DOCSLIB.ORG

Physiognomy in Ancient Science and Medicine

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Physiognomy in Ancient Science and Medicine Physiognomy Mariska Leunissen The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Introduction Physiognomy(fromthelaterGreek physiognōmia ,whichisacontractionoftheclassicalform physiognōmonia )referstotheancientscienceofdeterminingsomeone’sinnatecharacteronthe basisoftheiroutward,andhenceobservable,bodilyfeatures.Forinstance,Socrates’famous snubnosewasuniversallyinterpretedbyancientphysiognomistsasaphysiognomicalsignof hisinnatelustfulness,whichheonlyovercamethroughphilosophicaltraining.Thediscipline initstechnicalformwithitsownspecializedpractitionersfirstsurfacesinGreeceinthefifth century BCE ,possiblythroughconnectionswiththeNearEast,wherebodilysignswere takenasindicatorsofsomeone’sfutureratherthanhischaracter.Theshifttocharacter perhapsarisesfromthewidespreadculturalpracticeintheancientGreekandRomanworld oftreatingsomeone’soutwardappearanceasindicativeforhispersonality,whichisalready visibleinHomer(eighthcentury BCE ).Inthe Iliad ,forinstance,adescriptionofThersites’ quarrelsomeandrepulsivecharacterisfollowedbyadescriptionofhisequallyuglybody(see Iliad 2.211–219),suggestingthatthiscorrespondencebetweenbodyandcharacterisno accident.ThersitesisthustheperfectfoilfortheGreekidealofthe kaloskagathos –theman whoisbothbeautifulandgood.Thesameholdsforthepracticeofattributingcharacter traitsassociatedwithaparticularanimalspeciestoapersonbasedonsimilaritiesintheir physique:itisfirstformalizedinphysiognomy,butwasalreadywidelyusedinanon- 1 technicalwayinancientliterature.Themostfamousexampleofthelatterisperhaps SemonidesofAmorgos’satireofwomen(fragment7 On Women ;seventhcentury BCE ), whichprofilestendifferent‘women-types’,mostlybyreferencetotheirsimilaritiestoanimal species:thus,onewoman-typeisfilthyandfatasthesow,anotherischarmless,sex-crazed, andcriminalastheweasel,andyetanotherisdeformedandshamelessastheape.Onlythe bee-womanstandsoutpositivelyforhermodestyandindustriousness. TheencompassingnatureofphysiognomicalthoughtinAntiquity,bothas crystallizedintheformoftechnicalhandbooksandinitsinformalusesinliterature, historiography,philosophy,medicine,andrhetoriccanbegleanedfromFörster’stwo- volumeedition Scriptores Physiognomonici Graeci et Latini (1893),whichisstillthemost comprehensivecollectionofancientphysiognomicalmaterialavailable(foranupdated editionandtranslationofthephysiognomicalhandbooksintoEnglish,seeSwain2007a). Thischapterfocusesmorenarrowlyonphysiognomyasaformalized,technicaldiscipline (foranoverviewofphysiognomicalpracticesinGreekandRomanliterature,seeEvans1969 andSassi2001),butasshouldbenoticedfromtheoutset,physiognomyneveroperatedina scientificorculturalvacuum.Intheextantsource-material,themostthoroughtheoretical discussionsofphysiognomyareprovidedeitherbyphilosophers,whoworriedaboutthe validityofphysiognomicalinferencesortheidentificationofsigns,andwhoseowntheories abouttherelationbetweenbodyandsoulallowedphysiognomytobeusedasadiagnostic toolforthepredictionofthemoralpotentialofprospectivestudents,orbyphysicians,who foundinphysiognomyacognatewayofreadingthehumanbody,andintegratedmedical diagnosesandprognoseswithmoralones.Similarly,thehandbookswehavearewrittenby menwhowereprimarilyphilosophers,physicians,orevenrhetors,whoappropriated physiognomyforimprovingthedeliveryoftheirspeeches,butalsoforbeingmoreeffective 2 inthe(negative)characterizationofothersaspartofapoliticalstrategy.Inthesections below,Ifirstprovideanoverviewofthemostimportantphysiognomicalsources(section1), followedbyadiscussion(insection2)oftheassumptionsandmethodsofreasoningusedin physiognomicalscience.Thecloserelationshipbetweenphysiognomyandphilosophy, medicine,andrhetoricisthetopicofsections3–5.Suggestionsforfurtherreadingcanbe foundinthereference-section. . Physiognomical Sources and Handbooks Accordingtooursources,physiognomyfirststartedtobecomeatopicoftheoretical reflectiontowardstheendofthefifthcentury BCE Antisthenes,afollowerofSocratesand headoftheCynics,isreportedtohavewrittena Physiognomical Treatise on the Sophists (mentionedbyDiogenesLaertius6.16),whichunfortunatelyislostandweknowalmost nothingofitscontents(perhapsitofferedanattackofphysiognomicaldiagnosesofferedby thesophist:seeTsouna1998).Theoldestextantmaterialroughlyconsistsoftwocategories: discussionsfocusingonthemethodsofphysiognomystemmingfromthefourthandthird century BCE ,writtenbyAristotleandhisstudents,andhandbooksfocusingonthecollection ofphysiognomicalsignsfromthefourthcentury CE ,preserving–invariousforms–a treatisebythephysicianLoxusfromprobablythethirdcentury BCE (althoughseeMisener 1923foranearlierdate)andarhetoricaltreatisebytherhetorPolemonofLaodiceafromthe SecondSophistic(secondcentury CE ). Theoldesttheoreticaldiscussionofphysiognomycanbefoundinchapter 2.27.70b7–38ofAristotle’s Prior Analytics ,datingfromthefourthcentury BCE .Inthelastfive chaptersofthistreatise,Aristotleexplainshowthevalidityofnon-deductivetypesof 3 reasoning,suchasinductionsorinferencesfromsignsorprobabilities(theso-called enthymemes,whichareoftenusedinrhetoricalcontextsandyieldpersuasionratherthan truth),canbetested.AccordingtoAristotle,thesenon-deductiveinferencesarelogically validiftheycanberesolvedintothesyllogisticfigureshehadpreviouslyestablished. Physiognomicalinferencesarediscussedattheveryend( APr 2.27.70b7–38),andalthough thereisno explicit linkbetweentheprecedingdiscussionofsign-inferencesandthissection (ithasbeensuggestedthatthephysiognomicalsectionisunrelatedoralaterappendix:see Burnyeat1982andSmith1989),itexpressesthesameinterestinshowingthepotential validityofanon-deductivetypeofreasoningthatisapparentlyprevalentinAristotle’stime. Byusinganexampleofaphysiognomicalinferencethattakesitssignsfromanimals, Aristotlelaysouttheconditionsunderwhich“itispossibletophysiognomize”(seefurther section2below),andarguesthatphysiognomicalinferencesarevalidaslongastheproofis inthefirstfigure(i.e.,allpremisesmustconsistofuniversalaffirmativepropositionsandthe syllogismmusthavetheform“AbelongstoallB,BbelongstoallC,thereforeAbelongsto allC”),justashehadarguedearlierinthechapterwithregardtoothertypesofsign- inferences.Aristotle’streatmentofphysiognomyinthe Prior Analytics opensthedoortoa scientificuseofthediscipline,butitisnotclearwhetherheendorsesithimself:Aristotle’s useofconditionallanguage–itispossibletophysiognomize if certainconditionsaremet– warrantscaution.However,givenhisinclusionofphysiognomicalmaterialinthebiological treatises(inthe History of Animals 1.8.491b9–11.492b4, Aristotlelistsphysiognomicalsigns alongwithfunctionaldescriptionsofpartsonthehumanhead;seesection3below),itlooks likeAristotleincorporatedphysiognomyasavalidwayofreasoningintohisown philosophy. Theoldestphysiognomicalhandbookthathasbeenpreservedisthe Physiognomy , 4 falselyattributedtoAristotle(seeps.-Aristotle Physiognomy ,1.805a1–6.814b9).Thehandbook whichconsistsoftwopartsstemsmostlikelyfromthethirdcentury BCE ,andwaswrittenby twoPeripateticauthorswhowereeachresponsiblefortheirowntext(seeBoys-Stones2007, pace Vogt1999whobelievesthatthehandbookwaswrittenbyoneauthorattwodifferent stagesinhislife).TreatiseA(solabeledinFörster’s1893collection)runsfrom1.805a1to 3.808b10.Itopensbystatingthatmindandbodyaremutuallyaffectedbyeachother,offers examplesofthesemutualaffections,criticizesthethreeexistingphysiognomicalmethodsfor identifyingsigns(fromanimals,humanethnicities,andexpressionsofemotion:onthese methods,seefurtherinsection2),andarguesforamodifiedformofanimalphysiognomy.It alsoprovidesadetailedlistofthoseaspectsofthebodywhichcanconstitute physiognomicalsigns,andliststwenty-twocharacterstraitsandthesignsbywhichtheycan berecognized.TreatiseBrunsfrom4.808b11to6.814b9,andsimilarlyopenswithapreface confirmingthe“sympathetic”( sumpathein )relationshipbetweenbodyandsoulandalistof examplesillustratingtheircausaldependency.Itcontinuesbydiscussingtheproblemsand difficultiesinusingthemethodofanimalphysiognomy,introducestheideathatfordoing thistypeofanimal-physiognomyappropriatelytheanimalkingdomshouldbedividedinto twoclasses,i.e.,themaleandthefemale,andoffersalistofbodypartsandthecharacters theysignify(movingfromfoottohead,andthenontogait,voice,andstature).The methodologythatisputforwardinbothtreatises,aswewillseeinsection2below,isquite sophisticatedandroughlyAristotelianinnature.TheattributionofthetreatisestoAristotle isthereforequiteunderstandable:bothtreatisesopenbyrespondingtothecondition formulatedbyAristotleinthe Prior Analytics thatthebodyandsoulmustchange simultaneouslyforphysiognomytobepossible,andmakeuseofsimilartechnicalterms borrowedfromAristotleintheirmethodologicalsections(seeBoys-Stones2007onthe 5 convergencesbetweenthethreeauthors).Inaddition,bothPliny( Natural History 11.273– 274)andDiogenesLaertius(5.25)believedthatAristotlehadwrittenaphysiognomical treatise,sothatalreadyinAntiquitytheoldestextanthandbookwassimplyattributedtohim. Thehandbooksfromthefourthcentury CE preserveoldersectionsofhandbooks originallywrittenbytwodifferentauthors,LoxusandPolemon.Fromthehandbookon physiognomybythephysicianLoxusfromthethirdcentury BCE weonlypossessacoupleof fragments,translatedfromitsoriginalGreekintoLatinandscatteredthroughvarious chaptersoftheeclectic Book of Physiognomy or Liber Phisiognomoniae fromthefourthcentury CE (fortheLatintextofthishandbookwithtranslations,seeAndré1981andRepath2007b, whobothrelyheavilyonFörster1893;seealsoOrigen, Against Celsus 1.33).Theauthorof the Book of Physiognomy –whowasoncefalselyidentifiedasApuleius–isunknownandis henceforthreferredtoas‘AnonymusLatinus’.Thehandbookopenswithareferencetothe threesourcestheauthordrewhismaterialfrom:“Ihadathandthebooksofthreeauthors whohavewrittenonphysiognomy,Loxusthephysician,Aristotlethephilosopher[the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • First Missionary Journey & the Jerusalem Conference
    The Apostle Paul, Servant of Christ Boiling Springs, NC Overview Study Guide 704 966-6845 Unit II, Chapter 5 [email protected] “The First Missionary Journey” © All rights reserved by Lorin L Cranford Quick Links to Study 5.0 First Missionary Journey 5.0.1 Establishing Christian Congregations 5.0.2 Discipling Christian Congregations, Acts 14:21-28 5.0.1.1 Work in Seleucia, Acts 13:4 Summary: Gal. 3:1-5, 4:12-20 5.0.1.2 Work in Cyprus, Acts 13:5-12 5.1. Jerusalem Council, Acts 15:1-36, Gal. 2:1-10 5.0.1.3 Work in Perga, Acts 13:13 5.1.1 Problems at Antioch, Acts 15:1-3 5.0.1.4 Work in Pisidian Antioch, Acts 13:14-52 5.1.2 Victory in Jerusalem, Acts 15:4-29, Gal. 2:1-10 5.0.1.5 Work in Iconium, Acts 14:1-7 5.1.3 Ministry in Antioch, Acts 15:30-35, Gal. 2:11-14 5.0.1.6 Work in Lystra, Acts 14:8-20 5.0.1.7 Work in Derbe, Acts 14:21 Conclusion Introduction After Paul and Barnabas arrived back at Antioch, along with John Mark, some time passed before the next major event that would change Christianity forever. The breakthrough to the non-Jewish world with the Gos- pel had largely started at Antioch. And now this group of believers would launch a movement toward Gentiles that would revolutionize Christianity. This event was the beginning of the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas.
    [Show full text]
  • Livre Antard18.Indb
    AnTard, 18, 2010, p. 211-224 GREEK RHETORIC AND THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE. THE BUBBLE OF THE ‘THIRD SOPHISTIC’* LIEVE VAN HOOF Rhétorique grecque et Empire romain tardif. Le mirage de la “Troisième Sophistique” Longtemps négligée, la rhétorique tardo-antique fait maintenant l’objet d’un nombre croissant d’études. Pour mieux marquer cette revalorisation, on a introduit la dénomination de “Troisième Sophistique”. Le présent article entend démontrer que ce syntagme reste problématique : faute de s’accorder sur son signifié précis, les caractéristiques qui lui sont attribuées font l’objet d’une dis- cussion constante. En particulier, le rapport entre la “Troisième Sophistique” et son prédécesseur, la Seconde Sophistique, manque de clarté. Un obstacle majeur qui a empêché de définir ce rapport est la différence d’approche que l’on constate entre les spécialistes de la littérature du Bas Empire et ceux de la littérature du Haut Empire : si la Seconde Sophistique a été longtemps interprétée – comme l’est encore trop souvent la littérature tardo-antique – comme une expression culturelle en déclin ou, du moins, privée de vitalité, les nouvelles approches méthodologiques développées au cours des deux dernières décennies en ont au contraire démontré le dynamisme et l’incidence sociale. Plutôt que de repartir du syntagme “Seconde Sophistique”, on propose une autre vision des choses : appliquées à l’Antiquité tardive, ces mêmes approches méthodologiques nous montrent pour cette époque des sophis- tes qui, loin d’avoir perdu leur prestige social au profit des professeurs de droit, des sténographes, ou des évêques, continuaient à jouer un rôle important dans la vie politique.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sophistic Roman: Education and Status in Quintilian, Tacitus and Pliny Brandon F. Jones a Dissertation Submitted in Partial
    The Sophistic Roman: Education and Status in Quintilian, Tacitus and Pliny Brandon F. Jones A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2015 Reading Committee: Alain Gowing, Chair Catherine Connors Alexander Hollmann Deborah Kamen Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Classics ©Copyright 2015 Brandon F. Jones University of Washington Abstract The Sophistic Roman: Education and Status in Quintilian, Tacitus and Pliny Brandon F. Jones Chair of Supervisory Commitee: Professor Alain Gowing Department of Classics This study is about the construction of identity and self-promotion of status by means of elite education during the first and second centuries CE, a cultural and historical period termed by many as the Second Sophistic. Though the Second Sophistic has traditionally been treated as a Greek cultural movement, individual Romans also viewed engagement with a past, Greek or otherwise, as a way of displaying education and authority, and, thereby, of promoting status. Readings of the work of Quintilian, Tacitus and Pliny, first- and second-century Latin prose authors, reveal a remarkable engagement with the methodologies and motivations employed by their Greek contemporaries—Dio of Prusa, Plutarch, Lucian and Philostratus, most particularly. The first two chapters of this study illustrate and explain the centrality of Greek in the Roman educational system. The final three chapters focus on Roman displays of that acquired Greek paideia in language, literature and oratory, respectively. As these chapters demonstrate, the social practices of paideia and their deployment were a multi-cultural phenomenon. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................... 2 Introduction ....................................................................................... 4 Chapter One.
    [Show full text]
  • The Second Sophistic the Second Sophistic
    THE SECOND SOPHISTIC THE SECOND SOPHISTIC A Cultural Phenomenon in the Roman Empire Graham Anderson London and New York First published 1993 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1993 Graham Anderson All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Anderson, Graham. The second sophistic: a cultural phenomenon in the Roman empire/Graham Anderson p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Rome–History–Empire, 30 B.B.–284 A.D. 2. Rome–Civilization-Greek influences. 3. Sophists (Greek philosophy) 4. Rhetoric, Ancient. I. Title DG78.A63 1993 937′07–dc20 92–47085 ISBN 0-203-97405-0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-415-09988-9 (Print Edition) For Ewen Bowie Contents Preface vi List of abbreviations ix INTRODUCTION: ROMAN EMPIRE AND GREEK 1 RENAISSANCE 1 SOPHISTS IN SOCIETY 13 2 PREPARATION,
    [Show full text]
  • Pausanias: Travel and Memory in Roman Greece
    Pausanias: Travel and Memory in Roman Greece SUSAN E. ALOCOCK JOHN F. CHERRY JAS ELSNER, Editors OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Pausanias pausanias Travel and Memory in Roman Greece Edited by Susan E. Alcock, John F. Cherry, & Jas´Elsner 3 2001 1 Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota´ Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris Saˆo Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright ᭧ 2001 by Oxford University Press Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pausanias : travel and memory in Roman Greece / edited by S.E. Alcock, J.F. Cherry & J. Elsner. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-512816-8 (cloth) 1. Pausanias. Description of Greece. 2. Greece—Description and travel—Early works to 1800. 3. Greece—Antiquities. 4. Greece—Historiography. I. Alcock, Susan E. II. Cherry, John F. III. Elsner, Jas´. DF27.P383 P38 2000 938'.09—dc21 00-022461 Frontispiece: Location of principal places mentioned in the book. 987654321 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Silvia, Britten, and Bax This page intentionally left blank Preface This volume is dedicated to the principle that Pausanias deserves more—and more ambitious—treatment than he tends to receive.
    [Show full text]
  • INTRODUCTION Anthropometry Literally Means the Measurement of Man. It Is Derived from Greek Words, Anrhropos Which Means Man
    INTRODUCTION Anthropometry literally means the measurement of man. It is derived from Greek words, anrhropos which means man and metron which means measure. As an early tool of physical anthropology, it has been used for identification, for the purpose of understanding human physical variation. International Encyclopedia of Ergonomics and Human factors (vol. I) narrated that the word Anthropometry was coined by French naturalist Georges Cuvier. In view of the fact that no two individuals are ever alike in all their measurable characters (except perhaps monozygotic twins) and that the later tend to undergo change in varying degrees, hence persons living under different conditions and members of different ethnic groups and the offspring of unions between them frequently present interesting differences in body form and proportions. It is therefore, necessary to have some means of giving quantitative expression to the variations exhibited by such traits. Anthropometry constitutes a means towards this end, The anthropologists are concemed with functional relationships among traits and between traits and the environment. Anthropometry as defined by Juan Comas is a systematized body of techniques for measuring and taking observations on man, his skeleton, the skull, the limbs and trunk etc., as well as the organs, by the most reliable means and scientific methods." HISTORICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE The journey of the concept of anthropometry began in the age of early man when they start to fullfill there needs in the pre-historic times. The units of measurement were probably among the earliest tools invented by humankind. It was this concept of measurement which first initiated the ways of comparison between the ecofacts and artifacts, shapes and sizes of inorganic materials like tools and organic materials like plants and animals and later on man began his/her comparison with others in view of morphology, strength of the body, behaviour,etc.
    [Show full text]
  • Physiognomy and Nineteenth-Century Iconography
    High-Art Music and Low-Brow Types: Physiognomy and Nineteenth-Century Music Iconography Alan Davison The relationship between cultural practices and their particular visual manifestations in art raises innumerable complexities for the art historian; so when a clear connection can be ascertained between the cultural and visual, it reveals much of the artist's intentional, and no doubt unintentional, use of visual cues. In the case of visual art from the nineteenth century, a strong link can be found between artistic conventions in depicting character type and the widespread belief in physiognomy. Physiognomy was a pseudo-science of interpreting faces that imbued many levels of culture in the late eighteenth and most of the nineteenth century. Its most tangible manifestation was in literature, both fiction and nonfiction. Musicologists who have read nineteenth-century letters, reviews or memoirs have most probably encountered descriptions of people made under the influence of physiognomic precepts. These descriptions are notable today only because they tend to be strangely detailed, or even rather tiresome in nature; they can also lead directly to bold character judgments. A typical example, regarding Franz Liszt, dates from 28 November 1840 in the Birmingham Journal: He is a very good-lookingyoung man, pale, thin, and intellectual; with a fine forehead, good nose, and well cut mouth; not a little resembling the portraits of Bonaparte, when a captain of artillery. He is plainly, in his department, a man of great genius and originality.' Underlying much of this fastidious attention to physical appearance and brazen confidence in assessing personality was the widespread belief in physiognomy.
    [Show full text]
  • Philostratus's Apollonius
    PHILOSTRATUS’S APOLLONIUS: A CASE STUDY IN APOLOGETICS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE Andrew Mark Hagstrom A thesis submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the degree of Master of Arts in Religious Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences. Chapel Hill 2016 Approved by: Zlatko Pleše Bart Ehrman James Rives © 2016 Andrew Mark Hagstrom ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Andrew Mark Hagstrom: Philostratus’s Apollonius: A Case Study in Apologetics in the Roman Empire Under the direction of Zlatko Pleše My argument is that Philostratus drew on the Christian gospels and acts to construct a narrative in which Apollonius both resembled and transcended Jesus and the Apostles. In the first chapter, I review earlier scholarship on this question from the time of Eusebius of Caesarea to the present. In the second chapter, I explore the context in which Philostratus wrote the VA, focusing on the Severan dynasty, the Second Sophistic, and the struggle for cultural supremacy between Pagans and Christians. In the third chapter, I turn to the text of the VA and the Christian gospels and acts. I point out specific literary parallels, maintaining that some cannot be explained by shared genre. I also suggest that the association of the Egyptian god Proteus with both Philostratus’s Apollonius and Jesus/Christians is further evidence for regarding VA as a polemical response to the Christians. In my concluding chapter, I tie the several strands of my argument together to show how they collectively support my thesis.
    [Show full text]
  • The High Imperial Period. 97Ad–267Ad
    chapter 4 The High Imperial Period. 97ad–267ad 4.1 Introduction to the Period The dates I chose to begin the three previous chapters—323bc (the death of Alexander), 197bc (Battle of Kynoskephalai), 31bc (Battle of Actium)—can each be thought of as ushering in a new historical era. It might therefore seem slightly odd that I have chosen 97ad as the start date for the period covered by this chapter. In that year the Emperor Nerva died and power passed to his chosen successor Trajan. The transition was a smooth one by any standards and life all over the Empire carried on much as it had before. This might not seem a particularly momentous event in the history of Greece so the choice of date probably requires some justification. As stated in the Introduction, the dates chosen to bracket all of my chapters are to a large extent arbitrary—they conveniently produce four chapters that cover periods of roughly equal length—each around a century and a half. It is, furthermore, one of the central arguments of this book that the transformation of the agora did not match neatly to particular political events but rather proceeded at an uneven pace over a period of several centuries. Nonetheless it should be clear enough from the discussion in the previous three chapters that the development of the agora certainly was affected by the currents of historical change. The rise of the Hellenistic monarchs, the coming of Rome and the transformation of Rome from Republic to Empire all created a new cultural and political climate and affected life in the Greek polis and life on its main public spaces.
    [Show full text]
  • The Physiognomy of Monarch in Italian and Chinese Literary Description
    QI CHEN Monarchial Body and Body Monarch: The Physiognomy of Monarch in Italian and Chinese literary description In the images of monarchy there are both the deliberate construction and promotion by central governmental authority and the creation by a public projecting their own desires and anxieties on to a prominent figure. (Hackett 2001: 814) In many cases, especially for portraits of ruler in literature, one can see the iconographic tradition. It was the result of “reconstructions" or “inventions". (Casini 2000: 75–88) Many studies have made important contributions to it, yet there still seems to be more things to do. The notion that inner excellence is reflected in superficial beauty–as well as the reverse of that notion–was unquestionably a deep-seated habit of Greek thought, reflected in the perfection of Homer’s gods and heroes–and the inferiority of Thersites–and the ubiquitous expression. Furthermore, the idea that physical appearance signified certain aspects of nature and character suffused Greek culture, though in various ways and with varying degrees of sophisticated reflection, from the vulgar popularity of the handsome to the rather distasteful Greek disapproval of Oriental and barbarian physical traits to the philosophical efforts in the Hippocratic corpus to explain the relationship between climate, physique and disposition. It is the role that physiognomy plays. (Jouanna 1989: 172) As a mechanism to make communication between body and the exterior world, physiognomy is one of the most vivid perspectives to examine the relationship between the individual and the world. Just as G. B. Della Porta said, the physiognomy costume is correspondent the worldly custom.
    [Show full text]
  • Pioneers in Criminology: Cesare Lombroso (1825-1909) Marvin E
    Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume 52 Article 1 Issue 4 November-December Winter 1961 Pioneers in Criminology: Cesare Lombroso (1825-1909) Marvin E. Wolfgang Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Recommended Citation Marvin E. Wolfgang, Pioneers in Criminology: Cesare Lombroso (1825-1909), 52 J. Crim. L. Criminology & Police Sci. 361 (1961) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. The Journal of CRIMINAL LAW, CRIMINOLOGY, AND POLICE SCIENCE Vol. 52 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1961 No. 4 PIONEERS IN CRIMINOLOGY: CESARE LOMBROSO (1835-1909) MARVIN E. WOLFGANG The author is Associate Professor of Sociology in the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. He is the author of Patterns in Criminal Homicide, for which he received the August Vollmer Research Award last year, and is president of the Pennsylvania Prison Society. As a former Guggenheim Fellow in Italy, Dr. Wolfgang collected material for an historical analysis of crime and punishment in the Renaissance. Presently he is engaged in a basic research project entitled, "The Measurement of De- linquency." Some fifty years have passed since the death of Cesare Lombroso, and there are several important reasons why a reexamination and evaluation of Lombroso's life and contributions to criminology are now propitious. Lombroso's influence upon continental criminology, which still lays significant em- phasis upon biological influences, is marked.
    [Show full text]
  • Face Value - the Long and Short
    Face value - The Long and Short https://thelongandshort.org/society/is-there-such-thing-as-a-criminal-face A magazine of innovation, new ideas and how the world is changing Face value Long Face value Researchers recently claimed to be able to use AI to infer the inherent 'criminality' of faces. It's an idea with a long, dubious and dangerous history 26th January 2017 By Rhodri Marsden Illustration by Luke Best When the BBC broadcast the recent documentary by Louis Theroux that looked back at the time he spent in the company of Jimmy Savile, there was disbelief across social media that no one had stepped in to stop Savile from committing his crimes. Some blamed the BBC, some blamed those in Savile's immediate circle, but others blamed a simple error of human judgment. "He literally couldn't look more like a paedophile," read one post – one of many to state a supposedly incontrovertible truth: that Savile's criminal tendencies could have been detected from the shape of his features, his eyes, his hair. Moreover, this has nothing to do with the benefit of hindsight and should have been picked up at the time. His looks, they suggested, were a moral indicator, with a wealth of compelling visual 1 of 13 9/29/19, 5:05 PM Face value - The Long and Short https://thelongandshort.org/society/is-there-such-thing-as-a-criminal-face evidence to support the claim. We know that paedophiles, murderers and other violent criminals come in many shapes and sizes. If we knew nothing about their criminal history, some of their photos might even appear attractive.
    [Show full text]