Corpus-Paul

["David C. Hindley" <dhindley AT compuserve.com>]

Larry Swain responds:

>>I haven't followed the thread, so sorry if this repeat information.
I couldn't find my copy, but in the late 80s there was a book done
titled _Pax Romani_ which basically posited that throughout the Roman
empire, the Pax Augusti was a veneer brutally enforced and under the
surface the Roman world seethed.  While a good corrective to the "Rome
kept the peace for centuries" adage, ultimately the book failed to
convince that the empire was always on the brink of civil war and
collapse.  Still, good evidence presented that not all was well
everywhere.<<

Thanks for that reference, I will follow it up!

The close watch that the authorities (Roman and local civil) kept on
all sorts of private associations (and many public ones as well) does
suggest that they *suspected* subversion and/or intrigue. This, at
least, was my impression from reading _Voluntary Associations in the
Graeco-Roman World_ (ed. Kloppenborg & Wilson, Routledge, 1996) and
the footnotes in the recent revision of the E.T. of Schurer's _Jewish
People_.

Respectfully,

Dave Hindley
Cleveland, Ohio, USA