Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics

WORKING PAPERS BY DATE - 2008

DECEMBER
120801	The Medieval Tradition of Macrobius' 'Saturnalia'
	Robert Kaster, Princeton University
	Abstract - In laying the groundwork for a new edition of Macrobius’ Saturnalia, I have extensively checked the reports of the manuscripts in the Teubner edition of James Willis (1963), drawn on the collations of two important manuscripts published by M. J. Carton in 1966, and collated seven additional pre-humanist manuscripts wholly or in part (these collations are published in working papers #060803, 060804, and 060805). Drawing on the new data, this paper provides a refined understanding of the medieval tradition, including an improved stemma.
	A revised version of this paper has now been published as Chapter 1 of the monograph, Studies on the Text of Macrobius' "Saturnalia," American Philological Association Monographs (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 3-27.
NOVEMBER
110801	The size of the economy and the distribution of income in the Roman Empire
	Walter Scheidel, Stanford University and Stephen Friesen, University of Texas
	Abstract - Different ways of estimating the Gross Domestic Product of the Roman Empire in the second century CE produce convergent results that point to total output and consumption equivalent to 50 million tons of wheat or close to 20 billion sesterces per year. It is estimated that elites (around 1.5 per cent of the imperial population) controlled approximately one-fifth of total income while middling households (perhaps 10 percent of the population) consumed another fifth. These findings shed new light on the scale of economic inequality and the distribution of demand in the Roman world.
OCTOBER
090802	Causes and Cases. On the Aetiologies of Aetiological Elegies
	Christian Kaesser, Stanford University
	Abstract: The paper examines why at the beginning of Callimachus’ Aitia, in Propertius 4.1, and more indirectly in the proem to Ovid’s Fasti there appear literary critics (the Telchines, Horus, and Augustus), who charge the aetiological poet for the quality of his work. It points out that these charges, when translated into Greek, are aitiai, and that the poets’ defenses, when translated into Latin, are causae. It argues that the function of these proems is to present the poet as the cause of his poem. It is also interested in the way Propertius and Ovid adapt Callimachus’ Greek conceit to the different cultural and linguistic context of Rome.
100801	The Mole on the Face. Erotic Rhetoric in Ovid’s "Amores"
	Christian Kaesser, Stanford University
	Abstract: The paper examines the role of formal rhetoric in Ovid’s Amores. It points out that while in modern aesthetics the experience of art is dissociated from the experience of love and sex, the ancients had developed an erotic aesthetics that associated the two. Recalling the metaphor that describes a text as a body and the ancient view according to which rhetoric could make a text appealing just like cosmetics could a real body, it argues that Ovid uses formal rhetoric to inspire in his readers desire for his text. The appearance of voluptas in the epigram to Amores 1 confirms this view. It also suggests that the eroticization of Ovid’s text resonates within the contemporary political situation in Rome, where sex had become a matter of politics.
SEPTEMBER
090801	The Medieval Tradition of Macrobius' 'Saturnalia'
	Robert Kaster, Princeton University
	Abstract - In laying the groundwork for a new edition of Macrobius’ Saturnalia, I have extensively checked the reports of the manuscripts in the Teubner edition of James Willis (1963), drawn on the collations of two important manuscripts published by M. J. Carton in 1966, and collated seven additional pre-humanist manuscripts wholly or in part (these collations are published in working papers #060803, 060804, and 060805). Drawing on the new data, this paper provides a refined understanding of the medieval tradition, including an improved stemma.
JULY
070801	Making Space for Bicultural Identity: Herodes Atticus Commemorates Regilla
	Maud W. Gleason, Stanford University
	Abstract: Herodes and Regilla built a number of installations during their marriage, some of which represented their union in spatial terms. After Regilla died, Herodes reconfigured two of these structures, altering their meanings with inscriptions to represent the marriage retrospectively. This paper considers the implications of these commemorative installations for Herodes’ sense of cultural identity.
	This paper has now been published in Local Knowledge and Microidentities in the Imperial Greek World (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
060809	Human capital and the growth of the Roman economy
	Richard Saller, Stanford University
	Abstract - Over the past 50 years economists have increasingly emphasized investment in human capital as a fundamental cause of sustained economic growth, because investments in education, training and health make the labor force more productive. This paper examines Roman education and training, and argues that Roman investment in human capital was higher in the early empire that at any time in Europe before 1500 CE, but noticeably lower than in the fastest growing economies of the early modern era (e.g., the Netherlands).
JUNE
060808	In search of Roman economic growth
	Walter Scheidel, Stanford University
	Abstract -This paper seeks to relate proxy indices of economic performance to competing hypotheses of sustainable and unsustainable intensive economic growth in the Roman world. It considers the economic relevance of certain types of archaeological data, the potential of income-centered indices of economic performance, and the complex relationship between economic growth and incomes documented in the more recent past, and concludes with a conjectural argument in support of a Malthusian model of unsustainable economic growth triggered by integration.
	This paper has now been published in Journal of Roman Archaeology, Vol 22 (2009) pp. 46-70.
060807	Monogamy and polygyny in Greece, Rome, and world history
	Walter Scheidel, Stanford University
	Abstract - In what sense were the ancient Greeks and Romans monogamous, and why does it matter? This paper summarizes the physical and anthropological record of polygyny, briefly sketches the historical expansion of formal monogamy, considers complementary theories of mate choice, and situates Greco-Roman practice on a spectrum from traditional polygamy to more recent forms of normative monogyny.
	This paper has now been published in History of the Family, Vol 14 (2009) pp. 280-291.
060806	A Neglected Witness to Macrobius' 'Saturnalia'
	Robert Kaster, Princeton University
	Abstract - Bern Burgerbibliothek cod. 514 (= Q, s. X), which preserves Book 7 of the Saturnalia, is the oldest surviving member of the family β2. This paper analyzes its relations to the other chief witnesses to β2 (R = Vat. Reg. lat. 2043; F = Laur. Plut. 90 sup. 25; A = Cambridge Univ. Ff.3.5; C = Cambridge CCC 71); an appendix demonstrates that Q is also the source of the text of Book 7 found in Vatican lat. 3417 (= J). A complete collation of Q can be found in working paper #060804 (Four Manuscripts of Macrobius’ 'Saturnalia').
	This paper has now been published as "A Neglected Witness to Macrobius' Saturnalia," Callida Musa: Papers on Latin Literature in Honor of R. Elaine Fantham, ed. R. Ferri, M. Seo, and K. Volk = Materiali e Discussioni per l'analisi dei testi classici 61 (2008[2009]), pp. 137-48.
060805	A Collation of Cambridge Corpus Christi College 71 (Macrobius 'Saturnalia')
	Robert Kaster, Princeton University
	Abstract - Cambridge Corpus Christi College 71 (= C), written in the twelfth century (St. Albans), can be shown to be a gemellus of Cambridge University Library Ff.3.5, also written in the twelfth century (Bury St. Edmunds). Used by Gronovius and judged by La Penna (1953) one of the three most important witnesses to the family β2, C was ignored by Willis in his Teubner edition. A and C together provide useful evidence, parallel with the earlier Vatican Reginensis latinus 2043 (= R, s. X ex. / s. XI in., Mont St. Michel), for one segment of β2. A collation of C is published here for the first time.
060804	Four Manuscripts of Macrobius’ 'Saturnalia'
	Robert Kaster, Princeton University
	Abstract - Vatican latinus 3417 (J, s. XII, Books 1-4 and 7), Florence Laurentiana Plut. 51.8 (W, s. XII, complete), British Library Harleianus 3859 (H, s. XII, complete), and Bern Burgerbibliothek 514 (Q, s. X, Book 7) are all are affiliated with the family β2. J (in Books 1-4), W, and H are derived from Vatican Reg. lat. 2043 (= R). Q, ignored since it was used by Jan in his edition of 1852, gives important testimony independent of R.
060803	A Collation of British Library Cotton Vit. C.III and Vatican Palatinus latinus 886 (Macrobius' 'Saturnalia')
	Robert Kaster, Princeton University
	Abstract - British Library Cotton Vitellius C.III (= O, s. IX3/4, northern France) comprises Books 1-3 of Macrobius’ Saturnalia. Ignored by James Willis in his Teubner edition, it can be shown to be an older sibling of Vatican latinus 5207 (L, s. X1/4), a collation of which was published by M. J. Carton: O and L together provide important new evidence for the constitution of family β1. A collation of O is published here for the first time. Vatican Palatinus latinus 886 (= K, s.IX in., Lorsch) is also affiliated with β1 and provides a set of excerpts from Saturnalia 1-3. K was used by Ludwig Jan in his landmark edition; a partial collation was published by K. Tohill.
060802	Vergil Translates Aratus: Phaenomena 1-2 and Georgics 1.1.2
	Joshua Katz, Princeton University
	Abstract - This paper demonstrates that Vergil engages in a kind of verbal one-upmanship with Aratus by opening his Georgics with a multifaceted—and till now entirely overlooked—example of wordplay that is directly indebted to Aratus’ “signature” at the start of the Phaenomena. In all sorts of ways, terram / uertere is a "translation" of ἐῶμεν / ἄρρητον.
	This paper has now been published in Materiali e Discussioni per l'analisi dei testi classici 60 (2008), pp. 105-23.
060801	Etymology (A Linguistic Window onto the History of Ideas)
	Joshua Katz, Princeton University
	Abstract - This short essay for a volume on the classical tradition aims to give a basic, lively account of the forms and development of etymological practice from antiquity to the present day.
	This paper has now been published in The Classical Tradition, ed. Anthony Grafton, Glenn W. Most, & Salvatore Settis (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010), pp. 342-45.
APRIL
040801	Rome's Mediterranean World System and Its Transformation
	Brent D. Shaw, Princeton University
	Abstract - An analysis of the recent large-scale interpretation of the great transition from the ancient world of the Roman Empire to the worlds of its successor states, economies, and societies offered by Chris Wickham in his ‘Framing the Early Middle Ages.’
	This paper replaces version 1 (010801) originally posted in January 2008.
	A revised version of the paper with the title "After Rome" has now been published in The New Left Review vol. 52 (May-June 008), pp. 89-114.
MARCH
030801	Real wages in early economies: Evidence for living standards from 2000 BCE to 1300 CE
	Walter Scheidel, Stanford University
	Abstract - Price and wage data from Roman Egypt in the first three centuries CE indicate levels of real income for unskilled workers that are comparable to those implied by price and wage data in Diocletian’s price edict of 301 CE and to those documented in different parts of Europe and Asia in the eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries. In all these cases, consumption was largely limited to goods that were essential for survival and living standards were very low. A survey of daily wages expressed in terms of wheat in different Afroeurasian societies from 2000 BCE to 1300 CE yields similar results: with only few exceptions, real incomes of unskilled laborers tended to be very low.
	This paper has been revised. Please see entry 090904 posted in September 2009.
FEBRUARY
020806	Working Papers, Open Access and Cyber-Infrastructure in Classical Studies
	David Pritchard
	Abstract - This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of the revised version of an article which has been accepted for publication by Literary and Linguistic Computing following peer review. To read the full article, use this link: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2226
020805	Modern histories of ancient Greece: genealogies, contexts and eighteenth-century narrative historiography
	Giovanna Ceserani, Stanford University
	Abstract: This essay is a response to Aleka Lianeri's call to reflect on how encounters with antiquity were foundational to modern categories of historiography, by exploring both the idea of the historical and the discipline's concepts and practices. In taking up such questions I chose to focus on the earliest modern narrative histories of ancient Greece, written at the beginning of the eighteenth century. I examine these works' wider contexts and singular features as well as their reception in the discipline. I argue for the formative role of this moment for modern historiography. Although they were often dismissed as simple narratives, these early modern works provided later historians with a sense of their own modernity. These texts prefigured modern narrative historiography's relationship of simultaneous dependence and independence from its ancient models.
020804	The Intersection of Poetic and Imperial Authority in Phaedrus’ Fables
	Brigitte B. Libby, Princeton University
	Abstract: Phaedrus wrote two fables featuring Roman emperors. In Fable 2.5 we find Emperor Tiberius giving a busybody his deserved come-uppance, and in Fable 3.10 Augustus miraculously solves a murder-suicide case. Yet couched among so many of Phaedrus’ fables that criticize authority figures, these positive portrayals of the emperors come as a surprise to the reader and present a significant problem of interpretation. In exploring the different possible readings of the two poems, this paper follows Phaedrus through a complex interpretive maze and shows how the fabulist’s own self-portrayal intersects with and colors his portrayal of the first two Roman emperors.
	A revised version is now forthcoming in Classical Quarterly 60.2 (2010).
020803	The monetary systems of the Han and Roman empires
	Walter Scheidel, Stanford University
	Abstract - The Chinese tradition of supplementing large quantities of bronze cash with unminted gold and silver represents a rare exception to the western model of precious-metal coinage. This paper provides a detailed discussion of monetary development in ancient China followed by a brief survey of conditions in the Roman empire. The divergent development of the monetary systems of the Han and Roman empires is analyzed with reference to key variables such as the metal supply, military incentives, and cultural preferences. This paper also explores the “metallistic” and “chartalistic” elements of the Han and Roman currency systems and estimates the degree of monetization of both economies.
	This paper replaces version 1.0 (110505) originally posted in November 2005.
	This paper has now been published in "Rome and China: Comparative Perspectives on Ancient World Empires" W. Scheidel (ed.), Oxford University Press: New York, 2009, pp. 137-207.
020802	Real Wages in Roman Egypt: A contribution to recent work on pre-modern living standards
	Walter Scheidel, Stanford University
	This paper has been removed.
020801	Citation scores for ancient historians in the United States
	Walter Scheidel, Stanford University
	Abstract - This survey of citation scores provides a rough measure of the relative impact of scholarship published by forty-eight leading ancient historians in the United States.
JANUARY
010803	Editing the Nation. Classical Scholarship in Greece ca. 1930
	Constanze Güthenke, Princeton University
	Abstract: This article looks at the role of classical scholarship in early twentieth century Greece and its discursive role in discussions of national literature and culture; it focuses on the (German-trained) young scholar Ioannis Sykoutris, particularly his edition of Plato’s Symposium; it is forthcoming in a volume on Classics and National Culture, ed. by Susan Stephens and Phiroze Vasunia for Oxford University Press.
010802	State Intervention and Holy Violence: Timgad / Paleostrovsk / Waco
	Brent D. Shaw, Princeton University
	A revised version of this paper is forthcoming Summer 2008.
010801	Rome's Mediterranean World System and Its Transformation
	Brent D. Shaw, Princeton University
	This paper has been revised. See 040801 entry.

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