دانلود کتاب سوگند در اواخر دوران باستان و اوایل سده‌های میانه: کنش دینی، پیوند اجتماعی، آیین مقدس

Oaths appear as an almost universal feature and an indispensable tool in societies both past and present. In many of them, we find oath-taking as a kind of routine procedure employed to validate legal transactions. This should, however, not distract from the fact that sociologically, the power of oaths is rooted in their focus on essential shared values that tie individual and community together, and on the social standing that an individual has within such a community. For this reason, in most cases a person, by swearing an oath, is taking a somewhat radical course of action and mobilizing all his or her authority and reputation in order to either make a true statement at court or to give a solemn promise about his or her future conduct. The oath is thereby effectuating a profound personal transformation in a public setting; it thus appears to have been a powerful instrument that can give historians a glimpse into the inner fabric of past societies, allowing us to see how norms of behaviour were constructed and how social bonds were created and validated, as well as how conflicts could be settled. That we find oaths in almost all societies past and present should, however, not obscure the fact that in each society, religion exercised a very specific influence on the use and the consequences of oaths. In contrast to vows, which are usually offered towards a deity, oaths call upon a God as witness who is expected to punish the swearing person, if he or she is not telling the truth or not fulfilling what was promised. But the power of Gods can be imagined in very different ways. This is why it can be so rewarding to compare the function of oaths within different religious cultures. Moreover, in a more ‘functional’ perspective, the power of oaths has also to be seen in relation to the legal culture of a society. If we consider the use of oaths in the ancient world, it becomes obvious that the Roman attitude towards oaths in some respects needs to be characterized as fairly ‘pragmatic’. For instance, the Roman politician and philosopher Cicero, in his late work De officiis, discussed at some length the famous legendary episode of the Roman politician and commander Regulus (consul 267 bc), who in the First Punic War was taken captive by the Carthaginians. After having given his honour under oath, Regulus was sent back to negotiate peace, but back in Rome, he persuaded the senate, contrary to his mandate, to continue the war, while he went back to Carthage to keep his word that he would return.