"Akritas" – Nikos Kazantzakis' Little-Known Unrealized Epic Project

Author(s): Michal Bzinkowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 20/2017

Kazantzakis’ Odyssey – apart from the abundance of philosophical as well as ideological influences of many different sources which the writer tried to unify into a universal cosmotheory – constitutes a large-scale attempt by a Modern Greek writer to respond to Homeric epic. Yet, the author of Zorba the Greek sketched another epic composition that, according to his vision, aimed at reaching further than his magnum opus. His ambition was to encompass the long-lasting period between Ancient and Modern Greece, namely that of the Byzantine empire and its radiating influence on Greek consciousness and identity. He entitled his project Akritas, thus directly alluding to the only epic poem in Byzantine Greek literature, Digenes Akritas, and its protagonist as well as to acritic songs from Cyprus, where the latter’s name appears. In the present paper I would like to shed some light on Kazantzakis’ approach to Byzantium and its significance in defining the Greek identity through this unfinished sketch that the writer in fact never began.

"ΓΑΔΑΤΗС". OBSERVAŢII ASUPRA UNUI ANTROPONIM DE PE UN GRAFFITO DE LA ROMULA

Author(s): Mihail Vasilescu / Language(s): English,Romanian / Issue: 1/2010

As a result of the archaeological research developed at the Roman settlement of Romula a fragment of a Roman pottery was discovered, which is nowadays preserved in the Museum of Caracal. Here the word ΓΑΔΑΤΗС was incised. D. Tudor considered it a Syrian anthroponym derived from the name of the god Gad, which lead to the formation of numerous Syro-Palmyrean anthroponyms. This opinion was shared by all those who, up to the time being, inserted this graffito in various epigraphic corpora of Dacia, considering it as further evidence of the Syrian presence in Roman Dacia. Yet, the supporters of such a viewpoint did not take into account all the available data which allows us to assert that Gadates is definitely an Iranian anthroponym attested on other sources as following: Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, The Letter of Darius to Gadatas, the Elamite Ka-da-da inscription discovered in the Persepolis fortifications, a Greek inscription from Delos and another Greek inscription from Antiphellos in Lycia pertaining to the Roman period. Xenophon’s Gadatas and the one mentioned in the Letter provide the Iranian character of the anthroponym. Within the Letter, Darius specifically name Gadatas ‘(his) slave’. We encounter this term in the Old Persian variant of the Behistun inscription as comprised in the collocation mana bandaka, meaning ‘my subject’ or ‘my servant’. It exclusively refers to the highest ranked Iranian individuals in the proximity of the Great King. Gadatas anthroponym is probably ahypochoristic derived from Bagadata, a very widespread name in the pre-Islamic Iranian world, having the same meaning with the Greek Theodotos and the Slavic Bogdan, i.e. ‘the Gift of God’. We do not know precisely where Gatates of Romula came from. He could belong to Syria as well, where the Iranian anthroponyms were natural, as the land had been subjected to the Iranian rule for more than two centuries.

"Патриарху крымоведения" посвящается

Author(s): Mikhail M. Choref / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 2/2010

2000 godina Varove bitke

Author(s): Barbara Stühlmeyer / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 1-2/2010

"Bio je to 9/11 Rimskog Carstva, kad su 9. godine poslije Krista tri legije – oko 18 000 vojnika – pobijene u gerilskom ratu upravo u onoj provinciji Germaniji koju se smatralo, iako ne potpuno pokorenom, ipak prilično umirenom. U povijest je taj pokolj ušao pod ne sasvim točnim nazivima: Varova bitka, bitka u Teutoburškoj šumi, Arminijeva bitka i Hermannova bitka. Dakako ne odmah. Jer sami rimski izvori o sukobu između okupacijskih postrojbi i pobunjenih plemena onih naroda koje se tek nakon Cezara jednostavno nazivalo zajedničkim imenom Germani, govore točnije kao o Clades Variana, kao o “Varovu porazu”. Razumljivo. Na koncu rijetko se izgubljenu bitku poistovjećivalo s imenom poraženog. Čak i naziv bitka je neprikladan, ako se pomnije prouče izvještaji rimskih povjesničara i rezultati najnovijih arheoloških istraživanja. Da je došlo do bitke u kojoj su legije mogle pokazati svoje nadmoćne borbene tehnike, pobjednik bi se vjerojatno zvao Var a mi bismo danas govorili jedim od mnogobrojnih romanskih jezika. "

2000 години от битката за Германия

Author(s): Valentin Spiridonov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2011

The article dwells on the causes which led to the famous Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, its outcome and subsequent significance for the history of Germany. The author focuses on the inclusion of the victory over the Romans 2, 000 years ago in the construction of the German national idea from the from the Renaissance to the present day, as well as on the creation of the myth about Hermann the Victor.

2000-Vjetori i Vdekjes së Perandorit Romak August

Author(s): Naser Ferri / Language(s): Albanian / Issue: 44/2014

In 23rd September of the year 63 BC was born, and in 19th of august 14 BC in Nola near Napoli died Caius Octavius Thurinus, known as the founder of Roman Empire and the first Roman Emperor (Imperator Caesar divi filius Augustus). Due to his intellectual abilities and oratory skills, Octavian Augustus was adopted by his uncle Caius Julius Caesar. Augustus was staying in Illyricum for education in the first half of first century BC, and he arrived in Rome in year 44.BC when Caesar was murdered in Roman Senat. As Caesar’s adopted son he started persecuting the killers by forming the Second Triumvirate in year 43 BC, in order to gain the support of the allies: Mark Anthony, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and the Roman citizens. After the battles near Actium (31 BC) and Alexandria (30 BC) in which ended the bloody Civil Wars, Octavianus ended wars in Egypt and Balkans. He proclaimed peace, secured state boarders, retired the biggest part of Army (about 500.000 soldiers), founded the Roman Empire in form of a Principate, co-ruled by the Emperor and Senate, brought growth to Economy, Culture and brought back ancient roman religious believes, founding also worship of the Emperor cult. It was the first period of the Roman Empire, extending from the beginning of the reign of Augustus Caesar to the Crisis of the Third Century, after which it was replaced with the Dominate. In Illyricum Augustus conquered the tribes of Iapodes, Dalmatae, Dardani and some other Illyrian tribes, to which he opened a road to progress in Roman Society. Emperor Tiberius (14-37 AD), his adoptive son, inherited Augustus since he did not have a biological son. Augustus was the first and the best Roman Emperor without doubt, and the period when Augustus ruled was the “golden age in history of the Roman State”, because the Roman State arrived the highest splendor.

712 jelentősége a 25. dinasztia kronológiájában és az egyiptomi-kusita történelemben

Author(s): Gábor Erdos / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2010

In 2001, Dahn’lel Kahn suggested a new chronology for the history of the 25th (kushite) dynasty which he based on new data of the inscription of Sargon II at Tang-i Var published in 1999. Although his new chronology reinterpreted the events of the contemporary Egyptian and Kushite history at many points, it is not free from misinterpretations and shortcomings. Th e author of the present essay tries to prove why he thinks that Dahn’el Kahn’s theory can not be accepted without any doubts by interpreting the known sources more precisely and joint studying such biblical and Assyrian sources which haven’t been study in the context of the problem yet.

A 20. század eleji erősdi ásatások és a Cucuteni-Tripolje kultúra kutatásának kezdetei

Bevezető sorok László Ferenc Az erősdi edények típusai című tanulmányához

Author(s): Attila László / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: II/2007

This year, we celebrate a century since Ferenc László (1873-1925) began, in 1907, his methodical archaeological excavations on the prehistoric settlement of Ariuşd, considered to be the first systematic research at a large scale, carried out on a site of the late Neolithic-chalcolithic Ariuşd- Cucuteni-Tripolye civilization of Eastern Europe (see NESTOR 1973, 25). This paper is dedicated to this anniversary, as well as the publication, in this volume, of the original Hungarian text of Ferenc László's study on the pottery types from Ariuşd. The study was initially was translated and published in French by Vasile Pârvan after the death of the author (LÁSZLÓ F. 1924/1927. See also PÂRVAN 1924/1927). Until now, only some fragments have been published in Hungarian (LÁSZLÓ F. 1978, 189-202). The first part of this paper is focused on the discovery of the first sites with painted pottery in the last decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, not so much inside the Carpathian arch (Ariuşd, Bod, in Transylvania), as outside it, in Galicia (Bilcze Zlote, Horodnica), Bukovina (Schipenitz), Moldavia (Cucuteni), Bassarabia (Petreni) and in Ukraine (Tripolye), provinces which were then parts of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the Russian Empire and the Old Romanian Kingdom. The cultural-historical and chronological evaluation of these discoveries is also discussed in the context of the prehistoric archaeology of those times. As far as the debut of the systematic researches are concerned, we made a short presentation of the preliminaries, the development and the main results of Hubert Schmidt's excavations at Cucuteni (1909-1910) and of those carried out by Ferenc László in Ariuşd (1907-1913, 1925), together with some remarks concerning the research methodology and scholarly approach of the two archaeologists. In order to continue some former researches/research topics/scholarly trends/ (see LÁSZLÓ A. 1973; 1978; 1987 etc), we focused this paper on certain issues such as Ferenc László's formation as an archaeologist, the main stages of his life and scientific activity, his methods of excavation and investigation of finds, his view concerning the purpose of the archaeological research. We insisted on the methodological correctness of the excavations: the careful written documentation, accurate drawings and the photos of the discoveries and of the observed archaeological phenomena (stratigraphic conditions, fortifications, houses, fireplaces, ovens, etc.), the interdisciplinary spirit of the investigations (for example, the chemical analysis of the metal and clay objects, the archaeobotanical determination of the plant remains, or even the ethnographic analogies/comparison), the attempt to reconstitute, using the material remains, the way of life and thinking of prehistoric people. Ferenc. László's (palaeo) ethnological approach is close to the nowadays „New Archaeology" approach according to which prehistoric archaeology is „the anthropology of the past" or „the past tense of the cultural anthropology" and is different from Hubert Schmidt's rather historicizing conception, which sought to define stages of evolution and to establish the traces of some contacts and migrations, sometimes at great distances. In the final part of the paper, with references regarding to the unpublished correspondence of Ferenc László with István Kovács and Vasile Pârvan, we have discussed the contexts in which the study on the pottery types from Ariuşd, still a matter of interest even today, was written and published in Dacia. Finally, some details are given to the publication in Hungarian of the paper in this volume.

A Balaton-Lasinja-kultúra települése és kincslelete Magyaregresen

Author(s): Péter Hornok,Péter Kiss / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2017

The Middle Copper Age hoard discovered at Magyaregres came to light from a closed assemblage during an archaeological investigation. The exceptionally fortuitous find circumstances enabled important observations in the field and during the conservation of the finds. The assemblage was also submitted to various scientific analyses. The settlement of the Balaton-Lasinja community that had buried this hoard offers an excellent illustration of the diversity of the period’s architectural traditions.

A BAR KOCHBA-FELKELÉS - A KUTATÁS FÉL-ÉVSZÁZADÁNAK EREDMÉNYEI ÉS KIHÍVÁSAI

Author(s): Tibor Grüll / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2008

According to a commonplace in scholarly literature it is unachievable to write the history of the Bar Kochba revolt. This paper does not attempt the impossible, it merely attempts to take into account the way in which our evidences, that came to light in the last half-century, repaint the traditional picture of the insurrection. The first five chapters discuss the antecedents of the revolt, i.e., the short and long-term consequences of the churban; the uprising under Trajan (the so-called “war of Quietus”); the administrative, economic and military situation of Judaea from 70 to 132 C.E., mainly on the basis of the Babatha-archive. The immediate cause of the Bar Kochba revolt is still debated, as both the foundation of Colonia Aelia Capitolina (ch. 5), and the ban on circumcision, introduced by Hadrian’s legislation (ch. 6), can be taken into account. It is not clear, however, whether these oppressive measures were taken before or after 132; in other words, whether they were causes or consequences of the war. The following chapter is dedicated to Bar Kochba’s messianic pretensions, which, among other things, can be verified with the strong halachic orientation of the papyri produced by the administration of the revolt (ch. 8). Ch. 9 examines the character and magnitude of the Roman military participation in the Bar Kochba revolt, as these are illuminated by the extant epigraphic material. The last chapter deals with the Jewish guerilla tactics and bases: the rebels’ hiding complexes that from the 1990’s have been explored in the territory of Judaea.

A BARADLA-BARLANG RÉGÉSZETI KUTATÁSA

Author(s): Balázs Holl / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2007

The Baradla was the first cave to be examined archaeologically in Hungary, yet it is not fully documented still. We will attempt to construct the archaeological topography of the cave, collecting the data from previous studies and from our own survey. The data from the literature contains several misinterpretations according to our in situ examinations, because the authors has limited or incorrect information on the speleological circumstances. The cave is an important archaeological site compared to the sites on the surface, and other neighboring caves. The only archaeological site known on the surface is at the Aggtelek entrance, and the Domica and Ördög-lyuk (Čertova diera) are the known caves with archaeological finds. The Baradla Cave System is a hydrologically continuous unit from the Domica Cave in Slovakia to Jósvafő, but the archaeological site can only be associated with Aggtelek, because the Jósvafő entrance was opened only recently, and the connection with Domica is hardly passable, at same places only underwater connections exists. There is a clear logical connection to the neolithic site at the Domica, but these are separate sites – the distance is 2 km. The strong erosion of the karstic surface makes the archaeological sites in the caves more important – nothing is preserved on the surface. The finds are usually washed down to a cave, but that can not be considered an archaeological site in a cave. In the smaller caves the strata and other phenomena could be easily damaged because of an improper excavation. In the Baradla Cave the strata and other phenomena are intact on large areas. The cave is located at the Aggtelek karstic region. There are only temporary lakes and streams close to the Aggtelek entrance. Secular changes in the climate or the geomorphology (as filling up of the gullies) could result in different surface hydrological situations after a few centuries. This obviously affects the habitability of the region. We consider the water systems in the caves more stable.

A BÉKÉSCSABAI KÉSŐROMÁN KORI ARANY MELLTŰ

Author(s): Imre Szatmári / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1-2/2005

In 1878, a golden brooch was inventorised to the Hungarian National Museum, coming to the capital from Békéscsaba (Fig. 1a–b). The object is decorated with human figures, interpreted as a dancing couple of a couple of lovers, man and woman. Probably, the object was intended to clasp the neck-aperture of a lady’s dress. In most of the publications, this object was erroneously mentioned as coming from Tömörd, Komárom county and only most recent research could correctly identify its Békéscsaba provenance.

A besenyők és az oguzok vándorlása a VIII. században

Author(s): Attila Katona-Kiss / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 0

A BIBLIAI PARADICSOMTÓL MOZART PÁSZTORKIRÁLYÁIG

Author(s): István Borzsák / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1-2/2002

Metastasio, the librettist of Mozart’s “Il re pastore” wrote his libretto on the basis of Curtius Rufus and according to the claims of his epoch and royal court of Maria Theresa with due knots. Aminta, mounted the throne by the favour of Alexander the Great, is nobody else as Abdalonymus, mentioned repeatedly by ancient authors. He was bearer of mythic oriental traditions whose figure was transformed to (the invented) Cincinnatus, incarnating the ancient Roman ideals. Recently, the orientalist W. Fauth revealed the far-ramified treasure of this oriental tradition in his wide-ranging study. By its help the classical philologist can establish unexpected coherences between the cosmological relations of the ancient oriental royal symbolics and the phenomena, unexplained so far, of the Greco-Roman culture (descriptions of paradise, Roma quadrata, political motives of the rise of Roman historiography, etc.). As addition to the subject presented itself the contemporary description of the game reserve at Vienna of the Austrian archduke Maximilian (the later Emperor and King) as an attempt to put into practice the antique idea of paradise in modern Europe.

A BIBRACTEI BAZILIKA KELTEZÉSÉNEK KÉRDÉSÉHEZ

Author(s): Dániel Szabó / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2006

A BODROGKERESZTÚRI KULTÚRA BELSŐ IDŐRENDJÉRŐL

Author(s): Pál Patay / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2008

A szerző áttekinti a kultúra temetőinek kerámia leletanyagát, azt vizsgálva, hogy abban milyen mértékben vannak jelen olyan típusok, elemek, amelyeket Bognár-Kutzián Ida a kultúra késői (B) fázisa jellegzetességeiként ismert fel. Ezt követően áttekinti mindazon edényféleséget, amelynek a kultúra belső időrendje szempontjából jelentősége lehet. Végül foglalkozik a polgár-basatanyai temető sírjainak időrendjével is.

A Brief Military History of the Later Reign of Šāpur II

Author(s): Michael Richard JACKSON BONNER / Language(s): English / Issue: 6/2017

This is a brief history of the wars of Šāpur II from the middle of the fourth century to the death of that king in theyear 379. These conflicts represent the military operations of the Sasanid state at its height before a gradual decline underthe successor to Šāpur II.

A bronze steelyard with an acorn-shaped counterweight from the Paphos Agora

Author(s): Ewdoksia Papuci-Wladyka,Maciej Waclawik / Language(s): English / Issue: 20/2016

Steelyards were commonly used by sellers at agorae and fora during the Roman and Byzantine periods. They are based on the principle of the lever, mentioned by Aristotle and probably well-known even earlier. One steelyard made of bronze has been found, together with an acorn-shaped counterweight, at the agora of Nea Paphos during an excavation conducted by the Department of Classical Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University. Also preserved were fragments of chain and two hooks that were used to hang the weighted objects, as well as fragment of a third hook. The device represents the Pompeian type of steelyard and can be dated by analogy to other examples from the 1st century AD. The Paphos balance may be evidence of the use of a local island weighting system based on an operating unit other than the Roman pound (libra).

A BŰBÁJOS VIRGILIUS - A VERGILIUS-ÉLETRAJZOK KALANDOS TORZULÁSAI

Author(s): István Borzsák / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2003

We tried to follow up the incredibly rich posterity of Vergilius in the context of the antique biographical literature, more exactly in that of the biographies of writers. As to a modest modern complement to the collection, indispensable even today, by D. Comparetti (Virgilio nel medio evo), we drew attention to a trash of the 19th century (The miraculous story of the enchanting Vergilius), the author of which „enriched” the already otherwise adventurously embellished biography of the poet with further romantic — even foolish! — inventions. Of course, not even this can damage the fame of the divines poeta.

A cemetery of the Gáta–Wieselburg culture at Nagycenk (Western Hungary)

Author(s): János Gömöri,Eszter Melis,Viktória Kiss / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2018

The 29 individuals found in 27 graves at Nagycenk were buried there in the time period between 2000–1700 BC, according to radiocarbon dates – i.e. at the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age in Hungary. The cemetery is of unique importance, both because of the richness of burial assemblages (altogether 30 bronze objects, 5 gold jewelries) and the scarcity of known Gáta–Wieselburg cemeteries. 15 percent of the ca. 180 burials in total, which relate to this culture in Hungary, are in this cemetery, and because of the few published burial sites, the cemetery at Nagycenk represents about one fourth of the materials published so far in the whole distribution area of the culture. Pottery style, typology and raw material of metal artefacts, as well as the radiocarbon dates (with the earliest among the published radiocarbon dates in context of this culture) support the dating of the cemetery section to the early phase of the Gáta–Wieselburg culture. The oval arrangement of burials around grave 55 and grave 1 suggest that each of these correspond to a household of high status men representing a few generations of the population living in the settlement excavated in the vicinity of Nagycenk.