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Marcus Licinius Crassus is hardly one of the main characters in Lucan’s Pharsalia. However, it is him whom the poet mentions first by name in his work. A dozen of so references to the triumvir himself and his son Publius (particularly frequent in Book VIII of the poem) render an image that is fairly consistent. It contain, most importantly, the Parthian expedition and the death of Crassus in the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC). Thereafter Crassus became the symbol of external war set against civil war which Lucan castigates. Lucan also utilises the political idea of revenge for Crassus. This idea was created at the end of the Republican Age and therefore Augustan poets reached out for it frequently. References to the fallen Crassus shed light on other characters of Pharsalia, such as Pompeius, Lentulus, and Cornelia. Thereby, although not being an autonomous character, Crassus plays his modest part in the structure of Lucan’s epic.

Regaining the legion’s standards (insignia) lost by Crassus as a result of his defeat at Carrhae was widely used in the Roman propaganda during the times of Augustus. The event in question had a rich religious significance in addition to its prestige. Referred to in literature as a factor contributing to the emperor’s glory, as the event was also a prerequisite of and a step towards building the Roman reign without borders. After recovering the standards, the success was celebrated not only in the above-mentioned contexts, but also as a military victory that forced the Parthians into surrendering. The occasion was similarly distinguished in numismatics and iconography, and by means of them promoted the connection of the signa with Mars the Avenger, both due to the character of the god’s veneration and origins thereof. Associating the recovered standards with the god could also involve the fulfilment of Caesar’s obligations and one of his promises.

Being a son of the Crown Hetman Mikołaj Potocki, and having inherited the title of the starosta of Kamieniec, Piotr Potocki distinguished himself before 1648 in battles at Kumejki (1637) and Ochmatów (1644), leading the charges of his father’s Cossack unit (rota). From 1643 on, as the starosta of Kamieniec, he was responsible for security of Kamieniec Podolski (a fortress), which proved especially significant during the Chmielnicki Uprising. Since he resided in the fortress also after he had taken office as the voivode of Bracław (1651), rarely did he appear in the General Sejm. Several times he repelled the attacks of Cossack-Tatar armies trying to seized Kamieniec; he participated in the Biała Cerkiew (1651) and Żwaniec campaigns (1653), leading a cavalry regiment. During the Cossack uprisings, he was in charge of organising the net of overt “intelligencers” (early intelligence agents) who would pass information of essence to Vasile Lupu, the voivode (hospodar) of Moldavia. He partook in another Ukraine campaign of the Polish Crown army (in the spring of 1654) resulting from B. Chmielnicki’s surrender in Moscow. In 1655, he appeared to be a faithful supporter of Jan Kazimierz, by guaranteeing the perpetuation of his influence in Kamieniec along with the military forces in his command. In order to acknowledge his military merits, as a defender of Podole and the Kamieniec fortress, the Ruthenian nobility recommended him to be awarded during dietines.

Despite the efforts of Primate Teodor Andrzej Potocki, the July relational dietines in the period of the penultimate interregnum became the battleground of cutthroat rivalry between the parties and factions present, which made the divisions amongst the public opinion conspicuous. As much as a half of relational dietines (for the lands of Wyszogród, Zakroczym, Ciechanów, Łomża, and Nur) decided to postpone the vow-taking until the declaration of confederation was signed. What deserves to be underlined is the fact that upon two of the dietines, for the lands of Łomża and Zakroczym, the noblemen took vows despite their previous support for the Polish candidate during the Convocation Diet. Such a turn of events, though only temporarily, worked in favour of the Saxon camp, since it did not hurt the chances of a Saxon candidate ascending to the Polish throne. The endeavours in question were scuppered nonetheless, for after the popisy (a show of levies’ military force), the noblemen representatives for the lands of Ciechanów and Nur vowed on the declaration of confederation adopted during the Convocation Diet, according to which a foreigner was to be excluded as a potential King of Poland.

The article concerns the court trial of Maciej Mielżyński, which took place in front of the jury in Międzyrzecz on 20—21 February 1914. The jury found the defendant — accused of a double murder — not guilty. The analysis of the court proceedings was based on the content of three Poznań daily newspapers, namely Dziennik Poznański, Kurier Poznański, and Postęp. Despite the fact that both the general public and the press had been barred from the court, the wealth of material featured in Polish and German dailies alike allowed, albeit only partially, to follow its course. Unfortunately, the confidentiality of hearings also contributed to the controversy concerning the court’s final ruling, which cleared the defendant of all charges. The present article examines closely the proceedings in question in order to reveal the background of a family tragedy that took place amongst the aristocracy of Wielkopolska (Greater Poland).

It is not disputed that the Second Vatican Council (1962—1965) was one of the most important events not only in the history of the Catholic Church, but also throughout the 20th century. Pope Francis described it as “the beautiful work of the Holy Spirit” and many historians underscore the constant need to study the said event. Guided by these conclusions and postulates, which featured in the issue of Verbum Vitae devoted to the Holy Spirit in the Church, the presented article focuses on the image of the Second Vatican Council on the pages of an unusual and rarely analysed historiographic source, namely, school textbooks in history. To this aim, several studies were selected for the purposes of the analysis, which students of Polish schools had the opportunity to use during the recent few years. It shows that, based on most of the school handbooks analysed, students have the opportunity to learn the most important facts related to the Second Vatican Council. In addition, the textbooks appreciated the role of popes — John XXIII and Paul VI.

Eugeniusz Adamczyk, an activist of the Home Army (AK), pseudonym “Wiktor,” was undoubtedly a hero of the Polish counterintelligence war meted out against Gestapo. He was in possession of uncommon skills that made him tailored for this kind of work. Born three years prior to the First World War in the village of Irządze, when he sought his first job, he wound up joining the police. At the moment of the outbreak of the Second World War, he had been on duty in the Tarnopol voivodeship. Having reached the General Government, he started to take active part in the operations of the Armed Independence Underground. Instantly after having been sworn in as a member of ZWZ (Union of Armed Struggle), following the order from the union’s leadership, he joined the ranks of Gestapo, the Nazi-Germany secret police. While stationed at a Gestapo precinct in Jędrzejów, he was able to aid in various ways those maltreated, tortured and persecuted by Hitlerites, those threatened to be arrested, resettled, or sent to the Reich as “labourers.” In the eyes of Poles oblivious to his mission, he was often considered a traitor. In recognition of his services, the Home Army leadership appointed him as a head of its 2nd Department of Intelligence and Counterintelligence in the Jędrzejów Precinct. Yet, a fate filled with hardships awaited him after the war. Twice he was arrested in the 1940s and he had to endure the worst kind of tortures inflicted upon him by the (communist) Security Service. Not until the amnesty of the year 1956 was he allowed to lead relatively normal life. He then became professionally involved at the Silesian University of Technology (Politechnika Śląska). However, he was eventually arrested again for an attempt to publish his memoirs detailing the former work for the Home Army, and for sending death sentences to prominent communist leaders.

Zbigniew Nienacki (1929—1994) was a very popular writer in the period of the People’s Republic of Poland. What made him a household name then was a series of novels featuring as the main character Pan Samochodzik (‘Mr. Automobile’). The article discusses — based on the content of the said novels and thorough research of the press and internet sources — the value of those books in terms of historical-tourist and cultural education. Also, their reception among readers and viewership of film adaptations were analysed, along with the novels’ availability and popularity in different forms of digital media. The result of such analysis of the said material supports the preliminary thesis of a considerable educational value of the Pan Samochodzik novels and their wide readership, which goes hand in hand with the sustained popularity of a television series Samochodzik i templariusze.

The subject of this review is a study by Anna Tatarkiewicz devoted to the woman becoming mother in Ancient Rome. It delves into such aspects of lives and functioning of women in Ancient Rome as: the birth of a baby girl, her later wedding, pregnancy period, biologically giving birth, and dies lustricus, that is, acknowledging the social fact of childbirth by law, which equalled a mother being born symbolically.

The book Śląsk zbuntowany (‛The rebellious Silesia’) by Dariusz Zalega proposes a new way of writing about the workers’ movement, which is both approachable and devoid of anticommunist sentiment. The author takes the readers on a journey with blue-collar workers originating from Upper Silesia — volunteers forming the International Brigades, participating in the Spanish Civil War of the years 1936—1939 on the side of the Popular Front. Apart from the description of the fighting itself, a lot of space in the book was devoted to circumstances leading the protagonist to Spain. A brief outline of fates of those who managed to survive the clashes with General Francisco Franco’s army is also presented.

The book entitled The Genius Within: Smart Pills, Brain Hacks and Adventures in Intelligence written by David Adam may easily be placed among the publications of acclaimed historians and science popularisers, such as Niall Ferguson, Yuval Noah Harari, and Bill Bryson. The author, a chemist by profession, takes the reader on a journey through the historical research on human intelligence. A lot of space in the book is, however, devoted to the presentation of some experiments that the author himself underwent. In the book’s conclusions, drawing of both the past and the present, the author claims that the future belongs to the neuroscience revolution.

The reviewed book details the fifty-year-long activity of the Folkloristic Section (Sekcja Folklorystyczna) (later transformed into the Ethnological Section [Sekcja Etnograficzna]) and the Regional History Section of the Polish Cultural-Educational Union (Polski Związek Kulturalno-Oświatowy). It is aimed mainly at persons interested in the region of Zaolzie, yet some of the texts may also be referred to as a supplementary material by researchers undertaking broader subjects, such as the operation of national minorities’ associations in communist states, or “from below” visions of regional history.

Metryczka wydawnicza numeru.