Other Classics Commons^™

Democracy Vs. Liberty: The Telos Of Government, Ryan C. Yeazell

Honors Bachelor of Arts

Democracies are known for being relatively stable and ensuring freedom for their citizens. However, those assumptions are called into question by the various failures of modern democracies to both maintain authority and enshrine liberty. Are the institutional checks and balances failing to prevent some of the expected issues with governments based on popular voting? Or is there some other cause of failure outside of the institutional structures themselves?

To examine these questions, I will be comparing a few examples of failed modern democracies with arguably history’s longest lasting democratic government: the Roman Republic. Although separated by over two thousand years …

Piecing Together Roman Life And Art: The Impact Of Societal Changes On Developments In Roman Mosaics, Emily A. Lewis

Honors Bachelor of Arts

Although changes in mosaics in ancient Rome can be attributed to various factors such as available resources, skills of the mosaicists, and room aesthetics with wall paintings, the changes in the relationship amongst social classes is a factor that is rarely examined, but strongly impacted these development in mosaic styles. First, an analysis of various mosaics from the 2^nd century BC-2^nd century AD will be given so that there is an understanding of the changes that occurred. From there, reasons for the adaptations of polychrome into black and white will be assessed; focusing the argument on analysis of …

The Seed Of Principate: Annona And Imperial Politics, Joseph B. Ruter Iii

Honors Bachelor of Arts

From my study of the annona, I propose a new perspective on the transition between the Republic and the Principate. Each of the big three imperial historians account for the Principate in terms of personal politics and preferences of the “great man” Augustus (Div. Aug. 28; Rom. His. 52.1; Ann. 1.2). By contrast, I argue that the Principate represents the long-term political result of growing social inequality in Rome. From an equalitarian society of yodel-men farmers and shepherds in the 2^nd BCE, Rome had evolved into an unequal society by the 2^nd CE, …