Six presentations followed by discussions. Contents: Introduction par P. DUCREY; H.VAN WEES, -Stasis, Destroyer of Men. Mass, Elite, Political Violence and Security in Archaic Greece-; W.RIESS, -Private Violence and State Control. The Prosecution of Homicide an its Symbolic Meanings in Fourth-Century BC Athens-; A. CHANIOTIS, -Policing the Hellenistic Countryside. Realities and Ideologies-; C. BRELAZ, -Ladieu aux armes: La defense de la cite grecque dans l'empire romain pacifie-; A. W. LINTOTT, -How High a Priority did Public Order and Public Security have under the Republic?-;R. MacMULLEN, -The Problem of Fanaticism-; Y. RIVIERE, -L'Italie, les iles et le continent: Recherches sur l'exil et l'administration du territoire imperial (Ier-IIIe siecles); Epilogue par C. BRELAZ et P. DUCREY.

Violence, Justice, and Law in Classical Antiquity collects together forty-three of Andrew Lintott’s most significant papers. Lintott’s corpus of work exposes the fundamental reliance of ancient Romans (and Greeks) on violent measures, including their readiness to resort to violence in the manner of judicial “self-help” or political tyrannicide. The legitimation of violence in Roman culture and Roman political discourse informs the nature of Roman imperialism, and equally it is impossible to understand the illegitimate violence which characterised the political collapse of the Roman Republic without understanding its deep roots in the intellectually legitimised and legally sanctioned violence of Roman society.

From the Archaic to the Roman imperial period, an impressive number of gods and goddesses are attested in the Greek world under the titles of Soter and Soteira ('Saviour'). Overseeing the protection of individuals and cities, these gods had the power to grant an essential blessing - soteria ('deliverance', 'preservation', 'safety'). This book investigates what it meant to be 'saved' and the underlying concept of soteria in ancient Greece. It challenges the prevailing assumption that soteria was a predominantly Christian concern, and demonstrates instead its centrality and significance in the relationship between the Greeks and their gods. This book focuses on the power of 'saviour' gods in the life of the Greeks, how worshippers searched for soteria as they confronted the unknown and unknowable, and what this can reveal about the religious beliefs, hopes, and anxieties of the Greeks. It goes beyond religious vocabulary and cult epithets to investigate worshippers' thought world and lived experience, the different choices individuals made among the plurality of gods in the Greek pantheon, the multiple levels on which divine 'saviours' operated, and the values attached to the Greek notion of soteria. Building on existing paradigms in the study of Greek polytheism, and combining close analysis of epigraphic, literary and material evidence, this book argues that soteria for the Greeks entailed a very different experience from the Christian, eschatological notion of 'salvation', and that what was offered was 'salvation' on earth.

The opponents of Epicureanism in antiquity, including Cicero, Plutarch and Lactantius, succeeded in establishing a famous cliché: the theoretical and practical disinterest of Epicurus and the Epicureans in political communities. However, this anti-Epicurean literature did not provide considerations of Epicurean political theory or the testimonies about Epicurean lifestyle. The purpose of this book is to shed light on the contribution of Epicurean thought to political life in the ancient world. Incorporating the most up-to-date material, including papyri which have been recovered from Herculaneum, documents of Greek epigraphy and the prosopography of the Roman Epicureans, this volume will bring to the foreground new testimonies surrounding the public activities of the Epicureans. In this way, the reader will learn that Epicurean political theory is, in fact, a crucial ingredient of its philosophy. As a result, this connection creates an ongoing dialogue with the Greek philosophical tradition, revealing the presence of Plato in the Epicurean philosophy.

This volume, comprising 24 essays, aims to contribute to a developing appreciation of the capacity of rhetoric to reinforce affiliation or disaffiliation to groups. To this end, the essays span a variety of ancient literary genres (i.e. oratory, historical and technical prose, drama and poetry) and themes (i.e. audience-speaker, laughter, emotions, language, gender, identity, and religion).