Journal articles and book chapters by Charles Pazdernik
Mélanges James Howard-Johnston, ed. by Mary Whitby & Ph. Booth. (Travaux & mémoires 26), 2022
Procopius figures Chosroes as a spectator (θεατής) in two places in the Wars. This essay surveys ... more Procopius figures Chosroes as a spectator (θεατής) in two places in the Wars. This essay surveys each of only six occurrences of that word in all of Procopius’ works (Wars 2.11.32, 17.9, 3.10.6, 25.23; Anecd. 9.20, 10.8), indicating how they are orchestrated programmatically in the contexts in which they appear and showing how they inform one another. In principle, spectators enjoy a privileged position, uninvolved in and insulated from the consequences of conflict, which enables them to experience spectacles and to respond to them without being or becoming accountable for their consequences. As a rule, Procopius’ invocations of spectatorship, colored with disdain for the demotic excesses of the theater and hippodrome, are dismissive and correspondingly edged with scorn. Figuration of Chosroes as a spectator over the course of his visit to Apamea, in particular (Wars 2.11), portrays him as a cynical orchestrator of spectacle, but one who invariably falls short, due to his failure to follow through on his professed intention to inquire into the distinctively late Roman cultural phenomena that he is attempting to manipulate.
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A Companion to Procopius of Caesarea (Brill's Companions to the Byzantine World, Volume: 11), 2021
Pazdernik, Charles F. 2021. "War and Empire in Procopius’ Wars." In: Mischa Meier and Federico Mo... more Pazdernik, Charles F. 2021. "War and Empire in Procopius’ Wars." In: Mischa Meier and Federico Montinaro (eds.), A Companion to Procopius of Caesarea, pp. 255-274. Brill's Companions to the Byzantine World, Volume: 11. Leiden: Brill.
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Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 2020
Procopius employs the motif of “grieving in silence” to describe the deliberations preceding Just... more Procopius employs the motif of “grieving in silence” to describe the deliberations preceding Justinian’s invasion of Vandal North Africa in 533 (Wars 3.10.7–8) and his vendetta against the urban prefect of Constantinople in 523 (HA 9.41). The particularity of Procopius’ language in these passages makes their collocation especially pronounced. The distance between the Wars and the Secret History, which represents itself breaking the silence between what the Wars can state publicly and the unvarnished truth (HA 1.1–10), may be measured by two “wise advisers” who speak when others are silent: the quaestor Proclus, warmly remembered for his probity, and the praetorian prefect John the Cappadocian, a figure universally reviled. Discontinuities between the presentation of John in the Wars and the merits of the policies he endorses problematize readers’ impressions of not only John but also the relationship between the Wars and the historical reality the work claims to represent.
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Classical Philology, 2020
The letter Thucydides attributes to Nicias while he was in sole command of the Athenian forces be... more The letter Thucydides attributes to Nicias while he was in sole command of the Athenian forces besieging Syracuse (7.11–15) voices grave doubts about Athens’ prospects for victory and Nicias’ own fitness for his position. Many readers will concur with Kenneth Dover’s judgment that the reader is unprepared for “the tone of hopelessness which pervades the letter” (HCT 4: 386). Yet the formal or generic basis for such a conclusion has not been fully explored. At issue is whether the letter, as it is presented in Thucydides’ text, was capable of being received by Nicias’ internal audience when the letter was read aloud in the Athenian assembly (Thuc. 7.16), as well as by ancient readers of Thucydides, in a manner that substantiates the intuitions of Thucydides’ modern readers about Nicias’ despairing tone.
This article investigates Thucydides’ account of the reception of Nicias’ letter in Athens through the complementary lenses of performance and lament. A remarkably direct allusion Thucydides makes to an apposite moment in Herodotus (4.134.3) contextualizes and confirms the plausibility of this approach. The textuality that mediates between Nicias and his audience in Athens, and likewise between Thucydides and his ancient and modern readers, also situates Thucydides as a reader of Herodotus. Rather than interposing itself as an obscuring screen or filter, therefore, the scripted word opens up spaces for emotional engagement as well as sober reflection and reasoned judgment.
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Ancient Society, Festschrift Bruce Frier, eds. Thomas A. J. McGinn and Dennis P. Kehoe (University of Michigan Press), 2017
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Procopius of Caesarea: Literary and Historical Approaches, eds. Christopher Lillington-Martin and Elodie Turquois (Routledge), 2017
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GRBS 57 (2017) 214-230.
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http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/classical-studies/ancient-history/codex-justinian-n... more http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/classical-studies/ancient-history/codex-justinian-new-annotated-translation-parallel-latin-and-greek-text?format=WX :
The Codex of Justinian is, together with the Digest, the core of the great Byzantine compilation of Roman law called the Corpus Iuris Civilis. The Codex compiles legal proclamations issued by Roman emperors from the second to the sixth centuries CE. Its influence on subsequent legal development in the medieval and early modern world has been almost incalculable. But the Codex has not, until now, been credibly translated into English. This translation, with a facing Latin and Greek text (from Paul Krüger's ninth edition of the Codex), is based on one made by Justice Fred H. Blume in the 1920s, but left unpublished for almost a century. It is accompanied by introductions explaining the background of the translation, a bibliography and glossary, and notes that help in understanding the text. Anyone with an interest in the Codex, whether an interested novice or a professional historian, will find ample assistance here.
The first authoritative English translation of the Codex of Justinian, one of the central documents of the Western legal tradition
Provides explanatory material through extensive introductions, a glossary, and thorough annotation, making it easier to understand the often arcane details of Roman private and administrative law
Provides facing Latin and Greek texts for the benefit of expert scholars
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Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 55 (2015) 221–249. Procopius' portrait of Proclus, quaestor s... more Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 55 (2015) 221–249. Procopius' portrait of Proclus, quaestor sacri palatii under Justin I, reveals a pragmatic politician devoted to predictability, stability, and the rule of law, in the face of imperial capriciousness, especially in dealings with Persia.
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Geoffrey Greatrex and Hugh Elton (eds.), Shifting Genres in Late Antiquity, Ashgate, in press 2015.
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Craig Benjamin (ed.), The Cambridge World History, Volume IV: A World with States, Empires and Networks, 1200 BCE-900 CE (Cambridge University Press) 375-406., 2015
Late antiquity in Europe (c. 300-900 CE), in Craig Benjamin (ed.), The Cambridge World History, V... more Late antiquity in Europe (c. 300-900 CE), in Craig Benjamin (ed.), The Cambridge World History, Volume IV: A World with States, Empires and Networks, 1200 BCE-900 CE (Cambridge University Press, 2015).
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Transactions of The American Philological Association, Jan 1, 2000
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Journal articles and book chapters by Charles Pazdernik
This article investigates Thucydides’ account of the reception of Nicias’ letter in Athens through the complementary lenses of performance and lament. A remarkably direct allusion Thucydides makes to an apposite moment in Herodotus (4.134.3) contextualizes and confirms the plausibility of this approach. The textuality that mediates between Nicias and his audience in Athens, and likewise between Thucydides and his ancient and modern readers, also situates Thucydides as a reader of Herodotus. Rather than interposing itself as an obscuring screen or filter, therefore, the scripted word opens up spaces for emotional engagement as well as sober reflection and reasoned judgment.
The Codex of Justinian is, together with the Digest, the core of the great Byzantine compilation of Roman law called the Corpus Iuris Civilis. The Codex compiles legal proclamations issued by Roman emperors from the second to the sixth centuries CE. Its influence on subsequent legal development in the medieval and early modern world has been almost incalculable. But the Codex has not, until now, been credibly translated into English. This translation, with a facing Latin and Greek text (from Paul Krüger's ninth edition of the Codex), is based on one made by Justice Fred H. Blume in the 1920s, but left unpublished for almost a century. It is accompanied by introductions explaining the background of the translation, a bibliography and glossary, and notes that help in understanding the text. Anyone with an interest in the Codex, whether an interested novice or a professional historian, will find ample assistance here.
The first authoritative English translation of the Codex of Justinian, one of the central documents of the Western legal tradition
Provides explanatory material through extensive introductions, a glossary, and thorough annotation, making it easier to understand the often arcane details of Roman private and administrative law
Provides facing Latin and Greek texts for the benefit of expert scholars
This article investigates Thucydides’ account of the reception of Nicias’ letter in Athens through the complementary lenses of performance and lament. A remarkably direct allusion Thucydides makes to an apposite moment in Herodotus (4.134.3) contextualizes and confirms the plausibility of this approach. The textuality that mediates between Nicias and his audience in Athens, and likewise between Thucydides and his ancient and modern readers, also situates Thucydides as a reader of Herodotus. Rather than interposing itself as an obscuring screen or filter, therefore, the scripted word opens up spaces for emotional engagement as well as sober reflection and reasoned judgment.
The Codex of Justinian is, together with the Digest, the core of the great Byzantine compilation of Roman law called the Corpus Iuris Civilis. The Codex compiles legal proclamations issued by Roman emperors from the second to the sixth centuries CE. Its influence on subsequent legal development in the medieval and early modern world has been almost incalculable. But the Codex has not, until now, been credibly translated into English. This translation, with a facing Latin and Greek text (from Paul Krüger's ninth edition of the Codex), is based on one made by Justice Fred H. Blume in the 1920s, but left unpublished for almost a century. It is accompanied by introductions explaining the background of the translation, a bibliography and glossary, and notes that help in understanding the text. Anyone with an interest in the Codex, whether an interested novice or a professional historian, will find ample assistance here.
The first authoritative English translation of the Codex of Justinian, one of the central documents of the Western legal tradition
Provides explanatory material through extensive introductions, a glossary, and thorough annotation, making it easier to understand the often arcane details of Roman private and administrative law
Provides facing Latin and Greek texts for the benefit of expert scholars
A graduate of Cornell, Oxford, and Princeton, GVSU Classics Professor Charles Pazdernik has been recognized for his teaching, scholarship, and university leadership. Dedicated to his students’ growth, he instills in them the wisdom of the past and encourages them to “Plan Big.”
Prof. Pazdernik’s own plans, however, were upended when he sustained a permanently disabling spinal cord injury last year. As he makes his return to his students and colleagues, he will reflect upon what the ancient Greeks and Romans can tell us about overcoming life’s unforeseen changes of fortune.
Published on Dec 4, 2014
Hosted once per year by Student Senate, "Last Lecture" is an event which showcases a professor nominated by GVSU students and faculty at large and selected by the Senate, allowing said individual to give a lecture on any topic of their choosing. These entertaining and insightful lectures usually emphasize the life experience of the presenter, with lessons that are applicable to many situations within and outside of the classroom. In other words, professors prepare their remarks as if this presentation were truly the last lecture they ever were to give!
The event is loosely inspired by a book of the same title written by Randy Pausch and first published in 2008.
Produced by: Promotions Office Video Team
http://gvsu.edu/promotions/video
The event was broadcast by C-SPAN <http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4546953/pazdernik-lessons-late-antiquity> and has been disseminated electronically by the Hauenstein Center via YouTube: <youtu.be/p6UxaANFjQE>.
Across his career James has cultivated a number of interests in, for example, the political and military histories of Byzantium, the Eurasian Steppe, and the Sasanian Empire; Byzantine historiography; medieval law and commerce; and, perhaps above all, the history of warfare, and in particular the “world crisis” which dramatically and permanently reordered the Middle East in the course of the seventh century. Readers of James’ bibliography up to 2022, which we include at the beginning of this volume, will perceive the simultaneous cultivation of all these interests, but also a growing preoccupation with the seventh century, which intensified from the 1990s and then culminated in two masterpieces of scholarship produced in his retirement—or, as James would say in typical self-depreciating style, his “defunctitude”. The first, Witnesses to a world crisis, represents a distillation of many years of careful rumination on the diverse sources for seventh-century political history, and a profound reflection on the rise of Islam and the Arab conquests. The second (for which Witnesses is in many ways the prequel), The last great war of antiquity, stands now as the first full history of the final conflict of the Roman and Iranian Empires, a grand topic of which James has long been the recognised master.