Frowned Upon in Most Societies? Cannibalism in Herodotus’ Histories
By Ryan Baldwin, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
This paper argues that Herodotus’ unique depictions of cannibalism in his ethnographies indicate that the historian does not stigmatize foreign customs. Instead of “Othering” these groups, Herodotus depicts the nomoi—the laws and customs—of these far-away peoples to encourage his audience to tolerate foreign practices.
Sofishticated Thoughts in Herodotus: Phusis and Nomos in the Nile River Delta
By Will Lewis, Independent Scholar
The second book of Herodotus’ Histories presents a deeply engaged zoological discussion on the behavior of fish in the Nile Delta (2.93). In this lengthy ichthyological survey, Herodotus opens with a handful of lexically unusual choices. He designates the swimming pattern of fish as in herds, or ἀγελαῖοι, a term limited to describing cows in extant literature contemporary and prior to his time (Il.11.729, Od.10.410, S.Aj. 175).
The Scene of Surrender: Josephus Reads Herodotus on Historical Contingency
By Raymond Lahiri, Yale University
In his Judaean War, Flavius Josephus is both character and author. First leader of a doomed resistance at Jotapata, he becomes an advisor prophesying Flavian rule. This paper examines the programmatic scene of his surrender to Vespasian and Titus (War 3.393-397), arguing that the episode is structured around a hitherto-unnoticed Herodotean intertext. Specifically, Josephus alludes to Croesus of Lydia’s near death at the hands of Cyrus (Hist. 1.86), modelling himself as Croesus and the Flavians as Cyrus.
Elagabalus, a Pantomime Dancer on the Eve of the Sasanian Empire
By Yanxiao He, Tsinghua University
Elagabalus (they/them/their), the first Roman emperor of Syrian background (218-222 CE), is often depicted in existing sources through a notorious, stereotyped lens. This paper argues that Elagabalus embodies the intersection of two established tropes in ancient Greco-Latin texts: 1.) internal orientalism, which attributes internal elements discordant with dominant elite ideology to the “Orient,” (Lowrie and Vinken (2022)); and 2.) standard orientalism regarding other ethnic groups and people.