Emperor Worship

Discuss the development of the imperial cult during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. How did its manifestations differ, and why, in different parts of the empire? In what ways did the attitude of Augustus to the worship of himself differ from that of Tiberius?


The development of the imperial cult can only be understood in the context of Roman religion more generally, about which the following points may be made. First, Roman religion was polytheistic and extremely diverse, its gods often ancient and local, but it was also open to more recent additions, one example being the cult of Isis, an import from Egypt . Secondly, Roman religion emphasised practice rather than interior dogma or belief . Properly performed and public sacrifices, dedications and hymns were at its very heart , although its private and personal aspects were also significant. Thirdly, one of the key concepts in Roman religion was that of honouring the gods in thanks for their having done something. The gods received sacrifices, offerings and prayers made in the hope of favourable intervention. The basic idea was almost contractual, often taking the form of a votum vowed to the deity, and was commonly reflected in the inscription of VSML , indicating an individual’s grateful fulfilment of their end of the bargain. This dynamic was reflected in Roman state religion. Cicero articulated a common view when he said that the Roman state owed its growth and stability to the support of the gods . The instrumental and unifying function of Roman religion was noted by the Greek analyst Polybius .

Can you spot me in this picture?  Yes, that's me...back row, far right!


Hello and thank you for taking the time to have a look at my blog!

I am studying Ancient and Modern history at Queen's University Belfast.

I have loved it, and am creating this blog in order to post some of my work (and amusing source photos!).

I'll post what I consider to be the most interesting topics first. As it turns out, this means that they are at the bottom of the page.  The essays themselves are far from perfect, but have generally gone down quite well, and have been very interesting to write!

Personally I have found all the ones about religion to have been the most enjoyable.  The titles are displayed on the side bar. 

However I won't be at all offended if you don't read any of them!!

I won't be updating this blog with any other fascinating details about my life. That's what Facebook is for!!

Thanks for checking it out!

Patrick

Rome: foundations of European democracy

How much influence did the ordinary citizens of Republican Rome have on the process of political decision-making?

The word “influence” requires us to consider the Roman citizens’ formal constitutional role, informal kinds of influence, and the limitations on their role. The formal aspects include: first, their ability to elect their leaders and indeed to stand for election themselves; secondly their law-making function; and thirdly the fact that the ordinary people could sit as a court. Assessment of the citizen’s informal role (or lack of role) will consider the extent to which their views were taken into account by the magistrates and the senate, and also their position as regards religion. Broadly speaking it will be argued that the people had – in theory at least – a significant, albeit heavily qualified, role to play within the Roman political world, one that must be considered in the light of both the Senate and the Magistrates. The final section of the essay will consider the extent to which the ordinary people had influence in practice. This will be done by considering what the nature of political life in the Roman world implies about their significance. In conclusion, the broad nature of the constitution will be discussed, alongside an examination of the pivotal role of the Tribune of the Plebs.

Athens v Sparta: Mexican standoff??

What would Thucydides have made of fourth-century Greek history? 

Thucydides himself employed a counterfactual approach when discussing the Spartans’ failure to attack Piraeus in 412/411, and this essay might be thought of as an exercise in counterfactual historiography . The argument will proceed as follows. First some preliminary points about the method, nature and possibility of this imaginative exercise will briefly be discussed. The second section poses a question: “what events in the fourth century would have most surprised Thucydides?” Here it will be argued that Thucydides would unhesitatingly cite the astonishing rise of Macedon and the impressive role of Philip as an individual. Thucydides would also have been shocked at rapidity of Sparta’s decline, although perhaps rather less surprised at some of its causes, or at the brutality that preceded it. Thirdly, the fourth century will be considered from the perspectives of some key Thucididyean preoccupations and interests. These include: the Athenian empire and question of how it should best be ruled; military developments and continuities; and some more abstract points about the nature of states’ interactions. The fourth section asks how Thucydides’ views on the fourth century might impact on his assessment of the fifth. Here the issues of Persia and Athenian finances will be discussed.

India run by a company!? wtf?

Why did the East India Company move away from trade towards territorial administration between the 1750s and the 1830s?

The extent and nature of corporate power are issues that have become familiar today. Yet these issues are hardly new. This essay will broadly accept the point that the East India Company (EIC) moved from trade and towards territorial administration between the 1750s and the 1830s. However it will be argued that trade was still an important part of its activities and motivations, and so that the move into territorial administration can be seen as a development of its activities rather than as simply replacing trade. In answering the question as to why this development took place, this essay will consider both the motives of the East India Company, and the opportunity which allowed these desires to be acted upon. It will be argued that the opportunity to move from trade to territory was there because of what was happening in Indian politics by the second half of the eighteenth century. The decline of the Moghul Empire left a power vacuum and a period of political uncertainty which the British were able to exploit. The initial phase of territorial administration took place in Bengal, and in outlining this the point will be emphasized that this change was at first motivated - at least partly – by a desire to protect trading interests. However the primary motivation for the move towards the administration of territory was that it allowed vast amounts of revenue to be generated by means of taxing the Indian population. The British wanted the money that they could take off the Indians. The acquisition of territory also had important implications for the EIC’s ability to control the terms of trade, providing a further (financial) reason that the EIC wanted to control territory in India. The expansion of the EIC’s activities was also intimately linked to the mindset of those who worked for it. Their motivations – a blend of opportunism and patriotism, the emphasis perhaps being on the former – are important in terms of explaining why the Company moved in the direction that it did. But was the EIC fully in control? The size of its army and administration – and the consequent expenses associated with these – came to demand the acquisition of more and more territory. The move from trade towards administration came to have a self-perpetuating quality to it. It will be argued that the EIC’s ambitions led to its being overstretched, and ultimately, to its downfall.

And you thought Your family was complicated : )

Did the family offer a solid and reassuring sense of continuity through change, or was it instead one of the principle arenas for turbulence and transformation?

That this question can offer two such divergent characterisations of the family suggests, at the very least, aspects of ambiguity and complexity in its nature. This essay will take an analytic approach, and will adopt the following structure. First, the very step of working out what we mean by “the family” will tell us a great deal about its potential to offer reassurance. Secondly, the relationship between the Reformation and the family will be discussed, this relationship being set in the context of broader economic and demographic concerns, and anxieties relating to order. In the light of the Reformation we will consider a number of discontinuities: the impact of the Reformation on different members of the family, on the composition of the family, on the supervision of the family, and on the regulation of how families were created. These discontinuities are, however, outweighed by major aspects of continuity: basic legal framework in which the family existed, people’s moral attitudes and ideals, and also the continued existence of religious routines within the household. Thirdly, the degree of reassurance that the family could offer will be assessed in the context of economic change, particular attention being paid to the flexible roles played by women in the family. Finally, some important continuities are noted relating to the nature of emotion in both the ordinary stuff of human relationships, and in the activity of bringing up children.

Race and class in Britain; the role of missionaries

What was the impact of missionary works on European societies?

Introduction


This essay will focus on the issue of identity. In particular it will examine the impact of missionary works on the issues of race and class in nineteenth century Britain. Missions played an important role in the creation of race and class identities, a role that recent historiography is beginning to engage with. They acted as an important interface between the domestic and the colonial worlds, and as such contributed to the image of the “Other”. Here missionaries played a pivotal role both in terms of the acquisition of knowledge about peoples overseas, and also in the transmission of this knowledge within British domestic society. In the nineteenth century missions were one of the few outlets of information about the peoples they encountered abroad, and conveyed this information in a variety of formats, including very popular newsletters , educative and entertaining meetings , and even exhibitions . This reflected the importance of mission and hence colonialism to the evangelical imagination , and played a vital role in popularising the empire . There were, of course, many other sources of discourse relating to the colonial experience ; these included newspapers (often explicitly educative with regard to the colonies) , commercial advertising, entertainment such as that of the music hall, and impressions gained though personal and family connections . However the impact of religious discourses was particularly significant given the position of the church, and in particular evangelicalism, within Victorian society. The level of church attendance, although of some concern, was much higher than it is today, and subsequent absentees would have retained images promulgated and internalised at Sunday School . Religious institutions played a key role in educating public opinion , and Evangelicalism’s penetration of British culture was decisive in reorienting British political thought . Moreover the issue of missions would be used to mediate power disputes between different sections of British society, this issue being discussed in more detail below.


The essay will take the following structure. Section One will consider the construction of the racial “Other”. Here we will discuss the selective nature of this process, and then look in detail at how images of non-whites changed over the course of the nineteenth century, with a view to establishing the dynamic and contested nature of these conceptions. Section Two will look at how discourses of alterity impacted on how British people thought about themselves. Creating an image of “the Other” created a corresponding image of oneself. It also created a variety of labels that were applied to the poor within Britain’s own domestic society, this internal application taking place in particular historical circumstances and for particular reasons to be explored below. Section Three will consider the implications of identity for our understanding of “modernity”, and also for what it means to engage with the history of European societies, Britain in particular. 

Missionaries and clothing in Africa (interesting pictures in this one)

Were local converts “mentally colonised” by missionaries or were they able to use Christianity to their own ends?

“By October 1875 he [Missionary Gruenberger] had had enough. Outraged at the impertinence with which the congregation claimed the right to dress as they pleased for Sunday worship, he ordered the women to surrender the 'fashion items' instantly into the hands of their spiritual guide…


“With two elders I went from house to house, starting off with the house of this very reluctant woman, and we confiscated all crinolines to burn them to death before their eyes””


Missionary Gruenberger’s incendiary activities demonstrate that he was not only concerned with the question of local people’s doctrinal beliefs, but that he also took a very active interest in the clothes they wore. This essay will focus on the relationship between local populations and the material culture that accompanied Christian missions. Considering the complexities of these engagements will allow us to assess their implications for the identities and perceptions of local individuals. The essay will take the following structure. Section one will outline the general relationship between Christianity and material culture, and then will consider how Christian institutions tried to promote European material culture among the individuals affected by them. Section two will look at how the local populations engaged with these processes, examining the idea of reappropriation in conceptual terms, and then looking at how Africans reconfigured the material culture promoted by Christians and used it to their own ends. Section three will reflect on the outcomes of this engagement; it will be argued that Africans’ adaptations and reinventions of the material culture associated with Christianity contributed to the emergence of new kinds of people in Africa, people who lived their lives in different ways to before. This phenomenon, in turn, has significant implications for our understanding of what is meant by “modernity”.

Why did Chrisitianity succeed?

Account for the success of Christianity in the Late Antique World.

It is difficult to talk meaningfully about the success of Christianity during Late Antiquity, given that it was not a unified entity either at the beginning or at the end of the period. This essay will argue that Constantine’s adoption of Christianity - the key to its “success” in terms of numerical and geographical spread – brought about changes in its nature, and created massive divisions within it. The essay is organised in three sections. The first considers the relationship between Christianity and the Roman Empire. Constantine’s adoption of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire would revolutionise its political and economic situation. Christianity’s relationship with paganism and pagan society would be complex, however, and Constantine’s emphasis on correct belief allowed divisions to develop within Christianity. These will be explored in the second section of the essay, a case study focussing on Christianity in the East, which will explore doctrinal divisions and their political implications in the reign of Justinian. The final section considers Christianity’s institutional diversity, looking first at the development of monasticism in the East, and then at Christianity’s institutional adaptations in the turbulent environment of the West, focussing on the changing role played by bishops, the development of regional churches, and the rise of the Papacy.

Christian persecution in the Roman Empire

Why were the early Christians persecuted (prior to the accession of Decius in A.D. 249)?

This essay will argue that persecution of the early Christians was initiated by a number of different actors, whose motivations included both reasons of principle and reasons of simple expediency. It will be structured as follows. The first section will consider Jewish hostility towards the Christians, this antipathy being motivated by religious reasons. The second section looks at the impact of the reign of Nero, which created a lasting legal precedent for persecution but did so for reasons of short-term political expediency. The third section examines the policy of the Roman state from the time of Trajan onwards. Here it will be argued that the state’s position was ambiguous, actually going some way to protecting the Christians, but only to the extent that this was coherent with the state’s own goals, therefore constituting another aspect of political expediency. The fourth section examines popular hostility towards the Christians. It will be argued that the Christians’ attitude towards Roman religion was a central reason for their being persecuted. The idea that Christians were immoral and reasons of self-interest will also be considered. The fifth section asks to what extent the Christians contributed to their own persecution, focussing on the issue of martyrdom. The final section considers the scale of the persecution faced by Christians, and will argue that this has implications for our understanding of the intensity as to how people felt about them.