There is little evidence to enable us to reconstruct what it felt like to be a child in the Roman world. We do, however, have ample evidence about the feelings and expectations that adults had for children over the centuries between the end of the Roman republic and late antiquity. Thomas Wiedemann draws on this evidence to describe a range of attitudes towards children in the classical period, identifying three areas where greater individuality was assigned to children: through political office-holding; through education; and, for Christians, through membership of the Church in baptism. These developments in both pagan and Christian practices reflect wider social changes in the Roman world during the first four centuries of the Christian era. Of obvious value to classicists, Adults and Children in the Roman Empire, first published in 1989, is also indispensable for anthropologists, and well as those interested in ecclesiastical and social history.

'... it is a marvellous book, striking in detail, lucid and pleasingly unfair in argument, deeply sound in its root feelings and prejudices and genuinely helpful. ... It is years since I came across such a great book.' - Spectator

With the help of a wide variety of source material, particularly legal documents and inscriptions, some of it made available for the first time in English, this book illustrates the activities associated with the household, demonstrating the different and frequently conflicting roles and moral values expected from its various members: male and female, old and young, freedman and slave.

There is little evidence to enable us to reconstruct what it felt like to be a child in the Roman world. We do, however, have ample evidence about the feelings and expectations that adults had for children over the centuries between the end of the Roman republic and late antiquity. Thomas Wiedemann draws on this evidence to describe a range of attitudes towards children in the classical period, identifying three areas where greater individuality was assigned to children: through political office-holding; through education; and, for Christians, through membership of the Church in baptism. These developments in both pagan and Christian practices reflect wider social changes in the Roman world during the first four centuries of the Christian era. Of obvious value to classicists, Adults and Children in the Roman Empire, first published in 1989, is also indispensable for anthropologists, and well as those interested in ecclesiastical and social history.

From the ancient world through to modern times the bodies of slaves have been represented in literature, documentary and personal narrative writing, and in art. This volume presents evidence of the past sins of mankind in both art and literature.

Translated by:
Clare Krojzl

Translated by:
Clare Krojzl

Of all aspects of Roman culture, the gladiatorial contests for which the Romans built their amphitheatres are at once the most fascinating and the most difficult for us to come to terms with. They have been seen variously as sacrifices to the gods or, at funerals, to the souls of the deceased; as a mechanism for introducing young Romans to the horrors of fighting; and as a direct substitute for warfare after the imposition of peace.
In this original and authoritative study, Thomas Wiedemann argues that gladiators were part of the mythical struggle of order and civilisation against the forces of nature, barbarism and law breaking, representing the possibility of a return to new life from the point of death; that Christian Romans rejected gladiatorial games not on humanitarian grounds, but because they were a rival representation of a possible resurrection.

Of all aspects of Roman coulture, the gladiatorial contests for which the Romans built their amphitheatres are at once the most fascinating and the most difficult for us to come to terms with. A number of theories have been put forward to explain their importance: they have been seen as sacrifices to the gods or, at funerals, to the souls of the deceased; as a mechanism for introducing young Romans to the horrors of fighting; and as a direct substitute for warfare after the impostion of peace. Thomas Wiedeman considers why these theories cannot by themselves explain the importance of the `Games' , their association with the emperors, and their decline as the Roman world became Christian. He argues that gladiators were part of the mythical struggle of order and civilisation against the forces of nature, barbarism and law breaking, representing the possibility of a return to new life from the point of death. And that, rather than Christian Romans rejecting gladitorial games on a humanitarian basis, it was because they were a rival representation of the possibility of resurrection: Easter and Christmas replaced gladiators.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203204697

With the help of a wide variety of source material, particularly legal documents and inscriptions, some of it made available for the first time in English, this book illustrates the activities associated with the household, demonstrating the different and frequently conflicting roles and moral values expected from its various members: male and female, old and young, freedman and slave.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203133390

Greek and Roman Slavery brings together fresh English translations of 243 texts and inscriptions on slavery from fifth and fourth century Greece and Rome. The material is arranged thematically, offering the reader a comprehensive review of the idea and practice of slavery in ancient civilization. In addition, a thorough bibliography for each chapter, as well as an extensive index, make this a valuable source for scholars and students.

How the bodies of slaves are pictured in art and written or spoken about is revealing of the attitudes of those who were depicting them, often with the intention of influencing the attitudes of others. Slaves could be presented as inferior to free people, and almost subhuman. Conversely, emphasis could be laid upon their essential humanity and even nobility.

Greek and Roman Slavery brings together fresh English translations of 243 texts and inscriptions on slavery from fifth and fourth century Greece and Rome. The material is arranged thematically, offering the reader a comprehensive review of the idea and practice of slavery in ancient civilization. In addition, a thorough bibliography for each chapter, as well as an extensive index, make this a valuable source for scholars and students.

Gerade in qualitativen Forschungsprojekten werden haufig unterschiedlichste Daten gesammelt und analysiert. Der Sammelband diskutiert die Potenziale und die Herausforderungen, die damit insbesondere fur die Kommunikationswissenschaft und die sozialwissenschaftliche Medienforschung verbunden sind. Neben einer konzeptuellen Einordnung bietet der Band eine UEbersicht aktueller Forschungsprojekte und zeigt auf, welche Herausforderungen und Potenziale der Umgang mit unterschiedlichen Daten mit sich bringt.

This school/university student edition of "Thucydides: Book I" by E.C. Marchant, consisting of Greek text, extensive philological notes and indexes, is supplemented by a useful later introduction and bibliography by Thomas Weidemann, covering the context and aims of the work and giving essential background to the events described.

This book, like its companions on Thucydides books I and IV, is published primarily for students approaching a book of Thucydides for the first time or studying the Peloponnesian War in a more general way. The Greek text and notes are those of E.C. Marchant, originally published in 1891, and the introduction is by Thomas Wiedemann, who takes into account the needs of the modern student and up-to-date research on Thucydides.

Histories of the late Republic and biographies of Cicero havepreviously tended to treat political and cultural developments asessentially separate. In Cicero and the End of the Roman Republic, Thomas Wiedemann takes a fresh approach, looking at Cicero's literaryworks in the context of his public life, and of contemporary politicaland social issues.

Wiedemann explores Cicero's role in thecreation of a new and effective 'Roman' cultural identity demanded bythe process of Italian unification and the consequent collapse of theold Republican party system.

'The dark, unrelenting Tiberius, the furious Caligula, the feeble Claudius, the profligate and cruel Nero..are condemned to everlasting Infamy' wrote Gibbon. This 'infamy' has inspired the work of historians and novelists from Roman times to the present. This book summarises political events during the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero, and the civil wars of the 'year of four emperors'. It considers too the extent to which social factors influenced the imperial household. Assuming no knowledge of Latin and drawing on material including inscriptions and coins, literary history and the latest historical interpretations, the author presents a coherent account of the often apparently erratic actions of these emperors.