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

Designing Digital Antiquity: Classical Archaeology In New Virtual Applications, William Loder

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I argue that the combination of existing archaeological theory with game design theory offers an innovative avenue for creating serious 3D applications of archaeological sites in virtual reality that can be productively used for pedagogical, research, and outreach solutions. In this thesis, I engage with the archaeological theories of phenomenology and sensory studies, briefly touching on structure and agency as well as discussion of some current digital applications in use in the field. For this project, I am interested in game design theory as it relates to education and I view Virtual Reality as an important tool …

Elite Women As Tools Of Power In First-Century C.E. Rome, Catherine Manolian

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

For the patrician class, marriage was a form of power intended to uphold Roman patriarchy by providing opportunity for social, political, and economic advancement. However, history has shown that the power of marriage also extended to the women involved in these couplings as well. Through marriage, elite Roman women had the power to perpetuate or decimate Rome’s social order. Thus, gender norms were created and enforced in order to maintain patriarchy. Women who did not live up to the social expectations set by these norms were met with opposition. By examining Roman poetry and literature, Roman politics, and profiling the …

2. Excavation Of The Northeast Insulae, Mark Schuler

The Final Report

Presented in this volume are revised copies of the annual reports submitted for each of the excavation seasons (2002-2016, 2019). Revisions provide consistent terminology and presentation of graphic materials. These reports serve as the basis for the summaries and synthesis in the report, Northeast Insulae Project: Context and Analysis.

1. Northeast Insulae Project: Context And Analysis, Mark Schuler

The Final Report

This book places the excavation of the northeast insulae at Hippos of the Decapolis, into its historical context, summarizes the archaeological findings, and posits that the site was an urban monastery centered around a healing cult that grew from the veneration of a revered woman and became a monastic infirmary also employing herbals to relieve the suffering in the larger community.

The Origin Of The Roman Office Of Consul, Katie G. Samalis-Aldrich

Agora

Lucius Junius Brutus is the token founder of the roman office of consul. The establishment of the office of consul firmly instills that the republic is ruled for the good of the people rather than factious interests. This paper discusses how the establishment of the office arose, the history and political significance leading up to its establishment, and the results from it. This paper will focus on the virtues of the office of consul, political benefits of division of power in the executive, while focusing specifically on the first consul Brutus, and the role he plays in strengthening the republic.

The Tale Of Two Countrysides: The Shaping Of Landscapes In Hispania And Spanish Latin America, Andrew R. Abrams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The way that culture expands and transforms in a colonial context has often been viewed in a top-down approach. This thesis focuses on the spread of culture in the Roman conquest of Spain and the Spanish conquest of Latin America. By framing the argument with a discussion on Romanization, this paper shows the presence of the ideas surrounding Romanization in a new context. By investigating what material culture shows, this thesis looks to the countryside to find examples of cultural change. It argues that the villa landscape should be seen as the indicator of the Romanization of Hispania. The structure …

Empire, Autochthony, And Identity In Fifth-Century Athens

Symposium of Student Scholars

The fifth-century BCE is a period of Athenian history that is bookended by conflict. It began with the Persian Wars, which established Athens as a major power and gave them claim to their empire. The period ended with the Peloponnesian War, which resulted in the defeat of Athens and the end of their imperial reign. The fifth-century was a period of unprecedented cultural, political, and ideological development, and is one of the most important periods in all of Greek history. Despite the various developments that occurred in the fifth-century, most of the scholarship on fifth-century Athens is concerned with the …

Blessed Are The Poor (In Spirit): Wealth And Poverty In The Writings Of The Greek Christian Fathers Of The Second Century, Jacob D. Hayden

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This paper examines how Greek Christian authors engaged with the topics of poverty and wealth during the second and third centuries CE - a period of major transition for the Christian Church. Beginning with the latest documents in the Greek New Testament (c. 90 - 120), this study traces these themes through the works of the Apostolic Fathers, including Clement of Rome (c. 35 - 99), Ignatius of Antioch (c. 34 - 108), and Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 69 - 155). It then addresses to the apologetic authors Justin Martyr (c. 100 - 165) and Irenaeus (c. 130 - 202). …

Don't Get Me Started About The Water: Foodways And Power In Juvenal's Satire V, Alex Reese

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Don’t Get Me Started About the Water analyzes the food in the dinner of Juvenal’s fifth satire from the perspective of Roman foodways in the first and second centuries. This analysis provides a surprising conclusion: although the guest and host are served dishes differing vastly in quality, neither man gets a nutritious meal. This follows with arguments elsewhere in the Satires, namely that Rome itself kills its occupants and the best course of action is to abandon the city for the countryside.

Rome's Missing Legion, David Rocha

Classics Summer Fellows

For this research project, I will be writing a history on the Ancient Western Roman Ninth Hispana Legion. For my question, I will be asking "How was the Ninth Hispana Legion written about over the course of the centuries when it was active?" I will be analyzing primary documents, as well as archaeological discoveries, in order to see both where the legion was sent over the course of its existence as well as how the legion was viewed during the Imperial Western Roman era, as well as secondary sources in order to get more historical background on the legion. There …

The Minatory Minotaur: Demythologizing Myth In “The House Of Asterion”, Evan Chiovari

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Recent critics of Jorge Luis Borges’s “The House of Asterion” (1947) have traced the author’s revisions in the original manuscript, charting his changing arrangement of information through the text. This essay investigates the information itself through structuralist and historicist theory. A structuralist reading analyzes Asterion’s worldview and shows how various narrators dock the integrity of his voice. Historicism probes aspects of religion, biology, and architecture to limn the true complexity of Asterion’s ties with society. Together, these theories reveal a trove of intricate intrigue and doubt. In this study I examine how Asterion, a reinvention of the Minotaur, is painstakingly …

Ware And Tear In Ancient Tampa Bay: Ceramic Elemental Analyses From Pinellas County Sites, Mckenna Loren Douglass

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research tested a null hypothesis on whether ceramics from a variety of archaeological sites around the Pinellas County peninsula were sourced locally for their materials. The sites in this study include Weeden Island (8PI1-5-6-A/B/C/D), Bayshore Homes (8PI41), Yat Kitischee (8PI1753), and Maximo Point (8PI19). Since there were multiple sites that I assessed in the Tampa Bay, Florida area, I focused on one cultural period, Safety Harbor (AD 900-1500), and the ceramics created during it at the various locations. My research questions included: Were materials locally sourced for ceramic production at each of these sites? If not, what is the …

Romans, Religion, And The Aid Of The Gods: An Exploration Of The Pontifex Maximus In Roman Society, Gregory Meade

University Honors Theses

Ancient Roman history is heavily defined by an evolving relationship with Romans and their gods. Between the Monarchy (753 BCE – 509 BCE) and Republic (509 BCE – 27 BCE), religion developed into an interconnecting web of institutions that performed rituals to ensure appeasement of the gods in various Roman affairs. Fostering a productive relationship with the gods equated to what the Romans called maintaining pax deorum or peace with the gods. This thesis explores the moments in which the influence of religion played a key role in the developing periods of the Monarchy and Republic leading up to the …

Roman Law And Magic, Abigail Preston

University Honors Theses

Ancient Roman court cases, like that of Apuleius and Libanius, indicate that "magic" was an offense punishable by law, and literary sources such as Pliny the Elder and Horace substantiate this with references to illicit magical rites. Curse tablets, particularly those of Roman Britain, show another side of magic in the Roman world wherein the use of curse tablets has restrictions and guidelines, and the use of such curses have been institutionalized into some communities as an observant practice. Many Roman religious rites appear similar to modern, Euro-centric depictions of 'magic;' which provokes the central question when prosecuting cases of …

Language As The Medium: A Literature Review. Harnessing The Prolific Power Of Dramatic Language As A Therapeutic Tool In Drama Therapy, Edward Freeman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Language in and of the theatre, with its palate of variegated writing styles and playwrights from throughout time, has the potential to be harnessed, focused, and systematized for use as a therapeutic tool within drama therapy – the field’s artistic medium. Drama therapy could benefit from having a specific medium germane to its artform which has the potential to provide practitioners with a common resource and means of communication, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning, as well as align the field with other creative arts therapies. Language encompasses all forms of human communication – speaking, writing, signing, gesturing, expressing facially – …

Crucifixion In The Ancient World: A Historical Analysis, Gary Habermas, Benjamin C. F. Shaw

Liberty Theological Review

Cook, John Granger. Crucifixion in the Mediterranean World. 2nd ed. Vol. 327. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019. Pp 549 pp. 79,00 €.

The Veracity Of The Empty Tomb Tradition, Kevin Kroitor

Liberty Theological Review

While several historical facts surrounding Jesus’ bodily resurrection find agreement among virtually all critical scholars, the fact of the empty tomb finds far less critical agreement. Despite this attempt to “leave the door open” for naturalistic explanations of the early Christian resurrection claim, the overwhelming evidence renders the empty tomb tradition historically reliable and Jesus’ bodily resurrection, the most plausible explanation of the historical facts. This paper will examine the evidence for the empty tomb, including the early eyewitness nature of the core tradition and the necessity of the empty tomb to explain the more widely accepted facts surrounding Jesus’ …

Criminal Law And Parricide In A Reflection Of Social Parameters From The Roman Monarchy Into The Early Empire, Sierra Epke

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This paper seeks to determine the role of Roman criminal law and its connection to the social responses and punishments relating to parricide. The research for this project was conducted through print materials pertaining to the subject and online resources including databases accessed through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Library system. As Roman society progressed, criminal law grew in range and scope providing different categories of homicide. One such category created was the crime of parricide in which a family member is killed by another member. Because of the power the heads of households, generally the father, possessed in Roman society, …

Military Religions In Roman Dacia: Patterns Of Epigraphic Dedications In Urban Centers, Jamie Bone

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Roman Dacia, as a frontier province of the Roman Empire, contained a substantial military population throughout its occupation. While this allowed the military to begin as the dominant agent in religious dedications, economic advancement and population growth allowed for a shift to a civilian-oriented dedicant base in major urban centers. This project looks to the epigraphic and archaeological record to examine the demographic information concerning the dedicants to four “military” deities: Mithras, Sol Invictus, IOM Dolichenus, and Mars. Doing so allows for an exploration into the dedicatory participation of the military and civilian populations, particularly in the case of gods …

Divine Or Demonic? A Social Approach To Epilepsy From Greco-Roman Antiquity To The Early Middle Ages, James Nicholas Sumrall

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to evaluate how epilepsy was defined, perceived and understood in ancient Greece and Rome, as well as how these ideas were adapted and changed during the early centuries of Christianity. To this end, the thesis is divided into six parts. The Introduction briefly explains epilepsy and discusses how the social approach method can be applied to the disease. Chapter I introduces the Hippocratic understanding of epilepsy and outlines the Greco-Roman religious concepts of pollution and purification, which frequently informed ancient perceptions of epilepsy. The first chapter also analyzes the general relationship between disability, disease and divine selection …

Fine Roman Dining At Affordable Pompeian Prices: A New Evaluation Of The Non-Domestic Gardens Of Pompeii, Claire Campbell

World Languages, Literatures and Cultures Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previous scholarship has designated Roman gardens into otium or negotium designations; however, this research on Roman gardens suggests that these concepts often exist in the spaces simultaneously. To address this issue, I compiled catalogs of garden spaces identified at Regio I and Regio VI of Pompeii. This methodology cuts across traditional public and private or productive and aesthetic designations, which will allow me to draw connections between the gardens found in different types of settings. This new catalog methodology of Roman gardens presented in this thesis allows for an integrative analysis of garden spaces, which reveals that these commercial gardens …

Empire On Trial: The Rise And Fall Of Republican Resistance In Early Augustan Rome, Spencer Yacos

Honors Theses

The ancient historian Cassius Dio recounts that in the year 23 BC, an unprecedented trial occurred within the ancient Roman State. On the defendant’s stand was Marcus Primus, facing the charge of treason against Rome. Primus, during a previous tenure as governor of Macedonia, waged a war on Odryssian Thrace without the order of the Senate. Primus’s defense counsel, Licinius Varro Murena, gives a shocking argument: Augustus Caesar, the leading political figure of Rome, had ordered the war, despite lacking the constitutional authority to do so. Proceedings transpired in such a way that Augustus himself would personally attend the trial. …

Migrants, Citizens And Subjects: How People Moved And Became Citizens In The Roman World, David Rocha

History Presentations

In this presentation, I explain the basics of my research. I study migrations and citizenship in the Roman world. I explain some of the different migrating groups from throughout the Roman world. I also explain citizenship, and how people became citizens. I also mention a few of the benefits that citizenship brought.

The Use Of Egyptian Blue In Funerary Paintings From Roman Egypt, Margaret Sather

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

This paper explores the use of the synthesized pigment Egyptian blue in the encaustic and tempera funerary portraits of Graeco-Roman ruled Egypt in the 1st-3rd centuries CE. Recent developments in non-destructive imaging analysis technology have aided research institutions and museums in detecting the presence of this pigment. New questions have arisen based on these findings of Egyptian blue in the depiction of flesh and hair of these subjects, particularly because blue is so rarely used as a standalone pigment in works of this category. These analyses have challenged assumptions that Egyptian blue was a rare and valuable pigment during the …

Tolkien And The Classical World (2021), Edited By Hamish Williams, John Houghton

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by John Wm. Houghton, of Tolkien and the Classical World (2021), edited by Hamish Williams

We Are Lysistrata, Amy Rubio, Srinidhi Subramanian

2021 Honors Council of the Illinois Region

Our presentation is focused on the play Lysistrata by Aristophanes in 411 B.C. It focuses on the themes presented in the play and what that reveals about the playwright as well as the period in history. We speak about the supposed role of women in that society, and how that play can be related to today. We further study how this play can be adapted to showcases themes of female empowerment.

Non Ego Laudari Curo: Honor, Shame, And Aristocratic Competition In Tibullus’ Elegy, Federico Di Pasqua

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My dissertation explores the ethics of shame and honor at the end of the Republic to offer new perspectives on Tibullus’ work and Roman elegy. By situating Tibullus’ corpus within his contemporaries’ aristocratic discourse on honor, my research argues that the elegiac narrator is not alien from the heroic self-assertion and pursuit of vengeance, typical of the honor-seeking elites of Roman antiquity. In my reading, Tibullus, while clad in elegiac non-conformity, is deeply committed to his contemporaries’ honor-driven ethos and, therefore, wary of the policing gaze of his fellow Romans. Albius Tibullus was an elegist and a citizen of equestrian …

The Pursuit Of Salvation. Community, Space, And Discipline In Early Medieval Monasticism, Albrecht Diem

History - All Scholarship

This book is published with open access: https://www.brepolsonline.net/action/showBook?doi=10.1484/M.DM-EB.5.120300 A history of the monastic pursuit of eternal salvation in the early medieval West, revolving around a seventh-century monastic rule for nuns, the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines ("Someone’s Rule for Virgins") The seventh-century Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines (Someone’s Rule for Virgins), which was most likely written by Jonas of Bobbio, the hagiographer of the Irish monk Columbanus, forms an ideal point of departure for writing a new history of the emergence of Western monasticism understood as a history of the individual and collective attempt to pursue eternal salvation. The book provides a …

Ostracism And Democracy, Alex Zhang

Faculty Articles

The 2020 Presidential Election featured an unprecedented attempt to undermine our democratic institutions: allegations of voter fraud and litigation about mail-in ballots culminated in a mob storming of the Capitol as Congress certified President Biden’s victory. Former President Trump now faces social-media bans and potential disqualification from future federal office, but his allies have criticized those efforts as the witch-hunt of a cancel culture that is symptomatic of the unique ills of contemporary liberal politics.

This Article defends recent efforts to remove Trump from the public eye, with reference to an ancient Greek electoral mechanism: ostracism. In the world’s first …

Caratacus, The Remembered Warrior: The Legacies Of Caratcaus In Roman Histories And The British Victorian Era, Isabella Kearney

Pomona Senior Theses

This study will explore the origins of the historical figure of Caratacus and analyze its reception in Victorian and Edwardian Britain. This work will begin by providing an overview of Caratacus’ context in the first century in Britannia. Then, looking at the reception of Caratacus, the study will chronologically analyze the portrayal of Caratacus in the ancient sources of Tacitus and Cassius Dio. As the first textual evidence of Caratacus, this will provide insights into Caratacus’ history and the origins of Caratacus’ transformation into an icon of Roman and British history. This work will then analyze the receptions of Caratacus …