, (Sleutelteksten in godsdienst en theologie, 26), Zoetemeer, 2002. AUGUSTINUS, Sancti Aureli Augustini De fide et symbolo, de fide et operibus, de agone christiano, de continentia, de bono coniugali, de sancta virginitate… Uitgegeven door JOSEPH ZYCHA (Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum, 41), Wenen, 1900. AUGUSTINUS, Select Letters, translated by JAMES HOUSTON BAXTER (Loeb Classical Library, 239), Cambridge, 1930. AURELIUS VICTOR, Sexti Aurelii Victoris Liber de Caesaribus praecedunt: Origo gentis Romanae et Liber de viris illustribus urbis Romae subsequitur Epitome de Caesaribus, rec. FRANCISCUS PICHLMAYR (Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana, 1108), Leipzig, 1911. Chronicon paschale 284-628 AD, transl. with notes and introd. by MICHAEL WHITBY and MARY WHITBY (Translated texts for historians, 7), Liverpool, 1989. EGERIA en VALERIUS BERGIDENSIS, Journal de voyage (itinéraire). Lettre sur la Bse Egérie, uitgegeven door MANUEL CECILIO DÍAZ Y DÍAZ en PIERRE MARAVAL (Sources chrétiennes, 296), Parijs 1982. EGERIA, ‘Egeria’s Travels’, Egeria's Travels to the Holy Land: Newly transl. with supporting documents and notes, edited by JOHN WILKINSON, Londen, 1971, 91-147.
    [Show full text]
  • The Emergence of Archival Records at Rome in the Fourth Century BCE
    Foundations of History: The Emergence of Archival Records at Rome in the Fourth Century BCE by Zachary B. Hallock A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Greek and Roman History) in the University of Michigan 2018 Doctoral Committee: Professor David Potter, Chair Associate Professor Benjamin Fortson Assistant Professor Brendan Haug Professor Nicola Terrenato Zachary B. Hallock [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0337-0181 © 2018 by Zachary B. Hallock To my parents for their endless love and support ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Rackham Graduate School and the Departments of Classics and History for providing me with the resources and support that made my time as a graduate student comfortable and enjoyable. I would also like to express my gratitude to the professors of these departments who made themselves and their expertise abundantly available. Their mentoring and guidance proved invaluable and have shaped my approach to solving the problems of the past. I am an immensely better thinker and teacher through their efforts. I would also like to express my appreciation to my committee, whose diligence and attention made this project possible. I will be forever in their debt for the time they committed to reading and discussing my work. I would particularly like to thank my chair, David Potter, who has acted as a mentor and guide throughout my time at Michigan and has had the greatest role in making me the scholar that I am today. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Andrea, who has been and will always be my greatest interlocutor.
    [Show full text]
  • Harttimo 1.Pdf
    Beyond the River, under the Eye of Rome Ethnographic Landscapes, Imperial Frontiers, and the Shaping of a Danubian Borderland by Timothy Campbell Hart A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Greek and Roman History) in the University of Michigan 2017 Doctoral Committee: Professor David S. Potter, Co-Chair Professor Emeritus Raymond H. Van Dam, Co-Chair Assistant Professor Ian David Fielding Professor Christopher John Ratté © Timothy Campbell Hart [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8640-131X For my family ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Developing and writing a dissertation can, at times, seem like a solo battle, but in my case, at least, this was far from the truth. I could not have completed this project without the advice and support of many individuals, most crucially, my dissertation co-chairs David S. Potter, and Raymond Van Dam. Ray saw some glimmer of potential in me and worked to foster it from the moment I arrived at Michigan. I am truly thankful for his support throughout the years and constant advice on both academic and institutional matters. In particular, our conversations about demographics and the movement of people in the ancient world were crucial to the genesis of this project. Throughout the writing process, Ray’s firm encouragement towards clarity of argument and style, while not always what I wanted to hear, have done much to make this a stronger dissertation. David Potter has provided me with a lofty academic model towards which to strive. I admire the breadth and depth of his scholarship; working and teaching with him have shown me much worth emulating.
    [Show full text]
  • Interstate Alliances of the Fourth-Century BCE Greek World: a Socio-Cultural Perspective
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 9-2016 Interstate Alliances of the Fourth-Century BCE Greek World: A Socio-Cultural Perspective Nicholas D. Cross The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1479 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] INTERSTATE ALLIANCES IN THE FOURTH-CENTURY BCE GREEK WORLD: A SOCIO-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE by Nicholas D. Cross A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2016 © 2016 Nicholas D. Cross All Rights Reserved ii Interstate Alliances in the Fourth-Century BCE Greek World: A Socio-Cultural Perspective by Nicholas D. Cross This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in History in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ______________ __________________________________________ Date Jennifer Roberts Chair of Examining Committee ______________ __________________________________________ Date Helena Rosenblatt Executive Officer Supervisory Committee Joel Allen Liv Yarrow THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii ABSTRACT Interstate Alliances of the Fourth-Century BCE Greek World: A Socio-Cultural Perspective by Nicholas D. Cross Adviser: Professor Jennifer Roberts This dissertation offers a reassessment of interstate alliances (συµµαχία) in the fourth-century BCE Greek world from a socio-cultural perspective.
    [Show full text]
  • Phoenician and Punic Amphorae from S'urachi
    Phoenician and Punic Amphorae from S’Urachi (San Vero Milis, Sardinia) Andrea Roppa, Emanuele Madrigali, Alfonso Stiglitz, and Peter van Dommelen Context Amphora typologies: chronological aspects The site of S’Urachi in west-central Sardinia was continuously inhabited between the Bronze Age and the Roman early Slightly later is the chronology of a rim fragment of a T-2.1.1.1. = B5 amphora type, which goes back to the first half of the 7th The overall distribution of Phoenician and Punic amphora types from the excavations in sectors E and D at S’Urachi points to Imperial period. Past research at the site has already shed light on the gradual transformations the settlement underwent century BC. From the western Mediterranean, traditionally associated to production areas at the Phoenician settlements in a substantial increase in the presence of amphorae from the late 7th century BC, as shown by the chronological profile based throughout the Iron Age, when interaction with Phoenician newcomers resulted in substantial changes in the indigenous Andalusia, are two rim fragments of type T-10.1.2.1., dated to the mid 7th – early 6th century BC. on a weighted mean of a 25-year chronological reference unit (fig. 6). community (fig. 1). Since 2013 ongoing excavations, jointly supported by the museum of San Vero Milis and the Joukowsky From the late 7th century BC and throughout the 6th century BC, Phoenician amphorae were much more abundant at Phoenician and Punic Amphorae. Institute of Brown University have brought to light securely stratified contexts and a large assemblage of primarily ceramic S’Urachi, as is evident from 18 fragments of type T-2.1.1.2.
    [Show full text]
  • Going with the Grain: Athenian State Formation and the Question Of
    Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics Going with the Grain: Athenian State Formation and the Question of Subsistence in the 5th and 4th Centuries BCE Version 1.0 January 2006 Ulrike Krotscheck Stanford University Abstract: In this paper, I address the role of Athenian grain trade policy as a driving factor of the city’s growing power in the 5th and 4th centuries. Recent explanations of increasing Athenian hegemony and dominance over other poleis during this time period have focused on the role of warfare. I present an equally important, yet often-overlooked factor: food supply. Athens was dependent on grain imports throughout the Classical Period. Through examination of the ancient sources, I demonstrate that the increasing need to secure subsistence goods for Athens significantly propelled its ambition for power, causing a fundamental shift from a non- interventionist government policy to one of heavy intervention between the 5th and the 4th centuries BCE. This shift corresponded to an increasing complexity within the mechanisms of the city’s politics. It helped propel Athenian state formation and affected the dynamic of power and politics in the ancient Mediterranean world. © Ulrike Krotscheck. [email protected] 2 Introduction In his recent book Against the Grain, Richard Manning argues that most apparently fundamental forces that have shaped the world, such as trade, wealth, disease, slavery, imperialism, and colonialism, are based on agricultural production. While Manning does offer a description of agriculture throughout human history, his main focus is on contemporary politics, specifically the US agribusiness.1 Manning may go a bit far in his ultimate conclusion – calling, among other things, for a return to hunting for subsistence - but he makes a salient point.
    [Show full text]
  • Xma FINAL DRAFT
    PROPERTY LAW IN ROMAN EGYPT IN THE LIGHT OF THE PAPYRI: SAFEGUARDING WOMEN’S ECONOMIC INTERESTS by Melina Sturym A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in Ancient Mediterranean Cultures Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2013 © Melina Sturym 2013 AUTHOR’S DECLARATION I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii ABSTRACT This study looks at the role of women in the economic environment of Roman Egypt in the light of the papyri. By examining marriage and inheritance documents from the first three centuries, the study shows that marital and inheritance laws and customs in Roman Egypt were made to protect women’s interests when it came to ownership and possession of property, which is one of the main reasons why women played such a prominent role in Egypt’s economic environment. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Sheila Ager, whose vast knowledge, guidance, understanding, and patience added greatly to my graduate experience. I would also like to thank the other members of my committee, Dr. Andrew Faulkner and Dr. Christina Vester for their supportive feedback, assistance, and advise. A special thanks also goes out to Brigitte Schneebeli for all her help during this past year. I am greatly grateful to all the professors at the Classics Department at the University of Winnipeg, where I did my undergraduate studies.
    [Show full text]
  • What the Hellenism: Did Christianity Cause a Decline of Th Hellenism in 4 -Century Alexandria?
    What the Hellenism: Did Christianity cause a decline of th Hellenism in 4 -century Alexandria? Classics Dissertation Exam Number B051946 B051946 2 Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ 2 List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3 Problems with Evidence ......................................................................................................... 8 Pagan Topography and Demography......................................................................................... 9 Christian Topography .............................................................................................................. 19 Civic Power Structures ............................................................................................................ 29 Intellectualism .......................................................................................................................... 38 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 47 Bibliography of Primary Sources in Translation ..................................................................... 52 Figure Bibliography ................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Last Pagans of Rome
    The Last Pagans of Rome September 1, 2011 Reviewed by Tom Palaima The Last Pagans of Rome By Alan Cameron. Oxford University Press. 896pp. £80.00. ISBN 97801997476. Published 24 June 2011 If you have a week of uninterrupted spare time, a knowledge of Roman imperial literature and history, however dormant, a passable command of Greek and Latin, and you have enjoyed reading classic histories of ancient culture by historians such as Edward Gibbon, or always wish you had, then treat your mind to Alan Cameron's The Last Pagans of Rome. Cameron here dissects and deconstructs more than 100 years of scholarship about the transition from what we call late Roman imperial pagan culture to what is known as the triumph of Christianity. As befits a scholar whose work in this area since 1964 includes countless articles and reviews and six books, the weighing of ancient evidence and modern scholarly opinion in The Last Pagans is meticulous. It is also controlled by the broader understanding of cultural processes and human motivations that makes a thinking senior scholar a scholar worth reading rather than a scholiast who has made it to old age. The Last Pagans re-examines what religious beliefs and practices mean in the social and political context of the late fourth and early fifth centuries AD. Each chapter requires that serious attention be paid to the subtle, interwoven threads of Cameron's own arguments. It is well worth the effort, but the book itself makes it harder for readers than necessary. Some Latin and Greek passages are accompanied by translations; others are not.
    [Show full text]
  • Excavating the Roman Peasant by Kim Bowes, Mariaelena Ghisleni, Cam Grey, and Emanuele Vaccaro
    ITALY Excavating the Roman Peasant BY KIM BOWES, MARIAELENA GHISLENI, CAM GREY, AND EMANUELE VACCARO e view the roman world through the rich. The humble farmsteads of the rural poor—less beautiful eyes of the wealthy—the lettered elite to look at, but arguably more critical to an understanding of who penned ancient history and litera- Roman society—have been for the most part ignored. There ture, and the ruling classes whose mon- exists no real archaeology of these lower classes, and thus our ies built Roman cities and monuments. understanding of their homes and farms, their diet and agri- WThe poor are nearly invisible to us, their textual and material cultural methods, and even their relationship with their land- traces ephemeral, in many cases nonexistent. This is particu- scapes is extremely limited. larly true of the rural poor: by some estimates the rural poor We began the Roman Peasant Project to try to answer constituted some 90% of the overall Roman population, and some of these questions. The result of a collaboration between yet their textual traces are limited to a handful of laws, asides in four young archaeologists at the University of Pennsylvania, agricultural handbooks, and some images. The richest poten- University of Cambridge, and the Università di Siena/Grosseto, tial source for these persons is archaeological evidence, but the Project constitutes the first organized attempt to excavate Roman archaeology has been largely disinterested. With some the houses and farms of peasants living between the 2nd cen- few exceptions, archaeologists have principally excavated the tury BC and the 6th century AD.
    [Show full text]