Political Culture in the Holy Roman Empire

This article reviews six essay collections and one monographon late medieval and early modern political culture in the HolyRoman Empire. Following a general survey of historiographicaltrends and a discussion of the specific contributions of theworks under review (covering topics from international relations,state formation and the role of language to representative assembliesand the exercise of power in towns and villages), it attemptsa preliminary sketch of the basic parameters of pre-modern politics.Prominent insights include shifts in the balance between oral,ritual and written communication, the significance of informalbonds and the negotiated quality of developments at all levelsof government. The conclusion assesses the potential of the‘new’ political history and calls for renewed effortsto link discourses, representations and perceptions to the norms,structures and socio-economic conditions with which they interacted.     

Edward Gibbon and the Roman Empire

MARTIN GILBERT. Second World War. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1989. Pp. xix, 846.

BARRIE and FRANCIS PITT. The Chronological Atlas of World War II. London: Macmillan, 1989. Pp. xi, 178.

CORRELLI BARNETT, ed. Hitler's Generals. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1989. Pp. xix, 497.

GEOFFREY ROBERTS. The Unholy Alliance: Stalin's Pact with Hitler. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1989. Pp. xviii, 296.

VICTOR SUVOROV. Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?, trans. Thomas B. Beattie. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1990. Pp. xvii, 364.

ROY DOUGLAS. The World War 1939–1943: The Cartoonists' Vision. London and New York: Routledge, 1990. Pp. xii, 300.

PAUL FUSSELL. Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Pp. x, 330.     

共和国晚期至帝国初期古罗马人的希腊观

公元前3世纪初至公元1世纪初,罗马经历了重要的文化转型,罗马文化受到希腊文化的全面影响。在此转型期中,罗马人对希腊的态度非常复杂,用两分法来分析这种态度并不合适。本文从紧张忧虑、反观比较和鉴别选择三种态度分析罗马人的希腊观,认为在同希腊的对照中,罗马人进一步明确了自己的文化身份。     

Crows: From Holy to Evil Birds

Ridingonhorseback,IpassedDagarVillagebytheNyemo-QuxuHighway.A.truckbehindmewasobviouslyinahurryonitswaytosomewhere,andthedriverkeptpressingthehorntourgememakewayforhim.Allofasudden,adarkcloudrosefromnearbywalnuttreestowardthebluesky.Itwasactuallyadarkcloudofcrows.Outofcuriosity,Imovedtothewalnuttrees.Icountedcrownestsandfoundtheynumberedmorethan100.SKILLSOFCROWS.Crowsaregoodatbuildingnests.Eachnestiscomposedofsevenlayers,andeachlayerisbuiltwithmaterialsdifferentfromotherlayers.Notall…     

论罗马帝国消防军

罗马帝国消防军是奥古斯都统治时期建立的专门负责首都消防与夜间治安的准军事性组织。它的建立是奥古斯都对传统消防模式的革新,更是其行使元首权力、维护社会秩序稳定、巩固元首制的要略之一。消防军通过完善的预、接警机制,及时发现与扑救火灾,执行旨在抑制火灾发生的消防巡检,不仅提高了居民消防安全意识,更使火灾次数明显减少。消防军还结合夜间消防巡逻,维护首都夜间治安,在其巡逻下,罗马夜间秩序稳定。消防军是古罗马一创举,说明罗马帝国政府意识到保证消防安全与维护社会秩序稳定在促进社会与国家和谐发展上的重要作用。     

公元1—2世纪罗马帝国的巡察机制

罗马帝国巡察机制是针对行省管理构建的一种监督模式,始于奥古斯都时期,至公元2世纪中叶完善。它的架构包括中央巡察机制和地方巡察机制两部分;巡察内容覆盖行省的政治、经济、军事等领域;在运作上坚持中央集权与行省自主巡察的原则,形成了中央和地方互相沟通、充分监督、高度统一的巡察网络。罗马帝国的巡察机制是其政治制度的重要组成部分,有助于维护中央集权和提高行省管理效能,是古代帝国将巡察与国家管理有机结合的体现。     

The Rolt Memorial Lecture, 1983 Our Debt to Roman Engineering: The Water Supply of Lincoln to the Present Day

Abstract

Lincoln was one of the four colonia of Roman Britain and therefore intended to serve as an example of cultured urban life to the surrounding region. A good water supply was essential in Roman towns but Lincoln, stand above the 200ft contour, could not receive a normal gravity fed system. This paper examines the archaeological evidence for the water supply to Roman Lincoln and looks at how the problem was solved in later generations. Dr Lewis argues that a comparison of the solutions to engineering problems of even the distant past and the present is an important aspect of industrial archaeology.