History Commons^™

Beyond Romanization: An Indigenous Study Of Cultural Change In Classical Britain, Brooke Prevedel

Student Research Submissions

The Roman Empire is among the best-known empires in the world, renowned for unifying vastly different peoples and lands. The process of these unifications was, at times, something resembling peaceful, but was at other times much more violent. Regardless of the method of acquisition, peoples brought into the Roman Empire always experienced some degree of cultural change. The modern study of this cultural change has most often been examined through the lens of Romanization, a mostly one-way transfer of Roman cultural practices onto the conquered territory and culture. Romanization, however, presents too narrow and too historically imperialist an approach to …

"The Greatest In Human Memory": Reevaluating The Lydia Earthquake Of 17 A.D., Maxwell John Shiller

Undergraduate Honors Papers

When Rome formally established the province of Asia in 129 B.C., solidifying its recognition as the new political authority was a complex issue. Three Roman civil wars raged, republicanism was destroyed, and Emperor Augustus ushered in the newly-minted Roman Empire. Choosing the right side during these volatile times was a dangerous affair. Following the firm establishment of the Roman Empire under the victorious Augustus, however, Imperial authority could rightfully promise stability for the provincials of Asia under Roman governance. The gears of political change began to wheel about in Asia as Imperial officials superseded provincial Greek magistrates. From the Roman …

Gems Of Gods And Mortals: The Changing Symbolism Of Pearls Throughout The Roman Empire, Emily Hallman

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Born in the wombs of shells and polished by mother nature herself, pearls were regarded as gifts from the gods. For millennia, the creation of pearls was credited to the tears of heavenly creatures or the formation of sun-touched dewdrops. Countless civilizations, both Western and Non-Western, have their own myths and legends surrounding the pearl, a mark of their mysterious allure. The artform of jewelry, favored by the Roman aristocracy, took advantage of naturally perfected pearls to create stunning pieces with staggering prices. The pearl’s meaning evolved throughout the Roman Empire and into Early Christian Rome, setting up a contradictory …

Roman Archaism In Depictions Of Apollo In The Augustan Period, Alisha Sanders

Honors Projects

At the end of the first century BCE, in order to spread the values and concepts that he wanted to perpetuate in his new political order, Augustus Caesar revived an archaistic art style based on that of the archaic period of ancient Greece. It was in this time that the Roman Empire was being established, and Augustus was taking sole power of the Roman world. This study is focused on works that include depictions of Apollo because one of the first and most studied examples of Augustus’s use of Roman archaism was the decorative program of the Temple of Apollo …

The Vehiculatio In Roman Imperial Regulation: Particular Solutions To A Systematic Problem, Russell S. Gentry

Madison Historical Review

Category: World History

As the Roman Empire pushed its frontiers beyond the Mediterranean world, imperial authorities from Augustus onward faced a serious challenge: information transfer. The government of the early Roman Empire was famously lean in its bureaucracy and relied on small teams of imperial specialists (hated as spies) and military officers selected by governors to carry official documents great distances. These individuals traveled using an ad hoc system designed to take advantage of whatever hospitality existed along the Roman roadways. Messengers commandeered food, buildings, animals, and even guides for most legs of their journey. Official travel passes issued with …

Inherent Instability: Disproving Luttwak's Thesis Of Defense In Depth, Adam Stilgoe

Undergraduate Review

No abstract provided.