Markéta Melounová

The paper is concerned with the travel books composed by three Czech pilgrims-travellers, who visited the island of Crete on their way to Palestine
in the period between the end of the 15th and the end of the 16th century; namely, the travel books by Jan Hasištejnský of Lobkowicz, Oldřich Prefát of Vlkanov, and Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice. The paper focuses on their perception of the island of Crete and, especially, of its (both real and legendary) ancient history. The aim of the paper is to assess the amount of knowledge of ancient Crete the travellers possessed, as well as its sources.

A chapter in a monograph on legal, religious, and political aspects of ancient Roman family.
The chapter focuses on the laws promoting family life and morals that were issued at the instigation of the Emperor Augustus. These laws presented a considerable intervention into the private life of Roman citizens from the side of the first princeps.

The paper analyzes and compares the methods and accuracy of the descriptions of ancient Roman monuments in two important Old Bohemian travelogues from the beginning of the 17th century: the Pilgrimage of Christopher Harant of Polzice and Bezdruzice (1564 – 1621; travelogue printed in 1608) and the travelogue of Friedrich of Donin (ca. 1574 – 1634; travelogue preserved in a single manuscript). Both travelogues are richly illustrated; they describe both specific monuments of the city of Rome at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries as well as the types of monuments not all of which are of Roman origin, but can also be found in Rome (such as obelisks and pyramids). In his account, Donin prefers to provide general information about the monuments rather than to describe his own journey. However, due to the missing page, we do not know the exact beginning of his description. The descriptions are chronological: first, he depicts the monuments of pagan Rome; second, Christian churches and basilicas; and, finally, the secular buildings of Christian Rome. The preserved part of the account of Roman pagan monuments starts topographically with the Vespasianic Templum Pacis and the Palatine hill; nevertheless, while speaking of imperial arches, Donin abandons the method and describes instead the most important monuments according to their type. The arches are followed by the Flavian amphitheatre, the Theatre of Marcellus, Roman baths, the Pyramid of Cestius, the obelisks of Rome, the columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius (incorrectly identified with the column of Antoninus Pius), and the mausoleum of Hadrian. Donin is well versed in architecture, his concise descriptions of monuments are mostly accurate (although not always). Contrary to Harant who labels most building stones as “marble”, Donin distinguishes between different kinds of building stones (marble, travertine, porphyry). The lack of autopsy in Harant’s descriptions is sometimes obvious, not only in verbal descriptions (the curious information that Titus’ triumphal carriage in the relief of Titus’ arch is drawn by two unicorns), but also in illustrations (the Egyptian pyramids resembling obelisks). On the other hand, Harant’s travelogue is much more extensive and elaborate, whereas the greatest difference between him and Donin when it comes to the information processing method is Harant’s ubiquitous bibliographical citations and the lack of these in Donin’s work (except in case of literal quotes from Latin or Italian poets).

The elaborated travelogue of Christopher Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice and at Pecka etc. (printed in 1608) presents an outstanding material for intertextual analysis. The author leaves no doubt as to the real aim of his travelogue, which was not only to inform the Czech readers about his adventurous journey to the East (undertaken in the extremely dangerous times of the Turkish war), but also to enlighten them in the factual and moral terms. The work, a nice example of a Renaissance travelogue, contains a remarkable number of quotations from authorities of a very wide timefra­ me and thematic range, from Antiquity to the beginning of the 17th century, from Homer to the most recent literature. The corpus of the authorities quoted by Ha­ rant includes also Roman poetry. The paper deals with the reception of the persona­ lity and the work of Publius Ovidius Naso in the travelogue, also in comparison to other Roman poets. In the travelogue, Ovid is present only as a quotation authority, not a historical personality (in contrast with other ancient authors, e. g. M. Tullius Cicero, Saint Jerome). Harant knows a couple of Ovid's works, he even quotes the "controversial" Ars amatoria (and in a quite striking context). Ovidian allusions can be found in the dedicatory poems, which were appended to the travelogue, as well. The paper analyzes Harant's quotations from Ovid with regard to their form and con­ tent, and also discusses the question how likely it is that Harant actually worked with Ovid's works and did not take the information from other sources.

Christopher Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice (1564–1621), an educated renaissance nobleman , is primarily known for his unfortunate fate, as he was one of the twenty-seven Czech noblemen executed at the command of the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II at the Old Town Square, Prague, on the 21st June 1621 for high treason. It was an ironic end of his rich and active life, for he had been loyal to the House of Habsburg for most of his life. He had served the Emperor Rudolph II for many years but after his death he stepped aside and, after the Bohemi-an Revolt had broken out, accepted offices from the hands of the rebel Estates, which proved fatal for him. He is equally known as the author of the elaborated and extensive, two-volume travelogue describing his journey to the Holy Land and Egypt, which he undertook in 1598 (the book was printed in 1608). The aim of this paper was to examine the evidence that could support the thesis of the author of Harant's most recent and most comprehensive biography, Marie Koldinská, that during his long formative stay at the court of Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria, at Ambras Christopher Harant learned not only Latin (which was a standard for an aristocrat of his time), but also Greek. The said evidence is formed by a few pieces of text written in Greek and a large number of references to Greek writers, both ancient and Byzantine, in Harant's travelogue. We cannot determine the exact level of Harant's knowledge of Greek or how and when he achieved it (at Ambras? through self-study?). There were materials for learning Greek in the library of the Archduke Ferdinand at Ambras but we do not know whether Greek was actually taught here (not even in the case of the Archduke and his sons, let alone one of the pages, which was Harant). The analysis of the evidence present in the travelogue proves that Harant was capable of working with Greek texts at least at basic level. It also shows that he was familiar with a high number of various Greek authors and works but that he preferred Latin translations or bilingual Greek-Latin editions or eventually, that he sometimes helped himself with collections of proverbs and quotes or other kind of contemporary compilations. At the time when the travelogue was being created, all the Greek works quoted by Harant were already available

The paper focuses on the personality and writings of Saint Jerome as they appear in the travel book by the Czech Renaissance nobleman Christopher Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice (1564–1621). The book was first published in 1608, bearing an elaborate title “The Pilgrimage or Journey from the Kingdom of Bohemia to the City of Venice, from there by Sea to the Holy Land, the Land of Judah and further to Egypt and the Great City of Cairo, then to the Mount Oreb, Sinai and the Mount of Saint Catherine, Virgin, that Lies in the Arabia Deserta etc.” The work quotes a great number of sources ranging from classical antiquity to Harant´s contemporaries, while Harant often amazes readers with his vast knowledge of authorities, quoting not only authors and titles but often also books and chapters. The paper analyses the occurrences of the Latin Church Father Sophronius Eusebius Hieronymus in the travel book, as well as Harant´s perception of him and the ways in which he applied Jerome´s writings.

The article analyses a selected text of the travelogue of Czech nobleman and humanist Christopher Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice (1564–1621). Harant ' s information on the ancient Roman custom of punishing debtors by mocking them in the theatre as instituted by the Lex Roscia or Iulia is confused. It is claimed that even though he gives exact bibliographic citations of several ancient authors he most probably did not misinterpret primary sources but a secondary source. Some general conclusions relevant for assessing Harant ' s work with primary sources are drawn.

The article discusses the issue of possible changes of the concept of maiestas of the Roman state under the Principate, with respect to the new constitutional element, the emperor. It focuses on the problem of protection of the person of the emperor and his relatives. It is undisputable that he was protected by the law as a holder of magisterial powers (or when he held a magistracy); it is, however, not, if the protection concerned also his non-official actions (personal offences) and if this led to a "redefining" of the crime by the law. In the article, the author argues that a serious revision of the law of treason in the direction of specific protection of the princeps would have been considered strongly monarchical and not consistent with Augustus’ policy, and that it was unnecessary, too. The extant cases indicate that it is difficult to say if anything like a personal offence to the emperor ever existed, since the private and the public intersected in his person. “Good” and “bad” emperors alike tended to try cases where words were not far from deeds and since there were no rules as to who can become an emperor (and there were many who could stand out with a claim), it depended on specific political situation and sensibility of the ruler and his supporters what will be interpreted as a threat to the state and its main representative. As to the imperial family, we can say that close relationship to the emperor did not suffice for the protection under the law of maiestas at least until the end of the 1st century (after that, relevant testimonies of narrative sources are scant). The members of imperial family were under the protection of the law in the same way the emperor was: they had to take on magistracies or the honours and/or rights could be bestowed upon them by the senate (people; usually by the intervention of the emperor).

It has been argued that during the reign of Roman emperors the crime of lèse-majesté was punishable by death, and the arbitrariness of its prosecution has been considered one of the negative aspects of this era. However, the debate on the origin, date and content of the law, which should have formed the frame for all trials, the lex Iulia maiestatis, has not been sufficiently concluded. The paper will attempt to prove that it was the aquae et ignis interdictio, i.e. non-voluntary exile, not death, that remained the poena legis during the Principate; death could also be inflicted, but not as the legal penalty. The possibilities of the cognitio extra ordinem, which spread from the beginning of the Principate, and the role of the Senate will be duly considered. Please note, this is a preprint version, before final corrections!

The article focuses on juristic issues of the suppression of the Pisonian conspiracy against the Emperor Nero in A.D. 65. In the first part the legality of the investigation conducted by the Emperor's court is examined, while in the other part the article deals with Nero's propaganda after the condemnation of main conspirators in a broader context of the Principate. Nero did not present himself as a clement ruler in this case, he nevertheless strove to keep at least the impression of legality - he conducted trials where delators pressed charges, he permitted defence to most of the defendants, applied discretion in sentencing according to guilt etc. In constructing his image afterwards, Nero was very much concerned with presenting his conduct as rightful, as evidenced especially by his coinage.

Under some principes, the extraordinary position of the Roman emperor reached almost sacral dimensions. The imperial ideology since the Augustan Principate emphasized the princeps' crucial role for the Roman state, which enabled rather loose interpretation of the protection of the “first citizen”. The study deals with the various imperial “attributes” in the Principate, i. e. the objects and persons related to the emperor, whose violation could contribute to the charge of laesa maiestas.

The paper deals with the methodological issue of research into legality and its limits in the Roman Principate. In general, it reflects on what the position of the emperor towards the laws was, how far his powers, legally bestowed upon him, reached, and how the emperor's role in the state was perceived by himself and by the other citizens. Specifically, using a combination of juristic and narrative sources the paper traces the change of a citizen into an enemy of the state, its consequences and legality, and the conduct of the emperor and the senate in such cases.

In this paper, the image of immense cruelty of emperors and their officials under the Dominate, presented with lots of details by Ammianus Marcellinus, will be discussed as an aspect of the emperors’ attitude towards the law in political charges evolving from the
Principate to the Dominate. Using the example of judicial torture which should have been excluded in criminal trials of free citizens until the late Principate, and of trials mostly concerning political magic that supplied one of the most questionable sort of charges during the Dominate, the paper endeavors to demonstrate that atrocities formed part of the criminal investigation already under the Principate while death was not the only punishment for crimes associated with politics under the Dominate, even though the law recommended it.

The aim of this paper is an analysis of different aspects of judicial trials in imperial Rome
with a close relationship both to religion and to politics which include charges of fortune-telling
and sorcery. All the aspects will be dealt considering supposed changes that
occurred during the transition from the Principate to the Dominate. Magic and vaticination
were often connected to politics and seen as a threat to the Emperor and the state. The
selected sources prove that the Principate did not considerably differ from the Dominate
as to the trials of this sort: Ammianus Marcellinus himself is the witness that honorati were
tortured only in exceptional cases and, on the other hand, the use of judicial torture against
highborn citizens is attested already for the Principate.