Music Break:

Tumi And The Volume

December 16th, 2011

 

Guidelines for the Very Short Fiction Award category: We are interested in reading your original, unpublished very short stories! We don't publish stories for children, I'm sorry. It's fine to submit more than one story or to submit the same story to different categories. When we accept a story for publication, we are purchasing first-publication rights. (After we've published it, you can include it in your own collection.)   To make a submission: Please send your work via our new online submission procedure. It's easy, will save you postage and paper, and is much easier on the environment. Just click the yellow Submissions button above to get started! Dates: The category will be open to submissions for one full month, from the first day through midnight (Pacific time) of the last day of the month. Results will be posted at www.glimmertrain.org.   January. Results will be posted on March 31. July. Results will be posted on September 30.   Reading fee: $15 per story.   Prizes: 1st place wins $1,200, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and 20 copies of that issue. 2nd-place: $500 3rd-place:$300   Other considerations: Open to all writers. Stories not to exceed 3,000 words.(Any shorter lengths are welcome.)   We look forward to reading your work! Fearless is an interesting word, for in fact, in being fearless you are not without fear, rather you are withstanding fear. You are moving forward in spite of it. Writing a very short story requires a degree of fearlessness, and I think reading one does also. I have deep respect for the very short story for many reasons, perhaps most profoundly for its fearlessness. --Meredith Pignon

One of the most respected short-story journals in print, Glimmer Train Stories is represented in recent editions of the Pushcart Prize, New Stories from the Midwest, O.Henry, New Stories from the South, Best of the West, and Best American Short Stories anthologies. Glimmer Train Press, 4763 SW Maplewood, PO Box 80430, Portland, OR 97280-1430 USA Copyright © 1998-2011 Glimmer Train Press, Inc. All Images Copyright © Glimmer Train Press, Inc.

Contests

15 YEARS OF LAUNCHING CAREERS

Literal Latté currently offers five — count ‘em, FIVE — annual writing contests. The deadline dates given below apply every year, so there’s always a contest just around the corner.

All entries will be considered for publication.

The current reading fee for all contest entries is US $10.00, and there are discounts for multiple entries. Make sure to read the guidelines below for detailed information.

All reading fees — payable by check or money order — should be made out to Literal Latté and mailed to:

Literal Latté Awards

200 East 10th Street, Suite 240
New York, NY 10003
(212) 260-5532

 

Literal Latté Annual Contests

click contest name below for detailed guidelines

 

 

Contest

Prizes

Annual Deadline

Fiction Awards

$1000

$300

$200

Jan. 15th

Short Short Contest

$500

June 30th

Poetry Awards

$1000

$300

$200

July 15th

Essay Awards

$1000

$300

$200

Sept. 15th

Food Verse Contest

$500

Jan. 31st

Contest Guidelines

 

k. Margaret Grossman
Fiction Awards

First Prize
$1000

Second Prize
$300

Third Prize
$200

1. Send unpublished stories, 8,000 words max. All subjects and styles welcome.
2. Postmark by January 15th.
3. Name, Address, Telephone Number, Email Address (optional) — on Cover Page only.
4. Include Self Addressed Stamped Envelope or Email Address for reply.
5. Include $10 Reading Fee per story — OR —
   $15 Reading Fee for two stories.

All entries considered for publication.

Literal Latté Short Shorts Contest

First Prize
$500

1. Send unpublished shorts. 2,000 words max. All styles welcome.
2. Postmark by June 30th.
3. Name, Address, Telephone Number, Email Address (optional) — on Cover Page only.
4. Include Self Addressed Stamped Envelope or Email Address for reply.
5. Include $10 Reading Fee per set of up to 3 Shorts — OR —
   $15 Reading Fee per set of 6 Shorts.

All entries considered for publication.

Literal Latté Poetry Awards

First Prize
$1000

Second Prize
$300

Third Prize
$200

1. Send unpublished poems, 2,000 words max. All styles welcome.
2. Postmark by July 15th.
3. Name, Address, Telephone Number, Email Address (optional) — on Cover Page only.
4. Please put poem titles/first lines on Cover Page as well.
5. Include Self Addressed Stamped Envelope or Email Address for reply.
6. Include $10 Reading Fee per set of up to 6 poems — OR —
   $15 Reading Fee for set of 10 poems.

All entries considered for publication.

Literal Latté Essay Awards

First Prize
$1000

Second Prize
$300

Third Prize
$200

1. Send unpublished personal essays. 8,000 words max. All topics.
2. Postmark by September 15th.
3. Name, Address, Telephone Number, Email Address (optional) — on Cover Page only.
4. Include Self Addressed Stamped Envelope or Email Address for reply.
5. Include $10 Reading Fee per essay — OR —
   $15 Reading Fee for two essays.

All entries considered for publication.

Literal Latté Food Verse Contest

First Prize
$500

1. Send unpublished poems with food as an ingredient. 2,000 words max. All styles and subjects welcome.
2. Postmark by January 31st.
3. Name, Address, Telephone Number, Email Address (optional) — on Cover Page only.
4. Please put poem titles/first lines on Cover Page as well.
5. Include Self Addressed Stamped Envelope or Email Address for reply.
6. Include $10 Reading Fee per set of up to 6 poems — OR —
   $15 Reading Fee for set of 12 poems.

All entries considered for publication.

All currency above given in US dollars.

Remember: email submissions are NOT accepted.

All reading fees (by check or money order)
should be made out to

Literal Latté
and mailed with entry manuscripts to

Literal Latté Awards

200 East 10th Street, Suite 240
New York, NY 10003
(212) 260-5532

APPLYING FOR A GRANT

Devoted to creative nonfiction work

about the desert

…in the desert there is everything and there is nothing. Stay curious. Know where you are—your biological address. Get to know your neighbors—plants, creatures, who lives there, who died there, who is blessed, cursed, what is absent or in danger or in need of your help. Pay attention to the weather, to what breaks your heart, to what lifts your heart. Write it down.      ~E.M.  November 2004

 

Established in 2005 to honor the memory of Ellen Meloy, the Fund provides support to writers whose work reflects the spirit and passions embodied in Ellen’s writing and her commitment to a “deep map of place.” Ellen’s own map-in-progress was of the desert country she called home. 

Grant Guidelines & Review Criteria (updated for 2012) 

The Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers grants one $2,000 award in the spring of each year. Only literary or creative nonfiction proposals will be considered. No fiction or poetry proposals will be reviewed.

E-MAILED PROPOSALS -- IN ADOBE ACROBAT or MICROSOFT WORD FORMAT ONLY -- MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE FUND NO LATER THAN JANUARY 15, 2012. The 2012 award will be announced in the spring..

The Fund supports writing that combines an engaging individual voice, literary sensibility, imagination and intellectual rigor to bring new perspectives and deeper meaning to the body of desert literature. All applications will be reviewed through a peer-panel process. 

Considerations in the selection process will be:

• the writing sample’s artistic excellence and desert literacy,
• the proposal’s strength,
• the biography’s ability to demonstrate a history and future of writing and desert experience.

We encourage emerging, mid-career or established writers in the field of literary nonfiction to apply.

Financial and other kinds of need, the body of past work, geographic location of the applicant, academic career, professional reputation, etcetera, are not criteria for receipt of a grant.

We do NOT fund:

• Individuals who have received an Ellen Meloy Grant within the last five years
• Poetry or fiction proposals
• Children's literature

WHEN & HOW TO APPLY

Applications can be submitted beginning November 1, 2011 through January 15, 2012. When your application materials are ready, fill out the online registration form. When you submit this form, you'll be taken to a page with an email address set up for submissions only. PLEASE FOLLOW THIS PROCESS TO ENSURE YOUR APPLICATION IS SELECTED FOR REVIEW BY OUR SELECTION COMMITTEE.

To be considered for the a Ellen Meloy Fund Desert Writers Award, please submit only the following documents via e-mail by January 15, 2012. Send your proposal in the order listed below in MS Word (doc or docx) OR Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format. If converting your document to Adobe Acrobat presents an obstacle, contact the fund for assistance. Any extra materials sent with the application (and not requested in these guidelines) will not be reviewed. Again, ONLY creative nonfiction proposals will be reviewed; please no poetry, fiction or juvenile literature.

Step 1. Register Online to Apply - fill out this online registration form

• Applicant’s name, address, phone, email address and website (if applicable)
• Project Title (should match the Project Description you submit as part of your application)
• Mention where/how you learned about the Fund.  The more specific you are, the more helpful it will be to us in spreading the word about the Fund.

Step 2. E-mail the following attachment in ONE Word or Acrobat file:

1. Biographical Statement (No more than one page; double-spaced, 12-point type, 1” margins) 
In addition to basic biographical background, answer these questions:           

•  IMPORTANT: Do not include your name on this page.
• Why are you interested in working in the desert?
• How will an Ellen Meloy Fund grant benefit your work?
• Describe your desert experience(s)
• Demonstrate a commitment to adding to a deep map of place

2. Project Description (No more than one page; double-spaced, 12-point type, 1” margins)
Please note that neither the particular desert region to be visited nor the length of time to be spent there are specified by the Fund. Budget information is not required in the description.. 

• IMPORTANT: Do not include your name on the page.
• Include Project Title here that was entered on your registration form.
• Describe your writing project.
• Where, in the desert, will you go to research your project? 
• What is your plan for field work?

Please explain specifically how the project will:

• Add new perspectives to the body of desert literature
• Lead to deeper understandings
• Advance desert literacy

3. Writing Sample (No more than 10 pages, double-spaced, 12-point type, 1” margins)

 

• IMPORTANT: Do not include your name.
• You may submit published, unpublished, or work in progress. The work must be that for which you have sole artistic ownership and responsibility.

Application Submission Deadline JANUARY 15, 2012
Applications must be received via email on or before JANUARY 15, 2012. Be sure to fill out the registration form and then email your application as instructed.) An e-mail acknowledgement will be sent upon receipt. The award will be announced in the spring.

Award recipients will be asked to agree to the following:

• At the time the award is accepted, recipients will be asked to submit a photograph and grant permission for information submitted in the application to be used for publicity purposes.
• Fund recipients must grant permission for the Fund to publicize the award.
• Fund recipient must be open to visits and/or interviews by the Fund board and staff.
• Accepting the Ellen Meloy Fund award obliges the recipient to provide a brief project evaluation due by the end of the year of the award.
• Recipients will be asked to acknowledge the Fund in any publications generated from the award project; language will be provided.
• While not required, the Fund would appreciate receiving a sample of the writing generated as part of the project to post on the Ellen Meloy Fund website.

 

For more information, send an email to fund at ellenmeloy.com.
The Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers is a nonprofit organization with tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3).

Watch:

The Year In Black Cinema

In 7 Minutes

- A Shadow And Act

Video Compilation

Features  by Tambay | December 15, 2011

It's that time of the year again... 2 more weeks until 2011 ends; 10 more days till Christmas day; critics, media outlets and other film organizations are announcing their "best of the year" lists; awards season nominees; year-end wrap-ups, etc...

Just like last year...

And just like 2010, for only the second time, Shadow And Act brings you its own 2011 black cinema zeitgeist - the year in review video compilation.

Edited wonderfully by our own Vanessa Martinez, who invested her precious time putting this 7-minute video together - tons of clips watched, cropping out just the right pieces of each to ensure that they all work well together, finding the right pieces of music, importing, exporting, listening to my critiques of each "draft" and making adjustments, importing and exporting some more, etc, etc, etc.

NOTE: I should state that we only considered films that were released commercially, theatrically in 2011. Films whose only exhibition was on the film festival circuit were not included. I know some of them were eventually acquired and will be released in 2012; those will most certainly be part of our 2012 year-end compilation video.

Might we have missed one or two? Possibly. But Vanessa and I both did a thorough job of going through lists of all the films released (or still to be released) theatrically this year, and I feel confident that they're all in there.

So, without further ado, here's Shadow And Act's 2011 Black Cinema Year In Review video compilation. Feel free to pass it around... how many of the film's highlighted can you identify?

Portraits from the Congo

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), fighting continues among various rebel armies, tribes, the Congolese army and U.N. forces. The dire situation has prompted the government of DR Congo to ask for help, and invite the armies of neighboring South Sudan, Rwanda and Uganda to enter their territory on several joint operations, to hunt down and pacify or dismantle at least two major rebel armies operating in the lawless border region. Rebel leader Laurent Nkunda was captured in January by Rwandan forces, but his army is still active - and Ugandan troops are seeking out the rebel Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army, which has taken refuge in eastern DR Congo. Once more, caught in all of this are the local civilians, terrorized by fleeing and advancing troops of all kinds. Reuters photographer Finbarr O'Reilly has been traveling through the area, capturing some amazing photographs of the people involved. (38 photos total)

GO HERE TO VIEW PHOTOS IN PROPER PROPORTIONS

Ano Mboligikpelani, 12, holds her sister, Honrine Ngbadulezele, 2, in the village of Bangadi in northeastern Congo, February 19, 2009. Thousands of Congolese have fled their villages since December as Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels roaming the bush carry out massacres that have killed some 900 civilians in northeastern Congo during the past two months. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)

 

 

2

A Congolese man pans for gold on a riverside at Iga Barriere, 25 kms (15 miles) from Bunia, in the resource-rich Ituri region of eastern Congo, February 16, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

3

A woman displaced by violence returns from collecting firewood at a camp near Minova in eastern Congo, February 12, 2009. Reports are trickling in from the Congolese bush as people reach larger towns with stories of the killings of civilians by FDLR rebels, who are being hunted down by a coalition of Rwandan and Congolese forces. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

4

A displaced woman lies in a tent with her child at a makeshift camp in Kibati near Goma in eastern Congo February 13, 2009. Congo's military said more than 40 Rwandan Hutu rebels had died in an air raid, as a 3-week-old joint Congolese-Rwandan offensive sparked rebel reprisals which a rights group said had killed 100 villagers. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

5

A fighter from the FDLR rebel group, which is being hunted by the Rwandan and Congolese armies, stands guard deep in the bush of eastern Congo, February 6, 2009. Rwandan Hutu rebels are melting into the forests of eastern Congo before advancing Rwandan and Congolese forces, in a sign the surprise joint offensive has little chance of quashing militia groups at the heart of 15 years of conflict. Picture taken February 6, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

6

A woman who has recently undergone surgery sits at the general hospital at Dungu in northeastern Congo, February 17, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

7

Children walk along a road above a camp for people displaced by violence near Minova in eastern Congo, February 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

8

Internally displaced people gather at a market in the middle of a makeshift camp near Goma in eastern Congo February 11, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

9

A woman stands outside her hut deep in the bush of eastern Congo February 6, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

10

A South African United Nations peacekeeper secures the landing site for a U.N. helicopter at the village of Pinga in eastern Congo, February 7, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

11

Sisters displaced by war hold hands in front of a makeshift hut at Bulengo camp just outside Goma in eastern Congo, February 26, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

12

A Congolese girl prays during Sunday Mass in the village of Mweso in eastern Congo, February 8, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

13

Money changer Kwami Longange poses for a portrait on a streetcorner in Goma in eastern Congo, February 9, 2009. Longange, nicknamed "le Bon" - the Good - is a Sappeur, the local name for a dandy dresser. He has some 200 different matching outfits that he wears to work as a money changer and musician. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

14

Jean-Pierre Kalikunshe (L), 10, comforts his friend Espoir Kangeshe, 6, both of whom have had surgery to correct leg deformities, at the Heal Africa hospital in Goma, February 10, 2009. Kalikunshe and Kangeshe are among some 70 children looked after by Stand Proud, a charity that assists children suffering from polio and other leg defects in war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo, where 15 years of war has devastated public health services. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

15

Beatrice Mapendo, 22, who fled after a massacre in the town of Kiwanja last November, stands at Kibati camp near Goma in eastern Congo, February 9, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

16

A Congolese woman sells bananas in Goma in eastern Congo, February 9, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

17

A man plays an electric guitar in the village of Pinga, a village with no electricity, in eastern Congo, February 7, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

18

Fourteen-month-old Yabila Kubemboli, who is malnourished after his mother fled attacks on her village by Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, awaits treatment at the hospital in the village of Dungu in northeastern Congo, February 20, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

19

A Congolese girl displaced by fighting carries firewood at a camp near Goma in eastern Congo, February 9, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

20

A Red Cross worker covers the the body of Dieudonne Kulimbo who was shot and killed in the bush near Dungu in northeastern Congo, February 17, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

21

A woman walks home carrying an umbrella near Minova in eastern Congo, February 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

22

Villagers who have formed a local self defense force move during a training session in the village of Bangadi in northeastern Congo February 18, 2009. In the face of attacks and massacres by Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, who have slaughtered some 900 Congolese civilians since December, villagers in Bangadi have formed a self-defense force with locally made weapons and have twice repelled LRA attacks in recent months. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

23

Lea Mbikaz, 32, who wears a traditional Congolese hair style, poses for a portrait in the village of Bangadi in northeastern Congo, February 18, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

24

Gold miners form a human chain while digging an open pit at the Chudja mine in the Kilomoto concession near the village of Kobu, 100 km (62 miles) from Bunia in north-eastern Congo, February 23, 2009. Civil conflict in Congo has been driven for more than a decade by the violent struggle for control over the country's vast natural resources, including gold, diamonds and timber, most of which is exploited using hard manual labour. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

25

Gold miners pass mud along a human chain in an open pit at the Chudja mine in the Kilomoto concession near the village of Kobu in north-eastern Congo, February 23, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

26

War-displaced mother Marie Nako, 20, stands outside the hospital in the village of Dungu where her malnourished child is being treated in northeastern Congo, February 20, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

27

A woman who fled attacks by Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels stands outside a makeshift shelter at Ngalima in northeastern Congo February 21, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

28

A war-displaced boy wears an improvised sun hat made from wood and flip-flops at Ngalima in northeastern Congo February 21, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

29

A man displaced by war is reflected in a mirror as he gets a haircut at Bulengo camp just outside Goma in eastern Congo, February 26, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

30

War-displaced Mizelede mourns at the funeral of her grandfather, Leon Biliyo, 60, who died from malaria in Ngalima in northeastern Congo February 21, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

31

Congolese troops patrol through the village of Bangadi in northeastern Congo, February 19, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

32

A member of a local self-defense force poses for a portrait in the village of Bangadi in northeastern Congo, February 18, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

33

War-orphan Faustin Mugisa, 8, who has machete scars on his head and body, stands at the Kizito orphanage in Bunia in northeastern Congo February 24, 2009. Mugisa was left for dead in a pile of corpses when ethnic Lendu militiamen hacked to death his mother and seven siblings in 2003. Mugisa's father discovered him alive and took him to the bush to recover, but his father was later hacked to death by the same militia group. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

34

A Congolese fighter from the pro-government Mai-Mai militia looks through a window in the village of Kalenge near the front line in eastern Congo, February 4, 2009. Rwandan and Congolese forces are hunting down thousands of Hutu extremist rebels in the wilds of eastern Congo in an operation intended to address the root cause of 15 years of conflict in Congo. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

35

A war-orphaned child sits in a cardboard box at the Kizito orphanage in Bunia in northeastern Congo February 24, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

36

Men displaced by war play soccer at Bulengo camp just outside Goma in eastern Congo, February 26, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

37

A girl displaced by violence wears a traditional Congolese hair style while standing near government soldiers in the village of Bangadi in northeastern Congo February 18, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

 

38

A war-orphaned child looks through a window at the Kizito orphanage in Bunia in northeastern Congo February 24, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

 

More links and information

DR Congo outsources its military - BBC News 2/27

The Invisible War - NYTimes.com 2/21

Conflict in Congo, refugees on the move - The Big Picture, 11/03/08

Congo's crisis worsens - The Big Picture, 11/21/08

DR Congo - NYTimes Topics page

Martyrs of the

Egyptian Revolution:

January - December 2011

(Video)

 

[Screen shot from video below.]

The following video shows the sacrifice of Egypt's martyrs for their revolution: the fight from January through the present moment, against Mubarak, his police state, the army, and SCAF. A complete list of the names of the fallen is provided at the end of the film.

Please share widely, and in solidarity.

Warning: Graphic Content

 

Income inequality

in the Roman Empire

 

December 16, 2011 by Tim De Chant

Over the last 30 years, wealth in the United States has been steadily concentrating in the upper economic echelons. Whereas the top 1 percent used to control a little over 30 percent of the wealth, they now control 40 percent. It’s a trend that was for decades brushed under the rug but is now on the tops of minds and at the tips of tongues.

Since too much inequality can foment revolt and instability, the CIA regularly updates statistics on income distribution for countries around the world, including the U.S. Between 1997 and 2007, inequality in the U.S. grew by almost 10 percent, making it more unequal than Russia, infamous for its powerful oligarchs. The U.S. is not faring well historically, either. Even the Roman Empire, a society built on conquest and slave labor, had a more equitable income distribution.

To determine the size of the Roman economy and the distribution of income, historians Walter Schiedel and Steven Friesen pored over papyri ledgers, previous scholarly estimates, imperial edicts, and Biblical passages. Their target was the state of the economy when the empire was at its population zenith, around 150 C.E. Schiedel and Friesen estimate that the top 1 percent of Roman society controlled 16 percent of the wealth, less than half of what America’s top 1 percent control.

To arrive at that number, they broke down Roman society into its established and implicit classes. Deriving income for the majority of plebeians required estimating the amount of wheat they might have consumed. From there, they could backtrack to daily wages based on wheat costs (most plebs did not have much, if any, discretionary income). Next they estimated the incomes of the “respectable” and “middling” sectors by multiplying the wages of the bottom class by a coefficient derived from a review of the literature. The few “respectable” and “middling” Romans enjoyed comfortable, but not lavish, lifestyles.

Above the plebs were perched the elite Roman orders. These well-defined classes played important roles in politics and commerce. The ruling patricians sat at the top, though their numbers were likely too few to consider. Below them were the senators. Their numbers are well known—there were 600 in 150 C.E.—but estimating their wealth was difficult. Like most politicians today, they were wealthy—to become a senator, a man had to be worth at least 1 million sesterces (a Roman coin, abbreviated HS). In reality, most possessed even greater fortunes. Schiedel and Friesen estimate the average senator was worth over HS5 million and drew annual incomes of more than HS300,000.

After the senators came the equestrians. Originally the Roman army’s cavalry, they evolved into a commercial class after senators were banned from business deals in 218 B.C. An equestrian’s holdings were worth on average about HS600,000, and he earned an average of HS40,000 per year. The decuriones, or city councilmen, occupied the step below the equestrians. They earning about HS9,000 per year and held assets of around HS150,000. Other miscellaneous wealthy people drew incomes and held fortunes of about the same amount as the decuriones.

In total, Schiedel and Friesen figure the elite orders and other wealthy made up about 1.5 percent of the 70 million inhabitants the empire claimed at its peak. Together, they controlled around 20 percent of the wealth.

These numbers paint a picture of two Romes, one of respectable, if not fabulous, wealth and the other of meager wages, enough to survive day-to-day but not enough to prosper. The wealthy were also largely concentrated in the cities. It’s not unlike the U.S. today. Indeed, based on a widely used measure of income inequality, the Gini coefficient, imperial Rome was slightly more equal than the U.S.

The CIA, World Bank, and other institutions track the Gini coefficients of modern nations. It’s a unitless number, which can make it somewhat tricky to understand. I find visualizing it helps. Take a look at the following graph.

To calculate the Gini coefficient, you divide the orange area (A) by the sum of the orange and blue areas (A + B). The more unequal the income distribution, the larger the orange area. The Gini coefficient scales from 0 to 1, where 0 means each portion of the population gathers an equal amount of income and 1 means a single person collects everything. Schiedel and Friesen calculated a Gini coefficient of 0.42–0.44 for Rome. By comparison, the Gini coefficient in the U.S. in 2007 was 0.45.

Schiedel and Friesen aren’t passing judgement on the ancient Romans, nor are they on modern day Americans. Theirs is an academic study, one used to further scholarship on one of the great ancient civilizations. But buried at the end, they make a point that’s difficult to parse, yet provocative. They point out that the majority of extant Roman ruins resulted from the economic activities of the top 10 percent. “Yet the disproportionate visibility of this ‘fortunate decile’ must not let us forget the vast but—to us—inconspicuous majority that failed even to begin to share in the moderate amount of economic growth associated with large-scale formation in the ancient Mediterranean and its hinterlands.”

In other words, what we see as the glory of Rome is really just the rubble of the rich, built on the backs of poor farmers and laborers, traces of whom have all but vanished. It’s as though Rome’s 99 percent never existed. Which makes me wonder, what will future civilizations think of us?

Source:

Scheidel, W., & Friesen, S. (2010). The Size of the Economy and the Distribution of Income in the Roman Empire Journal of Roman Studies, 99 DOI: 10.3815/007543509789745223

Photo by Biker Jun.

World's first illustrated

Christian bible discovered

at Ethiopian monastery

 

 

By Daily Mail Reporter

The world's earliest illustrated Christian book has been saved by a British charity which located it at a remote Ethiopian monastery.

The incredible Garima Gospels are named after a monk who arrived in the African country in the fifth century and is said to have copied them out in just one day.

Beautifully illustrated, the colours are still vivid and thanks to the Ethiopian Heritage Fund have been conserved.

Abba Garima arrived from Constantinople in 494 AD and legend has it that he was able to copy the gospels in a day because God delayed the sun from setting.

 

A page from the Garima Gospels - the world's oldest Christian book found in a remote monastery in Ethiopia

The incredible relic has been kept ever since in the Garima Monastery near Adwa in the north of the country, which is in the Tigray region at 7,000 feet.

Experts believe it is also the earliest example of book binding still attached to the original pages.

The survival of the Gospels is incredible considering the country has been under Muslim invasion, Italian invasion and a fire in the 1930s destroyed the monastery's church.

They were written on goat skin in the early Ethiopian language of Ge'ez.

There are two volumes which date from the same time, but the second is written in a different hand from the first. Both contain illustrations and the four Gospels.

Though the texts had been mentioned by the occasional traveller since the 1950s, it had been thought they dated from the 11th century at the earliest.

Carbon dating, however, gives a date between 330 and 650 - which tantalisingly overlaps the date Abba Garima arrived in the country.

So the first volume could be in his hand - even if he didn't complete the task in a day as the oral tradition states.

The charity Ethiopian Heritage Fund that was set up to help preserve the treasures in the country has made the stunning discovery.

It was also allowed incredibly rare access to the texts so experts could conserve them on site.

 

The incredible relic has been kept ever since in the Garima Monastery near Adwa in the north of Ethiopia

It is now hoped the Gospels will be put in a museum at the monastery where visitors will be able to view them.

Blair Priday from the Ethiopian Heritage Fund said: 'Ethiopia has been overlooked as a source of these fantastic things.

'Many of these old Christian relics can only be reached by hiking and climbing to remote monasteries as roads are limited in these mountainous regions.

'All the work on the texts was done in situ and everything is reversible, so if in future they can be taken away for further conservation we won't have hindered that.

'The pages had been crudely stitched together in a restoration in the 1960s and some of the pages wouldn't even turn. And they were falling to pieces.

'The Garima Gospels have been kept high and dry which has helped preserve them all these years and they are kept in the dark so the colours look fresh.

'This was the most astounding of all our projects and the Patriarch, the head of the Ethiopian Church, had to give his permission.

'Most of the experts did the work for nothing.

'We are currently undertaking other restoration programmes on wall paintings and religious texts.

'We believe that preserving Ethiopia's cultural heritage will help to increase visitor revenue and understanding of the extraordinary history of this country