Papers by Anton van Hooff
Mnemosyne, 2008
Urbainczyk, T. 2004. Spartacus (Ancients in Action). London, Duckworth/Bristol Classical Press. 1... more Urbainczyk, T. 2004. Spartacus (Ancients in Action). London, Duckworth/Bristol Classical Press. 144 p. Pr. £10.99. Th is Spartacus monograph appears in a series of popular publications and does not have high pretensions. Th e text covers only 130 pages with much whitesome 280 words per page. It would be easy for the present reviewer, who published a Spartacus book in 1993-unfortunately in Dutch as Th eresa Urbainczyk says-, to point out what this Spartacus does not have. But it is fair to judge the book in the light of its modest aims. Th e Introduction sketches the history of Spartacus' fame in modern times, starting with Saurin's tragedy of 1760, which for the first time glorified the ancient slave rebel. Before he was monopolised by the Marxists since Liebknecht's Spartakusbund, he acted as a model for Toussaint l'Ouverture, 'the black Spartacus' who led a slave uprising on the island of Santo Domingue in 1791. Garibaldi, too, was recognized as a modern Spartacus leading a small group of determined rebels against the established order. Th e 1960 film directed by Stanley Kubrick gave the present generation its Spartacus in the person of Kirk Douglas. Its influence is still working; Spartacus gives its name to a system for town planning (and in Flanders to a plan to reorganize public transport) and to a firm that sells 'adult toys', such as nipple clamps. Spartacus' ongoing popularity is due to his being a gladiator, a symbol of sex, violence and death (p. 14). Spartacus is even as famous as Julius Caesar, the author asserts (15), in my eyes a gross exaggeration. Like Che Guevara he "perhaps uniquely, captures the essence of the underdog fighting back" (17). But also like Che people do not know much about him. Th erefore, Th eresa Urbainczyk decided to write a book. Chapter 1, "Th e Outbreak of the Revolt", presents a sketch of the Roman Empire at the outbreak of the rebellion in 73 BC. It tells something about gladiators and gladiatorial games. Th e controversy about Spartacus' aims is illustrated by a few quotes from Joseph Vogt, Keith Bradley, Th omas Wiedemann and J.G. Griffith, but the author does not take a position. I think that Hobsbawm's concept of primitive rebels should be applied to the Bellum Spartacium. Like revolting peasants in the Western Middle Ages and in ancient China, the slaves acted from blind lust for revenge, with all the violence and lack of foresight characteristic of such movements, which are doomed to fail. Chapter 2, "Previous Revolts", tries to prove that the Spartacus revolt was not the most successful slave uprising in antiquity. For the Messenians regained their freedom in the fourth century BC. In the next century on the island of Chios a remarkable arrangement was made between a group of fugitive slaves led by one Drimakos and their former masters. Finally the revolt of Aristonikos of 133-129 BC
The Representation and Perception of Roman Imperial Power, 2003
Becoming a Roman emperor was no fun. Statistics show that the new ruler had a much greater chance... more Becoming a Roman emperor was no fun. Statistics show that the new ruler had a much greater chance of dying from violence than from disease or old age. Out of 80 emperors whose death cause is more or less certain, no more than 29 died of natural causes. Out of the other 51, 38 were murdered or executed, seven fell on the battle field, two of them fighting foreign enemies (Decius and Iulianus), whilst the other five were killed during a civil war. Five emperors committed suicide. Finally one Augustus, Theodosius 11, had a fatal accident: he fell from his horse and broke his neck. Of course there were highs and lows, but only during the heyday of the Empire in the second century CE, in Gibbon's words the period "during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous", 1 did the number of emperors who died in bed surpass those whose met a mors immatura. This happy condition repeated itself much later, during the twilight of the Empire in the West. The most risky period was the third century CE when only three rulers met a natural death. The Appendix at the end of this paper lists the ends of the Augusti mentioning only the emperors who were more or less recognised as legitimate rulers. The figure of 80 rulers whose cause of death is known, is based on a recent Dutch monograph by F. Meijer that deals with the final moments of 86 'official' emperors2 If all the pretenders and counteremperors were to be included, the picture would become even gloomier. Recently, a young German scholar, Tobias Arand, has published his dissertation, in which he deals with the picture, which ancient authors present of the death of all the bad emperors. As he discusses all pretenders as well, his number is considerably higher: 171 (would-be) rulers. 3 In many ways, the present paper is a counterpart to his extensive study, but as saints I Edward Gibbon, The History o/the Decline and Fall o/the Roman Empire (New York no year), 70, chapter 3 towards the end in the complete edition published in The Modern Library. 2 Fik Meijer, Keizers sterven niet in bed. Van Caesar tot Romulus Augustulus (Amsterdam 200 I) (Emperors do no die in bed, from Caesar to Romulus Augustulus), in which the author summarises the lives of 86 emperors, highlighting the events surrounding the end of these Caesars.
(Nothingham) and the late Marieke Zeegers, a Nijmegen student of history. But for their 'Have you... more (Nothingham) and the late Marieke Zeegers, a Nijmegen student of history. But for their 'Have you already got....?' I would have missed a music album or two, various comic strips, a Romanian novel and a Spartacus board game. I am most grateful to all these colleagues and friends as well as to my partner Mariken van Groenestijn who subjected the first Dutch draft to a scrupulous and critical reading; remaining flaws in thought and composition are solely due to my obstinacy. In particular I want to thank my colleague and friend Richard Woff (London University/King's College) who undertook the painful task of correcting the first draft of the English manuscript. Having mastered our language himself he knew all about the English pitfalls for the Dutch. Apart from the hints given by colleagues mentioned above, bibliographies, works of reference 1 and a few existing publications helped to establish an inventory of Spartacus actualisations which forms the basis of the present book. 2 Those 202 'Spartacia' are presented in the Appendix in a chronological order. 3 Compared to the Dutch version 4 this edition shows an increase of items listed and discussed. More importantly some connections that had escaped me, has been established. When this book was being prepared Wolfgang Zeev Rubinsohn published a survey of historical research into the ancient slave revolts, Die grossen Sklavenaufstände der Antike (Darmstadt 1993). Rubinsohn's study enlightens the
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Tijdschrift voor gerontologie en geriatrie, 1983
There is room for a more balanced view of old age among the ancient Greeks than is furnished by D... more There is room for a more balanced view of old age among the ancient Greeks than is furnished by De Beauvoir's la Vieillesse and other more or less one-sided publications. The old body was despised by the Greeks of classical times; especially walking with three legs (tripous) was stressed as a mark of old age. The Hippocratic writings show some interest in the infirmities of elderly people. Specific psychic and intellectual qualities were not attributed to senescence: old age brought out good and bad qualities of a person more sharply than before. The share of old people in the population cannot be established with any certainty, but there was always a group of men in their sixties who had specific tasks in society. Old age was not an autonomous theme in art, it was solely accidental. The position of the elderly was challenged occasionally in democratic Athens, but it was never undermined. Old people were never marginated in classical Greece.
Tijdschrift Voor Geschiedenis, 2004
Babesch Bulletin Antieke Beschaving, 2004
Linguistics in the Netherlands, 2004
Tijdschrift Voor Geschiedenis, 2004
Tijdschrift Voor Nederlandse Taal En Letterkunde, 2004
Mnemosyne a Journal of Classical Studies, 2002
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Papers by Anton van Hooff