Classics Commons^™

Dreaming Of Empire: Visions Of Rome And Imperialist Ideology In Twenty-First Century Cinema, Nathan Keckley

Undergraduate Research Symposium

The blockbuster film Gladiator kickstarted a new wave of ancient historical epics. Some of these, following Gladiator’s lead, drew explicit parallels between ancient Rome and contemporary America – notably Centurion (2010) and The Eagle (2011). The Rome-America analogy allowed Gladiator and its progeny to critique American society, and these critiques have received substantial scholarly attention. Given that these films were produced while America was waging controversial wars, it is unsurprising that one of the critiques they chiefly employ – and one of those scholars have most readily seized upon – is that of American imperialism. Gladiator, Centurion, and The Eagle …

Leonardo’S Ancient Inspiration, Willem N. Roelandts

CAFE Symposium 2023

Investigating the hidden ancient inspiration in Leonardo de Vinci’s 'Battle of Anghiari' and it’s significance to the city of Florence. How and why Leonardo chose to incorporate Greco-Roman aesthetics into his art.

A Female Pharaoh And The Emperor’S Wife: Hatshepsut, Julia Domna, And Female Authority In Antiquity, Gabriella E. Ramalho

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis analyzes how historical notions of masculinity and femininity shaped perceptions of power between the Egyptian female pharaoh Hatshepsut and Roman empress Julia Domna. Both rulers carefully created visual narratives of masculinity and femininity to leverage respect from their citizens, in accordance with what was contextually appropriate for their respective societies.

It will be shown that there are blatant disconnects between how others perceived them and how they wished to be portrayed. Hatshepsut, a rare female pharaoh, depicted herself in the regalia of a male king with a false ceremonial beard, scepters and crowns. Domna was described as the …

Animal Imagery In Eastern Han Tomb Reliefs From Shanbei 陝北, Leslie V. Wallace

Visual Arts

Wild and fantastical animals climb, fly, scamper, and prance across pictorial stone carvings decorating Eastern Han tomb doors in northern Shaanxi. Alongside dragons and other mythical animals, bears felicitously dance, tigers grin opening their mouths to roar, and other wild animals frolic in swirling cloudscapes. While the same animals can be found in Eastern Han tomb reliefs and mortuary art in other regions, their frequency, emphasis on plasticity and movement, and combination with the yunqi 雲氣 motif are unique to the region. Originating in a hybrid style of art that was created during the Mid-Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE–9 CE), …

Desire In The Iliad: The Force That Moves The Epic And Its Audience, Rachel H. Lesser

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

This book is the first study to examine desire in the Iliad in a comprehensive way and to explain its relationship to the epic’s narrative structure and audience reception. It offers a new reading of the poem that shows how the characters’ desires, especially those of the mortal hero Achilleus and the divine king Zeus, motivate plot and keep the audience engaged with the epic until and even beyond its end. The author argues that the characters’ desires are primarily organized in narrative triangles that feature two parties in conflict over a third. A variety of desires animate these triangles, …

Lies, Deceits, Manipulations, And Other Forms Of Aesthetic Expression In Horace, Satires 2.5, Andrew Horne

History & Classics Faculty Publications

Finagling an inheritance is one time-tested way of resolving a money shortage: just flatter your way into the good graces of the aged and rich. In Satires 2.5 Horace parodies the Roman version of this vice, known as captatio or ‘legacy- hunting’; with baroque imagination, he presents Odysseus, the mythological hero, consulting the prophet Tiresias in the Underworld and learning how to increase his fortune by amassing inheritances. Odysseus asks: tu protinus, unde | diuitias aerisque ruam, dic, augur, aceruos (‘tell me forthwith, prophet, where I can dig up riches and heaps of money’, 21f.). Tiresias responds: captes astutus ubique …

Plotinus And The Transcendental Aesthetic Of Kant, John Shannon Hendrix

Architecture, Art, and Historic Preservation Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Born From Myth, Built Anew: Seneca’S Medea As A Stoic Cautionary Tale, Rebekah Dyche

Lewis Honors College Thesis Collection

In Seneca’s Medea, there are two distinct “Medeas” to be examined – Medea the character, who has been built up out of mythical and literary tradition, and Medea as a human individual. By dividing her in this way Seneca opens the door to reimagine an already extant figure through a Stoic lens. He exaggerates the negative portrayal of Medea in her traditional role to draw in the audience and to emphasize the disastrous outcome of the individual Medea’s failure to moderate her human passions – in so doing, he first engages the audience with a familiar character and then challenges …

Gush Halav A-9490/2023, Anya Kleiner

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In April 2023, a trial excavation was conducted at Gush Halav (Permit No. A-9490/2023; Map ref. 241702/770293, 241574/770025), prior to the laying of a sewage line. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by the Peleg-Hagalil corporation, was directed by A. Kleiner, with the assistance of Y. Yaakobi (administration) and Y. Tzur (district inspector, scientific consultation). The excavation was conducted inside an olive grove, at the bottom of the northwestern slope of the Gush Halav hill. A surface of the natural rock slightly sloped westward was exposed, on top of which was a thick layer of …

Jerusalem, Beit Hanina A-9484/2022, Ofer Sion

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In January 2023, a salvage excavation was conducted in the Beit Hanina neighborhood in Jerusalem (Permit No. A-9484/2022; Map ref. 22150/63735). The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by M. Tawil was directed by O. Sion, with the assistance of E. Marko (photogrammetry), Y. Shalev (scientific counseling), N. Nehama (administration) and A. Rose (drafting).

Tel ‘Agol A-9544/2023, Barak Tzin

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In March 2023, a trial excavation was conducted on Tel ‘Agol (Permit No. A-9544/2023; Map ref. 235091/726359), after the site had been damaged. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by the Ministry of Defense, was directed by B. Tzin (field photography), with the assistance of R. Be'eri (scientific guidance), Y. Zilpa (administration), A. Shapiro (location map), M. Asakla, A. Ibrahim and B. Hanna (Lower Galilee and Valleys district), Tz. Lang and laborers from Kafr Manda.

Netiv Hagdud 16-03-2023, Oz Varoner

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In March 2023, a trial excavation was conducted in the southern margins of the Netiv Hagdud settlement (Permit No. 16-03-2023; map ref. 242546-914/654183-876). The excavation was carried out following plowing of the land prior to planting. The excavation, on behalf of the Archaeological Staff Officer of Judea and Samaria and funded by the Israeli Civil Administration, was directed by O. Varoner with the assistance of A. Miller (administration), T. Orenstein (photography) and O. Bejarano (preparation of illustrations). No finds were discovered that could be linked to one of the nearby prehistoric sites.

Nahal Zena‘ A-9718/2023, Dror Halpern

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In December 2023, a salvage excavation was conducted at Nahal Zena‘, west of Nafha Prison (Permit No. A-9718/2023; map ref. 177436–955/515333–6039; Fig. 1), prior to the construction of a water reservoir. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by the Dead Sea Drainage Authority, was directed by D. Halpern, with the assistance of A. Montague (surveying and field photography), Y. Alamor (administration), D. Eisenberg-Degen (scientific guidance), G. Seriy, I. Radashkovsky, N. Lect Ben-Ami, Y. Samuel Cohen (Southern Negev District), I. Azoulay (plans), and workers from Ar‘ara. The excavation exposed four installations, a possible grave, and …

Interpretation And Ovidian Myth In Alexander’S Bridge And O Pioneers!, Paul A. Olson

Department of English: Faculty Publications

This essay describes interpretive strategies widely applied to Ovidian mythic materials during the period of Cather’s early career, especially those operative in Alexander’s Bridge and O Pioneers! The article assumes that widely held conventional interpretations of myths, in this case Ovidian myths, in a specific time and area are part of their semantic content, or iconology, and are tools Cather used in communicating with her audience. The essay then looks at a passage in the 1912 Alexander’s Bridge and two disputed passages in the 1913 O Pioneers! along with extended Bacchic themes in the latter novel that employ conventional Ovidian …

Jerusalem, 30 Bibas Street, A-9631/2023, Uriel J. Prince

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In July of 2023, a salvage excavation was conducted at 30 Bibas Street, in the Nachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem (Permit A-9631/2023; map ref. 219810-22/632437-48; Fig. 1). The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by Breidman, Agmon architect, was directed by V.W. Avrutis and published by U.J. Prince, assisted by N. Sapir and Tz. Kanias (Jerusalem district), Y. Shalev (scientific guidance), S. Halevi (field photography and photogrammetry), N. Nechama (logistics), A. Zakaim (plans) and E. Rabinovich (sight inspection).

Economies Of Scale: Late-Antique Bakeries Outside Large Urban Centers, Jared Benton

Art Faculty Publications

[First paragraph] The study of Roman bakeries sometimes has a tendency to treat them as somewhat different from other crafts and trades in terms of the scale of their production. Helmuth Schneider, for example, posits that Roman workshops "were not elaborately fitted out and it was quite cheap to set up a workshop; a craftsman usually needed only a few tools for his craft and often practiced it in a shop connected with his living quarters. There were some crafts, however, which were dependent on bigger production sites with more expensive equipment: bakeries had their ovens and mills... Bakers and …

Ramat Beth Shemesh A-9505/2023, Rifka Ben Chelouche

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In January 2023, a trial excavation was undertaken prior to the planned expansion of the Neve Shamir neighborhood in Bet Shemesh. The excavation, conducted on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and financed by the Dissi Group, was directed by R. Ben Chelouche, with the assistance of N. Nehama (administration), E. Marco (photogrammetry), O. Rose (location map and plan), Y. Shalev (scientific consultant), and A. Eirikh-Rose, Z. Kanias, and S. Gendler (Judah District).

Bet She’An A-9586/2023, Gur Peled

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In July 2023, a trial excavation was conducted in south of Bet She'an (Permit No. A-9586/2023; Map ref. 246330-545/710040-256). The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was directed by G. Peled, with the assistance of G. Leyfirer (trial trenches), R. Be'eri and W. Atrash (scientific counseling), Y. Yaakobi and Y. Zilpa (administration), A. Shapiro (GIS), B. Tzin (GPS), B. Hanna (district archaeologist), A. Ibrahim (regional archaeologists), and with the participation of laborers from Jenin.

Nahal Zanoah, Ramat Bet Shemesh A-9630/2023, Eliana Wexler

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In July 2023, a trial excavation was conducted on plot No. 400 in The Mishkafayim Neighborhood in Ramat Bet Shemesh (Permit No. A-9630/2023; Map ref. 200475-490/624890-935). The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by the 'Shibolet Ltd.' company, was directed by E. Wexler, with the assistance of N. Nehama (administration), Z. Matskevich (trial trenches), S. Halevi (photography), E. Marko (surveying), O. Zakaim (drafting), S. Gendler (district archaeologists), Y. Shalev (archaeological consultation), T. Winter (glass) and with the participation of laborers.

Netivot, Ramot Yoram A-9675/2023, Nir-Shimshon Paran

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In December 2023, a trial excavation was conducted in an area designated for the construction of a new neighborhood, Ramot Yoram, in the western part of Netivot (Permit No. A-9675/2023; Map ref. 158944-9480/593058-529). The excavation was carried out following the discovery of finds in two spots during an archaeological inspection. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by the Netivot municipality, was directed by N.S. Paran, with the assistance of Y. Alamor (administration), A. Montagu (surveying), I. Azulay (mapping and plans), V. Lifshits, Sh. Tal and A. Reisyuk, S. Shaked, S. Guntar and S. Brailovsky and …

Jerusalem, Hebron Raod A-9695/2023, Itamar Berko

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In November 2023, a salvage excavation was conducted on Hebron Road in Jerusalem, near the Shmuel Wall Junction (Permit No. A-9695/2023; Map ref. 220105-63/627163-237), after an architectural element suspected as a wall was exposed when trial trenches were dug on the eastern side of the road. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was directed by I. Berko, with the assistance of S. Halevi (surveying), T. Kanias (IAA Jerusalem District) and N. Nehama (administration).

Qiryat YeʽArim A-9646/2023, Dror Tzitron

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In August 2023, a trial excavation was conducted in Qiryat Yeʽarim (Permit No. A-9646/2023; Map ref. 209883/634684), in an area designated for the construction of a school and kindergartens. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by Qiryat Yeʽarim Local Council, was directed by D. Tzitron (photography and field preparation), with the assistance of Y. Shalev (scientific consultation), N. Nehama (administration), A. Melman and V. Sterman (preliminary inspections), S. Halevi (surveying, photography, and photogrammetry), O. Zakaim (location map and drafting), S. Gendler and T. Edeltin.

De Médée À La Sorcière : Reconstruction D’Un Mythe Par Michelet, Caroline Strobbe

The Coastal Review

In La Sorcière, Jules Michelet uses the strength and the myth of the Medea character, which had already fascinated Corneille. In the second part of his work, Michelet creates nominative witches after authentic texts. In the first part, he creates an allegoric witch on the Medea model: the Woman, a victim of arbitrariness, injustice and repression, rises up against her oppressors, figuring the march of Humanity towards Enlightenment and Liberty. The analogies between the Witch and Medea are therefore numerous and necessary, since they help to render the defense of the oppressed against the oppressor. Would the somber Medea, …

Jurists And Orators: Rhetorical And Legal Perspectives On The Roman Family, Thu Ta

Bryn Mawr College Dissertations and Theses

Roman legal advocacy and legal expertise have long been viewed as two different fields of occupation with different intellectual aims and have therefore been assumed to have had little interaction with one another. More recent scholarship, however, has questioned this dichotomy between orators and jurists. In my dissertation, I build on this work to explore the precise nature of the relationship between Roman rhetoric and Roman legal thought during the classical period of Roman law. I will study oratory, in particular Quintilian’s Minor Declamations, side by side with Roman legal texts in order to ascertain connections between rhetorical training …

The Platonic Sophists Against The Sophist: Complicating The Socratic Divide, Audrey Wallace

Bryn Mawr College Dissertations and Theses

If one were to look for a Platonic definition of a sophist, it would seem that there could be no better place than Plato’s Sophist, in which the Stranger and Theaetetus lay out a series of definitions in an attempt to articulate what makes a sophist. The Stranger’s definition of a sophist as a persuasive teacher of ἀρετή for pay, combined with the clear bias of Plato against these competitors of Socrates, has often led scholars to read these characteristics as the target of Plato’s critique and as markers of Socrates’ superiority.

However, by looking at Plato’s characterization of …

Tragedy And Martyrdom: Greek Drama And The Passion Of Ss. Perpetua And Felicitas, Miranda J. Acuna

Scripps Senior Theses

A religion of the late ancient Mediterranean, Christianity evolved at the cross-sections of the Hellenic and Hebrew legacies as it gradually gained followers across the Roman Empire. Between attracting converts and resisting prosecution from imperial authorities, the Jesus movement was compelled to juggle the pagan world with its monotheistic convictions. This paper contributes to the growing scholarship that identifies how Christianity competed with the Greco-Roman world and its enduring pagan culture. Namely, it identifies characteristic similarities between early Christian martyrdom narratives and Classical Greek tragedy. Examining one of the oldest Christian martyrdom hagiographies, the Passion of Ss. Perpetua and Felicitas …

A Wrath That Remembers: A Feminist Companion To Aeschylus' Agamemnon, Mary Iris Allison

Scripps Senior Theses

This project is a feminist translation and companion to Aeschylus' Agamemnon, which includes detailed footnotes and references to secondary authors that provide a feminist reading of the text.

Plato's Critique Of Scientific Management In Charmides, Kenneth Knies

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

I discover resources in Plato’s Charmides for a critique of management as a form of knowledge. After interpreting in a practical register Critias’ idea of a science that would comprehend all sciences without understanding any of their objects (166c – 175a), I argue that the paradoxes with which Socrates confronts this idea can be overcome. With reference to F.W. Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management, I show how this overcoming depends upon transforming productive activity so that it no longer requires the knowledge of products that characterizes techne. As Socrates foresaw, a science that has all ways of working as …

Nahal Talia, ‘Ar‘Ara In The Negev A-9589/2023, Ilan Peretz

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In May 2023, a trial excavation was conducted in Nahal Talia (Permit No. A-9589/2023; Map ref. 202351-601/561296-546), prior to the construction of a new residential neighborhood in ‘Ar‘ara in the Negev. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by The Authority for the Development and Settlement of the Bedouin in the Negev, was directed by I. Peretz, with the assistance of Y. Alamor (administration), A. Montagu (surveying, photography, and drafting), A. Tamir (district archaeologist and acting excavation director), S. Talis and D. Eisenberg-Degen (counseling), Y. Abadi-Reiss (flint), I. Azulay (plans) and laborers from the Palestinian Authority.

Artistic Representation And Self Esteem, Brianna Davis

Honors College Theses

Dependent upon the constructs of the perception of self and the viewpoint of others, humans base the value of their self esteem on outer perspectives rather than internal ones. For this thesis in particular, the outer perspective to be examined is representation in the field of the arts. This thesis project explores the process of self esteem, artistic representation in the arts, how one affects the other, a history of the correlation between the two, and ways to inform and educate the masses with the tools necessary to advance representation in the arts thus raising the self esteem of its …