Richard J. A. Talbert - World and Hour in Roman Minds: Exploratory Essays

Center panel of three floor mosaics, unearthed in 2013 at Syrian Antioch (modern Antakya, Turkey), probably in a dining-room or its entrance vestibule, dating to around 300 CE. A cleanshaven man whose right sandal has dropped off looks up right hand raised, index finger extended at the sundial on top of a column; above him, in Greek, the description TPEXE[E]INO, dasher to dinner. His evident lateness is signified by the half-figure of a bearded man in black described above as AKAIPO, bad timer who tugs at his cloak from behind. Over the crescent of the sundial appears the letter with a macron (bar) superscript, denoting that here it represents a numeral, nine, signifying the ninth hour; elsewhere, without macron it commonly abbreviates ANATO, death. Cf. , 275, 277.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Talbert, Richard J. A., 1947 author.

Title: World and hour in Roman minds : exploratory essays / Richard J.A. Talbert.

Description: New York : Oxford University Press, [2023] |

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022027369 (print) | LCCN 2022027370 (ebook) |

ISBN 9780197606346 (hardback) | ISBN 9780197606360 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: RomeMaps. | RomeHistorical geography. |

CartographyRomeHistory. | Roads, Roman. | Time perceptionRome. |

RomeGeography. | Geographical perceptionRome. | RomeCivilization.

Classification: LCC DG31 .T35 2023 (print) | LCC DG31 (ebook) |

DDC 911/.3dc23/eng/20220629

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022027369

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022027370

DOI: 10.1093/actrade/9780197606346.001.0001

Dedicated with love and optimism to my grandchildren

Alastair

Isla

Lazslo

Luisa

This collection fulfills a long-standing wish to offer a match for my earlier one, Challenges of Mapping the Classical World, handsomely published by Routledge in 2019. Covid accelerated the preparation this time, after diversions demanding travel and access to libraries were blocked from spring 2020 onward. Even so, the need for extensive help remained, and I am more than grateful to those who provided it in difficult circumstances. Once again, Peter Raleigh ably converted printed texts to formats that could be edited, and Lindsay Holman at the Ancient World Mapping Center proved the most skilled manipulator of files and images. In Chapel Hills Davis Library, the tireless efficiency of the Inter-Library Borrowing office headed by Sellers Lawrence has been especially appreciated. The University of North Carolina was generous in meeting the considerable expense of fees for the reproduction of certain images.

The thanks to colleagues whose help I acknowledged at the time of original publication are of course retained and reaffirmed in the fresh presentation of each text. There are now further debts to record, due to others who either permitted the reproduction of one of the additional images, or specially helped to secure the necessary authorizations for their inclusion. While naming Hatice Pamir first for her provision of the splendid jacket image (in color) and frontispiece, I also thank heartily: Ik Adak Adbelli, At Allek Chafiaa, Nacra Benseddik, Claude Briant-Ponsard, Katherine Dunbabin, Lien Foubert, Francisco Gonzlez Ponce, Ekaterina Ilyushechkina, Anne Kolb, Sergei Maslikov, Ma Menglong, Fatih Onur, Tom Parker, Jess Rodrguez Morales, Benet Salway, Zhongxiao Wang, and Juping Yang.

This is the third book of mine brought to publication with Stefan Vrankas shrewd and supportive guidance as editor. I thank Stefan and his colleagues at Oxford University Press, as well as the experts recruited by him to referee the manuscript. The final tribute goes to the kindness of my wife Zandra: this book is my first that had to be prepared entirely at home, never on campus as usuala demanding intruder therefore, accommodated with equanimity. We shall both be glad to see its successful launch.

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

August 2021

Essays originally published in:

JRS 77 (1987), 21012

Studies in Chinese and Western Classical Civilizations: Essays in Honour of Professor Lin Zhi-Chun on His Ninetieth Birthday (1999), 41324. Changchun: Jilin Peoples Publishing House

K. A. Raaflaub, ed., trans., The Landmark Julius Caesar (2017), Web Essay W. New York: Pantheon

BMCR 2004.12.23

Shagi/Steps 6.1 (2020), 21428

Caesarodunum 39 (2005), 93101

Luuk De Ligt, E. A. Hemelrijk, and H. W. Singor, eds., Roman Rule and Civic Life: Local and Regional Perspectives (2004), 2137. Amsterdam: Gieben

Klaus Geus and Michael Rathmann, eds., Vermessung der Oikumene (2013), 16370. Berlin: de Gruyter

Rudolf Haensch and Johannes Heinrichs, eds., Herrschen und Verwalten: Der Alltag der rmischen Administration in der Hohen Kaiserzeit (2007), 25670 [Festschrift Werner Eck] Cologne: Bhlau

BMCR 2007.02.31

Claudio Gallazzi, Brbel Kramer, and Salvatore Settis, eds., Intorno al Papiro di Artemidoro, II. Geografia e Cartografia (2012), 18596. Milan: LED

F. J. Gonzlez Ponce, F. J. Gmez Espelosn, and A. L. Chvez Reino, eds., La Letra y La Carta: Descripcin Verbal y Representacin Grfica en los Diseos Terrestres Grecolatinas (2016), 31320. [Festschrift Pietro Janni] Sevilla: Universidad de Sevilla, Universidad de Alcala

Richard Talbert and Kai Brodersen, eds., Space in the Roman World: Its Perception and Representation (2004), 11331. Mnster: LIT

Michael Rathmann, ed., Wahrnehmung und Erfassung geographischer Rume in der Antike (2007), 22130. Mainz: von Zabern

Unpublished (conference presentation 2019)

, 23554. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell

Anne Kolb, ed., Roman Roads: New EvidenceNew Perspectives (2019), 2234. Berlin: de Gruyter

F. S. Naiden and R. J. A. Talbert, eds., Mercurys Wings: Exploring Modes of Communication in the Ancient World (2017), 34062. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Alexey Belousov and Ekaterina Ilyushechkina, eds.,