Two Faces of Janus


Book Description

A young nobleman confronts a specter from the past that could threaten his family’s legacy. A brash young aristocrat, Lucius Antonius anticipates Emperor Augustus Caesar will support his lofty ambitions to serve as a praetor in the Roman justice system in 2 BC Rome. As the son of the distinguished politician and poet, Iullus Antonius, Lucius prays to Janus, the two-faced god of beginnings, to open the door for him to rise politically. But he is unaware of the political firestorm ready to erupt in the imperial family. Augustus must confront evidence that his daughter, Julia, has behaved scandalously in public and that Iullus is her lover. The prospect that Julia might want to marry Iullus—the only surviving son of Marcus Antonius—threatens to redirect the glory from Augustus to his most hated rival beyond the grave. Caught in the political crossfire, Lucius must demonstrate his loyalty to Augustus by meeting all of his demands or face the destruction of his family’s legacy and possibly his own life. Will Lucius ultimately choose to betray and abandon his disgraced father?




The Two-faced God


Book Description

Floridius the Soothsayer has been asked to read the omens for a wealthy man whose villa appears to be haunted. The pay is good but it means studying a sheep's liver and poor Floridius faints at the sight of blood! Can Threptus solve the mystery and save his friend from embarrassment? Join Threptus and Floridius on their hilarious and action-packed adventures among Rome's superstitious underclass, and don't miss this ruder, funnier and still historically accurate companion to The Roman Mysteries.




Roman Gods & Goddesses


Book Description

While the ancient Roman pantheon in many ways resembles that of ancient Greece, there is much that sets apart Roman mythology. Romans also borrowed from the religions of ancient Egypt, Asia Minor, and the Middle East, and legendary figures such as Romulus and Remus, tied closely to the history of Rome, feature prominently in ancient stories. The major and lesser figures of Roman mythology are presented in this vibrant volume with sidebars spotlighting related facts and concepts about Roman mythology and religion.




The Face of God


Book Description

"Best-selling journalist, historian and author Paul Badde embarks on an exciting quest to discover the truth behind the Holy Face of Manoppello, a relic recently rediscovered and rumored to be the veil of Veronica...Badde was intrigued when he heard of a mysterious image in a remote Italian village--an image of a man's face on byssus cloth. Byssus, or sea silk, is a rare and delicate fabric woven from a silky filament produced by mollusks. It is claimed that the fabric is so thin and delicate that it is impossible to paint on--yet the image in Manoppello is clearly visible, and when laid over the image of the face on the Shroud of Turin, forms a perfect match..."--Dust cover flap.




The Rohingya Crisis and the Two-Faced God of Janus


Book Description

The Rohingya Crisis is now in its fifth year with no end in sight. While the international community has supported the displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh by providing humanitarian assistance, what is needed now is to investigate the short-and long-term implications of the crisis from the host country's perspective. Also, it is imperative to examine the current political situation, which was caused by the Myanmar military coup in February 2021. It has cast a dark shadow on the possibility of a negotiated repatriation. In this volume, scholars from Bangladesh and Canada have reflected upon the security situation, the pandemic’s impact on the Rohingyas, inter-group conflict, environmental impact and burden sharing aspects, the informal labor situation, NGO intervention for resilience mapping, and diaspora activities. For both academics and policymakers who work in the fields of conflict resolution and peacebuilding, this book will show how not intervening early in a crisis can have long-term consequences.




God and His Demons


Book Description

A noted author and activist brings his critical acumen and rhetorical skills to bear in this polemic against the dark side of religion. Unlike some popular works by stridently outspoken atheists, this is not a blanket condemnation of all believers. Rather the author's focus is the heartless exploitation of faithful followers by those in power, as well as sectarian intolerance, the violence against heretics and nonbelievers, and the reactionary political and economic collusion that has often prevailed between the upper echelons of church and state. Parenti notes the deleterious effects of past theocracies and the threat to our freedoms posed by present-day fundamentalists and theocratic reactionaries. He discusses how socially conscious and egalitarian minded liberal religionists have often been isolated and marginalized by their more conservative (and better financed) coreligionists. Finally, he documents the growing strength of secular freethinkers who are doing battle against the intolerant theocratic usurpers in public life. Historically anchored yet sharply focused on the contemporary scene, this eloquent indictment of religion’s dangers will be welcomed by committed secular laypersons and progressive religionists alike.




Gods' Concubine


Book Description

In the second title of The Troy Game series, love and revenge are set against the very fabric of time itself as a warrior waits for his opportunity to finish what was started centuries before.




The Hidden Face of God


Book Description

Friedman examines how God gradually becomes hidden as the Bible progresses, and this phenomenon's place in the formation of Judaism and Christianity.




Trusting in a Two-Faced God


Book Description

All little girls are born with healthy hopes and dreams of happy futures. I have talked with many women and never heard one of them say that when they were little they couldnt wait to grow up to be divorced, abandoned, addicted, chronically ill, or unable to pay their bills. What goes wrong when: The desire for comfort turns into addiction? The need for protection turns into abuse? The anticipation of freedom turns into abortion? The search for self worth turns into anorexia? The dream for companionship ends in infidelity? The hope for a happy life turns into suicidal ideation? Journey with women like Melissa, Erin, Frida, Hannah and Claire as they share their most difficult battles and the messages they believed about themselves...messages they learned to trust because they often came from the people they trusted...messages they worshipped that eventually betrayed them. Trusting in a Two - Faced God explores our invisible warfare as women and the enemys tactics that deceive us into thinking we are on the road to fulfilling our purpose and dreams, when all the while we are trusting in the wrong messages to get us there. How can we search out what we keep hidden deep inside our hearts so we can silence the gods of our internal struggles and find the God who has the true message about who we really are engraved into the palm of his hands?




Mixanthrôpoi


Book Description

Many of the beings in this book – Cheiron, Pan, Acheloos, the Sirens and others – will be familiar from the narratives of Greek mythology, in which fabulous anatomies abound. However, they have never previously been studied together from a religious perspective, as recipients of cult and as members of the ancient pantheon. This book is the first major treatment of the use of part-animal – mixanthropic – form in the representation and visual imagination of Greek gods and goddesses, and of its significance with regard to divine character and function. What did it mean to depict deities in a form so strongly associated in the ancient imagination with monstrous adversaries? How did iconography, myth and ritual interact in particular sites of worship? Drawing together literary and visual material, this study establishes the themes dominant in the worship of divine mixanthropes, and argues that, so far from being insignificant curiosities, they make possible a greater understanding of the fabric of ancient religious practice, in particular the tense and challenging relationship between divinity and visual representation.