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Title of Article

«SUPERNATURAL» AND «MIRACULOUS» AS CATEGORIES OF CASSIUS DIO'S HISTORICAL THINKING


Issue
6
Date
2013

Article type
scientific article
UDC
94(37).07
Pages
266-270
Keywords
Ancient Rome, antique historiography, Cassius Dio, historical thought


Authors
Markov K.V.
Nizhegorodskiy gosuniversitet im. N.I. Lobachevskogo


Abstract
We examine Cassius Dio's ideas about the influence of supernatural forces on the course of historical events, as presented in his «Roman history». Dio believed in prophetic dreams, ancestral curses, «the envy of the gods», portents and omens and, therefore, applied the explanatory models that traced back to Herodotus. The supernatural interferences are generally regarded and represented by him as somewhat ordinary events, but he reveals his amazement when mentioning some persons able to predict future or summon divine powers to action. He is not likely to assume long term predestination of historical events. On the whole, Dio's views regarding the role and ways of manifestation of supernatural forces in history are similar to those of Herodotus, the «father of history».

File (in Russian)