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The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome, by Numa Denis Fustel De Coulanges
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1874 edition. Excerpt: ... BOOK THIRD. THE CITY. CHAPTER I. The Phratry and the Cury. The Tribe. As yet we have given no dates, nor can we now. In the history of these antique societies the epochs are more easily marked by the succession of ideas and of institutions than by that of years. The study of the ancient rules of private law has enabled us to obtain a glimpse, beyond the times that are called historic, of a succession of centuries during which the family was the sole form of society. This family might then contain within its wide compass several thousand human beings. But in these limits human association was yet too narrow; too narrow for material needs, since this family hardly sufficed for all the chances of life; too narrow for the moral needs of our nature, for we have seen how incomplete was the knowledge of the divine, and how insufficient was the morality of this little world. The smallness of this primitive society corresponded well with the narrowness of the idea then entertained of the divinity. Every family had its gods, and men neither conceived of nor adored any save the domestic 154 divinities. But he could not have contented himself long with these gods so much below what his intelligence might attain. If many centuries were required for him to arrive at the idea of God as a being unique, incomparable, infinite, he must at any rate have insen-sibly approached this ideal, by enlarging his conception from age to age, and by extending little by little the horizon whose line separated for him the divine Being from the things of this world. j>Ehe religious idea and human society went on, thereFore, expanding at the same time. The domestic_religiqn forbade two families to mingle and unite; but it was possible for several families, without_...
- Sales Rank: #915263 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Johns Hopkins University Press
- Published on: 1980-05-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.00" h x 1.04" w x 5.00" l, .97 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 416 pages
Features
- Used Book in Good Condition
Review
Ancient or modern, the city is among man's most complex creations and probably the most illustrative of both his best and worst qualities. The Ancient City, originally published in the 1870s, provides a 19th-century French view of Greek and Roman metropolises.
(Washington Post)
Language Notes
Text: English, French (translation)
Most helpful customer reviews
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful.
One of the Best and most Instructive Books Ever Written
By Laura Knight-Jadczyk
I read references to the work of Fustel de Coulanges in the writings of the great and heroic French historian, Marc Bloch, (The Historian's Craft) and was intrigued enough to get and read it. What an eye-opener! It is undoubtedly among the top 10 seminal historical works ever written, in my opinion. Considering the data that Fustel did not have access to, for which some criticize him, makes this achievement even that much more impressive. His thought revealed in his writing is clear, insightful, brilliant.
What you will find in this book is a masterful story of the descent of the many institutions to which we are still heir though the context and specific manifestations have changed. In many cases, we believe things about why this or that custom has always been with us that are wrong, and Fustel sets out the evidence for what is really behind such things as marriage ceremonies, carrying the bride over the threshold, the foundations of the legal system including why it was the eldest son who got everything for thousands of years, and so forth. There are many questions about why things are the way they are answered in this book.
As other reviewers have noted, there are many descriptions in "The Ancient City" that will bring elements of the Bible to mind. The big question nowadays is: did the Bible borrow from other stories and cultures to create a "history of Israel" that never actually happened? Were some of those stories Greek? And were the Greek stories influenced by elements from Anatolia and Mesopotamia, coming to the Bible by a circuitous route? Did the authors of the Septuagint borrow from Homer and Herodotus?
These are all questions that are interesting and can be better formulated by also reading Russel Gmirkin's book: Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus: Hellenistic Histories and the Date of the Pentateuch (Library Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)and Bruce Louden's book: Homer's Odyssey and the Near East
Despite some of the nit-picking criticisms that have been directed at Fustel over the years, I've never found a significant argument that Fustel got it wrong. His sweeping overview of "how things must have happened" by taking what we know and back-engineering it, is amazing. Everyone should - and can - read it because Fustel was not a stuffy academic who wanted to wrap bizarre ideas in obscure language: he wanted to set out a rational view of why our culture is the way it is which can seem to be totally irrational until you understand what is behind things. If he had had knowledge of periodic cosmic catastrophes such as those explicated in the works of Victor Clube and Bill Napier, (The Cosmic Serpent as well as Firestone, West and Warwick-Smith, The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: How a Stone-Age Comet Changed the Course of World Culture he would have been able to take the topic to its most basic level: fear of death manipulated by individuals seeking power. For that part of the story, you need to read Becker's Escape from Evil.
In any event, The Ancient City is definitely a big piece of the puzzle. If you read the works of Julius Caesar, (Caesar's Commentaries. The Complete Gallic Wars. Revised.: Revised Edition (Latin Edition) you will want to read Fustel first so as to better understand that most amazing of heroes, the one who could have saved Rome had the wealthy elite not been so greedy and psychopathic, and had he not been so humane and forgiving.
In short, in order to understand a lot of things about ancient history, the history of Rome, and our own civilization which is the daughter of Rome, you need to read Fustel. And you will enjoy it and be glad you did!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
The Ancient City: A Study of Pagan Religion and the Rise of Christianity.
By New Age of Barbarism
_The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome_ is a translation of _La Cite Antique_ of Fustel de Coulanges, first published in 1864, and made available as a translation by The Johns Hopkins University Press. Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges was a French classicist who devoted his attention to the ancient pagan civic religions of the Greeks and Romans, contrasting this with that of the Indians (Aryans). His ideas concerning this ancient pagan religion were part of a milieu of social evolutionary ideas that included H. S. Maine and J. J. Bachofen. He also wrote on the origins of the Gauls and French society and his ideas concerning their Roman origins were put to use by various extreme rightist organizations such as the Action Francaise of Charles Maurras. The writings of Fustel de Coulanges have proven particularly profitable for many later French sociologists and anthropologists, though they were to come to reject certain of his ideas as not being confirmed by historical evidence. Christianity played a special role in the theories of Fustel de Coulanges as the subsequent religion which overtook the pagan Greek and Roman civic religion and supplanted it with a universalist system. In addition, Fustel de Coulanges wrote against the various socialist theorists of the time, emphasizing the role of private property among the earliest Greeks and Romans. This book includes a Foreword by Arnaldo Momigliano and S. C. Humphreys which points to many of the central issues involved in the reading of Fustel de Coulanges and the text of _The Ancient City_ proper.
To begin, the author notes the essential necessity of studying the earliest beliefs of the ancients in an effort to understand their institutions. The author next turns his attentions to the earliest beliefs about the soul and death. In particular, the abode of the dead is discussed, as well as the need of the dead for food (noting that on certain days the ancients were to bring food to the tombs of the departed). The author also notes the practice of the worship of the dead. The deified souls of the departed were known as demons or heroes to the Greeks and as Lares, Manes, or Genii to the Latins. The author also discusses the role of the sacred hearth-fire and the worship of fire. This hearth-fire was always kept burning. Next, the author turns his attention to the ancient domestic religion, emphasizing the patriarchal society that existed and the role of the family in that religion. Each family was ruled over by the father, who may bequeath his rule to his eldest son, and each family preserved its own gods (the ancestors) and the sacred fire. The author discusses such important aspects of the ancient family as marriage (in which a meal was shared between the bride and her husband initiating the bride into the worship of the husband's family), kinship, the right of succession, property (an important institution for the ancient family, though one that was passed down from father to son exclusively), authority in the family, and morals in the family. In particular, the author also discusses the gens at Rome and Greece (noting the aristocratic nature of the Roman clan and showing the contrast between plebeians and patricians). Following this discussion, the author turns his attention to the ancient city proper. Here, the author notes how while the ancient domestic religion prohibited families from mingling, it was still possible for the ancient families to unite in a phratria (to the Greeks) or curia (to the Latins). The author also shows how new religious beliefs formed, based on the worship of natural phenomena, invoking such ancient names for the sun as Hercules (the glorious), Phoebus (the shining), Apollo (he who drives away night or evil), Hyperion (the elevated Being), and Alexicacos (the beneficent). The author shows that while the ancient family domestic religion involved the worship of ancestors, these gods came to be present for all. The author discusses the city and its various customs, including the religion of the city and its gods. Here, he notes such things as public repasts, festivals and the calendar, the census, and religion in the assembly, in the Senate, in the Tribunal, in the Army, and in the Triumph. The author also discusses various rituals, the king, the magistracy, the law, and the citizen and stranger. In addition, the author also discusses ancient patriotism and the means to exile. Finally, the author discusses war, peace, and the alliance of the gods. This brings the author to a discussion of the omnipotence of the state and the lack of individual liberty among the ancients. The next section of this book concerns the various revolutions that occurred as plebeians demanded more rights from the ancient order, leading eventually to the creation of democracy. In the first revolution, political authority was taken from the king (although the king was still to retain religious authority). The author discusses this revolution was it played out at Sparta, Athens, and Rome. At this time, the aristocracy governed the city. In the second revolution, various changes occurred in the constitution of the family and the right of primogeniture disappeared. It was at this point that the clients became free (the author mentions in particular the work of Solon). In the third revolution, the plebs entered the city. The author discusses this revolution as it played out at Athens and Rome. The author also discusses changes in the private law, the Code of the Twelve Tables, and the Code of Solon. In the fourth revolution, an aristocracy of wealth tried to establish itself and this lead to the establishment of democracy and popular suffrage. However, it is in the conflict between rich and poor that democracy failed and popular tyrants arose. The final section of this book is devoted to the disappearance of the municipal regime. Here, the author notes how new beliefs arose as the traditional religious structures were changed to become more universal. The author discusses the Roman conquest and the subsequent rise of Christianity. By calling to itself the whole human race, Christianity made the most radical change to the pagan religion.
This book provides an excellent account of the earliest ancient Greek and Roman pagan religion that revolved around the family and its subsequent demise with the rise of the Romans and the beginnings of Christianity. It is the universal message of Christianity that lives on from most ancient times. This book is a fascinating sociological account of the ancient city and its religion and customs, showing in detail the ancient pagan belief system. Fustel de Coulanges is very learned and argues extensively from many ancient sources, both Greek and Roman (but also mentioning ancient Indian and Hebrew sources as well).
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
Classic introduction to Mediterranean society
By Christopher P. Atwood
I was first exposed to this book in an anthropology class, where the professor used it to introduce the anthropological concept of descent, i.e. the inheritance of collective rights to valuable resources (above all land), through birth in a clan. Having read and research much more on this topic, and come back to "Ancient City," I find it still one of the most lucid expositions of descent and lineage institutions. (Note, though, that Mediterranean clans are somewhat unusual in being endogamous, not exogamous, like those of the Eastern Asia or sub-Saharan Africa).
Readers familiar with Herodotus or Livy will find their questions about the importance of bones of heroes and cult images answered in this book.
Also for anyone familiar with the Old Testament, and hoping to learn more about its social background, this book ought to be a fascinating read. Page after page can be annotated with Biblical verses (it is hard to believe that Fustel de Coulanges was not thinking of these verses when he wrote the book). The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is, in part, a recognizable Mediterranean family God--although Fustel de Coulanges argues that this same God, when revealed in the Christian Gospel, decisively transformed the ancient city into a new civilization based not on family gods, but on one universal God.
Fustel de Coulanges works with a typical 19th century social evolutionist view, one that is hardly acceptable today. His lack of knowledge about the other areas leads him to assume, for example, that endogamy is an inherent feature of clan-family religion; as noted above, this is incorrect. Once you control for these understandable errors, however, the progression from family to tribe to city, while unacceptable as a history, does make the exposition easy to follow.
Finally, when looking at this work in the context of today's knowledge particularly of archeology, what "Ancient City" strongly implies is the continuity between Bronze Age and Iron Age civilization in the Mediterranean. Twentieth century historians (including Momigliano, who wrote an introduction for the paperback edition) often seem to work with the assumption that the cataclysm of 1250-1200 BC created a tabula rasa in Greek history. To Fustel de Coulanges, the post-monarchic era from 700 BC on is not the defining moment of Greek and Roman civilization, but only a phase in its transformation into the semi-universal civilization of the Hellenistic and Roman imperial periods.
To conclude, this book is still an important work that should stimulate thought on the clan-tribal foundations of both classical and Biblical civilization.
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