Ryan S. Olson is codirector of the Colloquy on Culture and Formation and a research professor and senior fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Tragedy, Authority, and Trickery: The Poetics of Embedded Letters in Josephus.
In decrees and other political and civic inscriptions of the ancient world, historians have begun to recognize that various emotions such as fear, pride, and excitement were expressed to generate solidarity that held groups together in a place and with a shared name (Spartans in Sparta).
The histories and literatures of antiquity can help us address some of our contemporary ethical deficit disorder.