David, a member of the Platonic school in Alexandria in the sixth century, is credited with several commentaries on Aristotle s logic: those commentaries, and their Armenian translations, form the subject of this book. An introduction, which discusses David and his place in the Greek and the Armenian traditions, is followed by a series of studies of the relations between the Greek texts and their Armenian translations: the aims are, first, to assess the value of the translations for the constitution of the original Greek, and secondly, to consider the ways in which the Armenian translations adapted the texts to suit their new readership. More generally, the book is concerned with the ways in which Greek thought was exported abroad to Armenia and to Syria: it is required reading for anyone who is interested in the circulation of ideas between east and west. Contributors include: Sen Arevshatyan, Jonathan Barnes, Valentina Calzolari, Henri Hugonnard-Roche, Gohar Muradyan, Michael Papazian, Manea Shirinian, Clive Sweeting, Albert Stepanyan, Aram Topchyan.

A Handbook to Classical Reception in Eastern and Central Europe is the first comprehensive English ]language study of the reception of classical antiquity in Eastern and Central Europe. This groundbreaking work offers detailed case studies of thirteen countries that are fully contextualized historically, locally, and regionally. The first English-language collection of research and scholarship on Greco-Roman heritage in Eastern and Central Europe Written and edited by an international group of seasoned and up-and-coming scholars with vast subject-matter experience and expertise Essays from leading scholars in the field provide broad insight into the reception of the classical world within specific cultural and geographical areas Discusses the reception of many aspects of Greco-Roman heritage, such as prose/philosophy, poetry, material culture Offers broad and significant insights into the complicated engagement many countries of Eastern and Central Europe have had and continue to have with Greco-Roman antiquity

The Armenian version of David the Invincible’s Commentary on Porphyry's Isagoge, although extremely literal, is shorter by a quarter than the Greek original and contains revised passages. The Greek text reproduces Busse’s edition (1904) but sometimes preference is given to readings in the apparatus, corroborated by the Armenian version. The Armenian text is based on Arevšatyan’s edition (1976), but seven more manuscripts have been consulted and some varia lectiones confirmed by the Greek original have been included in the text. The English translation is from the Armenian version. The passages of the Greek text without Armenian equivalent are translated into English as well. Also, the book contains Armenian marginal scholia.

The three ancient philosophical introductions translated in this volume flesh out our picture of what it would have been like to sit in a first-year Philosophy course in ancient Alexandria. Ammonius (AD 445-517/26) set up a new teaching programme in Alexandria with up to six introductions to the philosophy curriculum, which made it far more accessible, and encouraged its spread from Greek to other cultures. This volume's three introductory texts include one by his student Olympiodorus and one each by Olympiodorus' students Elias and David. Elias' Introductions to Philosophy starts with six definitions of Philosophy, to which David adds replies to the sceptical question whether there is such a thing as Philosophy. Olympiodorus' text translated here is an Introduction to Logic, which is just one of the three introductions he wrote himself.

Islam emerged amid flourishing Christian and Jewish cultures, yet students of Antiquity and the Middle Ages mostly ignore it. Despite intensive study of late Antiquity over the last fifty years, even generous definitions of this period have reached only the eighth century, whereas Islam did not mature sufficiently to compare with Christianity or rabbinic Judaism until the tenth century. Before and After Muhammad suggests a new way of thinking about the historical relationship between the scriptural monotheisms, integrating Islam into European and West Asian history. Garth Fowden identifies the whole of the First Millennium--from Augustus and Christ to the formation of a recognizably Islamic worldview by the time of the philosopher Avicenna--as the proper chronological unit of analysis for understanding the emergence and maturation of the three monotheistic faiths across Eurasia. Fowden proposes not just a chronological expansion of late Antiquity but also an eastward shift in the geographical frame to embrace Iran. In Before and After Muhammad, Fowden looks at Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alongside other important developments in Greek philosophy and Roman law, to reveal how the First Millennium was bound together by diverse exegetical traditions that nurtured communities and often stimulated each other.

Michael Papazian, Manea Shirinian, Clive Sweeting, Albert Stepanyan, Aram Topchyan." --Book Jacket.