Alexander Yakobson
Biographic Data
| ID | 4499261 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alexander Yakobson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alexander |
| FAMILY NAME | Yakobson |
| SIGNATURE | YAKOBSON A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2333-3006 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 24 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1992 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Rome: An Empire of Many Nations
The center of gravity in Roman studies has shifted far from the upper echelons of government and administration in Rome or the Emperor's court to the provinces and the individual. The multi-disciplinary studies presented in this volume reflect the turn in Roman history to the identities of ethnic groups and even single individuals who lived in Rome's vast multinational empire. The purpose is less to discover another element in the Roman Empire's …
Public Opinion and Political Initiative in Republican Rome
It was a fundamental feature of the republican political system that, in contrast to the assembly of the Athenian democracy, citizens taking part in Rome’s popular assemblies had no right of initiative. Legislative initiatives could only be launched by elected officials, and any legally binding vote required the cooperation of the presiding magistrate. This fact is sometimes adduced as evidence for the People’s essentially passive role in the rep…
Augustus, the Roman Plebs and the Dictatorship
In 22 bce , amidst a crisis caused by an acute grain shortage, the Roman populace offered the office of dictator to Augustus, who turned this offer down in a particularly dramatic fashion. He is said to have knelt before the people, imploring them to desist when they were pressing him to accept this invidious power. The grain shortage, as Augustus relates in the Res Gestae , was then quickly and successfully solved by him without resorting to dic…
Marius Speaks to the People
The paper examines a specimen of aggressive populist rhetoric produced by Sallust in Bellum Jugurthinum: Marius as consul 107 BCE addressing the people in a contio on the eve of his departure to Africa. He is said to have spoken in order ʻto encourage men to enlist and at the same time, according to his custom [at that time], to bait the nobility (Sall. Jug. 84.5). How could the Roman nobility be successfully baited by a homo novus like Marius in…
Plebs (Middle and Late Republic)
Having gained important political rights in the Early Republican “Struggle of the Orders,” the Roman plebs exercised them through its voting power in the popular assemblies, and through the office of the tribune of the plebs. The Middle Republic was a period of relative stability, with the common people generally content to accept the Senate's leadership. The Late Republic was a period of social and political upheaval, increasingly violent, when …
Elections, Roman
Publius Scipio Nasica was an illustrious and powerful statesman, who took pride in being leader of the Senate for many years. As a young man, when he was campaigning for the curule aedileship, he shook the hand of a peasant somewhat assiduously, as candidates are wont to do. He noticed that the man's hand is hardened by his rustic work, and jokingly asked him whether he was in the habit of walking on his hands. This saying, to which the bystander…
Israeli Democracy Is Alive, Kicking and Screaming
Is Israeli democracy in danger? One often hears nowadays that it is. It is worth recalling how often, and how confidently, this has been asserted in the past. Since May 1977, when the right-wing religious coalition first came to power, it has been claimed repeatedly that Israel’s democracy is deteriorating and some form of clerical fascism is emerging. In the aftermath of the 1977 election a member of the outgoing Labor government burned his pape…
Joining the Jewish People
The Law of Return grants every Jew the right to immigrate to Israel; this also applies to non-Jewish relatives of Jews. The Citizenship Law grants every such “returnee” automatic citizenship. The wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union in the 90s brought a large number of immigrants not considered Jewish under the definition accepted in Israel. Is this large group of Israeli citizens—who do not, at least formally, belong to the Jewish pe…
Traditional Political Culture and the People’s Role in the Roman Republic
Public Opinion, Foreign Policy And Just War In The Late Republic
The political potential of the peoples power of legislation in the sphere of foreign policy is demonstrated by a little noted case reported by Sallust. The radical tribune Memmius, made a fiery speech before the people, attacking the Senate for mishandling the war with Jugurtha. The Senates alleged exclusive control of foreign policy was impossible to preserve once public opinion was sufficiently aroused. War and empire were central to the life o…
Israel and the Family of Nations
Can Israel be both Jewish and truly democratic? How can a nation–state, which incorporates a large national minority with a distinct identity of its own be a state of all its citizens? Written by two eminent Israeli scholars, a professor of constitutional law and a historian, Alexander Yakobson and Amnon Rubinstein are the first to treat Zionism and Israeli experience in light of other states’ experiences and in particular of newly established st…
Jewish Peoplehood and the Jewish State, How Unique?—A Comparative Survey
The Jewish-Israeli case—that of the Jewish people, the Jewish national movement—Zionism—and the Jewish nation-state—Israel—is often said to be unique. Its unique features are said to be the “extra-territorial” character of the Jewish people and Israel’s ties with the Jewish Diaspora (expressed, most controversially, in the Law of Return) and the strong connection between the Jewish religion and the prevalent notion of Jewish peoplehood. Some argu…
Israel and the family of nations
Arcanum Imperii
This chapter reassesses the very careful formulation of Augustus' imperial powers and his repeated formal refusals of power. What matters is political tradition and the acceptable representation of untraditional power. Modern debate has moved from ‘what exactly was the content of imperial power?’ to ‘what was imperial power meant to look like?’. Stalin is used to illuminate praise of the established emperor. Imperial power does not require debate…
Elections and electioneering in Rome
Petitio et Largitio
It seems to be generally accepted that electoral bribery, together with various other forms of munificence aimed at securing electoral advantage, was widespread in the late Republic. The sources repeatedly describe how the magistracies of the Republic were sought and won by providing feasts, entertainment, and often money, to the urban plebs. At the same time, the centuriate assembly, which elected the higher magistrates, is generally thought to …
Traditional Political Culture and the People’s Role in the Roman Republic
Jewish Peoplehood and the Jewish State, How Unique?—A Comparative Survey
The Jewish-Israeli case—that of the Jewish people, the Jewish national movement—Zionism—and the Jewish nation-state—Israel—is often said to be unique. Its unique features are said to be the “extra-territorial” character of the Jewish people and Israel’s ties with the Jewish Diaspora (expressed, most controversially, in the Law of Return) and the strong connection between the Jewish religion and the prevalent notion of Jewish peoplehood. Some argu…
Petitio et Largitio
It seems to be generally accepted that electoral bribery, together with various other forms of munificence aimed at securing electoral advantage, was widespread in the late Republic. The sources repeatedly describe how the magistracies of the Republic were sought and won by providing feasts, entertainment, and often money, to the urban plebs. At the same time, the centuriate assembly, which elected the higher magistrates, is generally thought to …
Marius Speaks to the People
The paper examines a specimen of aggressive populist rhetoric produced by Sallust in Bellum Jugurthinum: Marius as consul 107 BCE addressing the people in a contio on the eve of his departure to Africa. He is said to have spoken in order ʻto encourage men to enlist and at the same time, according to his custom [at that time], to bait the nobility (Sall. Jug. 84.5). How could the Roman nobility be successfully baited by a homo novus like Marius in…
Petitio et Largitio
It seems to be generally accepted that electoral bribery, together with various other forms of munificence aimed at securing electoral advantage, was widespread in the late Republic. The sources repeatedly describe how the magistracies of the Republic were sought and won by providing feasts, entertainment, and often money, to the urban plebs. At the same time, the centuriate assembly, which elected the higher magistrates, is generally thought to …
Elections and electioneering in Rome
Arcanum Imperii
This chapter reassesses the very careful formulation of Augustus' imperial powers and his repeated formal refusals of power. What matters is political tradition and the acceptable representation of untraditional power. Modern debate has moved from ‘what exactly was the content of imperial power?’ to ‘what was imperial power meant to look like?’. Stalin is used to illuminate praise of the established emperor. Imperial power does not require debate…
Israel and the Family of Nations
Can Israel be both Jewish and truly democratic? How can a nation–state, which incorporates a large national minority with a distinct identity of its own be a state of all its citizens? Written by two eminent Israeli scholars, a professor of constitutional law and a historian, Alexander Yakobson and Amnon Rubinstein are the first to treat Zionism and Israeli experience in light of other states’ experiences and in particular of newly established st…
Jewish Peoplehood and the Jewish State, How Unique?—A Comparative Survey
The Jewish-Israeli case—that of the Jewish people, the Jewish national movement—Zionism—and the Jewish nation-state—Israel—is often said to be unique. Its unique features are said to be the “extra-territorial” character of the Jewish people and Israel’s ties with the Jewish Diaspora (expressed, most controversially, in the Law of Return) and the strong connection between the Jewish religion and the prevalent notion of Jewish peoplehood. Some argu…
Israel and the family of nations
Public Opinion, Foreign Policy And Just War In The Late Republic
The political potential of the peoples power of legislation in the sphere of foreign policy is demonstrated by a little noted case reported by Sallust. The radical tribune Memmius, made a fiery speech before the people, attacking the Senate for mishandling the war with Jugurtha. The Senates alleged exclusive control of foreign policy was impossible to preserve once public opinion was sufficiently aroused. War and empire were central to the life o…
Joining the Jewish People
The Law of Return grants every Jew the right to immigrate to Israel; this also applies to non-Jewish relatives of Jews. The Citizenship Law grants every such “returnee” automatic citizenship. The wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union in the 90s brought a large number of immigrants not considered Jewish under the definition accepted in Israel. Is this large group of Israeli citizens—who do not, at least formally, belong to the Jewish pe…
Traditional Political Culture and the People’s Role in the Roman Republic
Israeli Democracy Is Alive, Kicking and Screaming
Is Israeli democracy in danger? One often hears nowadays that it is. It is worth recalling how often, and how confidently, this has been asserted in the past. Since May 1977, when the right-wing religious coalition first came to power, it has been claimed repeatedly that Israel’s democracy is deteriorating and some form of clerical fascism is emerging. In the aftermath of the 1977 election a member of the outgoing Labor government burned his pape…
Elections, Roman
Publius Scipio Nasica was an illustrious and powerful statesman, who took pride in being leader of the Senate for many years. As a young man, when he was campaigning for the curule aedileship, he shook the hand of a peasant somewhat assiduously, as candidates are wont to do. He noticed that the man's hand is hardened by his rustic work, and jokingly asked him whether he was in the habit of walking on his hands. This saying, to which the bystander…
Plebs (Middle and Late Republic)
Having gained important political rights in the Early Republican “Struggle of the Orders,” the Roman plebs exercised them through its voting power in the popular assemblies, and through the office of the tribune of the plebs. The Middle Republic was a period of relative stability, with the common people generally content to accept the Senate's leadership. The Late Republic was a period of social and political upheaval, increasingly violent, when …
Marius Speaks to the People
The paper examines a specimen of aggressive populist rhetoric produced by Sallust in Bellum Jugurthinum: Marius as consul 107 BCE addressing the people in a contio on the eve of his departure to Africa. He is said to have spoken in order ʻto encourage men to enlist and at the same time, according to his custom [at that time], to bait the nobility (Sall. Jug. 84.5). How could the Roman nobility be successfully baited by a homo novus like Marius in…
Augustus, the Roman Plebs and the Dictatorship
In 22 bce , amidst a crisis caused by an acute grain shortage, the Roman populace offered the office of dictator to Augustus, who turned this offer down in a particularly dramatic fashion. He is said to have knelt before the people, imploring them to desist when they were pressing him to accept this invidious power. The grain shortage, as Augustus relates in the Res Gestae , was then quickly and successfully solved by him without resorting to dic…
Rome: An Empire of Many Nations
The center of gravity in Roman studies has shifted far from the upper echelons of government and administration in Rome or the Emperor's court to the provinces and the individual. The multi-disciplinary studies presented in this volume reflect the turn in Roman history to the identities of ethnic groups and even single individuals who lived in Rome's vast multinational empire. The purpose is less to discover another element in the Roman Empire's …
Public Opinion and Political Initiative in Republican Rome
It was a fundamental feature of the republican political system that, in contrast to the assembly of the Athenian democracy, citizens taking part in Rome’s popular assemblies had no right of initiative. Legislative initiatives could only be launched by elected officials, and any legally binding vote required the cooperation of the presiding magistrate. This fact is sometimes adduced as evidence for the People’s essentially passive role in the rep…
Political science (14 works) · Law (12 works) · History (11 works) · Politics (9 works) · Classical Antiquity Studies (8 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Ancient history (5 works) · History (5 works) · Law (5 works)