John Bodel | Brown University (original) (raw)

Articles and chapters by John Bodel

Research paper thumbnail of Not so funny after all: On deconstructing (and reconstructing) the text of Petronius -2024

Dustin W. Dixon and Mary C. English, eds., The Spirit of Aristophanes: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey Henderson (Edinburgh Press: Edinburgh), 2024

In 1971 Helmut van Thiel published a short monograph in which he proposed that the text of Petron... more In 1971 Helmut van Thiel published a short monograph in which he proposed that the text of Petronius, as we have it, presents parts of the narrative out of order and therefore needs to be restored to its original form. This chapter explores the consequences of following Van Thiel’s prescriptions for our appreciation of the Quartilla episode, a badly damaged and curiously repetitive section of narrative (16-25) in which a priestess of Priapus exacts punishment for an unwitting transgression from the narrator and his companions. Consideration of the setting and mise en scene points to an extended parodic imitation of a two-stage initiation into a mystery cult rather than to any deep textual corruption.

Research paper thumbnail of Libitina’s laborers: praeficae and the origins of the Roman funerary trade - 2024

Del Maticic and Jordan Rogers, eds., Working Lives in Ancient Rome (Palgrave MacMillan: New York) , 2024

No figure in the shadowy history of the Roman funerary trade has attracted more interest than the... more No figure in the shadowy history of the Roman funerary trade has attracted more interest than the praefica, a woman hired to perform at Roman funerals, and no feature of her work has excited more curiosity than her song, the nenia. Notable already to Aristotle, the praefica and her nenia were obscure and a matter of speculation to Roman antiquarians by the end of the second century BCE. In this paper I attempt to unravel the early history of the praefica by tracing the decline of her role as praise-singer and the reduction of her funerary function to that of leader of the ritual lament, which included at the end a generic song enrolling the newly deceased into the community of the dead, the nenia. I locate the period of transition around the time of the Second Punic War, when funerary orations delivered in the Roman Forum first begin to become common, and I pinpoint a proximate cause of the change in the aftermath of the Battle of Cannae in 216, when Roman authorities restricted public mourning.

Research paper thumbnail of Omnia in nummis: money and the monetary economy in Petronius - 2003

G. Urso, ed., Moneta, mercanti, banchieri. I precedenti greci e romani dell’Euro (Fondazione Niccolo Canussio: Pisa , 2003

Talk of money is ubiquitous in what survives of Petronius's Satyrica. It pervades the conversatio... more Talk of money is ubiquitous in what survives of Petronius's Satyrica. It pervades the conversation of the freedmen guests of Trimalchio and moti­ vates the arch moralizing of the narrator Encolpius and his companions. The attitudes of the freedmen guests assembled at Trimalchio's banquet do not reflect the monetary vicissitudes of the real world but the author's intention to delineate through the freedmen's talk of money a metaphorical map of their construction of the social universe.

Research paper thumbnail of Epigraphic culture and the epigraphic mode - 2023

in Rebecca Benefiel and Catherine Keesling, eds., Inscriptions and the Epigraphic Habit (Brill: Leiden and Boston), 2023

Over the past half century the field of epigraphic studies has shifted away from a quasi-exclusiv... more Over the past half century the field of epigraphic studies has shifted away from a quasi-exclusive focus on the editing and interpretation of ancient Greek and Latin inscriptions to broader consideration of the place of inscribed writing in classical culture. Discussions of an “epigraphic habit” and of the relevance of inscriptions for evaluating ancient levels and types of literacy have developed independently and have followed different courses, to the extent that the very definition of “inscription” has once again been opened. This paper proposes a new way of assessing the “epigraphic” quality of any type of ancient writing along a scale of modality measured by the degree to which it takes advantage visually of its location, material support, language, writing technique, layout, or register of expression to enhance its meaning for its targeted audience. Various types of the form are illustrated, exempli gratia, with inscriptions drawn predominantly from Pompeii.

Research paper thumbnail of Machine Learning for Ancient Languages: A Survey - 2023

Computational Linguistics 49.3, 2023

Co-authored with Thea Sommerschield, Yannis Assael, and Ioannis Pavlopoulos (lead authors), Vanes... more Co-authored with Thea Sommerschield, Yannis Assael, and Ioannis Pavlopoulos (lead authors), Vanessa Stefanak, Andrew Senior, Chris Dyer, Jonathan Prag, Ion Androutsopoulos, and Nando de Freitas

Ancient languages preserve the cultures and histories of the past. However, their study is fraught with difficulties, and experts must tackle a range of challenging text-based tasks, from deciphering lost languages to restoring damaged inscriptions, to determining the authorship of works of literature. Technological aids have long supported the study of ancient texts, but in recent years advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning have enabled analyses on a scale and in a detail that are reshaping the field of humanities, similarly to how microscopes and telescopes have contributed to the realm of science. This article aims to provide a comprehensive survey of published research using machine learning for the study of ancient texts written in any language, script, and medium, spanning over three and a half millennia of civilizations around the ancient world. To analyze the relevant literature, we introduce a taxonomy of tasks inspired by the steps involved in the study of ancient documents: digitization, restoration, attribution, linguistic analysis, textual criticism, translation, and decipherment. This work offers three major contributions: first, mapping the interdisciplinary field carved out by the synergy between the humanities and machine learning; second, highlighting how active collaboration between specialists from both fields is key to producing impactful and compelling scholarship; third, highlighting promising directions for future work in this field. Thus, this work promotes and supports the continued collaborative impetus between the humanities and machine learning.

Research paper thumbnail of Documenting identity in the early Roman empire - 2022

J. Arthur-Montagne, S.J. DiGiulio, and I.N.I. Kuin, eds, Documentality. New Approaches to Written Documents in Imperial Life and Literature, 2022

This chapter examines the role that written records played in legal discussions of identity and c... more This chapter examines the role that written records played in legal
discussions of identity and citizenship in ancient Rome, and demonstrates that the evolutionary narrative of documentality, as posited by Maurizio Ferraris and Enrico Terrone, must be reevaluated. The manner in which Romans attested to the identities of individuals suggests that Roman evidentiary practices transcend the written document in cases of identity, given their dependence on witness testimony and oral utterance. Even Roman texts that aimed to establish identity were largely ineffective at imposing social reality until the Edict of Caracalla. This relative slowness to move beyond the oral document appears to violate the teleology inherent in Ferraris’s model, and ultimately suggests that
Roman Imperial documentary practice never truly set off the “virtuous cycle” of practices and documents postulated in Ferraris’s Documentality.

Research paper thumbnail of The semiotics of signa and the significance of signs in Roman stamps-2021

in J. Bodel and S. Houston, eds., The Hidden Language of Graphic Signs. Cryptic Writing and Meaningful Marks, 2021

M arks intentionally made by humans are found as early as 70,000 years BP, and systematic notatio... more M arks intentionally made by humans are found as early as 70,000 years BP, and systematic notations on stone, ivory, and antler become more common with the development of tools and painting in the Upper Paleolithic period (Perrin et al. 2010: 7), but the earliest known medium of graphic communication in the Mediterranean and Near Eastern world is baked clay. Clay products made throughout the region in the premodern eratablets, tiles, bricks, pots, containers, cookware, tableware, architectural elements, and so oncharacteristically bore a variety of man-made marks to identify, claim, or categorize them for a variety of purposes. The first intentional markings may have been made in imitation of the casual marks created during the manufacturing or drying processscratches or striations produced by a tool, or hand or fingerprints created in modeling. In a secondary stage, simple tally marks, scores, and crossed lines (X) represent the earliest phases of abstract marking and constitute the primary forms of preliterate graphicacy, a mode of communication built around graphic schemata and patterns and distinct from both direct visual symbolism and linguistic literacy (see Ferraris 2013: 200-02; cf. Garipzanov 2015; and Chapter 9 in this volume). Indeed, according to one prominent theory, the cuneiform script used for the earliest writing developed precisely out of the use in southern Mesopotamia of clay tokens for counting and accountancy (see Perrin et al. 2010: 12); and already from the third millennium bce pot marks in ancient Egypt served a variety of functions (Budka and Engel 2015).

Research paper thumbnail of Liber Esto: Free Speech at the Banquet of Trimalchio - 2019

S. Panayotakis and M. Paschalis, eds. Slaves and Masters in the Ancient Novel , 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Ancient slavery and modern ideologies: Orlando Patterson and M. I. Finley among the dons - 2019

Theory and Society 48, 2019

In 1978 and 1979, while a visiting fellow at Cambridge University, Orlando Patterson engaged in a... more In 1978 and 1979, while a visiting fellow at Cambridge University, Orlando Patterson engaged in a number of conversations about slavery with Cambridge ancient historian M. I. Finley. Both men were at the time writing influential books on slavery that would mark important benchmarks in their careers and defined two approaches to the study of slavery, one fading in significance, the other introducing a comparative approach to the institution more focused on dynamics of power and social alienation. At the end of 1978, Finley delivered at the Collège de France four lectures that summarized his thinking on the topic over more than thirty years; two years later they appeared in print under the title Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology. In 1982 Patterson published
Slavery and Social Death, a ground-breaking study that to this day remains unparalleled in its attempt to establish a globally valid definition of slavery applicable to some sixty-six slave-owning societies across three millennia.
This article explores the intersection of these two works, the intellectual currents of the times in which they were produced, and the influence each exerted on the study of slavery in subsequent decades, as models and paradigms of two approaches to understanding the significance of the institution.

Research paper thumbnail of Roman tomb gardens - 2018

in W. F. Jashemski†, K. L. Gleason, K. J. Hartswick, and A. Malek eds., Gardens of the Roman Empire (Cambridge Univ. Press: Cambridge), 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Trimalchio’s cargo (Petr. 76, 6) - 2017

in L. Chioffi, M. Kajava, S. Örmä, eds., Il Mediterraneo e la storia II. Naviganti, popoli e culture ad Ischia e in altri luoghi della costa tirrenica (Acta IRF 45) (Rome 2017) 75-87, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of Death and social death in ancient Rome - 2017

in J. Bodel and W. Scheidel, eds., On Human Bondage: After Slavery and Social Death, (Blackwell:... more in J. Bodel and W. Scheidel, eds., On Human Bondage: After Slavery and Social Death, (Blackwell: Oxford 2017) 81-108.

Research paper thumbnail of The publication of Pliny's Letters - 2015

in I. Marchesi, ed., Pliny the Book-Maker: Betting on Posterity (Oxford Univ. Press: Oxford 2015)... more in I. Marchesi, ed., Pliny the Book-Maker: Betting on Posterity (Oxford Univ. Press: Oxford 2015) 13-108.

Research paper thumbnail of Status dissonance and status dissidents in the equestrian order - 2015

Research paper thumbnail of The life and death of ancient Roman cemeteries. Living with the dead in imperial Rome - 2014

This essay explores the implications for our understanding of ancient Roman burial and commemorat... more This essay explores the implications for our understanding of ancient Roman burial and commemorative practices of the obliteration of three large suburban cemeteries during
the first three centuries of the imperial period, at intervals of approximately 150 to 200 years. Specifically, it investigates the closing down of the Esquiline burial ground to the
east of the city by Maecenas around 35 BCE, of the Via Salaria necropolis north of the city by Trajan around 110 CE, and of sections of the Vatican cemeteries along the Via
Cornelia to the west of the city by Constantine in the 320s CE. Consideration of the circumstances of these closings suggests 1) that the average "lifespan" of a suburban
Roman necropolis, if one restricts the view to the period of its most active use, is likewise about 150 to 200 years; 2) that the coincidence of these two periods is not
accidental but 3) is instead due to the influence of purposeful imperial interventions into the landscape. Subsequent developments in suburban burial at Rome during the later fourth, fifth and sixth centuries, though ostensibly marking a break with the past, seem merely to have reoriented the dynamics of the relationship between the living and the dead.

Research paper thumbnail of Inscriptions and Literacy - 2014

In C. Bruun and J. Edmondson, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy (Oxford Univ. Press: O... more In C. Bruun and J. Edmondson, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy (Oxford Univ. Press: Oxford 2014) 745-63

Research paper thumbnail of Inventive Inscriptions: Afterword - 2014

In A. Cooley and D. Orrells eds., Inventive Inscriptions. The Organization of Epigraphic Knowled... more In A. Cooley and D. Orrells eds., Inventive Inscriptions. The Organization of Epigraphic Knowledge in the Nineteenth Century (Journal of the History of Collections 26.3 [2014]
doi: 10.1093/jhc/fhu047)

Research paper thumbnail of Virgil Encyclopedia - Inscriptions - 2013

In R. F. Thomas and J. Ziolkowski, eds., The Virgil Encyclopedia (Blackwell: Oxford 2013) 655-56.

Research paper thumbnail of Translation into English of S. Panciera, “Che cos’è un’epigrafe? Problemi definitori e identitari di una fonte storica” - 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Villaculture - 2012

f n an infuential article published more than rwenry-five years ago in the LYale ArcltitecturalJo... more f n an infuential article published more than rwenry-five years ago in the LYale ArcltitecturalJournal, James Ackerman defined the villa as "a building in the country designed for its owner's enjoyment and relaxatiori'; although it might serve a productive function, "rhe pleasure factor is what essentially distinguishes this kind of residence from a farmhouse." According to Ackerman, once the basic program of the villa became "fixed by the patricians of ancient Rome, [it] remained unchanged for cwo thousand years," for the simple reason that "it fulfill[ed] a need that never alter [ed]." "This need," he goes on, "because it is nor mererial but psychological and ideological . . . , is not subject to the influences of evolving societies and technologies. The villa accommodates a fantasy impervious to realiry."l Leaving aside the imprecision of the reference to patricians, we may readily acknowledge as characteristic of the golden age of aristocrati c uilleggiatura that began in the Ciceronian era the paradigmatic idea of the villa that Ackerman describes, and we may recognize as prescient his characterization of its essence as less a form of architecture than a frame of mind.

Research paper thumbnail of Not so funny after all: On deconstructing (and reconstructing) the text of Petronius -2024

Dustin W. Dixon and Mary C. English, eds., The Spirit of Aristophanes: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey Henderson (Edinburgh Press: Edinburgh), 2024

In 1971 Helmut van Thiel published a short monograph in which he proposed that the text of Petron... more In 1971 Helmut van Thiel published a short monograph in which he proposed that the text of Petronius, as we have it, presents parts of the narrative out of order and therefore needs to be restored to its original form. This chapter explores the consequences of following Van Thiel’s prescriptions for our appreciation of the Quartilla episode, a badly damaged and curiously repetitive section of narrative (16-25) in which a priestess of Priapus exacts punishment for an unwitting transgression from the narrator and his companions. Consideration of the setting and mise en scene points to an extended parodic imitation of a two-stage initiation into a mystery cult rather than to any deep textual corruption.

Research paper thumbnail of Libitina’s laborers: praeficae and the origins of the Roman funerary trade - 2024

Del Maticic and Jordan Rogers, eds., Working Lives in Ancient Rome (Palgrave MacMillan: New York) , 2024

No figure in the shadowy history of the Roman funerary trade has attracted more interest than the... more No figure in the shadowy history of the Roman funerary trade has attracted more interest than the praefica, a woman hired to perform at Roman funerals, and no feature of her work has excited more curiosity than her song, the nenia. Notable already to Aristotle, the praefica and her nenia were obscure and a matter of speculation to Roman antiquarians by the end of the second century BCE. In this paper I attempt to unravel the early history of the praefica by tracing the decline of her role as praise-singer and the reduction of her funerary function to that of leader of the ritual lament, which included at the end a generic song enrolling the newly deceased into the community of the dead, the nenia. I locate the period of transition around the time of the Second Punic War, when funerary orations delivered in the Roman Forum first begin to become common, and I pinpoint a proximate cause of the change in the aftermath of the Battle of Cannae in 216, when Roman authorities restricted public mourning.

Research paper thumbnail of Omnia in nummis: money and the monetary economy in Petronius - 2003

G. Urso, ed., Moneta, mercanti, banchieri. I precedenti greci e romani dell’Euro (Fondazione Niccolo Canussio: Pisa , 2003

Talk of money is ubiquitous in what survives of Petronius's Satyrica. It pervades the conversatio... more Talk of money is ubiquitous in what survives of Petronius's Satyrica. It pervades the conversation of the freedmen guests of Trimalchio and moti­ vates the arch moralizing of the narrator Encolpius and his companions. The attitudes of the freedmen guests assembled at Trimalchio's banquet do not reflect the monetary vicissitudes of the real world but the author's intention to delineate through the freedmen's talk of money a metaphorical map of their construction of the social universe.

Research paper thumbnail of Epigraphic culture and the epigraphic mode - 2023

in Rebecca Benefiel and Catherine Keesling, eds., Inscriptions and the Epigraphic Habit (Brill: Leiden and Boston), 2023

Over the past half century the field of epigraphic studies has shifted away from a quasi-exclusiv... more Over the past half century the field of epigraphic studies has shifted away from a quasi-exclusive focus on the editing and interpretation of ancient Greek and Latin inscriptions to broader consideration of the place of inscribed writing in classical culture. Discussions of an “epigraphic habit” and of the relevance of inscriptions for evaluating ancient levels and types of literacy have developed independently and have followed different courses, to the extent that the very definition of “inscription” has once again been opened. This paper proposes a new way of assessing the “epigraphic” quality of any type of ancient writing along a scale of modality measured by the degree to which it takes advantage visually of its location, material support, language, writing technique, layout, or register of expression to enhance its meaning for its targeted audience. Various types of the form are illustrated, exempli gratia, with inscriptions drawn predominantly from Pompeii.

Research paper thumbnail of Machine Learning for Ancient Languages: A Survey - 2023

Computational Linguistics 49.3, 2023

Co-authored with Thea Sommerschield, Yannis Assael, and Ioannis Pavlopoulos (lead authors), Vanes... more Co-authored with Thea Sommerschield, Yannis Assael, and Ioannis Pavlopoulos (lead authors), Vanessa Stefanak, Andrew Senior, Chris Dyer, Jonathan Prag, Ion Androutsopoulos, and Nando de Freitas

Ancient languages preserve the cultures and histories of the past. However, their study is fraught with difficulties, and experts must tackle a range of challenging text-based tasks, from deciphering lost languages to restoring damaged inscriptions, to determining the authorship of works of literature. Technological aids have long supported the study of ancient texts, but in recent years advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning have enabled analyses on a scale and in a detail that are reshaping the field of humanities, similarly to how microscopes and telescopes have contributed to the realm of science. This article aims to provide a comprehensive survey of published research using machine learning for the study of ancient texts written in any language, script, and medium, spanning over three and a half millennia of civilizations around the ancient world. To analyze the relevant literature, we introduce a taxonomy of tasks inspired by the steps involved in the study of ancient documents: digitization, restoration, attribution, linguistic analysis, textual criticism, translation, and decipherment. This work offers three major contributions: first, mapping the interdisciplinary field carved out by the synergy between the humanities and machine learning; second, highlighting how active collaboration between specialists from both fields is key to producing impactful and compelling scholarship; third, highlighting promising directions for future work in this field. Thus, this work promotes and supports the continued collaborative impetus between the humanities and machine learning.

Research paper thumbnail of Documenting identity in the early Roman empire - 2022

J. Arthur-Montagne, S.J. DiGiulio, and I.N.I. Kuin, eds, Documentality. New Approaches to Written Documents in Imperial Life and Literature, 2022

This chapter examines the role that written records played in legal discussions of identity and c... more This chapter examines the role that written records played in legal
discussions of identity and citizenship in ancient Rome, and demonstrates that the evolutionary narrative of documentality, as posited by Maurizio Ferraris and Enrico Terrone, must be reevaluated. The manner in which Romans attested to the identities of individuals suggests that Roman evidentiary practices transcend the written document in cases of identity, given their dependence on witness testimony and oral utterance. Even Roman texts that aimed to establish identity were largely ineffective at imposing social reality until the Edict of Caracalla. This relative slowness to move beyond the oral document appears to violate the teleology inherent in Ferraris’s model, and ultimately suggests that
Roman Imperial documentary practice never truly set off the “virtuous cycle” of practices and documents postulated in Ferraris’s Documentality.

Research paper thumbnail of The semiotics of signa and the significance of signs in Roman stamps-2021

in J. Bodel and S. Houston, eds., The Hidden Language of Graphic Signs. Cryptic Writing and Meaningful Marks, 2021

M arks intentionally made by humans are found as early as 70,000 years BP, and systematic notatio... more M arks intentionally made by humans are found as early as 70,000 years BP, and systematic notations on stone, ivory, and antler become more common with the development of tools and painting in the Upper Paleolithic period (Perrin et al. 2010: 7), but the earliest known medium of graphic communication in the Mediterranean and Near Eastern world is baked clay. Clay products made throughout the region in the premodern eratablets, tiles, bricks, pots, containers, cookware, tableware, architectural elements, and so oncharacteristically bore a variety of man-made marks to identify, claim, or categorize them for a variety of purposes. The first intentional markings may have been made in imitation of the casual marks created during the manufacturing or drying processscratches or striations produced by a tool, or hand or fingerprints created in modeling. In a secondary stage, simple tally marks, scores, and crossed lines (X) represent the earliest phases of abstract marking and constitute the primary forms of preliterate graphicacy, a mode of communication built around graphic schemata and patterns and distinct from both direct visual symbolism and linguistic literacy (see Ferraris 2013: 200-02; cf. Garipzanov 2015; and Chapter 9 in this volume). Indeed, according to one prominent theory, the cuneiform script used for the earliest writing developed precisely out of the use in southern Mesopotamia of clay tokens for counting and accountancy (see Perrin et al. 2010: 12); and already from the third millennium bce pot marks in ancient Egypt served a variety of functions (Budka and Engel 2015).

Research paper thumbnail of Liber Esto: Free Speech at the Banquet of Trimalchio - 2019

S. Panayotakis and M. Paschalis, eds. Slaves and Masters in the Ancient Novel , 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Ancient slavery and modern ideologies: Orlando Patterson and M. I. Finley among the dons - 2019

Theory and Society 48, 2019

In 1978 and 1979, while a visiting fellow at Cambridge University, Orlando Patterson engaged in a... more In 1978 and 1979, while a visiting fellow at Cambridge University, Orlando Patterson engaged in a number of conversations about slavery with Cambridge ancient historian M. I. Finley. Both men were at the time writing influential books on slavery that would mark important benchmarks in their careers and defined two approaches to the study of slavery, one fading in significance, the other introducing a comparative approach to the institution more focused on dynamics of power and social alienation. At the end of 1978, Finley delivered at the Collège de France four lectures that summarized his thinking on the topic over more than thirty years; two years later they appeared in print under the title Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology. In 1982 Patterson published
Slavery and Social Death, a ground-breaking study that to this day remains unparalleled in its attempt to establish a globally valid definition of slavery applicable to some sixty-six slave-owning societies across three millennia.
This article explores the intersection of these two works, the intellectual currents of the times in which they were produced, and the influence each exerted on the study of slavery in subsequent decades, as models and paradigms of two approaches to understanding the significance of the institution.

Research paper thumbnail of Roman tomb gardens - 2018

in W. F. Jashemski†, K. L. Gleason, K. J. Hartswick, and A. Malek eds., Gardens of the Roman Empire (Cambridge Univ. Press: Cambridge), 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Trimalchio’s cargo (Petr. 76, 6) - 2017

in L. Chioffi, M. Kajava, S. Örmä, eds., Il Mediterraneo e la storia II. Naviganti, popoli e culture ad Ischia e in altri luoghi della costa tirrenica (Acta IRF 45) (Rome 2017) 75-87, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of Death and social death in ancient Rome - 2017

in J. Bodel and W. Scheidel, eds., On Human Bondage: After Slavery and Social Death, (Blackwell:... more in J. Bodel and W. Scheidel, eds., On Human Bondage: After Slavery and Social Death, (Blackwell: Oxford 2017) 81-108.

Research paper thumbnail of The publication of Pliny's Letters - 2015

in I. Marchesi, ed., Pliny the Book-Maker: Betting on Posterity (Oxford Univ. Press: Oxford 2015)... more in I. Marchesi, ed., Pliny the Book-Maker: Betting on Posterity (Oxford Univ. Press: Oxford 2015) 13-108.

Research paper thumbnail of Status dissonance and status dissidents in the equestrian order - 2015

Research paper thumbnail of The life and death of ancient Roman cemeteries. Living with the dead in imperial Rome - 2014

This essay explores the implications for our understanding of ancient Roman burial and commemorat... more This essay explores the implications for our understanding of ancient Roman burial and commemorative practices of the obliteration of three large suburban cemeteries during
the first three centuries of the imperial period, at intervals of approximately 150 to 200 years. Specifically, it investigates the closing down of the Esquiline burial ground to the
east of the city by Maecenas around 35 BCE, of the Via Salaria necropolis north of the city by Trajan around 110 CE, and of sections of the Vatican cemeteries along the Via
Cornelia to the west of the city by Constantine in the 320s CE. Consideration of the circumstances of these closings suggests 1) that the average "lifespan" of a suburban
Roman necropolis, if one restricts the view to the period of its most active use, is likewise about 150 to 200 years; 2) that the coincidence of these two periods is not
accidental but 3) is instead due to the influence of purposeful imperial interventions into the landscape. Subsequent developments in suburban burial at Rome during the later fourth, fifth and sixth centuries, though ostensibly marking a break with the past, seem merely to have reoriented the dynamics of the relationship between the living and the dead.

Research paper thumbnail of Inscriptions and Literacy - 2014

In C. Bruun and J. Edmondson, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy (Oxford Univ. Press: O... more In C. Bruun and J. Edmondson, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy (Oxford Univ. Press: Oxford 2014) 745-63

Research paper thumbnail of Inventive Inscriptions: Afterword - 2014

In A. Cooley and D. Orrells eds., Inventive Inscriptions. The Organization of Epigraphic Knowled... more In A. Cooley and D. Orrells eds., Inventive Inscriptions. The Organization of Epigraphic Knowledge in the Nineteenth Century (Journal of the History of Collections 26.3 [2014]
doi: 10.1093/jhc/fhu047)

Research paper thumbnail of Virgil Encyclopedia - Inscriptions - 2013

In R. F. Thomas and J. Ziolkowski, eds., The Virgil Encyclopedia (Blackwell: Oxford 2013) 655-56.

Research paper thumbnail of Translation into English of S. Panciera, “Che cos’è un’epigrafe? Problemi definitori e identitari di una fonte storica” - 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Villaculture - 2012

f n an infuential article published more than rwenry-five years ago in the LYale ArcltitecturalJo... more f n an infuential article published more than rwenry-five years ago in the LYale ArcltitecturalJournal, James Ackerman defined the villa as "a building in the country designed for its owner's enjoyment and relaxatiori'; although it might serve a productive function, "rhe pleasure factor is what essentially distinguishes this kind of residence from a farmhouse." According to Ackerman, once the basic program of the villa became "fixed by the patricians of ancient Rome, [it] remained unchanged for cwo thousand years," for the simple reason that "it fulfill[ed] a need that never alter [ed]." "This need," he goes on, "because it is nor mererial but psychological and ideological . . . , is not subject to the influences of evolving societies and technologies. The villa accommodates a fantasy impervious to realiry."l Leaving aside the imprecision of the reference to patricians, we may readily acknowledge as characteristic of the golden age of aristocrati c uilleggiatura that began in the Ciceronian era the paradigmatic idea of the villa that Ackerman describes, and we may recognize as prescient his characterization of its essence as less a form of architecture than a frame of mind.

Research paper thumbnail of "Religious history in the making"

Journal of Roman Archaeology 33, 2020

a review article of Jörg Rüpke, Pantheon. A New History of Roman Religion translated by David M. ... more a review article of Jörg Rüpke, Pantheon. A New History of Roman Religion translated by David M. B. Richardson (Princeton 2018)

Research paper thumbnail of The Diaspora of Greek & Latin Inscriptions - 2016

Journal of Roman Archaeology, 2016

Review article of C. Henriksén, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum et Latinarum Upsaliensis (Stockho... more Review article of C. Henriksén, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum et Latinarum Upsaliensis (Stockholm 2013) and M. Peachin, ed. Greek and Latin Inscriptions at New York University (Rome 2014), Journal of Roman Archaeology 29 (2016) 762-69.

Research paper thumbnail of Review of M. George, ed., Roman Slavery and Roman Material Culture. (Phoenix Supplementary Volume 52) (Toronto 2013) - 2015

Classical Review (Nov. 2015) 1-3 (CJO 2015 doi:10.1017/ S0009840X15002127).

Research paper thumbnail of Review of E. Rebillard, The Care of the Dead in Late Antiquity. Transl. by E. T. Rawlings and J. Routier–Pucci. (Cornell Studies in Classical Philology 59) (Ithaca 2009) - 2011

Connolly completely misunderstands the situation, wrongly supposing the testator, deceased more t... more Connolly completely misunderstands the situation, wrongly supposing the testator, deceased more than five years previously, to have lived as a slave. She is baffled by the confusion, being evidently unaware that the five-year "rule of limitations" was among measures taken by Emperors Nerva and Hadrian to cope with the ongoing effects of status mistakes resulting from the distinctions introduced by the Augustan Lex Aelia Sentia (4 A.D.) on manumission.

Research paper thumbnail of Review of G. J. Oliver, ed., The Epigraphy of Death (Liverpool 2000) - 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Review of H. Solin, Die stadtrömischen Sklavennamen. Ein Namenbuch (Stuttgart 1996) - 2003

Bryn Mawr Classical Reviews 2003.01.03 [2,870 words]

Research paper thumbnail of Review of D. G. Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome (London, 1998) - 2001

Research paper thumbnail of Review of T. Wade Richardson, Reading and Variant in Petronius: Studies in the French Humanists and their Manuscript Sources (Phoenix Supplement) (Toronto, 1993) - 1996

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Literacy in the Roman World (JRA 1991) - 1993

Journal of Roman Studies 83 (1993) 183–84.

Research paper thumbnail of Conference paper: Kangaroo Courts. Displaced Justice in the Roman Novel - 2018

in M .P. Futre Pinheiro, D. Konstan, and B. MacQueen, eds., Cultural Crossroads in the Ancient Novel (De Gruyter: Berlin) , 2018

A revised version of this paper was published under the title "Kangaroo Courts: Rough Justice in ... more A revised version of this paper was published under the title "Kangaroo Courts: Rough Justice in the Roman Novels", in F. De Angelis, ed., Spaces of Justice in the Roman World (New York 2010) 311-29.

Research paper thumbnail of Conference paper: Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideologies: Orlando Patterson and M.I. Finley Among The Dons - 2018

Trajectories, 2018

see full article in Theory and Society 48 (2019) 823-33.

Research paper thumbnail of Introduction

THE HIDDEN LANGUAGE OF GRAPHIC SIGNS Cryptic Writing and Meaningful Marks, 2021

A common belief is that systems of writing are committed to transparency and precise records of s... more A common belief is that systems of writing are committed to transparency and precise records of sound. The target is the language behind such marks. Readers, not viewers, matter most, and the most effective graphs largely record sound, not meaning. But what if embellishments mattered deeply, if hidden writing, slow to produce, slow to read, played as enduring a role as more accessible graphs? What if meaningful marks did service alongside records of spoken language? This book, a compilation of essays by global authorities on these subjects, zeroes in on hidden writing and alternative systems of graphic notation. Essays by leading scholars explore forms of writing that, by their formal intricacy, deflect attention from language. The volume also examines graphs that target meaning directly, without passing through the filter of words and the medium of sound. The many examples here testify to human ingenuity and future possibilities for exploring enriched graphic communication.

Research paper thumbnail of Introduction to On Human Bondage - 2017

with W. Scheidel, in J. Bodel and W. Scheidel, eds., On Human Bondage. After Slavery and Social D... more with W. Scheidel, in J. Bodel and W. Scheidel, eds., On Human Bondage. After Slavery and Social Death (Blackwell: Oxford 2017) 1-14.

Research paper thumbnail of Introduction to Ancient Documents and their Contexts - 2015

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bsgre

Research paper thumbnail of Introduction to ‘Inschriften in den digitalen Welt’ - 2014

In W. Eck, P. Funke et al., eds., Öffentlichkeit – Monument – Text. Akten des XIV. internationale... more In W. Eck, P. Funke et al., eds., Öffentlichkeit – Monument – Text. Akten des XIV. internationalen Kongresses für griechische und lateinische Epigraphik (CIL Auctarium n.s. vol. 4. Berlin – Boston 2014) 501-503

Research paper thumbnail of Introduction to Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre-Modern World - 2012

with Susan Alcock and Richard Talbert, in S. E. Alcock, J. Bodel, and R. J. Talbert, Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre–Modern World, (Wiley-Blackwell: Oxford 2012) 1-11, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Introduction to Household and Family Religion and "Comparative Perspectives" - 2008

with Saul Olyan, in J. Bodel and S. M. Olyan, eds., Household and Family Religion in Antiquity: Contextual and Comparative Perspectives (Wiley-Blackwell: Oxford 2008) 1–4, 276–82, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of Roman Brick Stamps in the Kelsey Museum

Copyright © by The University of Michigan 1983 All rights reserved Published in the United States... more Copyright © by The University of Michigan 1983 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press and simultaneously in Rexdale, Canada, by John Wiley & Sons Canada, Limited Manufactured in the United States of America Library ...

Research paper thumbnail of Panel: Dealing with the Whole Object: the Archaeological Dimension of Epigraphy

Due to the double nature of inscriptions as both archeological objects and texts, the study of ep... more Due to the double nature of inscriptions as both archeological objects and texts, the study of epigraphy must be rooted in the material context of inscriptions. How can digital tools and methods enhance epigraphical scholarship so as to produce editions and studies that treat inscriptions as whole objects, both textual and material? How can we train the next generation of epigraphists to put these orientations into practice? The project “Visible Words: Research and Training in Digital Contextual Epigraphy”, recently funded by the Partner University Fund, addresses these questions from different angles. Our panel will focus on the main aims and goals of this project, as well as on pressing issues in digital epigraphy of more general concern. Three short presentations from the panel chairs will address: -­ the issue of metadata categories, definitions and taxonomies -­ steps toward a Linked Open Data implementation of a core epigraphic taxonomy, an ultimate goal being to make an adaptable template available to the wider digital community -­ the technical framework, image mapping capabilities and future plans for the Perseids Platform as they apply to epigraphy. Each presentation will be followed by a brief question period, and the session will include ample time for a roundtable discussion. In particular, we are eager to identify other practitioners of « digital archaeological epigraphy » and to map out possible collaborations. Secondly, we are interested in defining common needs and resources of the EAGLE consortium. One crucial topic is the question of bibliography. How are we to handle bibliographical information across the various projects and platforms participating in EAGLE? Can we and should we establish a shared bibliographical repository?

Research paper thumbnail of Inscriptions and Literacy

Oxford University Press eBooks, Jan 6, 2015

The study of ancient reading and writing practices must begin with inscriptions. This chapter cha... more The study of ancient reading and writing practices must begin with inscriptions. This chapter charts the recent debates about the concept of literacy in the Roman world. Setting out from the archaic period, it shows how inscriptions have a key role to play in any assessment of the difficult question of levels of literacy, while at the same time highlighting some of the methodological problems involved in such enquiries. The chapter concludes with a brief exploration of topics ripe for further study .

Research paper thumbnail of The Publication of Pliny’s Letters

Oxford University Press eBooks, Jul 1, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Epigraphy

Oxford University Press eBooks, Jun 10, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of A Dedicatory Inscription to the Emperor Trajan from the Small Temple at Petra, Jordan

Near Eastern Archaeology, Dec 1, 2002

RefDoc Bienvenue - Welcome. Refdoc est un service / is powered by. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Monumental villas and villa monuments

Journal of Roman Archaeology, 1997

According to a story told in early imperial times about Scipio Africanus and the coastal estate a... more According to a story told in early imperial times about Scipio Africanus and the coastal estate at Liternum to which he withdrew, embittered and disillusioned, in his old age, Scipio one day spied a group of pirate chiefs approaching the villa and began deploying his household ...

Research paper thumbnail of Thirteen Latin Funerary Inscriptions at Harvard University

American Journal of Archaeology, 1992

Page 1. Thirteen Latin Funerary Inscriptions at Harvard University JOHN BODEL Abstract Presented ... more Page 1. Thirteen Latin Funerary Inscriptions at Harvard University JOHN BODEL Abstract Presented here are 14 Roman epitaphs of early Imperial date from the epigraphic collections of Harvard Univer-sity. All but three were ...

Research paper thumbnail of Five papers on Italy honoring Herbert Bloch

Journal of Roman Archaeology, 2000

Research paper thumbnail of Documenting Identity in the Early Roman Empire

De Gruyter eBooks, Oct 10, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Liber esto

Barkhuis eBooks, Feb 26, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Death and Social Death in Ancient Rome

Research paper thumbnail of John H. D'Arms (1934-2002)

Journal of Roman Archaeology, 2002

Research paper thumbnail of Death Before Body-Bags D. G. Kyle: Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome . Pp. xii + 288, 5 figs, 2 maps. London and New York: Routledge, 1998. Cased, £45. ISBN: 0-415-09678-2 (0-415-24842-6 pbk)

Classical Review, Oct 1, 2001

development of logistics through to the existence of a largely static but ‘professional’ army. R.... more development of logistics through to the existence of a largely static but ‘professional’ army. R. is easier to read and use because of both the quality of the text and the presence of an index. It is irritating in the extreme, and extraordinary given even the (albeit limited) indexing capabilities of word-processors these days, that an index-less book could have been produced, which makes E.’s text ‘user-hostile’. Both lack maps and plans which could have saved a lot of ri·ing through atlases, and some of E.’s tables need labels and clariμcation. Nonetheless, together these works make a major contribution to the study of Roman warfare and the development of military institutions, and both are to be warmly congratulated for producing so successfully something which many were saying only a couple of years ago could not be done.

Research paper thumbnail of The Semiotics of Signa and the Significance of Signs in Roman Stamps

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 19, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Patrons and Priests in Roman Society

Echos du monde classique: Classical views, 1992

Research paper thumbnail of The diaspora of ancient Greek and Latin inscriptions

Journal of Roman Archaeology, 2016

Christer henriksÉn (edited, with translation and commentary, by), SYLLOGE INSCRIPTIONUM GRAECARUM... more Christer henriksÉn (edited, with translation and commentary, by), SYLLOGE INSCRIPTIONUM GRAECARUM ET LATINARUM UPSALIENSIS. THE GREEK AND LATIN INSCRIPTIONS IN THE COLLECTIONS OF UPPSALA UNIVERSITY (Acta instituti romani regni sueciae, series in 8o, 23; stockholm 2013). Pp. 138 including 22 color pls. issn 0283-8489; isBn 978-91-7042-181-5. MiChAeL PeAChin (ed.), GREEK AND LATIN INSCRIPTIONS AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY (Publications of the Center for Ancient studies, new York University; studia Archaeologica 199; “L’erma” di Bretschneider, rome 2014). Pp. 140, figs. 55. isBn 978-88-913-0634-0.

Research paper thumbnail of Freedmen in the "Satyricon" of Petronius

The aim of the dissertation is to elucidate Petronius' representation of freedmen in the Cena... more The aim of the dissertation is to elucidate Petronius' representation of freedmen in the Cena. It is argued that Petronius' "realistic" depiction of Trimalchio's milieu served his literary purposes in developing the theme that a freedman is cut off from respectable society and has no hope of improving his condition because he can never escape his servile past. By describing Trimalchio's friends as his colliberti (38.6), Petronius emphasizes a connection between Trimalchio and his peers in terms of their civil status. The freedmen's milieu is depicted as a social underworld and Encolpius' experience at the banquet as a katabasis. The autobiographical frieze in Trimalchio's portico belongs to the context not of domestic but of funerary art; the style of the representation would have reminded Petronius' audience of the allegorical reliefs found on the tombs of ex-slaves of Eastern origin. Hermeros is a figure of central importance. Unlike Trimalchio, who affects the manners of a Roman knight, Hermeros is proud to have worked his way out of slavery. Petronius draws a portrait, without distortion or exaggeration, of a successful independent freedmen and sets it in contrast to the portrait of Trimalchio: taken together, the two characters' attitudes illustrate the true immutability of a freedman's status. By presenting Hermeros as a "typical" freedman, Petronius suggests that his literary representation of a freedman's condition be seen as reflecting the circumstances of real freedmen of the period. The freedmen's speeches recited in Trimalchio's absence (41-46) develop the theme that a freedman's mentality is self-centered and self-perpetuating. Petronius depicts a society bound within the limits of a man's lifetime; the freedmen have no pasts and , as Petronius portrays them, no future. Consequently, they see no existence other than their own. Petronius suggests that Trimalchio's materialism, egoism, and preoccupation with death are explainable by the nature of a freedman's status, which is immutable and inescapable.Ph.D.Classical literatureUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/160270/1/8502770.pd

Research paper thumbnail of Latin Epigraphy and the IT Revolution

British Academy eBooks, Jun 14, 2012

Since the appearance in 1975 of John Jory's Key Word in Context index to volume VI of CIL, co... more Since the appearance in 1975 of John Jory's Key Word in Context index to volume VI of CIL, computer applications and databases have had a major influence on epigraphic studies. While an initial optimism diminished somewhat once the scale of the task in their creation became apparent, a great deal has been achieved under three headings: three major databases are now established within the federal organisation Electronic Archive of Greek and Roman Epigraphy, the Heidelberg Datenbank (post CIL texts), for non-Christian Rome and for Christian Rome; imaging using x-ray fluorescence, text mapping and computer-aided reconstructions of incomplete texts; and the editing of texts by EpiDoc, with Extensible Markup Language, Text Encoding Initiative and Unicode, successfully applied to the Vindolanda Writing Tablets and the Aphrodisias Inscriptions.

Research paper thumbnail of Epigraphy and the ancient historian