Ideas: A History from Fire to Freud

Israel in exile – the invention of Judaism – circumcision, the Sabbath, the synagogue – Cyrus the Great – the creation of the Old Testament – doubts over Abraham, Noah and Moses – doubts over the Exodus, Solomon and David – pagan Yahwehism – Genesis: E, J and P sources – the Septuagint – Apocrypha – Greek and Hebrew literature compared – Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots and Essenes – the idea of the Messiah – Herod – the idea of Jesus – discrepancies in the gospels – pagan ideas of virgin birth – the role of Galilee – the Crucifixion – the Resurrection – Jesus never intended to create a new religion – Paul and Mark

8. Alexandria, Occident and Orient in the Year 0

Time in the ancient world – Babylonian astronomy – reconciling lunar time and solar time – shabbatum – Greek aion or sacred time – clepsydras in Rome – Latin months and Roman time – Alexandria as a ‘centre of calculation’ – its great library – Eratosthenes – Euclid – Apollonius – Archimedes – Ptolemy – Orphic mysteries – Platonism and Christianity – Clement – Philo – Neoplatonism – empiricism – time in India – Buddhism and Christianity – Judas Thomas in India – the Maurya era – Chandragupta – the Rock Edicts – Ashoka – Mahabharata and Ramayana – rock-cut temples – yoga – The Lotus of the Good Law – Buddhism in China – time in China – Imperial Confucianism – ‘correspondence and resonance’ – the imperial academy and the five classics – Mahayana/Hinayana Buddhism – Asvaghosa – paradise/Amitabha – ‘ostentatious generosity’ – the water-mill – the wheelbarrow – the rudder – the invention of paper

9. Law, Latin, Literacy and the Liberal Arts

Utilitas and power in ancient Rome – republicanism – magistracy replaces kingship – imperium – the Senate – law and the Twelve Tables – iudices – status, dignitas and patria potestas – paterfamilias – manus – types of Roman marriage – education and the core curriculum – Latin, its history and effects – the golden and silver ages of Latin – rhetoric – literacy – public libraries – papyrus, parchment and early techniques of scholarship – epitomes and compendia – scrolls and codices – Cicero and humanitas – Virgil – Galen – concrete – the idea of the classics

10. Pagans and Christians, Mediterranean and Germanic Traditions