Comments on: Why I’m skeptical to Toynbee

By: Loki

Loki — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:17:21 +0000

I’m also shamefully realising I’m automatically a tiny bit prejudiced against Qviller by virtue of having only been exposed to him through said article-collection where he was opposed by Per-Bjarne Ravnå, whom I recently had as a censor on my bachelor’s thesis and was handed an A by.

Tee-hee! =D

By: Loki

Loki — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:15:21 +0000

There is and there isn’t. As far as I gather, there are basically three main views of the Republican system, though keep in mind I’m probably grossly oversimplifying and misremembering things now: that it was a party-based system of “optimates” versus “popularis” where the patronage-model mainly enters in to explain the parties respective powers, that the patronage-system was the all-explaining all-consuming all-important aspect to Republican Rome, and more typically modern, nuanced views which accept the patronage as a fact but are sceptical to the amount of importance to ascribe to it and it alone. Assuming I got this half-assedly right, then, it was my impression that Qviller leant a little towards the middle view, where the patronage is the Key to everything about Republican Rome.

By: Dread Pirate Terje

Dread Pirate Terje — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:50:12 +0000

“Incidentally, Gracchi, I believe, is written like so, with one “i”.”

Ah, that’s kinda what I thought; I just threw on an extra i for good measure.

“Why would you be discussing the Roman Republic, of all things, anyway? You’re not studying it as far as I know?”

Well, the history course I’m taking this term revolves a lot around the transmission of Greek and Latin knowledge and literature from antiquity through the middle ages, and I realized I probably ought to brush up on my knowledge on at least the Roman Republic and Empire. Therefore, I’ve been reading a bit of Qviller, mainly in the bathroom…

“but reason and limping memory would indicate they, too, centrered around the patronage-clientella-model.”

Yeah, from what I’ve been able to surmise from my brief contact with the field, there doesn’t really seem to be a lot of controversy around that particular aspect…

By: Loki

Loki — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 01:02:41 +0000

Intruding on my fortè, are you? ^^
(There is little in world history I have a vague inkling about, but I dare say I know at least some feeble few things of the Roman Republic by now)

Incidentally, Gracchi, I believe, is written like so, with one “i”.

Why would you be discussing the Roman Republic, of all things, anyway? You’re not studying it as far as I know?

I read Meyer’s book in the similar course, though in a specialized course on the Roman Republic there were quite a few articles by Qviller, accompanied by opposing articles by Ravnå. Don’t remember much of them - they were in a damned heavy compendium - but reason and limping memory would indicate they, too, centrered around the patronage-clientella-model.