The expression πάθει μάθο (177) and the final words of the parodos (τόδ’. ἕϱϰς) pose problems that have not been solved. At first sight they seem unrelated, but I think they are related through the ‘Hymn to Zeus.’ I also think that we can better understand the way the chorus are using πάθει μάθος by looking at the context of the ‘Hymn to Zeus' and at its structure as a prayer. And since the ending of the parodos echoes several sentiments in the ‘Hymn to Zeus,’ a more exact understanding of the ‘Hymn’ should allow us to try a new approach to understanding the meaning of the end of the parodos.

It is a widely held view that by the beginning of the Christian era the staging of full-length dramas had become very rare or had ceased altogether, and that any plays that were written during this time, like the ten 'Senecan’ plays that survive, were probably intended as no more than closet dramas. But the question of whether such plays were ever staged (and hence the question of whether they were intended to be staged or were even stageable) is complicated by the fact that the word ‘tragedy’ was also applied to other forms of dramatic performances: to the ballet of the pantomime artist (tragoedia saltata) and to short concert productions (tragoedia cantata). There was also the citharoedia, a solo performance which consisted of a tragic aria accompanied by the lyre. Finally, the traditional kind of tragedy could be recited rather than staged. Each of these kinds of performances could take place in or out of the theater, with varying degrees of elaboration. When, therefore, an ancient writer speaks of the performance of a tragedy, it is not always clear just what type of production is being alluded to. When, for instance, Dio Cassius says that the Emperor Caligula just before his assassination (A.D. 41) wished to put on a ballet and enact a tragedy (ϰαὶ ὀϱχήσασθαι ϰαὶ τϱαγῳδίαν ὑποϰϱίνασθαι ἠθέλησεν) and announced that the revels would be prolonged three more days for the purpose, what does he mean ? Was there to be only one kind of performance or two? That is, were the pantomimus and his hypocritae to dance and act a single tragedy, or was a story to be rendered first in dance, and then the same or another story acted out in dialogue and song? If the latter supposition is correct, was the tragedy to be a large-scale play or a modified and shortened concert tragedy? We know from Suetonius that the same play could be conceived of as being performed in different ways. He says that on the day before Caligula was killed, the pantomimus Mnester danced the same tragedy that the tragoedus Neoptolemus had acted in the games at which Philip of Macedon was killed. Of course, in judging this matter we must also consider the question of how accurately the conceptions and practices reported by Suetonius (ca. 120) and Dio (ca. 220) correspond to those of Caligula's time.

There exists a large, remarkably homogeneous literature on the conflict between paganism and Christianity in the last decades of the fourth century. This study is a preliminary attempt to re-examine that conflict and point out new lines for interpretation of familiar evidence. A redefinition of our conceptions of what paganism was at this period will be followed by a close study of the men and events around whom the traditional narratives of its last revivals have been constructed. A concluding section will outline the ways in which, according to the new definitions proposed here, paganism may be said to have survived its apparent destruction.

Two passages in the sermons of Bishop Caesarius of Arles († 542) have aroused the special interest of philologists and students of the history of religion alike. The first passage is found in the concluding section of a sermon in which the bishop scathingly criticizes some superstitions and heathen customs which, to all appearances, were still rife among the common people of his day.

In two early medieval manuscripts, Vat. Pal. lat. 220 and Vat. Pal. lat. 212, there are contained seven short sermons or homilies which provide convincing evidence of being Irish in character. They are worthy of publication because the amount of homiletical literature coming from Irish circles at this early time is not very great, and because a careful consideration of them is apt to throw light on the Irish literary method. They reveal various internal characteristics which are known to be symptomatic of the Hiberno-Latin element; and they present sufficient material to allow one to study closely how the Irish used sources in the preparation of their homilies. The approach of our anonymous author to Scripture stands in the Antiochene rather than the Alexandrian tradition. Thus his interest is in the literal more than in the spiritual sense of the text; and in this he shows a certain affinity with the Irish exegetes of this period. I should like to reproduce here the text of these sermons and to elucidate their character by relating them in parallel fashion to other contemporary works that are known to be part of the Hiberno-Latin tradition.

Who was Gratian? It is hardly necessary to justify the interest of such a question. The Concordia discordantium canonum is one of the most influential law books of all time — a teacher's case book which became, for over 700 years, the law of the Catholic Church; a book which is at the roots of Western legal thought, ecclesiastical and lay; a vast storehouse of prior legislation and judgments, a set of masterful hypotheticals, and a rich commentary distinguished by its shrewdness and wisdom. In any time, in any land, its author would be honored for his achievement and sought after for his skill. His book was composed in a literate age in a milieu which valued learning, and even more than learning, valued law. Surely the composer has left some traces of himself and not vanished into the mists of myth.

Das große abendländische Schisma (1378–1449) brachte zahlreiche Abhandlungen zum Thema Konzil hervor, aus denen die Konzilsidee des Spätmittelalters gewonnen werden kann. Namen wie Dietrich von Niem, Konrad von Gelnhausen, Heinrich von Langenstein, Pierre d'Ailly, Jean Gerson, Jean Courtecuisse, Juan Torquemada u.a. verdeutlichen das Gemeinte. Im Umkreis der Literatur zum zweiten Nicaenum (787), vor allem in den Libri Carolini, ist andererseits die spätpatristische Konzilsidee greifbar. Zwischen dem großen abendländischen Schisma und dem zweiten Nicaenum aber liegt ein Zeitraum von 500 Jahren und damit ein halbes Jahrtausend Entfaltung der Konzilsidee. Wie denkt man in dieser Zeitspanne über Konzilien? Auf welche Momente und Aspekte konzentriert sich das Interesse? Wo liegen die wesentlichen Unterschiede im Vergleich zur patristischen Phase der Entfaltung dieser Idee? Die entscheidende Vorfrage lautet natürlich: Welche Quellen stehen uns für den genannten Zeitraum zur Beantwortung unserer Frage zur Verfügung? Wie für die patristische Periode kommen auch für die mittelalterliche wieder einzelne Autoren in Frage. Männer wie der streitbare Bischof Hinkmar von Reims und der Unionstheologe Anselm von Havelberg, vielleicht auch Gerbert von Aurillac, der nachmalige Papst Silvester II., sind hier zu nennen.

Lorsqu'on lit dans les documents du 13e siècle qu'un jeune noble a reçu les armes, le ceinturon de la militia ou l'épée, qu'il est devenu ou a été fait miles, ou encore qu'il a été promu à la militia, on traduit tout naturellement que ce jeune noble a été ‘adoubé’; on exprime par ces mots la cérémonie de remise des armes par laquelle il a été ‘fait Chevalier’ et est ainsi entré dans l'Ordre de la Chevalerie. Mais lorsque cette remise d'armes se passe au 9e ou au 10e siècle, bien avant que la chevalerie telle qu'on l'entend généralement soit apparue, on ne peut évidemment pas donner à cet événement la même signification ‘chevaleresque.’

In the following pages the Repertorium of Hippocratic Writings in the Latin Middle Ages, begun in Traditio 31 (1975) 99–126 and continued in succeeding issues, resumes with a number of tracts which, though for the most part spurious, circulated under Hippocrates' name. Included are the so-called XX. Epistolae (communications regarding various aspects of medicine or medical history dating from before the ninth century to the fifteenth century), and the brief tracts entitled XXI. Epitomum, XXII. De Equis, XXIII. Experimenta, XXIV De Farmaciis, XXV De Febribus, XXVI. De Flatibus, XXVII. Gynaecia, XXVIII. De Herbis, and XXIX. De Humoribus. The number and variety of these texts provide ample evidence for the continued reverence for the noted physician of Cos.

In Boccaccio's epic, the Teseida, the narrative of events is scattered with references to the rising constellations and positions of the planets. Whether or not Boccaccio actually believed in astrology (as he did to some degree), the zodiac is a set of publicly recognized symbols for various kinds of action and states of mind, and Boccaccio might well have considered poetically correlating the astral positions with his narrative. Numerous scholars have pointed out the meanings of astronomical passages in the writings both of Dante, whom Boccaccio imitated in many ways, and of Chaucer, whose astrology-filled Knight's Tale is based on the Teseida. Quaglio, investigating the extent of Boccaccio's astronomical knowledge, is not concerned with the literary uses of that knowledge. Earlier critics, assuming that the narratives were autobiographical, investigated some of the astronomical passages in search of historical dates for Boccaccio's affair with Fiammetta; but the confusion of calendars and lack of sufficiently detailed information in the texts resulted in a variety of answers and no way to judge among them. At the same time many of the astronomical verses that seemed unrelatable to Boccaccio's own romance were left unmentioned.

Plautus' Trinummus has won much praise from those who seek a strong ethical line in comedy and believe that, in the rare instance of this Plautine play, they have found it. Such critics classify it as an exception from the usual irreverence of the playwright, along with the Captivi. More than 200 years ago, Lessing extolled the Captivi as the finest play, not just of Plautus, but of antiquity. The Trinummus came a close second in his estimation, and he demonstrated his affection for both plays by translating and commenting on the Captivi, and by adapting the Trinummus for the German stage in 1750, at the youthful age of twenty-one. Ritschl chose the Trinummus as the first Plautine work to bring out in a careful critical edition, and his edition elicited one of the finest reviews of Theodor Bergk in 1848. The apparently noble ethics of this play encouraged E. P. Morris to edit it for American school and college students, at the end of the nineteenth century. In this century, affection for pronounced ethics has somewhat declined. Therefore, although critics continue to perceive the same emphasis, they are less willing to extol the play as a masterpiece. E. F. Watling, in his Penguin translation of 1964, rather tepidly summarizes the Trin. as ‘a cool leisurely comedy, which offers an agreeably convincing, if partial, picture of Graeco-Roman family problems.’ A decade later, Erich Segal provocatively labeled it as Plautus' only boring play, precisely because of its unusual ethical contents.

The South English Legendary (hereafter SEL) is an anonymous thirteenth-century vernacular liber festivalis, following the calendar written primarily for a ‘lewid’ audience. Beyond that limited assertion there still remain fundamental unanswered questions as to its source, place of origin, and authorship. The situation is only somewhat better concerning the date of composition. Indeed, in the face of so many vexing and unanswered questions concerning the SEL, I hope to be able to give a more precise date for the original composition than has been hitherto established.