The Cultural Evolution of Prototypical Paul in the First Five Centuries : A Distributional Semantic Analysis of Greek Christian Texts

Peer reviewe

Righteousness in Early Christian Literature : Distant Reading and Textual Networks

Peer reviewe

Popularity of the cult of Asclepius in the times of the Antonine Plague: Temporal modeling of epigraphic evidence

The research presented in the article tests quantitatively the existing hypothesis from the academic debate that the Greco-Roman cult of Asclepius was more popular in the times of the Antonine Plague which spread in the Roman Empire approximately in the years 165-180 CE. This hypothesis is based on the rationale that the god of medicine, Asclepius, could have been more appealing to the Roman population in times of health crisis. However, there are also voices in the debate arguing that there is no indication of an increase in popularity of the cult of Asclepius during the Antonine Plague. The article explores this question quantitatively by means of temporal modeling of epigraphic evidence from the Roman Empire, i.e., the primary material source for arguments in the academic debate on the topic. By employing Monte Carlo algorithms to simulate the temporal distributions of Latin inscriptions from epigraphic databases, the article demonstrates that there is no observable increase in the number of inscriptions dedicated to Asclepius in the times of the Antonine Plague that would deviate significantly from the temporal distribution of a) general epigraphic trend as represented by epigraphic databases Epigraphic Database Heidelberg and Clauss-Slaby Epigraphic Database, and b) inscriptions dedicated to other deities such as Apollo or Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The hypothesized increased popularity of the cult of Asclepius during the Antonine Plague is thus not supported by the results on the level of epigraphic trends. These findings have a significant potential to push forward the discussion which is divided by mutually opposing hypotheses that were constructed mainly by traditional historiographical approaches. The article also reveals the applicability of quantitative approaches in overcoming temporal uncertainties in archaeological data

Division of labor, specialization and diversity in the ancient Roman cities: A quantitative approach to Latin epigraphy

Recent empirical studies on the division of labor in modern cities indicate a complex web of relationships between sectoral specialization of cities and their productivity on one hand and sectoral diversification and resilience on the other. Emerging scholarly consensus suggests that ancient urbanism has more in common with modern urban development than previously thought. We explore whether modern trends in urban division of labor apply to the cities of the Western Roman Empire from the first century BCE to the fourth century CE. We analyze occupational data extracted from a large body of Latin epigraphic evidence by computer-assisted text-mining, subsequently mapped onto a dataset of ancient Roman cities. We detect a higher frequency of occupation terms on inscriptions from cities led by Rome than from rural areas and identify an accumulation of tertiary sector occupations in large cities. The temporal dimension of epigraphic data allows us to study aspects of the division of labor diachronically and to detect trends in the data in a four centuries-long period of Roman imperial history. Our analyses reveal an overall decrease in the frequency of occupational terms between the first half and second half of the third century CE; the maximum frequency of occupational terms shifts over time from large cities to medium and small towns, and finally, rural areas. Our results regarding the specialization and diversity of cities and their respective impact on productivity and resilience remain inconclusive, possibly as a result of the socio-economic bias of Latin inscriptions and insufficient representativeness of the data. Yet, we believe that our formalized approach to the research problem opens up new avenues for research, both in respect to the economic history of the Roman Empire and to the current trends in the science of cities

Classifying Latin Inscriptions of the Roman Empire: A Machine-Learning Approach

Large-scale synthetic research in ancient history is often hindered by the incompatibility of tax- onomies used by different digital datasets. Using the example of enriching the Latin Inscriptions from the Roman Empire dataset (LIRE), we demonstrate that machine-learning classification mod- els can bridge the gap between two distinct classification systems and make comparative study possible. We report on training, testing and application of a machine learning classification model using inscription categories from the Epigraphic Database Heidelberg (EDH) to label inscriptions from the Epigraphic Database Claus-Slaby (EDCS). The model is trained on a labeled set of records included in both sources (N=46,171). Several different classification algorithms and parametriza- tions are explored. The final model is based on Extremely Randomized Trees algorithm (ET) and employs 10,055 features, based on several attributes. The final model classifies two thirds of a test dataset with 98% accuracy and 85% of it with 95% accuracy. After model selection and evaluation, we apply the model on inscriptions covered exclusively by EDCS (N=83,482) in an attempt to adopt one consistent system of classification for all records within the LIRE dataset

Tracing the Origins of Eucharistic Magic : On the Role of Cognitive Attraction in the Cultural Transmission of Collective Rituals

In this thesis, I analyze the process of the gradual ritualization of early Christian meals in the first four centuries CE as accompanied by the increasing popularity of beliefs in the supernatural quality of the meal elements. I advocate a general hypothesis that the long-term cultural dynamics of repetitive collective rituals is to a substantial extent driven by how they attract human cognition, an aspect which is at least as important for cultural success of concrete ritual forms as how these ritual forms are designed in respect to fulfill particular social functions. After offering a short sketch of relevant cognitive theories of ritual (Chapter 1) and introducing the perspective of cognitive historiography (Chapter 2), I turn to the historical evidence. Tracing back in time the emergence of beliefs in the supernatural quality of the meal elements in the sources from the fourth and third century, it becomes evident that these beliefs cannot be explained by a reference to changes associated with the “Turn of Constantine” (Chapter 3). Therefore, in Chapter 4, I turn to the process of gradual ritualization of early Christian meal practices over the first two centuries. To emphasize the specificity of my approach in comparison to other trends in contemporary New Testament scholarship, in Chapter 5 I elaborate my approach in detail in respect to the Lord’s Supper tradition in Paul. In Chapter 6, I move back on a more theoretical level, while introducing a computational model of the cultural transmission of rituals, which is partly based on the historical process under scrutiny.Väitöskirjassani analysoin varhaisten kristillisten aterioiden vähittäistä ritualisaatiota neljällä ensimmäisellä vuosisadalla. Tarkastelen myös sitä, miten tähän ritualisaatioon liittyi läheisesti ateria-aineksiin kohdistuvien yliluonnollisten uskomusten lisääntyminen. Väitän, että rituaalien kognitiivinen attraktiivisuus vaikuttaa merkittävästi usein toistettujen kollektiivisten rituaalien pitkän aikavälin dynamiikkaan. Attraktiivisuus on rituaalien menestyksen kannalta vähintään yhtä merkittävä tekijä kuin se, että niillä on yhteisössä tiettyjä sosiaalisia funktioita. Luvussa 1 esittelen tutkimukselle merkittävät kognitiiviset rituaaliteoriat ja luvussa 2 käsittelen kognitiivista historiantutkimusta. Tämän jälkeen analysoin historiallisia lähteitä. Luvun 3 analyysi kolmannen ja neljännen vuosisadan teksteistä osoittaa, ettei ateria-aineksiin kohdistuvia yliluonnollisia uskomuksia voi selittää ”konstantinolaiseen käänteeseen” liittyvillä muutoksilla. Tämän tulos johtaa luvussa 4 tarkastelemaan varhaisten kristillisten ateriakäytäntöjen vähittäistä ritualisaatiota kahden ensimmäisen vuosisadan aikana. Luvussa 5 syvennän lähestymistapaani ja analysoin yksityiskohtaisesti traditiota Herran ateriasta Paavalin teksteissä. Samalla avaan näkökulmani erityispiirteitä suhteessa muihin tämänhetkisiin virtauksiin Uuden testamentin tutkimuksessa. Luvussa 6 palaan teoreettisemmalle tasolle ja esittelen tietokonemallin, jonka avulla voi kuvata rituaalien kulttuurista välittymistä. Perustan mallini osittain tässä työssä tarkastelemaani historialliseen prosessiin

Kam se poděla ryba? : dějiny jedné (možné) křesťanské reprezentace

The aim of this study is to present an alternative historiography where are traditional methods complemented by contemporary trends in cognitive science of religion. This approach understands history as process of creation, transformation and transmission of mental representations. I illustrate this on the topic of meal symbolism in early Christianity and in more detail on the representation of Jesus as a fish. The standard socio-functionalistic model does not help us to explain prevalence of certain representations over another one and so I show that it is in fact possible to get an interesting answer to this problem while using conceptual blending theory.The aim of this study is to present an alternative historiography where are traditional methods complemented by contemporary trends in cognitive science of religion. This approach understands history as process of creation, transformation and transmission of mental representations. I illustrate this on the topic of meal symbolism in early Christianity and in more detail on the representation of Jesus as a fish. The standard socio-functionalistic model does not help us to explain prevalence of certain representations over another one and so I show that it is in fact possible to get an interesting answer to this problem while using conceptual blending theory