Classics Commons^™

Adoration And Art: Ancient Egypt, Greece, And Rome, Fiona Wirth

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

"Adoration and Art" focuses upon religious artifacts from the ancient Mediterranean and explores what these artifacts reveal about the religious practices and sacred spaces of their cultures. This Honors College capstone consisted of an exhibition through the Lisanby Museum utilizing artifacts from the Madison Art Collection. This text is the full exhibition catalog compiled by the student through her research as an intern for the Lisanby Museum.

An Embarrassment Of Riches: Data Integration In Vr Pompeii, Adam Schoelz

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

It is fair to say that Pompeii is the most studied archaeological site in the world. Beyond the extensive remains of the city itself, the timing of its rediscovery and excavation place it in a unique historiographical position. The city has been continuously studied since the 18th century, with historians and archaeologists constantly reevaluating older sources as our knowledge of the ancient world expands. While several studies have approached the city from a data driven perspective, no studies of the city have taken a quantitative holistic approach on the scale of the VR Pompeii project. Hyper-specificity has been the order …

The Centrality Of The Regime For Political Science: Review Of C. Bates Jr., The Centrality Of Politeia For Aristotle’S Politics: Aristotle’S Continuing Significance For Social And Political Science. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 2016. 105 Pages. Isbn 9788323526407. 29.00 Zł (Pb). Bmcr 2018.06.53., C. Sydnor Roy

Humanities Faculty Research

Excerpt: The stated goal of Bates’ book is “to make the case for the centrality of what Aristotle called ‘the politeia’ and contemporary political scientists call ‘the regime’ in any attempt to have a science of politics” (7). To do this, Bates makes an argument for a shift in how we understand the relationship between the idea of the politeia and the idea of the state. Instead of equating the polis with the state, and finding imperfections in that comparison, Bates argues that scholars should compare the politeia to the state. He goes on to argue that the concept of …

Parnassus: Classical Journal (Volume 6, 2018), Steven Merola, Jeffrey Dickinson, Liam O'Toole, Richard Ciołek, Julia Spiegel, Stephen Conde, Emma Powell, Michael Kelley, Andrew J. Wells, Aidan Largey, Michael Raheb, Charlie Schufreider, Zachary Sowerby, Hui Li, Caroline Maclachlan

Parnassus: Classical Journal (v.1-6)

Parnassus is an undergraduate journal published by the College of the Holy Cross in conjunction with the Classics Department. Parnassus' mission is to share the passion of Holy Cross students for the ancient world. All pieces aim to be generally understandable, allowing the field to be more accessible to non-specialists in the community.

Queens Of Failing Nations In Classical Tragedy, Katie L. Toledano

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This thesis will compare the role that queens in failing nations, motivated by revenge, play as tragic heroes in Classical tragedy. Focusing on the classical tragedies of Euripides’ Medea and Hekabe to Seneca’s Medea and Trojan Women, this thesis compares the roles that these queens play as tragic heroes in both the Greek and Roman renditions. As politically significant characters and tragic heroes, Medea and Hecuba both operate as both poison and cure, representing nations and houses that are failing, on the basis of their identity and their actions. I have focused on how Euripides and Seneca offer queens and …

The Socially Deviant (M)Other In Euripides' "Medea" And Two Modern Adaptations, Christina Faye Kramer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For centuries male-dominated societies have developed their own culturally constructed images of the socially acceptable and socially deviant mothers. The thesis explores how the Grecian, Caribbean, and Irish cultures of Euripides’ Medea (431 BC), Steve Carter’s Pecong (1990), and Marina Carr’s By the Bog of Cats (1998) respectively, all based on the Medea myth, commonly define the social deviant (m)other and condemn her for her “otherness.” It also discusses the limitations of each society’s decision to label the Medea-figure as socially deviant. Euripides creates an impossible dichotomy between the culturally constructed concepts of heroism and motherhood, which he locates in …

Lucian's Imagines: A Student Reader, And Pro Imaginibus: A Translation, Jesse Amar

Honors Scholar Theses

This student reader provides a complete Greek text of Lucian's Imagines (Eikones, or Portraits), with linguistic and literary commentary for the intermediate student of Ancient Greek. There follows a new translation of Lucian's Pro Imaginibus, the author's own take on his work.

Famed Communities: Trojan Origins, Nationalism, And The Question Of Europe In Early Modern England, Joseph Bowling

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Throughout medieval Europe, royal families traced their genealogies back to the ancient Trojans. Beginning in the Carolingian court, this practice persisted into the early modern period, when narratives of ancient Troy—from accounts of the war to rewritings of Virgil—saturated literary production. Constituting the translatio imperii tradition, in which civilization “translates” from east to west, these legends of Trojan descent allowed European monarchs to legitimize their authority, or imperium, as derived from the Roman Empire, which Virgil famously celebrated as descending from Trojan Aeneas. This tradition formed what I call feudal cosmopolitanism: an affiliation among nobility premised on shared descent …

The Exceptional Case Of Plancia Magna: (Re)Analyzing The Role Of A Roman Benefactress, Barbara F. Caceres-Cerda

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis analyzes the extravagant renovation of the Hellenistic gate complex funded by Plancia Magna, an elite woman from Perge, a city in the Roman province of Pamphylia. By using Plancia Magna as a case study, I hope to use her patronage of an outstanding architectural program to examine the dynamic roles elite women held under the Roman Empire in the late 1st century to 2nd century CE. Euergetism played a key role in developing cultural standards and civic obligations. Predominantly a male dominated practice, Plancia Magna stands out as one of its active and independent participants by commissioning the …

The Library Of Pantainos: A Unique Ancient Library, Michael W. Handis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Library of Pantainos is not typical of Greco-Roman libraries built around the same time. When comparing the library to two libraries built within 35 years of it, the Library of Celsus (135 CE) in Ephesus and the Library of Hadrian (132 CE), there are major differences in design. The Library of Pantainos proper was surrounded by two stoas, which housed various stores, the revenue from which may have been used in the upkeep of the library and its collection. The library was built on land that had been fallow since the sack of Sulla in 86 BCE. Contrary to …

Affecting Civil War: The Poetics Of Fear In Lucan’S Bellum Civile, Irene R. Morrison-Moncure

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation argues for the importance of fear in the Bellum Civile, Lucan’s Neronian epic narrating the civil war between Caesar and Pompey (49 – 48 BCE). Previous scholars have acknowledged the centrality of fear in Lucan’s poetic program, having related it to the Aristotelian theory of pity and fear (catharsis) and to the use of affective rhetorical devices in historiographic writing. However, there has been no extended analysis on the programmatic role of fear in Lucan’s historical epic. I examine therefore how Lucan represents fear in its multifaceted forms and analyze how the representation of these forms complicates Lucan’s …

Buying Time: Consuming Urban Pasts In Nineteenth-Century Britain, Dory Agazarian

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is about how historical narratives developed in the context of a modern marketplace in nineteenth-century Britain. In particular, it explores British historicism through urban space with a focus on Rome and London. Both cities were invested with complex political, religious and cultural meanings central to the British imagination. These were favorite tourist destinations and the subjects of popular and professional history writing. Both cities operated as palimpsests, offering a variety of histories to be “tried on” across the span of time. In Rome, British consumers struggled when traditional histories were problematized by emerging scholarship and archaeology. In London, …

The Pen Must Calm The Sword: A Call To Promote South Sudanese History For Peace, John Robert Flores Jr.

Senior Honors Theses

The Republic of South Sudan is the world’s youngest nation and its birth has been marred by horrific acts of tribal and ethnic strife that have been characterized by brutal attacks on women and children by both rebels and government forces and the destruction of its ability to feed and provide basic services for its citizens. South Sudan’s first few years of statehood have been heartbreaking especially when considered against the promise that existed only a few years ago. Working towards a peaceful and successful future will inevitably be founded, in part, on understanding the history of the diverse peoples …

Four Facets Of Diminishment In Cicero's Pro Caelio: Dilemma, Irony, Understatement, And Comedy, Donald Matthew Pasko

Graduate Theses and Capstone Projects (excluding DNP)

No abstract provided.

Satyrs, Syphilis, And Sailors: The Influence Of Gaius Petronius’ Satyricon Liber On Samuel Taylor Coleridge’S “The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner”, Spencer Fugate

English Honors Projects

For generations, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” has befuddled readers. This project argues that many of its apparent puzzles disappear once we recognize its base text as the Satyricon Liber, Gaius Petronius’ first-century vulgar comedy. Attending to Coleridge’s broader literary corpus alongside images of sexual dysfunction in “The Rime” itself to justify this foundational claim, I then explore how a comic source transforms the reader’s experience of “The Rime” and its criticism. “The Rime” refutes cohesive readings as a horror-poem because it was never intended as pure horror: rather, the poem is Coleridge’s attempt to modernize …

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project: Report Of The 2004 Season, Ünal Akkemik, Hülya Caner, Michael Doyle, Nicholas K. Rauh, Cheryl Ward

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project, 1996-2011

The priorities the season 2004 were to complete the envisioned maritime, geoarchaeological, and architectural surveys that had been organized for this particular grant cycle. Owing to the complexity of the 2004 season's program, the various team components worked within a staggered schedule: the maritime and geoarchaeological surveys went first, followed by the architectural survey. The pedestrian survey basically worked to accommodate the needs of the other teams by working in and around them. Despite these limitations, the pedestrian team managed to conduct several days of 'prospective' survey in the Kaledran Canyon. The results of each of the team's efforts are …

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project: Report Of The 2003 Season, Nicholas K. Rauh

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project, 1996-2011

The Rough Cilicia Survey Team was investigating the role of Rough Cilicia as a production region to the ancient Roman Mediterranean economy. Our investigative methods in the 2003 season included remote sensing of satellite imagery; surface, geomorphological, and maritime survey; charcoal analysis of ceramic production residue for timber identification; and biogeochemical analysis of regional terrestrial vegetation preserved in sediments. The project team identified crucial indicators of economic production activities associated with the renewable resource of timber (particularly cedar) from Cilician mountain forests. To refine this question, the project was examining the basin of the Biçkici River (modern Gazipaşa, Turkey) as …

The Influence Of Spanish Mines On Roman Victory In The Second Punic War, Fisher W. Ng

Young Historians Conference

The idea that one factor can win a war seems preposterous, yet Rome’s acquisition of the Spanish mines turned the tides of the Second Punic War in their favor. While most scholars agree Rome’s conquest of the Spanish mines was a step in defeating Carthage, there is no consensus that the mines directly influenced the war. The accounts of ancient Roman historians Titus Livius and Pliny the Elder, as well as Greek historian Diodorus, attest to the unparalleled amount of precious metals the Spanish mines produced--treasure capable of stimulating Roman economy. Modern scholarship agrees controlling precious metals sources allowed Rome …

Galen: The Philosophical Physician, Chloe Sellers

Young Historians Conference

Analyzing the works of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, this paper reveals the specific influences each of the three had upon Galen’s medical practice, asserting that the influence of philosophy was ultimately responsible for distinguishing Galen from his contemporaries. Drawing from various primary sources, including Plato’s “The Apology,” Timaeus and The Republic, as well as Aristotle’s Physics, and comparing them to Galen’s works, “The Art of Medicine” and “A Method of Medicine to Glaucon,” numerous similarities are revealed between the works of Galen and those of the philosophical trio. By evaluating these many connections among the works, as well as using …

Aristotle's Politics And Slavery In Ancient Athens, Krystyna D. Klucznik

Young Historians Conference

The relationship between Aristotle’s theoretical discussion of slavery in Politics and the reality of slavery in ancient Athens is complex and multifaceted. In tandem with Politics, which was my main primary source, I also drew on multiple pieces of secondary scholarship on both Politics and slavery in Athens to compare the two presentations of slavery. Additionally, I drew on the works of Euripides and Solon. In particular, my paper focuses on the process of manumission, the lack of social mobility afforded to freed slaves, and how slaves were viewed generally. A comparison of these sources reveals that there are significant …

The Pawn Of Rome: The Roman Infantryman, Nanyi R. Yang

Young Historians Conference

Even to this day, the Roman army stands out as one of the most successful military forces in human history. The widespread success of the Roman Empire was in large part due to its armies, who were able to meet challenges with flexible and effective troops. These armies faced all kinds of attacks, from the swift hit-and-run attacks of the Germanic tribes to the crushing cavalry charges of the Parthian Empire. Rome’s military might, however, was unrelenting. This paper focuses on the Roman soldier and how he was trained to be adaptable to the variety of enemies and obstacles he …

To What Extent Does Aristophanes’ Knights Reflect Greek Opinion Of Cleon And The Peloponnesian War?, Samuel M. Hinerfeld

Young Historians Conference

This paper analyzes the similarities between the works of Greek Intellectuals like Thucydides and Plutarch, and Aristophanes’ representation of Cleon and the Peloponnesian War in his early comedy, Knights. Aristophanes satires of the Peloponnesian War were extremely popular among Athenian elite– despite this status, his early comedies failed to dissuade the Athenian Assembly from ushering the downfall of Greek power. While Aristophanes’ Knights was largely ineffective in swaying support for the conflict, it notably provides an accurate representation of the irrational nature of Athen’s demos under Cleon. Through this play, he portrays the Demos as dysfunctional and fickle–supporting policies in …

The Veiled Exploitation Of The Vestal Virgins, Lara Mclain

Young Historians Conference

This paper discusses the political dynamics of the Roman religious systems, specifically the Vestal Virgins. This work seeks to refute the commonly accepted understanding of the Vestal Virgins as an empowering, religious cult and build an understanding of the cult of Vesta as a political tool that was used by the Roman state to maintain power and traditional values. The location of the Temple of Vesta in the Forum, the political epicenter of the Roman Empire, serves as the foundation for this paper’s assertion that the Vestals were an essentially political tool. Livy’s description of Hannibal’s advance towards Rome and …

Introduction, Dieter Gunkel, Olav Hackstein

Classical Studies Faculty Publications

The present volume unites fifteen studies on language and meter. For the most part, the articles began as lectures delivered during the interdisciplinary conference on "Language and Meter in Diachrony and Synchrony," which was hosted in Munich from September 2nd-4th, 2013 by the Department of Historical and Indo-European Linguistics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. The study of language and meter has profited from numerous advances over the last several hundred years. Scholars have produced accurate editions of poetic texts, added linguistic theory to description, utilized quantitative methods to test hypotheses, and provided descriptions and analyses of a relatively broad range of …

Divination And Human Nature [Review], Larry Swain

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Platonic And Confucian Theories On Music-Parallels And Differences, Christian Moreno

Honors Thesis

Music has always been an important part of humanity, and with the advent of the Axial Age, the period between the 8^th and 3^rd centuries BC where new ways of thinking emerged in a wide range of cultures, two of humanity’s greatest thinkers in Plato and Confucius, would apply their thoughts and theories to music. By examining their opinions of music in their written texts, especially Confucius’ Analects and Plato’s Republic, as well as modern scholarship on the subject like the work of philosopher Mark Muesse, one can gain an insight into the general thinking of these …

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project: Research Report On Ottoman Period Seafaring, Forestry And Economy In Alanya And Antalya, Nursel Uçkan

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project, 1996-2011

During July and August 2001 Nursel Uçkan Doonan conducted archival research in Istanbul and Ankara on Ottoman shipping, shipbuilding and agriculture in Antalya, Alanya and Gazipaşa and interviewed local informants about land use and forestry in Gazipaşa. Uçkan Doonan worked primarily with Mühimme Defters (=MD), Maliyeden Müdevver (=MAD), and Cevdet Iktisat and Orman ve Meadin Iradileri Defters in the Başbakanlık Archives in Istanbul.

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project: Report Of The 2002 Season, Nicholas K. Rauh, Luann Wandsnider, Faruk Sancar Ozaner, Michael C. Hoff, Rhys F. Townsend, Matthew Dillon, Mette Korsholm, Hülya Caner

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project, 1996-2011

The Rough Cilicia Archaeological Project conducted archaeological and geoarchaeological research in the Gazipaşa area from July 20 through 1 September 2001. Several goals were met this season. Under the direction of Michael Hoff and Rhys Townsend, detailed plans were completed of monumental structures at the sites of Asar Tepe, Lamos, and Selinus. At Lamos, in particular, the team made a number of finds, including the discovery of an inscribed statue base of large size in a small podium complex on a hill above the so-called "stadium."

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project: Report Of The 2001 Season, Nicholas K. Rauh

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project, 1996-2011

During July and August 2001, the project directors, Nicholas Rauh and LuAnn Wandsnider, conducted the sixth consecutive field season of the Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey. Activities during the seven-week season included systematic pedestrian and architectural surveys in the Hasdere Canyon (Adanda) and geoarchaeological research in Gazipasha.

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project: Analysis Of Amphora Finds Season 2000 Summer, Elizabeth L. Will

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project, 1996-2011

Elizabeth L. Will analyzed the Study Collection of amphora fragments amassed since 1996, as well as 49 bags of additional fragments, seven of them collected during the surveys of the year 2000. She also visited three areas that had been identified as the sites of possible kilns, at Biçkici, Syedra, and Antiocheia ad Cragum. In addition, Elizabeth L. Will also examined and photographed the amphoras on display in the museums at Alanya and Antalya. The amphora fragments collected during the 1996-1999 seasons have been noted in the reports for those years and described by Nicholas Rauh and Kathleen Slane in …