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Full-Text Articles in Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity

Imperator Novus: Charting The Transfer Of Rome’S Imperial Past To The Papacy’S Eighth Century Present, Henry R. Elsenpeter Apr 2022

Imperator Novus: Charting The Transfer Of Rome’S Imperial Past To The Papacy’S Eighth Century Present, Henry R. Elsenpeter

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

When did Roman imperial iconography become part of the position of pope? This thesis will highlight the eighth century as a time of notable change in papal authority and identity. The developing papacy — in competition with rival contenders for Rome’s past — produced two key documents that portrayed the pope as an inheritor of the Roman Empire. In these sources, the bishop of Rome took on an entirely new identity as an imperator novus. While the eighth century continued, the pope gradually appeared increasingly imperial, concluding with a coronation that crowned emperor and pope, alike.


By The Power Vesta-Ed In Me: The Power Of The Vestal Virgins And Those Who Took Advantage Of It, Elena M. Stanley Apr 2022

By The Power Vesta-Ed In Me: The Power Of The Vestal Virgins And Those Who Took Advantage Of It, Elena M. Stanley

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

Vestal Virgins were high ranking members of the Roman elite. Due to the priestesses’ elevated standing, Romans made use of their inherent privileges. Through analyses of case studies from ancient authors and archaeology, I identify three ways Romans wielded Vestal power: familial connections, financial and material resources, and political sway. I end by exploring cases of crimen incesti, the crime of unchastity, which highlight all three forms. The Vestals were influential women who shared access to power in different ways. The Vestals were active participants in the social and political world of Rome.


Hic Est Uxor Mihei: How Roman Funerary Portraits Carve The Ideal Freedwoman, Nora Kassner May 2014

Hic Est Uxor Mihei: How Roman Funerary Portraits Carve The Ideal Freedwoman, Nora Kassner

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

This paper examines the depiction of Roman freedwomen (former slaves) in thirty-five late Republican and Augustan funerary portraits. Extant portraits utilize a complex visual and written vocabulary to reveal a wide variety of views of freedwomen’s status and agency. This paper relies upon analyses of the cultural climates of the late Republican and Augustan period, careful interrogation of the material evidence through the lens of both post-structuralist and affective theory, and the use of case studies. Ultimately, it argues that funerary portraits create diverse representations of the ideal freedwoman that become part of an ongoing cultural dialogue concerning the place …


All Roads Lead Through Rome: Imperial Armatures On The Triumphal Route, Machal E. Gradoz May 2012

All Roads Lead Through Rome: Imperial Armatures On The Triumphal Route, Machal E. Gradoz

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

The cityscape of ancient Rome was filled with opulent buildings that created armatures— fluid, connective thoroughfares throughout the city. These armatures came together to form narrative pathways. The triumphal route, the memorialized, celebratory course of victorious generals, is one such narrative pathway. Among other strategies to legitimize his sole rule, Augustus constructed a self-promoting armature along the triumphal route, thereby linking him with the triumph. This paper examines how the construction of the Augustan armature along the triumphal route promoted Augustus and how the Flavians responded to it in advertising their own legitimacy in the wake of a civil war. …


Dismemberment And Devotion: Anatomical Votive Dedication In Italian Popular Religion, Lindsay R. Morehouse May 2012

Dismemberment And Devotion: Anatomical Votive Dedication In Italian Popular Religion, Lindsay R. Morehouse

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

Anatomical votives are religious offerings that are made to look like body parts and are dedicated in exchange for healing. In many cases, they are dedicated to intermediary figures as a way to bridge the worlds of human and divine. There is evidence that Anatomical votives have been offered in Italy from the middle of the first millennia BCE to the present. This paper examines Etruscan, Greco-Roman, and Christian cults in order to explore continuity and change in this practice over time within Italy.


The Epistulae Of Marcus Aurelius And Fronto: A Study And Commentary, Christopher W. Larabee May 2011

The Epistulae Of Marcus Aurelius And Fronto: A Study And Commentary, Christopher W. Larabee

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

Long marginalized by Classical scholarship, the Letters (Epistulae) of Marcus Aurelius and Fronto serve as a powerful tool for use in the intermediate Latin classroom. This project proposes that through application of modern second language acquisition research, these letters can be brought to life to allow Latin teachers to take advantage of the ways their students learn language most naturally: through dialogue and conversation. By selecting letters based on principles established by second language acquisition research, the Epistulae can be presented in the format of an intermediate commentary and conversation, allowing students to learn Latin through their dialogical, …


Mythological History, Identity Formation, And The Many Faces Of Alexander The Great, James Mayer May 2011

Mythological History, Identity Formation, And The Many Faces Of Alexander The Great, James Mayer

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

Alexander the Great, ruler of Macedonia and conqueror of much of the eastern Mediterranean world in the fourth century BCE, figures prominently in folklore for centuries afterward. This paper analyzes several stories about Alexander to explore the intersections among history, myth and identity. By looking at accounts of Alexander written by Jews living in Alexandria in the Roman period, by early Byzantine Christians and by medieval Persian Muslims, I demonstrate that communities from all over the Mediterranean used myths about Alexander to redefine their identity in response to catastrophic changes.


The Mirror's Reflection: Virgil's Aeneid In English Translation, Evelyn W. Adkins May 2006

The Mirror's Reflection: Virgil's Aeneid In English Translation, Evelyn W. Adkins

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

Virgil’s Roman epic the Aeneid is one of the canonical works of Western culture. A classic in its own time, it continues to be used as a mirror to reflect on contemporary culture. I examine the history of the Aeneid in English translation from 1513 to 2005, specifically the translations of Book VI by Gavin Douglas, Thomas Phaer, John Dryden, C. Day Lewis, Robert Fitzgerald, Allen Mandelbaum, and Stanley Lombardo. Throughout, I discuss how each translator saw and emphasized the reflection of his own political, religious, and cultural concerns in the mirror of Virgil’s Aeneid.


The Nuptial Ceremony Of Ancient Greece And The Articulation Of Male Control Through Ritual, Casey Mason Apr 2006

The Nuptial Ceremony Of Ancient Greece And The Articulation Of Male Control Through Ritual, Casey Mason

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

This work is the result of recent scholarship which has stimulated renewed dialogue concerning the status of women in ancient Greece. It is both a reconstruction of the nuptial ceremony and an investigation of the rituals within it. Ritual actions are used to express an idea or ideal about culture, and through the examination of these rituals we may evaluate both how and why men in ancient Greece exercised complete power over women. This new interpretation both confirms and contradicts our old beliefs, and is a constructive contribution to our modern discussion of ancient gender issues.