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The ancient world was a world where blood flowed freely - from often large-scale public animal sacrifices, to violence in the arena, to menstruation in cramped living conditions and many other occasions. But despite this ubiquity of blood in everyday lives, sources for the Greek and Roman world only mention blood in specific circumstances and with specific meanings. With our contributions on blood in medicine, popular culture, religion, historiography, family and community identity as well as conflict and othering narratives the volume for the first time offers a comprehensive insight into the many contexts in which blood was a topic in Greek and Roman discourse. The contributions by renowned international experts show that blood was considered to be a substance charged with meaning where attitudes towards blood from different contexts interacted to give it a particular power for the ancient world.
About the author
PD Dr. Julia Hoffmann-Salz ist Teaching and Research Fellow in Ancient History an der University of Edinburgh, Großbritannien. Ihr Forschungsschwerpunkt ist der antike Nahe Osten von der hellenistischen Zeit bis in die Spätantike sowie die Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte der hellenistischen Welt und der römischen Kaiserzeit.
Summary
The ancient world was a world where blood flowed freely – from often large-scale public animal sacrifices, to violence in the arena, to menstruation in cramped living conditions and many other occasions. But despite this ubiquity of blood in everyday lives, sources for the Greek and Roman world only mention blood in specific circumstances and with specific meanings. With our contributions on blood in medicine, popular culture, religion, historiography, family and community identity as well as conflict and othering narratives the volume for the first time offers a comprehensive insight into the many contexts in which blood was a topic in Greek and Roman discourse. The contributions by renowned international experts show that blood was considered to be a substance charged with meaning where attitudes towards blood from different contexts interacted to give it a particular power for the ancient world.
Foreword
The ancient world was a world where blood flowed freely – from often large-scale public animal sacrifices, to violence in the arena, to menstruation in cramped living conditions and many other occasions. But despite this ubiquity of blood in everyday lives, sources for the Greek and Roman world only mention blood in specific circumstances and with specific meanings. With our contributions on blood in medicine, popular culture, religion, historiography, family and community identity as well as conflict and othering narratives the volume for the first time offers a comprehensive insight into the many contexts in which blood was a topic in Greek and Roman discourse. The contributions by renowned international experts show that blood was considered to be a substance charged with meaning where attitudes towards blood from different contexts interacted to give it a particular power for the ancient world.
