scholarly journals Hannibal’s Elephants and the Liburnians

Author(s):  
Nada Bulić ◽  
Maria Mariola Glavan ◽  
Daniel Nečas Hraste

The second Punic war is a relatively well-known episode from Roman history. Reliable, detailed ancient sources such as Livy and Polybius, however, don’t say much on the topic of Hannibal’s provisions from his native Carthage. One of the questions related to the provisions is where Hannibal’s elephants came from after the battle of Cannae, as after traversing the Etrurian swamp Hannibal only had one elephant left (Livy XXII 2). Immediately after the victory at Cannae Hannibal sends a delegation requesting logistics and the Carthaginian senate decides to send him military aid, among which were 4000 Numidians and 40 elephants (Livy XXIII 11-13). In the meantime, Hannibal penetrates Campania already accompanied by elephants at the Siege of Casilinum (Livy XXIII 18). The authors of this paper believe that Hannibal’s path to Cannae was part of a premeditated military plan, according to which the Carthaginian army needed to pick up supplies near Cannae, with the Liburnians playing an important role in opening channels of communication and supplies. Several facts support this theory, most importantly the following: – one of the few suitable ports that Hannibal could count upon to be less guarded by the Romans than more northern ports, such as Ariminum, is found near Cannae; – an enormous amount of money from Africa is in circulation in Liburnia right at the time of the war with Hannibal; It is known that political entities on the eastern coast of the Adriatic had an anti-Roman political agenda during the time of the second Punic war, coordinating themselves with Macedonia among others, which became an ally of Hannibal and with which Rome went to war in 214 B.C, with which the two Illyrian wars right before and right after the war with Hannibal are related. The authors believe that the sources point to a sort of coalition for transport, trade and communication between Hannibal, the Liburnians and Carthage, which should be viewed in the context of the operations of the anti-Roman coalition of political entities on the eastern shores of the Adriatic

Classics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott De Brestian

Spain was one of Rome’s first overseas provinces beyond the Italian islands (Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica) and remained under Roman control for longer than most parts of the Western Empire, with northeastern Spain under at least nominal Roman control until 474 ce. From its earliest days Roman Spain (or Hispania) was divided into two or more provinces, eventually encompassing all of the modern countries of Spain and Portugal (although for convenience, the term “Roman Spain” generally includes both). This article therefore will focus on the mainland territory of those two countries, leaving aside Spain’s Mediterranean and African possessions (Balearic and Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla), which will be treated elsewhere. Traditionally the study of Roman Spain is divided into three chronological periods: the Roman Republic, which extends from Rome’s first dealings in Spain at the start of the Second Punic War to the rise of Augustus as first emperor in 27 bce, although this period is sometimes extended to the end of the Cantabrian Wars in 19 bce, which mark the completion of the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. The Early Empire spans the period from the late 1st century bce to the 3rd century ce. No universally acknowledged date marks the end of this period, although the end of the Severan dynasty in 235 ce or the Frankish invasion of 258 ce is sometimes used; this article employs the former. The Late Empire stretches from the 3rd century to the invasions of 409 ce or the final conquest of Spain by the Visigoths in 474 ce, depending on the region being discussed. Roman Spain has often been somewhat neglected by scholars outside the peninsula, due to the political history of Spain and the lack of a large number of prominent international schools, as are found in Italy and Greece, although the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut in Madrid and the French-sponsored Casa de Velázquez are important exceptions. The result is that scholars working in other parts of the Roman world are not as acquainted with Roman Spain as its importance in Roman history would otherwise merit.


2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 318-329
Author(s):  
James Corke-Webster

After a focus on social and cultural history in the last issue, this issue's offerings return us to more traditional subjects – political institutions, and historiography. That spring review ended with religion, which is where we start here: an apposite reminder that religion pervades all aspects of the Roman world. It is precisely that principle which undergirds our first book, Dan-el Padilla Peralta's Divine Institutions. Padilla Peralta is interested, at root, in how the Roman state became such through the third and fourth centuries bce. That is a story usually told – in a tradition going back to the ancient historians themselves – via a swashbuckling tale of successive military campaigns. Padilla Peralta, however, sets that anachronistic narrativization aside, and instead builds a careful case that between the siege of Veii and the end of the Second Punic War ‘the Roman state remade and retooled itself into a republic defined and organized around a specific brand of institutionalized ritual practices and commitments’ (1). Specifically, he shows that the construction of temples and the public activities they facilitated were a key mechanism – one as important as warfare – by which the consensus necessary to state formation was generated: the Republic more or less stumbles into a bootstrapping formula that proves to be unusually felicitous: high visibility monumental enterprises are paired with new incentives for human mobility in ways that dramatically and enduringly reorganize the rhythms of civic and communal experience. (17–18) In particular, Padilla Peralta argues that output was greater than input; that the genius – whether accidental or deliberate – of this formula was that it facilitated a confidence game whereby the res publica appeared more capable – via the apparent support of the gods whom its visible piety secured – than was in fact the case.


1938 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. McDonald

The fortunes of Scipio Africanus after the Second Punic War raise a difficult problem for the student of Roman history. Through his political standing and his personal gifts Scipio's influence must be considered an essential element in the public life of Rome at the decisive period of her imperialistic development; yet the glimpses in recorded history, though significant, are so fleeting that it is almost impossible to gain a complete impression. We know, of course, his Carthaginian policy and his strategy against Antiochus; but in matters relating to Gaul, Liguria and Spain, and in the internal politics of Rome, there is scarcely any evidence of his hand. Most obscure of all is the Second Macedonian War; where the questions of policy were similar to those in the Syrian War, yet Scipio had no share in them that can be directly discerned. Did he withdraw after his victory over Carthage and only re-appear to meet Syria ? Then why should his defeat of Antiochus be followed by his own dishonour, in the face of the claims of gratitude ? His fall suggests a persistent and important political activity, which could only be countered by extreme measures of opposition.


2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-338
Author(s):  
B. M. Levick

Weighty tomes preponderate, but I put chronology before avoirdupois. First comes a stout Companion to the Punic Wars, edited by Dexter Hoyos. It is part of the book's comforts as a companion and one of its merits to treat not only what is named on the tin – five chapters for the first war, nine for the second, and three for the last half century of Carthage, with one chapter dealing directly with the siege of 148–146 – but other topics that are by no means peripheral. It is a bonus to have Nathan Rosenstein's revisionist views on ‘Italy: Economy and Demography after Hannibal's War’, or rather his demolition of long-held ones: positive arguments are briefly put. Whether Part V, ‘Conclusions’, lives up to its name is another matter: it consists of three papers on the aftermath, including ‘Carthage and Hannibal in Roman and Greek Memory’ (which I wish had been taken further). The editor's international team have satisfactorily marshalled the material in the main sections: ‘Roman Politics and Expansion’ between the first two wars is immediately followed by Hoyos’ own ‘Carthage in Africa and Spain’ during the same period; similarly, ‘Punic Politics, Economy, and Alliances, 218–201’ precedes ‘Roman Economy, Finance, and Politics in the Second Punic War’. Illustrations are not among the comforts of this volume: far from panoramas or even diagrams of famous battles, we have five plain maps.


2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1012-1013
Author(s):  
Uyen Tram ◽  
William Sullivan

Embryonic development is a dynamic event and is best studied in live animals in real time. Much of our knowledge of the early events of embryogenesis, however, comes from immunofluourescent analysis of fixed embryos. While these studies provide an enormous amount of information about the organization of different structures during development, they can give only a static glimpse of a very dynamic event. More recently real-time fluorescent studies of living embryos have become much more routine and have given new insights to how different structures and organelles (chromosomes, centrosomes, cytoskeleton, etc.) are coordinately regulated. This is in large part due to the development of commercially available fluorescent probes, GFP technology, and newly developed sensitive fluorescent microscopes. For example, live confocal fluorescent analysis proved essential in determining the primary defect in mutations that disrupt early nuclear divisions in Drosophila melanogaster. For organisms in which GPF transgenics is not available, fluorescent probes that label DNA, microtubules, and actin are available for microinjection.


Author(s):  
Kristina Dietz

The article explores the political effects of popular consultations as a means of direct democracy in struggles over mining. Building on concepts from participatory and materialist democracy theory, it shows the transformative potentials of processes of direct democracy towards democratization and emancipation under, and beyond, capitalist and liberal democratic conditions. Empirically the analysis is based on a case study on the protests against the La Colosa gold mining project in Colombia. The analysis reveals that although processes of direct democracy in conflicts over mining cannot transform existing class inequalities and social power relations fundamentally, they can nevertheless alter elements thereof. These are for example the relationship between local and national governments, changes of the political agenda of mining and the opening of new spaces for political participation, where previously there were none. It is here where it’s emancipatory potential can be found.


Author(s):  
Manbir Sandhu ◽  
Purnima, Anuradha Saini

Big data is a fast-growing technology that has the scope to mine huge amount of data to be used in various analytic applications. With large amount of data streaming in from a myriad of sources: social media, online transactions and ubiquity of smart devices, Big Data is practically garnering attention across all stakeholders from academics, banking, government, heath care, manufacturing and retail. Big Data refers to an enormous amount of data generated from disparate sources along with data analytic techniques to examine this voluminous data for predictive trends and patterns, to exploit new growth opportunities, to gain insight, to make informed decisions and optimize processes. Data-driven decision making is the essence of business establishments. The explosive growth of data is steering the business units to tap the potential of Big Data to achieve fueling growth and to achieve a cutting edge over their competitors. The overwhelming generation of data brings with it, its share of concerns. This paper discusses the concept of Big Data, its characteristics, the tools and techniques deployed by organizations to harness the power of Big Data and the daunting issues that hinder the adoption of Business Intelligence in Big Data strategies in organizations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-226
Author(s):  
Soner Tauscher

Avrupa ülkelerinin alışık olduğu düzenli işçi göçü ve kontrollü sığınmacı alımı Suriye iç savaşının üst düzeye ulaştığı 2013/2014 yılından itibaren önemli bir değişim göstermektedir. Avrupa Birliği, kuruluşundan bu yana en yoğun mülteci göçüyle karşılaşmaktadır. Yaşanan bu kontrolsüz ve zorunlu göçe Avrupa toplumları ve devletleri hazırlıksız yakalanmıştır. Mülteci krizini ekonomik olarak fırsata çevirmek isteyen Almanya ise göçmenler için 2015 yazından itibaren açık kapı politikası uygulamaya başlamıştır. Ancak uygulanan açık kapı politikası Alman toplumunun azımsanmayacak bir kesiminde mültecilere ve Müslümanlara yönelik ağır ve şiddetli bir karşı kampanya ortaya çıkardı. Mülteciler ve Müslümanlar aşırı sağ toplumsal hareketlerin gösterilerinde “tecavüzcü”, “işgalci”, “kriminal dolandırıcılar” vb. sıfatlar ile birlikte anılmakta, medya da bu söylemlerin taşıyıcılığını yaparak kamusallaşmasını sağlamaktadır. Böylece aşırı sağı desteklemeyen, apolitik, ya da sığınmacılara karşı hoşgörülü davranan toplum kesimlerinde kamuoyu oluşturularak sığınmacı ve göçmenlere karşı olumsuz algı gündemde tutulmakta, politik olanın merkezine yerleştirilmektedir. Bu çalışmada öncelikle göçmenlere karşı aşırı sağ toplumsal hareketlerin oluşturduğu olumsuz söylemin McCombs ve Shaw’un Gündem Belirleme Kuramı (Agenda Setting Function) bağlamında medya tarafından siyasetin merkezine nasıl oturtulduğu tartışılacaktır. Ayrıca gündemde tutulan mültecilere yönelik olumsuz söylemin gerçeği yansıtıp yansıtmadığı, göçmenlerin ve sığınmacıların biyolojik Almanlardan daha çok suça meyilli olup olmadığı oluşturulan soyut söylemlerden ziyade Almanya İçişleri Bakanlığı’nın yıllık olarak yayınladığı Emniyet Suç İstatistikleri temel alınarak incelenecektir.ABSTRACT IN ENGLISHFar right movements in Germany and evaluation of media discourse of criminal immigrant in the light of official documentsFlows of regular worker migration and regular asylum seekers, of whom European countries are familiar, have significantly changed since 2013/2014 when the civil war of Syria reached its peak. The European Union face probably the most intensive refugee migration since its establishment. European societies and states have not been prepared for this uncontrolled and compulsory immigration. Germany seem to want to turn the refugee crisis into an economic opportunity as evident in their open door policy since the summer of 2015. However, implementation of open-door policy has led a substantial part of German society to a strong campaign against the refugees and Muslims. Refugees and Muslims are referred to as “rapists”, “invaders”, “criminal fraudsters”, and so on in demonstrations of far right movements and media has helped disseminating these discourses. Hence, this manipulated and hateful discourse tries to gain support from the segment of society wh normally does not support far right and often apolitical, or tolerant towards asylum seekers. In this study, the ways in which the negative discourse of far right social movements against immigrants is brought to the centre of the political agenda by media is analysed using the agenda setting framework by McCombs and Shaw. Then, the claims that immigrants are involved in crime, or they are prone to be criminals are analysed and contrasted with the data obtained from the annual Crime and Safety Reports of the German Ministry of the Interior.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Carol Mejia Laperle

The critical field of The Masque of Blackness often annotates Queen Anne and her ladies’ blackface performance with a courtier's eye-witness comment that the “lean cheeked moors” were “loathsome” and “ugly.” Yet Ben Jonson's performance text, when read beside Dudley Carleton's correspondences, resists the undue influence of the aristocrat's anecdotal disparagement. This project refuses to take Carleton's denigration as fact. Instead, it investigates the masque's representation of Niger's daughters to develop the affective experience of pleasurable mixing across racial identities and to show how the opulence, innovation, and beauty afforded by blackface are the means to underwrite arguments of political authority. Rather than a deviation from the performance's magnificent appeal, racial impersonation is constitutive of the masque's demonstration of beauty and invention of pleasure. As such, the allegory of King James I's power hinges on a fiction of idealized incorporation that is ideologically powerful precisely because it is primarily an aestheticized, affective experience. Beyond the ostensible trope of racial transformation, Jonson presents the pleasure of mixing across racial identities as the precondition for Britannia's absorption of migrant bodies. Blackness is a visual reminder of an indelible difference that can be absorbed, incorporated, indeed “salved,” by the monarch's faculties of conversion. The affective experience afforded by blackface is thus an argument for the sovereign's power of unification, underwriting what was a largely unfulfilled and controversial political agenda: the coalition of realms under the aegis of Great Britain.


Author(s):  
Anna Sun

Is Confucianism a religion? If so, why do most Chinese think it isn't? This book traces the birth and growth of the idea of Confucianism as a world religion. The book begins at Oxford, in the late nineteenth century, when Friedrich Max Müller and James Legge classified Confucianism as a world religion in the new discourse of “world religions” and the emerging discipline of comparative religion. The book shows how that decisive moment continues to influence the understanding of Confucianism in the contemporary world, not only in the West but also in China, where the politics of Confucianism has become important to the present regime in a time of transition. Contested histories of Confucianism are vital signs of social and political change. The book also examines the revival of Confucianism in contemporary China and the social significance of the ritual practice of Confucian temples. While the Chinese government turns to Confucianism to justify its political agenda, Confucian activists have started a movement to turn Confucianism into a religion. Confucianism as a world religion might have begun as a scholarly construction, but are we witnessing its transformation into a social and political reality? With historical analysis, extensive research, and thoughtful reflection, this book will engage all those interested in religion and global politics at the beginning of the Chinese century.


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