Controversial ancient topics a la Big Bang Theory?

Akela

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Today I was watching a Big Bang Theory episode, where Leonard's girlfriend Leslie breaks up with him over their disagreement on which quantum gravity theory is correct. Her final quote is "I am sorry, I could have accepted our kids being genetically unable to eat ice-cream or ever get a good view of a parade, but this? This is a deal breaker."

This brought me to wonder, does the ancient world have similarly controversial topics? Not the kind you would leave your spouse of 20 years for, but something some may find difficult to agree with one way or another. Whether or not the Amazons were real does not count :p

I myself remember having a rather heated argument over whether or not Augustus' rise to power was an achievement or if he had just been inadvertently spoon-fed the whole thing by Caesar.

Any other similarly polarized topics in the ancient world?
 

Homo-Invictus

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I'm not a history/classics student, but a popular heated topic of debate amongst the Edinburgh University professors is, I am told, whether the republic ended with Caesar or with Sulla before him? I'd be more inclined to argue, from what I have read, that it was ultimately Sulla that brought down the Roman republic but I'm sure there would be people to disagree :p
 

Nikolaos

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I personally find the idea that motion is an illusion to be quite annoying.
 

Aurifex

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This brought me to wonder, does the ancient world have similarly controversial topics?
I believe there was a cult following for a certain Jesus of Nazareth at one point, which in places led to some controversy for a time.
 
 

cinefactus

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Do you mean controversial in ancient times, or topics which are currently controversial? For the latter, what about Cataline?
If the former, the Greek influence seems to have stirred people up.
 

Decimvs

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The big bang theory is not a controversy:

The Big Bang is a well-tested scientific theory which is widely accepted within the scientific community because it is the most accurate and comprehensive explanation for the full range of phenomena astronomers observe. Since its conception, abundant evidence has arisen to further validate the model.

There is debate about certain processes and details, but the overarching framework is well established and accepted.
 

Akela

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Do you mean controversial in ancient times, or topics which are currently controversial?
I meant, currently controversial, but we can play this both ways.


For the latter, what about Cataline?
Pardon my ignorance, Cinefacte, but what is controversial about Catiline?

The big bang theory is not a controversy...
Forgive the confusion, Decime, I was not thinking about the theory itself, but more about the kind of topics that create strong disagreement among those who know and care about the field of discussion - as they do in the TV show of the same name.

Whether or not Hannibal was a good general would qualify.
 

Homo-Invictus

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The big bang theory is not a controversy:
Slight misunderstanding here, I think. The Big Bang Theory is a US sitcom about four physicists and in one of the episodes a relationship is ended on the grounds that they believed in different quantum gravity theories. I think Akela was asking if there were any similar controversies in the field of classical history like the one used in the show. I don't think she was implying that the big bang theory (theory) is controversial.
 
 

cinefactus

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It has been a few years since I was reading about it, but I seem to recall that someone was pushing the line that Cataline was framed. Most of our source material stems from Cicero and Sallust, so it is a plausible theory. My opinion is that evidence is overwhelming against Cataline.
 

Decimvs

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Forgive the confusion, Decime, I was not thinking about the theory itself, but more about the kind of topics that create strong disagreement among those who know and care about the field of discussion - as they do in the TV show of the same name.
Ahhhh....mea culpa. Rereading the first post, now I get it.

I saw big bang and controversial in the same sentence and my must-defend-science alarm went off mistakenly. :p
 
 

cinefactus

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As I said above, most of the source material stems from either Sallust or Cicero. Cicero's written speeches were not necessarily the same as the ones he delivered. He wrote an entire poem on his consulship, so he was certainly capable of blowing his own trumpet. The question is, "Was there ever a Cataline conspiracy, or did Cicero frame him for his own political gain?"
 

Cambrinus

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That there was a conspiracy in late 63 BC cannot, surely, be in any doubt. The battle of Pistoria, however, seems to have been fought by a small rag-tag bunch of die-hards and lost-cause-ists. Now, as to whether there was an earlier conspiracy............
 
This is an interesting topic for me, and I hope that more of you will give it some thought. For my part, I cannot recall having heard about an argument over a scientific question that set two people against one another until Tycho Brahe fought a duel with another university student over a mathematical formula in the Renaissance. In ancient times, it seems to me, questions like whether matter was infinitely divisible or whether it could be broken down only to basic building blocks, or “atomos” (= “indivisible”), were so completely speculative that it would be hard to imagine them spoiling the relationship between two people. Even in the episode of The Big Bang Theory, the humor of the situation was – for most people, at least – in the very obscurity of the question. Whether real theoretical physicists would actually be turned against one another by it I cannot say.

I have no doubt that other topics, like current events, personalities, politics, etc., caused the breakup of so many relationships that it would hardly be worth trying to cite them. However, such topics seem to me to be in a totally different category, although I have not figured out a definition that would distinguish the two types of topics one from the other.

Religion, specifically Christianity, was brought up as a matter which could cause the end of a relationship, and that is easily documented. In 1 Corinthians 7: 12-16, Paul addressed the topic, advising converts to Christianity not to separate from their non-Christian spouses. That is a pretty good parallel to the situation depicted in The Big Bang Theory.

It would be interesting to know whether belief in some of the other religions that became popular in Roman times – belief in Mithras, Isis, etc. – had any effect on personal relationships. Of course, the hostility of the Hebrews to mixed marriages is made abundantly clear in places like Ezra 9: 1-12 and 10: 10-44 or Nehemiah 13: 23-30, but I think that polytheists were more tolerant. For me, one of the most touching relics of life in ancient times that I ever saw was the transcription of a tomb inscription in the museum in Bath, England. A husband and wife lay together in the tomb, the inscription calling down the blessing of a god on the spirit of each of them. Not only were two separate gods invoked, but the two gods were in different pantheons. A mixed marriage indeed!

 

magisterwarren

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The ancient Athenians certainly considered Socrates controversial, and Anaxagoras before him, enough at least to exile the latter and kill the former.
 
 

cinefactus

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Tycho Brahe fought a duel with another university student over a mathematical formula in the Renaissance.
The proof being Quod Enecavit Demonstrator?
 
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