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[German version] The phenomenon of begging (πτωχεία, ptōcheía, Latin mendicitas, rarely mendicatio) is only sporadically documented in antiquity and hardly ever the subject of economical or social analysis. Also, as a rule, begging disappears behind an undifferentiated concept and conception of  poverty, and it is therefore only rarely possible to get a clear grasp of begging as the most bitter, and furthermore socially stigmatized, form of poverty. It is, however, obvious that contemporaries were aware of…

[German version] I. Greece No organized medical service developed in the context of Greek warfare. Alongside regular assistance to fellow soldiers, including that from warriors knowledgeable in the art of healing (an early reference in Hom. Il. 4,190-219 and 11,828-848, Machaon and Podalirius), there are sporadic references from the 5th cent. BC onwards to physicians treating the wounded, but this treatment was mainly improvised (cf. Xen. An. 3,4,30). It was rarely administered on the battlefield, b…

[German version] The term simony derives from Simon [8] Magus, who tried to buy from the Apostles the miraculous power of the Holy Ghost (Acts 8,18-25), and correspondingly describes the illicit trade in clerical titles and particularly material benefits in the purchase of benedictions and offices. Corresponding practices, together with resistance to them within the Church, can be observed from the beginning of the 4th cent. (AD 306: Synod of Elvira, canon 48 [1. 305 f.], against charges for bapti…

[German version] A. Definition Alms are gifts to the poor. Without any claim to mutuality or compensation, alms expressed mercy -- a feeling of condescending solidarity with the person in need based on compassion and a willingness to help. Thus, the prerequisite of alms was social distance and an economic gradient that demanded equalization. To that extent alms constituted an important form of money transfer between rich and poor outside the scope of governmental regulation. The term alms (from Greek ἐλεημοσύνη; eleēmosýnē, mercy, compassion) is not classical and only appear…

[German version] Originally, Christian communities met the costs for the Eucharist and their charitable activities through the voluntary gifts from their members (καρποφορίαι/ karpophoríai); these donations continued to represent one of the most important sources of income for the early Church. By the 3rd cent. AD at the latest, the communities had their own property, which might consist of liturgical objects and robes, buildings for holding services, and cemeteries (Euseb. Hist. eccl. 7,13); the legal basis for owner…

[German version] The term poverty indicates a situation in life marked by privation, often not to be improved out of one's own efforts, and comprises both descriptive analytic as well as judging and normative aspects. In spite of differences in the perception and judgment of poverty during the course of history, which were determined by their historical and cultural background, several basic observations on problems concerning poverty do also apply to pre-industrial societies and especially to Ant…

[German version] I. Definition Violence embraces a range of meanings covered by the Latin expressions imperium, potestas, potentia, vis and violentia; in Greek literature, the term ὕβρις ( hýbris) comes closest to expressing the modern concept of the use of illegitimate force. The term violence is today usually used to describe the use of physical force; relationships of violence are one-sided social relationships based on force, and not on mutuality. In the following, violence is understood in this sense, and discussed pr…

[German version] (ξενοδοχεῖον/ xenodocheîon; Lat. xenodochium). In Late Antiquity, the xenodocheion was a charitable church institution that served as a hostel and a hospital. In the xenodocheion, the Christian tradition of taking in fellow-Christian travellers without payment found an institutionalized form. Unlike the commercially run inns, xenodocheia (which were established, and often endowed as well, by bishops, monasteries and affluent Christian individuals), generally offered accommodation without charge to the needy as lodgings for p…