Review-discussion: historical knowledge and historical narratives in the Severan period: Adam M. Kemezis, Greek Narratives of the Roman Empire under the Severans: Cassius Dio, Philostratus, and Herodian, Greek Culture in the Roman World

No abstract available

The Structure of Asymptotic Idealization

Robert Batterman and others have argued that certain idealizing explanations have an asymptotic form: they account for a state of affairs or behavior by showing that it emerges "in the limit". Asymptotic idealizations are interesting in many ways, but is there anything special about them as idealizations? To understand their role in science, must we augment our philosophical theories of idealization? This paper uses simple examples of asymptotic idealization in population genetics to argue for an affirmative answer and proposes a general schema for asymptotic idealization, drawing on insights from Batterman's treatment and from John Norton's subsequent critique

Blood pressure, renal functional and structural changes, in normal and preeclamptic pregnancy

The kidneys play a pivotal role in the adaptive physiology of the pregnant woman, presenting some changes at term similar to the changes found in preeclampsia – a state of increased risk of fetal and maternal morbidity and mortality. The aim of these investigations was to explore possible similarities in blood pressure regulation, renal function and structure in normal term and preeclamptic pregnancy, to ascertain whether both conditions in fact are different degrees of an adaptive process in reaction to pregnancy. Blood pressure changes were studied in 600 normal pregnancies and in 166 women through their first three pregnancies, revealing an influence of gestational age, ethnicity, parity, baseline BMI and smoking habits - factors similar to known risk factors for preeclampsia. Renal functional changes were studied in 48 pregnant and 12 non-pregnant women, revealing a size- and/or charge-dependant alteration in the filtration process in pregnant women at term compared to non-pregnant women, the glomerular filtration further impaired in preeclampsia. Renal structural changes were studied in 36 hypertensive pregnant women and 12 healthy term pregnant women, and the typical preeclamptic lesion, glomerular endotheliosis, was found not only in all hypertensive patients but also in seven of the twelve controls. Clinically undetected renal disease was not diagnosed in any of the women, leaving very few clinical indications for the renal biopsy in pregnancy. This opinion could be underscored by the findings that cystatin C levels in pregnancy, not only reliably reflected the glomerular filtration rate, but also correlated significantly with estimated glomerular volume and the degree of endotheliosis. Serum cystatin C consequently seemed to closely reflect the renal functional and structural changes, which are believed to lead to increased blood pressure levels and urinary excretion of albumin, and may thus function as a marker for the stage of the transition between normal adaptive renal changes at term and preeclampsia

The Tenor Viol or Violten

n/

The Republican Dictatorship: an Imperial Perspective

This chapter proposes to look at one of the less studied aspects of Cassius Dio’s narrative of the decline of the Republic, namely the dictatorship. It argues that, in keeping with his especial interest in the Republic’s institutions and constitutional framework, Dio believed that the collapse of the res publica and emergence of Augustus’ Principate was intimately connected to the failures—constitutional, practical, and reputational—of Rome’s emergency magistracy. It shows that as a monarchist, Dio believed that the Republic could only survive intact while it had a temporary recourse to legitimate and temporary monarchy under restrictions agreed by the community—dictatorship—and that this view perhaps emerges more from a reading of Cicero than from his fellow Greek historians. However, the failure of the dictatorship to inspire confidence in the wake of Sulla, especially in the 60s and 50s BCE, as well as its practical and legal restrictions, led to a greater number of corrosive extraordinary commands and other destructive innovations. The solution, for Dio, ultimately lay in Augustus, who (like Pompey) recognised the flaws in the dictatorship and found different ways to define his power

Author's Reply.

Abstract is not available. Author's Reply to correspondence about article "Glomerular endotheliosis in normal pregnancy and pre-eclampsia

O egregie grammatice: the vocative problems of Latin words ending in -ius

© The Classical Association 2000A long-lasting and sometimes acrimonious debate over the correct vocative form of second-declension Latin words in -ius began more than 800 years ago. For the past century most classicists have considered the matter to be settled, and little discussion on the subject has taken place. Yet the century-old conclusions we now so unthinkingly accept are based on very little evidence and are internally inconsistent in some of their details. The past hundred years have provided us not only with more Latin to work with, better tools for search and analysis, and a more complete knowledge of the history of the Latin language, but also with a new understanding and respect for the ancient grammarians and their views on the structure of their language. It is time to re-examine the ancient and modern views on the vocative of -ius words, to see whether any viable conclusions can be drawn and whether the ancient grammarians may have more to contribute than our predecessors believed