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Recent years have seen growing scholarly interest in the question of ‘selfhood’ and subjectivity in ancient societies. Much debate has focused on the question of whether modern, individualistic conceptions of the human subject have antecedents in premodern societies, and whether the early evolution of such a notion of human subjectivity can be detected in the ancient world.

This paper argues that Ennodius of Pavia’s (473-521) disavowal of secular poetry in his autobiographical prose work, the Eucharisticon (written c. 511), constitutes an act of ascetic renunciation in line with a Christian Latin literary tradition.

Among the many rich and multivalent metaphors which both enliven and structure Augustine’s Confessions, the imagery of watery ebb and flow (fluctus/defluere, mare, gurges) holds a place of particular prominence.

In summer 361 CE, while based at Naissus (Niš) in Illyricum, the Roman Emperor Julian wrote a series of open letters in Greek to various communities in Greece such as Athens, Corinth, and Sparta, as well as a letter to the Senate of Rome in Italy, all of which sought to explain his usurpation of Augustan rank in February 360 while Caesar or deputy emperor in Gaul. Of these letters, the Epistle to the Athenians alone has come down to us almost completely intact.

This paper will inquire into ancient note taking as a practice that allows us to reconstruct to some degree the working methods of ancient students, authors, and rhetors. I will approach this issue in a twofold manner. The literary and documentary papyri from Greek and Roman Egypt offer some examples of working drafts which contain notes and corrections that are similar to the genetic papers of modern authors.

In his vivid portrait of the author in the heat of revision, Euripides places emphasis on the repeated sealing and unsealing of the writing-tablet (IA 35-40 δέλτον ... σφραγίζεις λύεις τ' ὀπίσω), and the theme is recalled throughout the play's opening (IA 155-6, 325, 306). On one level, these words simply help paint a vignette, as do the other terms that refer specifically to a folding wax tablet (IA 35 ἀμπετάσας δέλτον, 37 γράμματα συγχεῖς, 39 πεύκην).

In ancient discussions of Virgil’s methods of literary production one idea recurs: that Virgil took painstaking care over the production of his poetry. Ancient biographies give details: he rapidly recorded his ideas in verse or prose, including incomplete or unsatisfactory lines with the expectation of removing them later, then ruthlessly cut his drafts down to a few lines per day (Vita Suetonii-Donati 22-4); he resisted revision or publication of his work by any other party (VSD 40).

Throughout the globe, outstanding scholars are the victims of sectarian, ideological or territorial repression and violence. Many are driven abroad or find that they are unable to return to their home countries. In the past, the University of Toronto has managed to find, from time to time, a place for such scholars on an ad hoc basis. In 1999, the Massey College/University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies Scholar-at-Risk Program was inaugurated.

After Hitler's seizure of power, scholars and intellectuals in Europe and the United States were appalled by the ruthless and rigid course of action against the academic freedom and against the sovereignty of German universities. Immediately after the Civil Service Restoration Act was passed on 7^th April 1933, thousands of Jewish and politically undesirable professors were dismissed. Within a few weeks, in an impressive act of international solidarity, efficient help organisations were founded.

Born and raised in China, I came to the States in 1998 to pursue a Ph.D. in Roman History. In my application, I stated that I aimed at being the first Roman historian from Mainland China with doctoral training in the West. That was not an exaggeration but a true reflection of the dearth of communication between the West and China in the area of Classics, as well as the asymmetrical state of Classics as an academic discipline in China and the West at that time.