Scrinium Classical Antiquity

ALFÖLDI, A., The Conversion of Constantine and Pagan Rome. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1948. 1st ed. VII,140p. Cloth wrps. Signature on free endpaper. Wrps bit yellowed and slightly stained. € 37.50 (Antiquarian)

ALFÖLDI, A., Das frühe Rom und die Latiner. Aus dem Englischen übersetzt von Fr. Kolb. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1977. XIX,604,XXIVp. ills.(B&W photographs). Map loosely inserted. Bound. Front cover partly discoloured. Edges a bit stained. 'This is one of the fullest surveys of the problems of early Rome to have appeared in recent years. (...) Alföldi's thesis is that Rome only became an independent sovereign state shortly before the battle of Lake Regillus (496 B.C.). In the earliest times, before a proper city had been built, the community of shepherd-warriors which was the Latin nucleus of the Roman people was 'governed by Alba Longa'. The evidence for this is Roman participation in the festival of Iuppiter Latiaris on the Alban mount and the legends which linked the foundation of Rome and Alba Longa. Later, when Alba Longa declined, Rome passed into the power of Lavinium, which took over the control of the Latin federation. (...) In arguing this thesis Alföldi dismisses most of the grandiose stories about Roman achievements under the kings as romanticizing inventions by Fabius Pictor, the first Roman historian. The same conclusion can be reached by observing how many of these stories are Greek stories in Roman guise. And Alföldi is clearly right in discounting the exaggerated claims made for Rome in her relations with other states. He is right too in reasserting with detailed argument, against Bloch, Gjerstad, and others, the traditional chronology of the Etruscan dynasty at Rome. But his own thesis is impossibly over-simplified. It is not established by the evidence which he adduces for it and it requires the ruthless but implausible elimination of much conflicting evidence. (...) Alföldi is the victim of an over-schematic theory. He believes in linear progress whereas history is very often a matter of fits and starts. What would do most to advance our knowledge of early Rome now is not the manipulation of texts but the location and excavation of the Temple of Diana on the Aventine and of the probable site of the earliest settlement at Ostia. '(R.M. OGILVIE on the original English publication in The Classical Review (New Series), 1966, pp.95-97). From the library of the late Professor Doktor Nikolaus Himmelmann. € 12.50 (Antiquarian)

ALFÖLDI, A., Studien zur Geschichte der Weltkrise des 3. Jahrhunderts nach Christus. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1967. VII,460,78p. Original black cloth. Spine with gilt titled vignet. A few light and erasable pencil strikes from TR in margins. ‘Opportunamente gli studi di Andreas Alföldi sulla crisi del mondo romano nel III secolo dopo Cristo sono stati in un volume unico: si permette cosi agli studiosi di avere una raccolta abbastanza ampia e completa del lavoro che lo storico ungherese ha compiuto nel giro di decenni su quel tormentato periodo della storia romana. Nella premessa, l’autore spiega il motivo per cui ha preferito che gli studi da lui pubblicati nell’arco di anni compreso tra il 1927 e il 1950 rivendessero la luce inalterati e nella forma e nel contenuto; il suo contributo infatti alla conoscenza di quel periodo storico tanto complesso e interessante, doveva essere distinto da quello di altri studiosi che successivamente affrontarono lo studio del III secolo. L’esigenza tuttavia di un aggiornamento dei problemi non è ignorata: l’Alföldi infatti promette un secondo volume che rifletta ricerche e contributi successivi di altri studiosi. (…) L’attenzione dell’Alföldi nella scelta degli studi pubblicati è rivolta in gran parte all’approfondimento del problema della figura dell’imperatore Gallieno (…) anche in rapporta alla monetazione negli anni del suo impero (…). Non manca, naturalmente, un capitolo dedicato alle persecuzioni contro i cristiani (…). La raccolta è completata da 78 tavole, riproducenti in gran parte monete, e da due indici: il primo, relativo alle persone e cose (…); il secondo, riguardante le leggende del verso delle monete usate per la ricostruzione storica (…)’ (A. PALLAVISINI in Aevum, 1969, pp.353-54). From the library of the late Prof. Dr. Tony Reekmans. € 45.00 (Antiquarian)

ALFÖLDI, A., Der frührömische Reiteradel und seine Ehrenabzeichen. Verlag für Kunst und Wissenschaft, Baden-Baden, 1952. 128p. Sewn. Series: Deutsche Beiträge zur Altertumswissenschaft, Heft 2. ‘Il y a une vingtaine d’années, dans deux études remarquables, A. Alföldi s’etait attaqué avec succès au problème des origines et de la signification symbolique et religieuse de l’habillement d’apparat et du cérémonial de cour du Bas-Empire. Dans le présent ouvrage, il examine un problème similaire, celui de la signification originelle d’une série de détails vestimentaires et d’insignes distinctifs réservés aux membres de l’ordre équestre, tel que celui-ci avait été réorganisé depuis les Gracques: ‘phalerae’ ornant le harnachement de leurs chevaux, anneau d’or, ‘trabea’, ‘calceus patricius’ et bande de pourpre bordant la tunique. Quoique les textes se rapportent à cette question soient rares, tout autant d’ailleurs que les documents iconographiques, et que l’auteur ait dû se livrer en quelque sorte à une reconstitution archéologique dont bien des parties restent hypothétiques, Alföldi a réussi à montrer que tous ces insignes remontent à la plus haute antiquité et étaient réservés à l’origine soit aux rois, soit à l’élite de la noblesse de l’époque royale. Par une série de déductions fort pertinenetes, l’auteur arrive a la conclusion que la plus ancienne cavalerie, celle de l’époque royale, était recrutée exclusivement parmi la noblesse et que le patricial des premiers temps de la République est issue de la cavalerie de l’époque de la Royauté. Les derniers chapitres du livre sont consacrés à l’evolution des centuries d’’equites’ sous la République jusqu’aux Gracques; l’auteur y montre que les chevaliers ont conservé à cette époque un grand nombre de privilèges, qu’ils ont continué, pendant longtemps encore, à faire partie des classes dirigeantes, et qu’ils ont joui d’un prestige dont l’attitude d’un Pompée, au début de sa carrière, fait encore foi.’ (S.J. DE LAET in Latomus, 1955, p.328). € 35.00 (Antiquarian)

ALFÖLDY, G., Römische Sozialgeschichte. Franz Steiner, Wiesbaden. 1975. XI,239p. Paperback. Some light, erasable pencil strikes and underlinings from TR. Series: Wissenschaftliche Paperbacks, 8. From the library of the late Prof. Dr. Tony Reekmans. € 10.00 (Antiquarian)

ALFÖLDY, G., Römische Sozialgeschichte. Franz Steiner, Wiesbaden. 1984. 3rd compl.rev.ed. 212p. Paperback. Name on half title. Series: Wissenschaftliche Paperbacks, 8. 'Im Text wurden zahlreiche Änderungen vorgenommen: einige Irrtümer wurden eiliminiert, zahlreiche allzusehr verallgemeinernde Feststellungen wurden vorsichtiger und differenzierter formuliert, manche viel zu knapp geheltenen Ausführungen erhielten einen etwas breiteren Raum, die Terminologie wurde strenger und konsequenter als vorher gehandhabt, und neue Forschungsergebnisse wurden (...) berücksichtigt.' (Vorwort zur 3. Auflage, p.7). € 12.00 (Antiquarian)

ALFONSI, L., Albio Tibullo e gli autori del 'Corpus Tibullianum'. Vita e Pensiero, Milano, 1946. VIII,101p. Sewn. Pages yellowed. Signature from Prof. W. Evenepoel on half title. Series: Pubblicazioni dell'Universita Cattolica del S. Cuore, Nuova Series, Volume XIII. € 22.50 (Antiquarian)

ALI-SAMI, Persepolis (Takht-i-jamshid). Translated by R. Sharp. Musavi Printing Office, Shiraz, 1975. 8th ed. 160p. With map and illustrations. Sewn. € 24.50 (Antiquarian)

ALISON, J., De liefdeskunstenaar. Cargo, Amsterdam, 2002. 254p. Paperback.Novel inspired on the exile of Ovid. € 13.50 (Antiquarian)

ALKAIOS, (ALCAEUS), Lieder. Griechisch und deutsch herausgegeben von M. Treu. Heimeran, München, 1952. 1st ed. 184p. Cloth wrps. Wrps a bit yellowed. Series: Tusculum.From the library of the late Professor Doktor Nicolaus Himmelmann. € 15.00 (Antiquarian)