Category Archives: History

Led as a Captive-Part Two

20 Monday Sep 2021

Posted by in History, Walking in the Way

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Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

Hello Readers!  Welcome back to Renaissance Woman as, this week, I continue taking a look at Paul’s exuberant cry; “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Corinthians 2:14, NIV).  In last week’s post, I considered what Paul might be picturing here, assuming he had in mind a Roman Triumph.  This week, I want to consider why he was so joyful at the thought of being led a captive in Christ’s Triumphal Procession.

Before I get to that, there are a few more aspects of the Roman Triumph I have to bear in mind.  One is, after Rome ceased to be a Republic and became an Empire ruled over by Emperors, the Triumphs were reserved for Emperors alone.  I also bear in mind that the Emperors were called by the full title “Saviour of the World”.  The problems this caused for Christians within the Roman world is a fascinating subject but one I’ll have to leave for another time.  I mention it because it is Jesus Christ who alone deserves to bear the title “Saviour of the World” and it is He who is honored in this procession. We then, are led captive in the procession of the One who is the True King of the Universe and Saviour of the World.   

There is one more aspect of Roman Triumphs I took a look at during this study and that is The Ovation.  The Ovation was a lesser form of Triumph during which the general being honored rode on horseback.  When I read that, I pictured The Horseman described in Revelation 19: “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.  And He who sat on Him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war…And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses” (Verses 11 & 14, NKJV).  Here too, there is a procession but there are none led as captives.  Here, the Followers of Jesus are depicted as a mighty army. 

Considering what Paul says about us being led as captives and then the picture of the army in Revelation, can both be true of us as believers?  I think so, especially when I consider the promises found in scripture.  Consider, for instance 2 Corinthians 3:18 which says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (NKJV).  Consider also 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (NKJV).  The words that hold my attention are “being transformed” and “become”.  There are so many other verses that speak of renewing, being made, being transformed: the conviction I am left with is one of process.  We do not become like Jesus overnight.  There is a process and, to use Paul’s words, it begins by being led captive by God.    

But what a strange captivity!  As I meditated on this, I was reminded of the young men led into captivity when Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem.  They were captives, certainly, but were brought to Babylon and trained in the literature, laws, and culture of Babylon. They were sent to university, in other words. It is here I see some similarities to our captivity in Christ as our Christian life is not one of servitude but one of being taught of the Lord by His Spirit.  Our captivity has one major difference from those young men in Babylon as our captivity is not forced on us but rather one we choose.  We are not drug through the streets in chains but drawn after Him with gentle cords and bands of love (Hosea 11:4, NKJV).  His goodness leads us to metanoia (I never get tired quoting that!), our eyes are opened to the reality of Jesus, and we surrender our lives to Him.  It is a captivity we continue to choose every time we pray “Thy Will Be Done.”  It is a captivity we choose every time we take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ.

Here is also our warfare and it takes place on the battlefield of our mind.  However, just as our captivity is a strange captivity, so is our warfare.  It’s backwards because our General is already victorious.  He does not fight battles in order to become so.  He is the one who, through His death, resurrection, and ascension, utterly crushed the head of the serpent and destroyed the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).  Yet this victory must be worked out in us because there are strongholds, arguments, and high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God.  Foremost among these is that great lie that was spoken in the Garden of Eden: you shall be as God.  I did not realize when, in the awe and wonder of seeing who Jesus is I wanted nothing more than He should come and live in me, that war was being declared.  My Self was already crowned ruler of my life.  Self was my center and it believed it could be God apart from Him.  It resisted the rule of Jesus and battles ensued.

I think the best description of this warfare is in Romans 7: “For what I am doing, I do not understand.  For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.  If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.  But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.  For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice….Oh wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?  I thank God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Verses 15-19, 24-25a, NKJV)

Paul goes on to say in Chapter Eight that, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Verse 37, NKJV).  This is true in Jesus right now and this is how I conduct my warfare.  I do not engage in battle at all but declare the battle is won.  Jesus Christ is victor now and unto the Ages of Ages.  I take up my cross daily realizing that it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me and there is nothing I will face that is too much for Him.  I listen for His voice and choose to be obedient to it, no matter how difficult doing so might be.  I surrender myself and go where He bids me go and stay where and when He bids me stay. 

Thanks be to God who always leads us as captives in Christ’s Triumphal Procession!  It can be painful because, as the captives in those Roman Triumphs of old, we know we will be jeered at by the spectators.  But, we also know He is using us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere. We can go forward lifting our hearts in songs of praise knowing our lives are hid in His.  We rejoice that the enmity of our carnal minds is defeated because the Spirit of the Living God lives in us.  We think it not strange that fiery trials come upon us because we know that when His glory is revealed, we will also be glad with exceeding joy (1 Peter 4: 12-13).  Indeed, we already rejoice because we know that, while we do not yet know what we shall be, we know that when He is revealed we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).  We shout for joy because, even as we are led captives, we are the Children of God!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  Amen!

References:

NIV Journal The Word Bible, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1973/2016

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Nashville, Tennessee, 1979/1982

Dando-Collins, Stephen, Legions of Rome: The Definitive History of Every Imperial Roman Legion, St. Martin’s Press, New York, New York, 2010, Pages 81-83

Guhl, E. & W. Koner, The Romans: Life and Customs, Konecky & Konecky, Old Saybrook, Connecticut, Pages 290-295

Matyszak, Philip, Legionary: The Roman Soldier’s Unofficial Manual, Thames and Hudson, London, UK, 2009, Page 183

“The Savior of the World” (John 4:42) on JSTOR   

Led as a Captive

13 Monday Sep 2021

Posted by in History, Studies

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Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

I have a NIV Journal the Word Bible which I find eminently useful.  The margins are wide and lined so I have plenty of space to note where the same Greek word has been translated by different English words or where the same English words in a passage are, in fact, different Greek words.  I recently opened it to 2 Corinthians 2 and read verse 14: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere”.  I was struck with the thought: “I bet Paul is referencing a Roman Triumph”.

There is always the chance he was not.  Most armies had some sort of celebration when returning triumphant from the battlefield.  There is a celebration recorded in 1 Samuel 18:  “Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments.  So the woman sang as they dance and said; “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens thousands” (verses 6 & 7).  The great carved scenes in Egypt portray the triumphant Pharaoh and captives in chains.  I am not prepared to say unequivocally that Paul is referencing specifically the Roman Triumph.

And yet, Paul was a Roman citizen (Acts 16:37-38, 25-28).  Unger’s Bible Dictionary states, “The character of a Roman citizen superseded all others before the law and in the general opinion of society, and placed him amid the aristocracy of any provisional town” and refers to Tarsus, the city of Paul’s birthplace, as “no mean city”.  As Paul, or Saul as he was then, would probably have been thirteen when he went to Jerusalem to take up his studies, I can’t say with any certainty that he would have ever visited Rome and seen a Triumph for himself.  However, Paul was extremely well read, showing familiarity with Greek authors (Acts 17:28), so I have no doubt he’d have been familiar with the details of a Roman Triumph.  Both The Passion Translation and The Archeological Study Bible suggest Paul was alluding to the Roman Triumph in their commentaries on this particular scripture.

Since it is a possibility, what word picture could Paul be painting by comparing believers to captives in a Triumphal procession?  What exactly did a Roman Triumph consist of?

Firstly, they were far more frequent during Rome’s Republic than during its Empire when only Emperors could hold them.  They were the highest honor awarded to a military commander but were thought to be the pinnacle of a political career as well.  There were rigorous criteria that had to be met before a Triumph could take place.  Philip Matyszak writes, “The most important of these are: 1: At least 5,000 enemy combatants must have perished in battle.  2: The battle must have brought the campaign to an end.  3: The campaign must have enhanced the majesty of the Roman empire”.

The senate had to vote to allow a Triumph and, once the afore mentioned criteria had been verified and a Triumph granted; Rome prepared for a party.  Streets and squares were festively adorned, temples were opened, decorated with flowers, and incense burned on the alters.  The commander gathered with his troops in the Campus Martius near the temples of Bellona and Apollo and then were met at the Porta Triumphalis-a gate used only for triumphal processions-by the senate, the city magistrates, and numerous citizens who took the lead of the procession, while lictors opened a way through the crowd.  Trumpet fanfares heralded the approach of the triumphant general.  The spectators would not see him yet.

The Military Commander or Emperor in later years would have sent on ahead the booty captured for the state and this consisted of armour, standards arranged as trophies, models of the cities or ships taken from the enemy, pictures of battles, tablets with the deeds of the victor inscribed on them, statues personifying the rivers and towns of the subjected country-all of which followed the city dignitaries and tibicines (flute-players) and would be carried by crowned soldiers at the points of long lances or on portable stands, or would be trundled through the streets on wheeled carts.  There would also be art, valuables like plate and vases, and gold and silver coins. 

There was human booty as well.  The survivors of the conquered army came in chains and were jeered at by the crowds and not just the surviving fighters: kings, princes, and other nobles were paraded through the streets.  The procession also contained sacrificial oxen who had their horns gilded accompanied by the priests, and then there were more singers, musicians, and dancers.

Finally, came the triumphant general himself.  He would be in a turret-like triumphal chariot with his male offspring accompanying him on horseback.  He would have a crown of gold and either have a laurel crown held over his head or be holding a branch of laurel taken from a grove planted by the emperor which would be planted again after the Triumph.  After the general came more musicians and representative cohorts of his triumphant legions. 

This would be a spectacular site, to be sure, but what could Paul mean by saying God leads us captive in Christ’s Triumphal Procession?  Captives did not fare well in a Roman Triumph.  Some were sold into slavery, some went to fight in the amphitheater, some were destined to imprisonment in the Mamertine prison, and some were strangled inside that prison at the foot of the Capitoline Mount.  There are a few instances of some (like the British King Caratacus) who were allowed to live out their days in Rome but still; it wasn’t a happy thing to be a captive in a Triumphal Procession.  Better to be one of the conquering army, marching in the Triumph of our great general to the cheers and accolades of all the inhabitants of the city.

Yet, Paul says we are led captive in Christ’s triumphal procession.  There is joy in Paul.  It can’t be missed.  He delights in doors being opened for him to teach in Troas but how he was troubled in his spirit because he could not find Titus there and so continued to Macedonia.  Then comes that cry, “But thanks be to God…!” (2 Corinthians 2:12-14).  What, if anything at all, can be gleaned from this passage?

God-willing, I will share what I have found next week.  Until then, the blessings of the Lord be upon you.

Amen.

References:

Archeological Study Bible, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2005

NIV Journal The Word Bible, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1973/2016

The Passion Translation, Broadstreet Publishing Group, LLC, 2018

Dando-Collins, Stephen, Legions of Rome: The Definitive History of Every Imperial Roman Legion, St. Martin’s Press, New York, New York, 2010, Pages 81-83

Guhl, E. & W. Koner, The Romans: Life and Customs, Konecky & Konecky, Old Saybrook, Connecticut, Pages 290-295

Matyszak, Philip, Legionary: The Roman Soldier’s Unofficial Manual, Thames & Hudson Ltd. London, 2009, Pages 183-185

Unger, Merrill R., Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1957/1982, Page 831

Travels Through Greco-Roman Antiquity :: The Roman Triumph (villanova.edu)

The Roman Triumph – Spectacles in the Roman World (bccampus.ca)

Going a Viking

19 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by in History, RW Out and About

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DSCF0033

The latest special exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science is Vikings: Beyond the Legend.  I was looking forward to seeing it.  When I first began researching different cultures for my book, I had no idea where to begin.  I visited the children’s non-fiction section of my local library and pulled off the shelf every cultural and historical book that looked remotely interesting.  I remember reading a few books on Vikings but, as my attention was quickly diverted to the cultures of the Ancient Mediterranean, my reading on Vikings quickly fell by the wayside.  I was looking forward to re-acquainting myself with them.

I began said re-acquaintance by attending a lecture at the museum before purchasing a ticket to the exhibit.  The lecture assured me I would see the Vikings in a new light; show me proof they were much more than raiders and killers portrayed by history.  Maps shown at the lecture did make me aware that Viking ships made it far further into various lands than I knew and that was interesting.  However, as another slide showed archaeological evidence that victims of a raid had been neatly buried in one mound with all their heads neatly buried in one adjacent, the lecture didn’t do much to dispel the raider image.  I had hopes the exhibit would do a better job.

It did.  The artifacts on display are incredible.  I learned Viking culture was so much more than swords and raids.  Metallurgy did involve the forging of swords but it also resulted in fabulous jewelry the intricacy of which, the exhibit tells me, is almost impossible to replicate today.

 

More details on gold jewelry. I’d wear it.
The workmanship is so delicate
A jewelry box?

I was able to see Viking ingenuity at work in the inner workings of a lock.  The spring mechanism, activated by pressure from the teeth of a key, was brilliant.  I wish I had been able to get a photo of it.  The exhibit did tell me that the penalty for theft where the goods had been locked away was higher than if they had not.  An interesting facet of law.

The role of women in Viking culture interested me.  I had always thought that only men went a viking but, apparently, this isn’t so.  Women too, went on these travels.  Women had a great deal of authority in the home, more so than most other women of their day, and this role and power as household manager is symbolized with the keys found in some burials of women.

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Of course, Viking raids did definitely happen and were brutal.  And yet, the Vikings were also accomplished traders, dealing in goods as far away as China.  There was a replica of a Buddha found in a burial but, try as I might, I couldn’t get a clear photo of it.  I did manage to get a picture of a glass beaker, something I would have thought would be unheard of in Viking lands.

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I left the exhibit with a desire to know more and I decided to go straight to the source.  What did the Vikings have to say about themselves?  To find out, I purchased The Sagas of the Icelanders from the gift shop.  I look forward to reading it and learning more about this fascinating culture.

A caveat:

I googled tips for taking photos in a museum and did try to put them to good use but I still have a long way to go. 🙂  These are the rest of the salvageable photos.  The exhibit will have to come back…

The workmanship is so delicate
More details on gold jewelry. I’d wear it.
A jewelry box?

 

 

That’s Queen Samurai To You

21 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by in History

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Samurai_4

I recently came across another of history’s little-told stories; that of the female Samurai.  I haven’t done extensive study of the Samurai culture and history but what little I have done has acquainted me with names like Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.  A name I hadn’t come across before was Nakano Takeko.  An hour long documentary entitled Samurai Warrior Queens on the Smithsonian channel introduced me to this fierce woman.

Nakano Takeko was born in Edo, a member of the Aizu domain and daughter of an Aizu official.  Samurai women were trained in martial arts so they could protect the estates from bandits and Takeko began her training when she was six.  She quickly showed aptitude, not only for the martial arts training but in scholarly pursuits as well.  Her favorite stories were of Tomoe Gozen, a Samurai woman who’d fought and died 600 years before Takeko’s birth.

When Takeko was 16 her master, Daisuke, presented his nephew to her as a potential husband.  If Takeko accepted, she’d be subject to her  new husband and her name would probably have been lost to history.  She refused and had to separate herself from her disgruntled master, becoming a martial arts instructor in her own right.

At the same time, Japan was rapidly changing.  The Samurai had been in power for over 1000 years but their power was waning, as was Japan’s isolation from the west.  It was an American, Commodore Matthew Perry, who used gunboat diplomacy to  force the Shogun into a trade treaty in 1854.  Once America had a foothold; Britain, France, and Russia followed.  Many Samurai felt their country had been humiliated and rose against the Shogun, joining together under the banner of the Emperor, a relatively useless ruler based in Kyoto.

The Emperor’s Samurai had access to western weapons-rifles and canon-while the Shogun’s Samurai fought with the historical edged weapons.  Not surprisingly, the Shogun’s Samurai were defeated and retreated north; Nakano Takeko and her sister Yuko among them.

The Shogun’s Samurai prepared for a last stand and a westerner, Henry Schnell, promised he could get them weapons.  He intended to smuggle them through the port of Niigata but he was unsuccessful and ended up fleeing for his life.  The Shogun’s Samurai were on their own.

Rumors spread about the Emperor’s fighters raping women and selling them into slavery but Takeko was determined not to commit suicide.  She and her sister were determined to fight and other women rallied around them.  They presented themselves at an Aizu outpost but the Samurai commander refused to allow them to fight as an official part of the domain’s army.  Not to be refused, on the morning of October 10, 1868, Takeko Nakano leads 18 other women into battle.

They should have been cut down.  The Emperor’s Samurai were armed with rifles, probably Spencer rifles; repeating rifles capable of 15 shots per minute.  Instead, the order was given to take the women alive.  This was a mistake.  The opposing army was stunned at the women’s ferocity and none fought harder than Takeko.  Despite her skill and ferocity, Nakano Takeko was killed.  Her sister, Yuko, removed her head from the battlefield to prevent her from becoming an enemy trophy and managed to get it back to the family’s temple  where the priest promised to bury Takeko with honor.

A memorial to Nakano Takeko has been erected and modern Japanese women train in the same fighting style Takeko would have learned.  And yet, Nakano Takeko isn’t alone.  While the traditional role of female Samurai was to defend castles, extinguish fires, tend wounded, and prepare ammunition, there were many who played vital roles on battlefields.  And yet, most Samurai history revolves around men.

I have a book, Samurai: The code of the Warrior by Thomas Louis and Tommy Ito.  This is hardly a comprehensive history of the Samurai and yet the only mention of female Samurai is:

Samurai girls did not receive formal education, but they were expected to run their husbands’ estate while they were away at war.  They also received martial arts training, especially in the yari and naginata, and there are many examples of samurai women fighting alongside their husbands.  The most famous samurai woman, Tomeo Gozen, lived during the Gempei Wars.  She decapitated the enemy leader after he ripped her clothes, and she presented his head to her husband.

 

Why is there so little said of female Samurai’s contribution?  According to the Smithsonian’s documentary, it would be shameful if the victorious outcome of a battle could, in any way, be attributed to women.  Thus, glory and honor were reserved exclusively for male warriors.  That is changing.

Archaeological evidence is finally showing the true magnitude of contributions of many women  who fought with the same spirit as Nakano Takeko.  Bones were discovered at Senbon Matsubara, site of a 1580 battle involving the Takeda Samurai.  As the bones were unearthed and studied, forensic archaeologists were able to determine 30% of the fighting force were women.  This discovery prompted the study of other battlefields and archaeologists were surprised to find the average held true: almost 30% of the Samurai fighting forces were women.

Nakano Takeko and her army were retroactively called the Women’s Army but their contribution is recognized and history is beginning to recognize the many other women that sacrificed and died, equal to their male counterparts.  The Samurai Warrior Queens.

Some interesting links:

http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/shows/samurai-warrior-queens/0/3420808

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakano_Takeko

https://badassladiesofhistory.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/nakano-takeko/

http://thefemalesoldier.com/blog/nakano-takeko

 

 

She’s a Real Amazon

04 Monday Jul 2016

Posted by in History

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Photo found on messagetoeagle.com

I never used to like non-fiction.  Why waste my time?  It was dry and boring; I’d much rather spend my time reading fiction.  However, I quickly learned I would have to get over my dislike of non-fiction because I needed to do the research necessary to create a believable world in my novel.  True, I encountered dry and boring tomes but I encountered many more brilliantly written books that made the ancient world come alive.  I’ve been hooked ever since.  I do most of my reading about the Ancient World-Rome, Egypt, Carthage-and am thrilled when I discover stories of women who defy the strictures of society.  Women who made a name for themselves by living their lives on equal footing with men.  Women like Hypsicratea, the Amazon who fought beside and loved Mithradates VI.

I’d encountered Mithradates  in a couple of my Roman history books but never heard of Hypsicratea until I purchased Vicki Leon’s “The Joy of Sexus”.  It was there I discovered Hypsicratea-or Hypsicrates, as Mithradates called her.  I wanted to know more.  Ms. Leon’s book led me to Adrienne Mayor’s “The Poison King”.  I bought it and searched its pages for mention of this amazing woman.

Mithradates meets Hypsicratea after the Third Mithradatic War while recruiting soldiers in Armenia.  She belongs to to one of the nomadic Eurasian tribes where both boys and girls were taught to ride, hunt, and make war.  She’s most likely in her early thirties in 69 BC and is a proficient horsewoman, archer, and wielder of the javelin and battle-axe.  Hypsicratea begins traveling with Mithradates as his groom, caring for his horses, but quickly becomes his personal attendant and lover and, quite believably, the love of his life.

She would be at his side when he faced Pompey in battle and is more than likely at his side when he is forced to flee Pompey’s moonlight attack and take refuge in Sinora, his fortified treasury on the border of Armenia.  But then what?

Unfortunately, there is no historical account of Hypsicratea after the winter of 63 BC.  Did she die when Mithradates crossed the Caucasus?  The base of a marble statue unearthed by Russian Archeologists says no.  She survived the crossing and was still with Mithradates when he reclaimed the Kingdom of the Bosporus.  Yet she was not with Mithradates when he met his death in that same Kingdom.  Where did she go?  Did she survive?

There is plenty of fuel for speculation.  There are historical references to a “Hypsicrates”, a historian who wrote about Pontus and the Black Sea.  Is this Mithradates’ Hypsicrates, an amazing woman who would have little difficulty passing as a male?  There just isn’t enough information to know for sure and it only makes the story of Hypsicratea all the more fascinating.

The Poison King by Adrienne Mayor