A return to peace and security: The parts and the whole

Research output: Book chapter/Published conference paperChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

Abstract

The accreditation of “Peace and Security” to some generalized speakers in 1 Thess 5:3 has been sheeted home to the propaganda circulated on coins minted at Thessaloniki (Weima 2012) and equally disputed because the imperial symbolics on the coins only occur in isolation (White 2013). This paper seeks to investigate how the symbolism evoked in words and images was intended to operate in the ancient Roman world fired by the Augustan program of re-shaping the policy and persona of a new realities of government. The paper will make particular recourse to the positioning of altars/dedications to Pax and Securitas, such as at the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia in Praeneste, Italy. Although the dedications are stark and single, designed to arrest attention to each key Roman value, it will be argued that they are not intended to be viewed discretely. Rather the aggregate of symbols, especially as fostered by localized placement and production, are designed to generate a mutually reinforcing and explicative narrative within which the viewer/listener is intended to situate, even devote, her/his life. The whole turns out to be greater than the sum of the parts!
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe First Urban Churches 7
Subtitle of host publicationThessalonica
EditorsJames Harrison, L. L. Welborn
Place of PublicationAtlanta, GA
PublisherSBL Press
Chapter3
Pages93-121
Number of pages29
Volume7
ISBN (Electronic)9781628374445
ISBN (Print)9781628374438
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Publication series

NameWritings from the Greco-Roman World Supplements
PublisherSBl Press

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A return to peace and security: The parts and the whole'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this