Invoking Humans in Roman-Era Oaths: Emotional Relations and Divine Ambiguity.

This article examines Roman-era oaths invoking nondeities, especially persons. It argues that rather than invoking quasi-deities or persons to be punished by the gods in case of perjury, as usually understood in the past, these invocations could have two concurrent functions: honoring the invoked pe...

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Publicado en:Numen: International Review for the History of Religions Vol. 68; no. 4; pp. 382 - 411
Autor principal: Blidstein, Moshe
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Brill Academic Publishers 2021
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Invoking Humans in Roman-Era Oaths: Emotional Relations and Divine Ambiguity.
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        au: Blidstein, Moshe
        affil: Department of History and the Haifa Center for Mediterranean History, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
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        Ambiguity
        Oaths
        Latin poetry
        Rabbinical literature
        Sermon (Literary form)
        Roman Empire, 30 B.C.-A.D. 476
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          Ambiguity
          Oaths
          Latin poetry
          Rabbinical literature
          Sermon (Literary form)
          Roman Empire, 30 B.C.-A.D. 476
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        awe
        divinity
        honor
        invocation
        oath
        Roman Empire
      ab: This article examines Roman-era oaths invoking nondeities, especially persons. It argues that rather than invoking quasi-deities or persons to be punished by the gods in case of perjury, as usually understood in the past, these invocations could have two concurrent functions: honoring the invoked persons and affirming a statement. Though such invocations had limited legal power, they were commonly practiced throughout the period, as demonstrated in various textual genres, including Latin poetry and rhetoric, texts of the Second Sophistic, Jewish rabbinical writings, and 5th-century Christian sermons. Furthermore, nondivine invocations were frequently combined and mingled with divine invocations, with only theologically inclined authors attempting to define them clearly as a separate category. This interpretation has significance for understanding some equivocal oaths, such as the oath by the emperor, as well as for our perception of oaths in general as a speech act with functions going beyond the affirmation of a statement.
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    language: English
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