Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons^™

The Underlying Current: Climate Change And The Fall Of Rome, Matthew Thomas Finnie

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

Although historians have debated the various causes of the fall of the Roman Empire for centuries, scholars did not consider the impact of environmental change until the early twentieth century. Initially, environmental historians believed that agricultural decline resultant from soil erosion and deforestation played a dominant role; however, scientific and historical evidence can now be utilized to demonstrate that these two factors were much less prevalent during the third through fifth centuries than they had been during the prosperous Pax Romana. In contrast, recent climatological studies, most notably dendrochronological sequences, have established that a combination of cooling and desertification plagued …

"Future City In The Heroic Past: Rome, Romans, And Roman Landscapes In Aeneid 6–8", Eric Kondratieff

History Faculty Publications

From the Intro: “Arms and the Man I sing…” So Vergil begins his epic tale of Aeneas, who overcomes tremendous obstacles to find and establish a new home for his wandering band of Trojan refugees. Were it metrically possible, Vergil could have begun with “Cities and the Man I sing,” for Aeneas’ quest for a new home involves encounters with cities of all types: ancient and new, great and small, real and unreal. These include Dido’s Carthaginian boomtown (1.419–494), Helenus’ humble neo-Troy (3.349–353) and Latinus’ lofty citadel (7.149–192). Of course, central to his quest is the destiny of Rome, whose …

Identifying An Archetype: The Hipponion Tablet And Regional Variations In The Orphic Gold Lamellae, Shellie A. Smith

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Over the past century and a half, about 40 Orphic gold lamellae have been discovered throughout the Mediterranean. These tablets were buried with initiates of the Orphic Mysteries, and served as indicators of the deceased’s elevated status in both this life and the afterlife. Many of the lamellae contained instructions for the deceased, guiding them to the blessed area of the Underworld that was promised to them by becoming initiates of the Orphic tradition.

Orphism as a cult had no set structure; rather, the practices seemed to have varied from region to region. The cult did not worship in a …

Sagp Newsletter 2014/15.1 East Scs, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Blood Sacrifice: The Connection Between Roman Death Rituals And Christian Martyrdom, Angela Dawne Kennedy

Honors Theses

Scholars from a variety of disciplines have done some incredible work on the subject of martyrdom, but the story is far from complete, particularly in terms of how and why it was so similar to the Roman concept of public deaths. The primary sources include the surviving Christian martyrologies, Greco-Roman philosophical treatises, and Roman, Christian, and Jewish histories. Martyrdom itself was a tool of assimilation that somehow bridged the communities of the empire together. There is a huge body of information in a variety of genres that contribute to this project. But there exists a hole in the combined scholarship …

A Mediterranean Mosaic: The Archaeological Evidence For Ethnic Diversity At Pithekoussai, Rachel Dewan

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

Imperial Electioneering: The Evolution Of The Election In The Holy Roman Empire From The Collapse Of The Carolingians To The Rise Of The Ottonians, Louis T. Gentilucci

Student Publications

The Holy Roman Empire had an electoral process for choosing the Holy Roman Emperor. The heritage of this unique medieval institution can be traced through from Charlemagne empire to the Ottonians. The Empire of Charlemagne had several serious problems that led to its collapse. In the wake of this collapse, the lords of Germany asserted their power and chose leaders for themselves. Between the fall of the Carolingians and the rise of the Ottonians, Germany moved toward an elected kingship with a ducal power base. Only when Otto I became emperor was there a marriage between the German electoral system …

Sagp Ssips 2014 Program, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Responses Of The Roman Imperial Government To Natural Disasters 29 Bce-180 Ce, Michael Timothy Mccoy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the practice of imperial disaster relief between 29 BCE and 180 CE. It focuses upon both the process of disaster aid delineating how Roman emperors were petitioned for assistance, the forms disaster relief took, and the political motives individual emperors had for dispensing disaster aid. Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction to the topic. Chapter 2 outlines the scope of the study as well as the examples used to establish disaster relief in context. Chapter 3 gives an overview of euergetism and also discusses two cases of disaster assistance that pre-date the reign of Augustus. Chapter 4 …

Roman Baths At Antiochia Ad Cragum: A Preliminary Evaluation Of Bath Architecture As Social Signals In The Ancient Mediterranean World, Holly J. Staggs

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

In Rough Cilicia, monumental public architecture was built in the initial phase of the social and political formation of Asia Minor into the Roman Empire during the Imperial Period. As bathing complexes are the most abundant and diverse types of architecture in this region, it would be beneficial to analyze the role of the baths along with their importance in this new Greco-Roman society. This study will focus on two baths at the site of Antiochia ad Cragum, seating this effort in multi-level signaling theory to understand local scale patterning and revised world systems theory to understand regional scale patterning. …

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 …

The Neglected Heavens: Gender And The Cults Of Helios, Selene, And Eos In Bronze Age And Historical Greece, Katherine A. Rea

Classics: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Why is it that the sun and moon held such a small place in cults of the Greeks, and is it that the sun is male and the moon is female in Greek myth? Aristophanes in Peace 406-413 claims that “we sacrifice to you [the Olympians], the barbarians sacrifice to them [the sun and moon]”. But if we look at nearby or related civilizations, the situation is quite different. In Ugaritic, Minoan, and Hittite religion (as well as among other Indo-European speaking people), the sun and other celestial deities have much more prominence. However, while the Greeks acknowledged the divinity …

A Reassessment Of Athenian Tribute, Christine Bannan '14

College Honors Program

The marble stones which serve as the primary evidence of the Athenian Tribute Quota Lists are difficult to work with because they are so fragmentary, and because their contents are multidimensional. A newly conceived digital edition addresses issues inherent in the print medium, which has long served as the basis for scholarship on the lists. This paper is meant as a guide to understanding the Athenian Tribute Quota Lists, the principles I have defined for work on this edition, and a guide to the future study of Athenian imperial tribute.

I have created a diplomatic edition which incorporates original photography …

Heroes To Horrors: Metamorphosis As Combat Trauma In The Mythology Of The West, Thomas Passarelli

Honors Scholar Theses

In an attempt to show how Western mythological depictions of metamorphosis in fighting men often serve as an early discussion on the psychosocial ramifications of warfare on veterans, this research holds early Norse, Celtic, and Anglo-Saxon texts in comparison with contemporary PTSD research and anecdotes from American veterans of the Vietnam War.

Review Of "Vessels And Variety: New Aspects Of Ancient Pottery", Justin St. P. Walsh

Art Faculty Articles and Research

Book Review of Vessels and Variety: New Aspects of Ancient Pottery, edited by Hanne Thomasen, Annette Rathje, and Kristen Bøggild Johannsen

Sagp Newsletter 2013/14.3 Pacific, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Sagp Newsletter 2013/14.2 Central, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Fabrication And Execution: The Lycambids And Their Iambic Aptitude, William Bruckel Fcrh '11

The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal

The Lycambids were a family believed to have personally known the archaic poet Archilochos of Paros. Tradition tells of their collected suicide being motivated by criticisms launched at them in his Iambic verse, and this is sometimes mistaken for historical fact. However, analysis of the conventions of the Iambic genre reveals that it is not sincere invective that Iambus is composed but rather humorous mockery. Inconsistencies in the characterization of the Lycambids in these verses, and the aptitude of those verses for sympotic ritual, are considered in light of this understanding to demonstrate that this tragic family is most likely …

The Freedom Of Thought, In Dream-Life If Nowhere Else: Freud, Foucault, And Euripides, Sharon Sliwinski

Data and Test Instruments

This essay examines the “dead daughter in a box" dream, initially reported in Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), in order to explore two, related ideas: First, the dream is considered an exemplar of the work of symbolization, and in particular, a means for the dreamer to work through the fantasy of infanticide. Second, the dreamer’s disclosure of her dream is treated as an example of parrhesia – a particular speech act that Michel Foucault regarded as central to democracy. The overarching aim is to view dream-life as a quotidian and crucial site for the freedom of thought and speech.

Severan Marble Plan Of Rome Data Files, Justin St. P. Walsh

Art Faculty Data Sets

In its original state, the Severan Marble Plan of Rome, placed on the wall of the Temple of Peace between 203 and 211 CE, showed viewers the locations of buildings throughout Rome, and even the groundplan of each of those buildings. It is today an extraordinary piece of evidence for understanding the city in that time period, despite its ruinous state. It survives in over 1,100 fragments, representing only about 10% of its original surface area. To date, scholars have successfully placed only about 100 of those fragments with respect to the buildings they depict. Using GIS and CAD software, …

Athenian Black Glass Pottery: A View From The West, Justin St. P. Walsh, Carla Antonaccio

Art Faculty Articles and Research

Excavation of archaic Morgantina (c.700–450 BC), Sicily, has brought to light a significant pattern in the distribution of imported Greek pottery. This pattern, which shows a preference for imports with features that referred to metal vessels, is echoed at sites around the western Mediterranean. We argue that the preference for certain types was communicated back to Greek producers, and that it also reflects the particular local interests of non-Greeks, who associated metallic features not only with wealth, but also with their own ancestral traditions.

The Rock-Cut Room On The Acropolis At Golemo Gradište, Konjuh: Date And Purpose, Carolyn S. Snively

Ancient Greek and Roman Studies Faculty Publications

The anonymous city at the site of Golemo Gradište at the village of Konjuh, R. Macedonia, belongs to the period of Late Antiquity; the evidence indicates that it was founded in the 5th century. The lower town on the northern terrace was reconstructed, probably during the second quarter of the 6th century, but the inhabitants abandoned it, for the most part, later in that century and fled for refuge to the acropolis, where a settlement continued to exist into the early 7th century. Earlier material, beginning with the Late Neolithic and continuing sporadically through Bronze Age to Hellenistic, has been …

The Myth Continues In Percy Jackson: A Look Into Mythology And Its Persistence Today, Maia Anne Swanson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Know Yourself And You Will Be Known: The Gospel Of Thomas And Middle Platonism, Seth A. Clark

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The Gospel of Thomas is a collection of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus and is primarily composed of rhetorical statements that were used to preserve the teachings of itinerant Greek philosophers. These collections were used to persuade individuals to join the philosophical schools represented, much like the early followers of the Jesus movement would use his teachings to convince others to join them as well. However, the theological background for the text is still debated because it contains esoteric and enigmatic references not fully understood by most scholars. This work argues that the theological and philosophical background for the Gospel …

Review Of The Imagery Of The Athenian Symposium, Justin St. P. Walsh

Art Faculty Articles and Research

A review of Kathryn Topper's The Imagery of the Athenian Symposium.

The Image Of Antinoös: Sexy Boy Or Elder God?, Ashlee R. Chilton

Theses and Dissertations--Art and Visual Studies

This thesis explores the historiography of the images of Antinoös, drawing the most evidence from the Delphi Antinoös, which shows the youth in the guise of Apollo. Building upon the discourse of Hadrian’s “Greekness” and sexuality in connection to the amount of images of Antinoös he had commissioned, this paper instead argues that the images of Antinoös were created in order to further a public and religious programme by Hadrian. I found support in both Mary Boatwright and Paul Zanker as they proposed those images for a public, civic, and religious audience as opposed to private patrons more inclined to …

“Review Of R. Stroud, Corinth Volume Xviii. 6. The Sanctuary Of Demeter And Kore: The Inscriptions.”, Laura Gawlinski

Classical Studies: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This is a book review of Ronald Stroud's "Corinth Volume XVIII.6. The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore: The Inscriptions."

An Examination Of The Martyrdoms Of Lyon In Ad 177: A Critique Of The Theory Of The Trinqui, Timothy Yonts

Masters Theses

Historical research concerning the Christian persecution of Lyon in AD 177 has attempted to solve the question of relationship between the events in Lyon and the political and religious context of the Roman Empire. One such theory, the trinqui theory, posits that the Gallic aristocracy exploited Christians as sacrificial victims in an ancient Celtic ritual involving the use of criminals in gladiatorial entertainment. If true, the trinqui theory effectively shifts the responsibility for the killings from the imperial government under Marcus Aurelius to the provincial and aristocratic authorities in Gaul. This thesis will critique the trinqui theory by showing that …

A Blast From The Ancient Past: Using Digital Storytelling In ‘Roman Perspectives’, Christopher Bungard

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Christopher Bumgard's contribution to the CAMWS Annual Meeting: Waco, Texas. 2014.

To Script Or Not To Script: Rethinking Pseudolus As Playwright, Christopher Bungard

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Christopher Bungard's contribution to Helios, 41(4).