In pre-Roman Italy and Sicily, dozens of languages and writing systems competed and interacted, and bilingualism was the norm. Using frameworks from epigraphy, archaeology and the sociolinguistics of language contact, this book explores the relationship between Greek and Oscan, two of the most widely spoken languages in the south of the peninsula. Dr McDonald undertakes a new analysis of the entire corpus of South Oscan texts written in Lucania, Bruttium and Messana, including dedications, curse tablets, laws, funerary texts and graffiti. She demonstrates that genre and domain are critical to understanding where and when Greek was used within Oscan-speaking communities, and how ancient bilinguals exploited the social meaning of their languages in their writing. This book also offers a cutting-edge example of how to build the fullest possible picture of bilingualism in fragmentary languages across the ancient world.

A groundbreaking new interpretation of the relationship between Greek and Oscan, two of the most widely spoken languages of pre-Roman Italy.

A comprehensive and up-to-date account of the languages of ancient Sicily by an international team of experts.

By examining Greek-alphabet Oscan inscriptions, this book shines light on the linguistics, bilingualism and epigraphy of ancient Southern Italy.

In the midst of academic debates about the utility of the term “magic” and the cultural meaning of ancient words like mageia or khesheph, this Guide to the Study of Ancient Magic seeks to advance the discussion by separating out three topics essential to the very idea of magic. The three major sections of this volume address (1) indigenous terminologies for ambiguous or illicit ritual in antiquity; (2) the ancient texts, manuals, and artifacts commonly designated “magical” or used to represent ancient magic; and (3) a series of contexts, from the written word to materiality itself, to which the term “magic” might usefully pertain. The individual essays in this volume cover most of Mediterranean and Near Eastern antiquity, with essays by both established and emergent scholars of ancient religions. In a burgeoning field of “magic studies” trying both to preserve and to justify critically the category itself, this volume brings new clarity and provocative insights. This will be an indispensable resource to all interested in magic in the Bible and the Ancient Near East, ancient Greece and Rome, Early Christianity and Judaism, Egypt through the Christian period, and also comparative and critical theory. Contributors are: Magali Bailliot, Gideon Bohak, Véronique Dasen, Albert de Jong, Jacco Dieleman, Esther Eidinow, David Frankfurter, Fritz Graf, Yuval Harari, Naomi Janowitz, Sarah Iles Johnston, Roy D. Kotansky, Arpad M. Nagy, Daniel Schwemer, Joseph E. Sanzo, Jacques van der Vliet, Andrew Wilburn.

"In In Blood and Ashes: Curse Tablets and Binding Spells in Ancient Greece, Jessica Lamont provides the first historical study of the development and dissemination of ritualized curse practice in the ancient Greek world, alongside that of binding spells, incantations, and other private rites. Documenting the cultural pressures that drove the practice of ancient Greek magic, this book reveals the ways in which individuals worked to negotiate with the world (here in the literal sense) "underground"-conjuring the powers of the Underworld, and calling upon the dead to assist the living. The study of such rituals expands our understanding of daily life in ancient communities, providing rare insights into how individuals were making sense of the world and coping with conflict, vulnerability, competition, anxiety, desire, and loss. Curse tablets in particular document persons who often slip through the cracks of traditional histories, enabling us to approach antiquity through a broader lens: here are the cooks, tavern keepers, garland weavers, helmsmen, craftspersons, and barbers. Bringing together epigraphic, historical, literary, archaeological, and material evidence, Lamont reads between the traditional narratives of Archaic, Classical, and early Hellenistic Greece, drawing out new voices, and presenting new histories to consider. These texts and objects offer glimpses into the public and private lives of individuals from c.500 BCE through Late Antiquity, illuminating the interplay of ritual and conflict-management strategies among citizens and slaves, men and women, pagans and Christians. Filled with new material and insights, Lamont's volume offers a fresh perspective on ancient Greek social history and religion from c.750-250 BCE, one that highlights the role played by ritual in negotiating life's uncertainties"--

This history book is widely acknowledged as the most authoritative study of Ancient Greece. E-artnow presents an edition which contains all twelve volumes of the extensive history book written by the classical historian George Grote. This historical study draws upon Greek politics, philosophy, poetry and oratory to cover the famous episodes, eminent personalities, rulers and wars. Grote was an English classical historian and was considered as one of the greatest nineteenth-century Plato scholar.

Pathbreaking essays challenging the traditional focus on the eastern Mediterranean in the Hellenistic period and on Rome in the West.

It is claimed that the trauma of birth leaves an unconscious memory and it is likely that any previous lives would leave similar memories which too can be recalled under hypnosis. This book is a fascinating and true story of apparent regression (a return to the reactions that belong to an earlier state of development). Under hypnosis Peggy Bailey, an ordinary housewife, relives three completely different lives. From the very human story that led to the first regression experiment (fortuitously recorded on tape) and the first meeting with eighteenth century 'Sally Fraser' in Devon, through 'Liza Bloggs' in the nineteenth century and 'Lady Alice Browning' in the early part of the present century, the account leaps forward sixteen years when further regressions to these former lives are attempted - with exciting results. The dual authorship of the book has resulted in an original and unique 'case book': the trained hypnotist describing verbatim each hypnotic session followed by separate assessment and discussion by the established psychical researcher. Investigation is undertaken on the basis of material obtained and such problems as self-delusion, hypnotic influence, psychic memories and multiple role-taking are carefully considered. The book is a valuable contribution to the growing literature on the subject of reincarnation and is likely to become a classic of its kind. Psychical researchers, reincarnationists, hypnotists, psychologists and the general reader will find Lives to Remember a book to read and read again; a book that is different, a book that is true and a book that breaks new ground and opens new doors. For the first time one book we are presented with a full and factual story of a person 'regressed' by a competent hypnotist and the results assessed by an acknowledged psychical researcher. It is the first example of 'regression' to previous lives with an interval of sixteen years between each repeated experiment.