Roman History

The Augustan elegy formally continued the tradition of the Alexandrian elegy, with its predilection for erotic themes and mythological plots. However, it diametrically changed the proportions: for the Alexandrian poet, a "subjective" frame for the elegy was only a starting point for the extensive narrative describing the love adventures of the heroes of the myths, whereas Roman elegists formed the main theme of their works from the individual love experience in its full scale of emotional and sensual dimensions. The concentration on the subject of poems' inner experiences and the entire domination of poetry by a personal tone makes a basic characteristic of the Roman elegy as represented by Propertius, Tibullus and Ovid. The antinomy between the objective and subjective attitude defines the essence of the artistic breakthrough which occurred at the decline of the Roman Republic, which was caused by the influence of the neoteric poets' aestethics, with Catullus in the forefront. In terms of fairly clear, although not free from some simplifications classification suggested by K. Quinn, 1 we can speak of the appearance of a literary concept referred to as the "Poet as Himself', which stood beside the already known concepts such as: the "Poet as Storyteller" (in historical epic and in drama) and the "Poet as a Teacher" (in didactic epic).

Bantia ad Oppido sono oscure: pare che il reperto dovette essere trafugato non certo per il suo valore storico-documentale, bensí per il prezzo del metallo, finendo, come tale, per arricchire una tomba di qualche abbiente defunto della vicina Oppido. Il ritrovamento componeva tre distinti frammenti piú corposi e qualche altro pezzettino, che solo in segui-degli altri frammenti epigrafici scoperti e conservati piú o meno fortunosamente, dalla Sicilia a Venezia 2 . La cui analisi comparata mi pare obbligato fu attribuito alla Tabula. La sua pubblicazione suscitò l'interesse degli studiosi fin dal primo momento, tanto da spingere il Museo archeologico di Napoli ad acquistarla, pare per 400 scudi. Due dei frammenti furono pubblicati da F. Avellino, nella Dissertatio isagogica (p. 38). Uno di questi due frammenti si trova ancora oggi nel Museo Nazionale di Napoli (provenendo dall'omonimo Museo borbonico, dove era stato conservato, a differenza dell'altro offerto all'Accademia Ercolanense e mai consegnato). Nel 1967 Adamesteanu e Torelli scoprirono e pubblicarono un ulteriore frammento. Da ultimo il Torelli ha posto in relazione con la Tabula un frammento scoperto in tempi piú recenti, da lui pubblicato e commentato: M. TORELLI, Una nuova epigrafe di Bantia e la cronologia dello statuto municipale bantino, in Atheneum, LXVII, 1983, 252-257. 2 Di essi vorrei citare, per una visione di assieme, i piú rilevanti: Le Tabulae Iguvinae, considerate «il monumento principale della lingua e della civiltà degli Umbri» (Cosí G. DEVOTO, Gli antichi italici 4 , Firenze, 1969, 13), vendute il 25 agosto del 1456 ai rappresentanti della città di Gubbio e consistenti in sette tavole di bronzo in caratteri latini ed in caratteri dichiarati "ignoti", delle quali due, custodite, secondo quanto dichiarato nel 1673 dal giureconsulto Antonio Concioli, da 133 anni nell'Arsenale di Venezia e poi mai piú riviste. Probabilmente furono trovate "in un sotterraneo ornato di mosaici, presso il Teatro Romano" (A. CONCIOLI, Status Civitatis Eugubii, 1 a ed., 1673; 2 a ed., 1685, Macerata, cap. 2). Di queste tavole vi furono diverse edizioni; ma solo nel 1723 si ebbe un'edizione completa, ritenuta definitiva, ad opera di Thoma Dempster, che la presentò nel suo De Etruria Regali, scritto a Pisa tra il 1616 ed il 1619, ma pubblicato solo nel 1723. Esse erano in etrusco e latino ed avevano un contenuto religioso. Sono sette tavole bronzee, concernenti complessi cerimoniali di lustrazione ed espiazione della città. Un'iscrizione in lingua osca portata a Messina nel 283 a.C., da mercenari Mamertini reduci da Siracusa, pubblicata solo nel 1604 a Venezia, nella Istoria Siciliana di Giuseppe Buonfiglio e ricostruita, nelle parti mancanti, da copie rinvenute successivamente. L'iscrizione conteneva le parole meddices e mamertino, ma era in greco. Cippo Abellano, che in ben 60 righe conservava nella lingua osca un trattato intervenuto tra le città di Nola e di Abella. Reso noto nel 1750, era stato trovato cinque anni prima dal padre Stefano Remondini, il quale lo aveva riconosciuto in una soglia di una porta dove soffriva "il danno del calpestío degli uomini non solo ma ancor de' carri". Spedito dal Remondini all'abate Passeri a Pesaro fu da questi pubblicato nelle Memorie della Società Colombaria, nel 1752. Ebbe due successive edizioni ad opera dello scopritore Remondini, nel 1757 e nel 1760 (Sul punto v. G. DEVOTO, Gli antichi italici, cit., 15, il quale si basa su T. MOMMSEN, Die Unteritalischen Dialekte, Leipzi, 1850, 121 s.). 15 ulteriori iscrizioni e le scritte di una trentina di monete, le quali sono testimoniate nel Saggio sulla lingua etrusca e su altre antiche d'Italia, pubblicato nel 1789 dall'abate Luigi Lanzi. Tabula Veliterna, lamina di bronzo di solo 4 righe in osco. Da essa traspare un ca-

Sport in ancient Athens was much more than the Olympics

David. M. Pritchard 

It is true that the Olympic Games were also a really big deal in ancient Athens. The Athenians followed how sports stars performed at the Olympics as obsessively as we do. They likewise swelled with national pride when one of their own was proclaimed an Olympic victor. In the fifth and fourth centuries BC, they gave such a victor their topmost public honours. These were free daily banquets and free front-row seats at local games – both for life. 

Yet, sport in ancient Athens was much more than the Olympics. Physical education was a well-established discipline of the education of Athenian boys. Ancient Athens actually had more local games than any other Greek state. 

Every day, there, schoolboys went to the classes of a paidotribes or athletics teacher. Today, physical education during schooltime usually does not focus on competitive sports. Instead, serious training for such sports takes place outside school hours. By contrast, Athenian physical education was all about the sports common to the Olympics and other games.

An athletics teacher, who was often a former Olympic victor (figure 1), owned his own palaistra or wrestling school. There, he taught his classes in wrestling, boxing and the pankration, which was like our kickboxing (figure 2). For the other common competitive sports, a paidotribes took his students out to a gumnasion or sports field. Democratic Athens had three such public sporting facilities just outside the city-walls. These open spaces were ideal for training in the pentathlon as well as the four common footraces (figure 3).

The two other disciplines of male education were music and grammata or letters. Music included lessons in lyre playing and singing poetry. The grammatistes or letter teacher taught basic reading and writing as well as arithmetic.

The Athenian state never subsidised this traditional education. Therefore, it was always difficult for poor families to cover private school fees. Such families often also relied on their boys to keep farms or businesses going. The end result was that poor families could afford to educate their sons only in a single discipline.

The one that they chose was letters because it was of greater practical value for working people. Consequently, rich boys were the only ones in the classes of the paidotribes. In ancient Athens, about 5 percent of male citizens were rich. This meant that it was only a tiny elite that got serious training in competitive sports.

Competition at games in ancient Greece was truly fierce. There were 1000 Greek microstates in the Mediterranean basin. The sports stars in them all made a beeline for the Olympic Games. Even the local games that each Greek state put on attracted international competitors. A good example is the Great Panathenaea in which 50 percent of sportsmen were non-Athenian.

In the face of such fierce competition, an athlete who had not seriously trained would come in dead last. Poor Athenians, who had missed out on such school-based training, understandably decided not to enter games. Therefore, competing in sport was also a preserve of the social elite.

Ninety-five percent of ancient Athenians might have missed out on participation in sport. Nevertheless, they still considered athletics to be unambiguously good. The poor agreed that every boy should ideally go to the classes of an athletics teacher. In their eyes, such sports classes helped to turn boys into just and temperate adults. Poor Athenians felt no less positively about local games, seeing victory at them as commendable. The demos or people even made sure that no one criticised sports stars in public (figure 1). 

In democratic Athens, soldiers who did their duty were seen as the ultimate role models. In battles, they endured ponoi or toils as well as kindunoi or dangers. In accepting the possibility of death, soldiers proved their arete or courage. Another aspect of the high regard in which sportsmen were held is that they were judged to be comparable to such role models. Like soldiers, they, it was thought, also bore toils and dangers, always putting their courage beyond doubt. 

Ancient Athens was, famously, a direct democracy, in which poor citizens set the political agenda. This made it possible for the demos to turn their high regard of sport into pro-sport policies. Consequently, they voted to create the largest program of local games in ancient Greece. Festival-based contests could be athletic, musical or equestrian. In these 15 Athenian festivals, athletics featured much more often than musical or horse-based events. On this program, the demos spent a truly staggering 2.6 tons of silver each year.

The biggest games that the Athenians staged were the Great Panathenaea. This festival honoured Athena, who was their chief goddess, and was staged, like the Olympics, every 4 years. On it, the demos spent an incredible 650 kilograms of silver each time. This explains why the Great Panathenaea had twice as many contests as the Olympics. The Athenians awarded victors and placegetters huge amounts of olive oil in beautifully painted amphoras. Each Panathenaic amphora depicted Athena as a warrior on one side and a sporting event on the other (figure 2). 

The Great Panathenaea had all the common competitive sports for men and horses. But it had too surprising numbers of events for musicians and dancers as well as for soldiers and sailors. A good example of such war-related contests was the race for ten warships (figure 4). Athenian soldiers were also a big part of the Panathenaic procession, which was depicted on the Parthenon frieze.

Most years saw the ancient Athenians also stage at Eleusis local games for Demeter and Persephone. These two goddesses were considered to be most responsible for good harvests. It was thus quite appropriate that athletes there competed for sacks of grain. At Marathon, every four years, there were games for Heracles, who, it was thought, had founded the Olympics.

The Athenian demos actually considered those fellow citizens who had died in war to be demi-gods (figure 5). Contests were a standard act of worship for demi-gods and gods alike. Each year, Athens thus staged local games for the war dead, for which the prizes were bronze pots.

Today, the torch relay is a cherished ritual of our Olympics. But there was never any such relay at the ancient Games. The closest ancient parallel is a contest that took place at 4 Athenian festivals: the relay race for runners carrying a torch.

It is truly remarkable that poor Athenians were so pro-sport in spite of never being sportsmen. A big reason was that local games brought them much terpsis or delight. As a games spectator, an Athenian got a holiday, watched gripping races or bouts, and enjoyed a free picnic. For the sake of such picnics, the demos constantly voted to expand sacrifices at local games. By the 320s BC, the state was sacrificing 1300 cows each year.

However, the biggest reason for this pro-sport stance was the close association of sport and war. The ancient Athenians waged almost nonstop wars. In their eyes, war was unambiguously good and always brought huge benefits. Sport being closely associated with war could thus only increase the regard that the demos had for it. Nonelite Athenians believed that sportsmen bore toils as much as they did when fighting wars. This meant that they also had a strong personal affinity for what sportsmen did.

David M. Pritchard is an ancient historian at the University of Queensland in Australia and the author of Sport, Democracy and War in Classical Athens (Cambridge University Press). These are excerpts from a public lecture that he will be delivering at the Brisbane Greek Festival on 17 May 2025.

Figure captions:

Figure 1: This is the thanks offering that an Olympic victory from Athens left for Athena at her sanctuary at Sunium (National Archaeological Museum [Athens], inv. no. 3344). Photo courtesy of Hans Goette.

Figure 2: Depicted on this Panathenaic amphora is an athlothetes or games-organiser umpiring the kickboxing contest at the Great Panathenaea (Metropolitan Museum of Art [New York], inv. no. 16.71).

Figure 3: This Athenian wine cup depicts an athletics teacher training students in two events of the pentathlon (Powerhouse Museum [Sydney], inv. no. 99/117/1). Photo: Ryan Hernandez.

Figure 4: Athenian rowers are depicted on this victory monument for the race of warships at the Great Panathenaea (Acropolis Museum [Athens], inv. no. 1339). Photo courtesy of Hans Goette.

Figure 5: This was part of the public tomb for Athenian war dead from the Corinthian War (National Archaeological Museum [Athens], inv. no. 2744). Photo courtesy of Hans Goette.

A bronze helmet with a unique bird-like crest dating to the first century BC was found in a grave at North Bersted in the south of England. Representations of birds on other helmets of 1st century date elsewhere in Europe are reviewed. These representations are mostly of raptors, corvids or waders and may have a chthonic significance. However, coins issued in the area of North Bersted show a man wearing a cock-like headdress or helmet crest so it is possible that the crest of North Bersted helmet represents a cockerel.

La collection Bibracte est éditée par BIBRACTE, Centre archéologique Européen. Du nom antique de la capitale des Éduens, elle rassemble tout d'abord les résultats des recherches effectuées sur le site du Mont Beuvray et le territoire éduen, ensuite les actes des rencontres scientifiques organisées par le Centre archéologique, enfin des travaux majeurs relatifs à l'archéologie de l'Europe celtique. Le comité de lecture de la collection est constitué des membres du Conseil scientifique de bibracte. L'armée romaine en Gaule à l'époque républicaine Nouveaux témoignages archéologiques Sous la direction de Michel REDDÉ

In a society in which the importance of military experience was beyond doubt for the Roman elite, military service was of utmost importance – an obligatory prerequisite, according to Polybius – for anyone wanting to pursue a political career.

In this study, an eagle figurine from Burdur Museum will be examined. It was purchased by the museum authorities in 1975 and recorded in the museum inventory. The figurine is made of silver alloy. It was produced with mold technique. In addition, wire, granulation and engraving technique were used. It was defined as a gold medallion eagle figurine due to the gold ornamentation on it. The eagle figurines are one of the leading artifacts of art of the Roman Empire.They were theologically accepted with various mystical rituals and ideologically became the symbol of political and military power. Their purposes of use changed accordingly and they were used as cult objects, military symbols, grave gifts, furniture and ornaments or accessories belonging to an object. Findings such as melted metal residue and solder marks indicating that the Burdur Museum example was belongs to an object indicate that the figurine is part of an object. The twisted square gold wire wrapping the body of the figurine like an ornament, the serpent soldered to the gold wire on the chest and the ram figure between its claws are the most important defining characteristics that distinguish our work from existing eagle figurines. At the same time, this figurine is a rare example where eagle-serpent-ram figures are defined as a group of works and form a common composition. Another distinguishing feature is that the eagle figurine is made of silver alloy and decorated with gold alloy ornaments. The stylistic and technical features of the figurine provide a historical standard for displaying the craftsmanship of the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial Period. This study initially gives information regarding the defining, technical and iconographic features of the figurine. Secondly, a proposal for its date is presented by an analogical and typological assessment utilizing comparative examples of the figurine.

Alexander the Great was firmly entrenched in imaginaries of Roman ruling elites, from Scipio Africanus to the Roman emperor Caracalla and beyond.  This paper considers Polybius’ representations of the Macedonian conqueror and their impact on Roman elites, who were just beginning to formulate their ideas about Alexander and his significance to the history of the imperium Romanum and of the world, as Polybius was writing his work.  The historian’s generally positive assessment of Alexander, not without its ambiguities, is aligned with the generally positive Roman reconstruction of him, though again not without reservations.  A proper understanding of Polybius’ treatment of Alexander, however, turns on a more parochial perspective, highlighting Polybius’ own political position vis-à-vis Macedonia, Polybian didacticism, and a large narrative trajectory of the Histories.

Although complete restitutions of the firing chambers of Roman ceramic kilns are frequent, they are usually carried out based on incomplete or partial documentation. Their total height is one of the least known
aspects, but it remains an essential parameter for estimating the production capacity of a kiln. In this paper, we present the discovery of a c. 100-140 AD Roman oil amphora kiln from the province of Baetica, for which we propose to restore its original height based on the discovery of the collapsed façade in situ. We present the results obtained, which allow us to propose a firing chamber almost as high as the diameter of the grill (92%). The rest of its architecture is discussed, and ethnography is used to further analyze these structures. This case study is exceptional and represents a novelty in the knowledge of Roman amphora kilns, confirming the calculations of the volumetric capacity of the firing chambers and adding value to the statistical calculations on the production capacities of the amphora-producing centres.

Der seit über 30 Jahren archäologisch erforschte Fundplatz von Kalkriese wird mit der historischen Varusschlacht im Jahr 9 n. Chr. in Verbindung gebracht. Während sich die meisten Kontroversen um die zeitliche Einordnung und die damit verbundene historische Kontextualisierung drehten, blieben die Deutungen zu den Verlaufsszenarien auf dem Schlachtfeld weitgehend ohne Diskussion. Lange wurde das Kalkriese-Narrativ durch einen von den Germanen angelegten Hinterhalt bestimmt. Durch neuere Grabungen wurde dieses durch die Annahme eines römischen Marschlagers, das letztlich im Laufe der Kampfhandlungen überrannt wurde, abgelöst. Beide Szenarien sind jeweils unmittelbar mit einem Baubefund verknüpft. Durch eine jüngst vorgelegte geoarchäologische Studie wird beiden Ansätzen der Boden entzogen. Die jeweiligen Strukturen datieren demnach ins Mittelalter. Die Studie wird hier in ihren Grundlagen und Ergebnissen auf den Prüfstand gestellt. Es zeigt sich, dass diese wissenschaftlich keinen hinreichenden Anhaltspunkt liefern, die bisherigen Deutungen zurückzuweisen.

While in Classical and Early Hellenistic times the sculptors working in Knidos came in general from Athens, the artists of the later periods, as we learn from their signatures, came from very different regions. Some of them, like the Chiotian family of Zenodotos and his son Menippos settled in the city and the grandson finally got the citizenship of Knidos. In this time, the sculptors worked sometimes in cooperation on the same project as on the altar of Apollon Karneios where at least three signatures remained (Zenodotos the Jounger, Theon and Boulis). The figures of the frieze show clear affinities to Rhodian sculptures. This is of a certain importance because all the statues of the signed bases are missing and we have no idea about the style of the sculptors. However, one of the sculptors of the altar (Theon) worked also in Rhodes and received even the citizenship of the island. Once again, the close relationship of these two states can be documented and beside this, the global connections between the workshops in Hellenistic times can be recorded.

Il contributo indaga il rapporto tra pudicitia e forma nel caso della Lucrezia Romana. Il binomio, presente nel classico, è trascurato nella sua ricezione successiva; è ripreso nell'oratio ficta del Tarquinio Superbo di Virgilio Malvezzi: dalla sua analisi sul tema emerge la totale scissione tra bellezza esteriore e interiore che aveva caratterizzato il racconto classico del mito. Lucrezia diviene pertanto nuovo spunto per riflessioni di natura etico-morale sul contesto moderno dell'autore.

Ce travail est une monographie sur les Illyriens vus à travers leurs contacts avec le monde grec. L’objectif est d’aborder l’histoire des populations illyriennes dans une perspective qui est celle de la frontier history, et à cette fin, de réinterpréter toute la documentation disponible sans hellénocentrisme ni a priori idéologique, en cherchant à dégager les vecteurs d’interculturalité.
La première partie de l’ouvrage s’attache à définir les contours géographiques et chronologiques du sujet. Dans un deuxième temps sont étudiés les lieux, les vecteurs, les occasions des contacts et la nature des échanges, en d’autres termes les facteurs d’acculturation. Sur cette base, la dernière partie vise à analyser les transformations observées dans tous les secteurs de la vie socio-culturelle.
Les contacts entre populations grecques et autochtones s’articulent autour de deux temps forts : celui de l’implantation coloniale qui entraîne plutôt une hellénisation dite verticale, touchant uniquement les élites, puis celui de l’unification au sein du royaume de Pyrrhus avec une hellénisation dite horizontale, très étroitement liée au phénomène d’urbanisation et au développement des classes moyennes représentées par les marchands et les artisans.

Particularly since the seminal work of Christian Meier, there has been an influential line of thought that the Roman sociopolitical elite simply lacked the imagination to engage in forward-looking reforms, the sort that might have resolved or mitigated the tensions that eventually caused the violent implosion of the Roman Republic. On the basis of a close analysis of key episodes in the Republic's history, this study instead posits that it was rather a matter of conscious reform unwillingness (sections 1-3). It subsequently seeks to break new ground by explaining the Roman aristocracy's reform unwillingness and the ensuing tremendous political costs by drawing on the recent empiricist political science frameworks developed by Barbara Walter and Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (sections 4 and 5). It argues that the Roman senatorial aristocracy went down a destructive political path because it deeply feared the loss of status and elite agency that might flow from certain reforms, compounded by the fear of a better resourced and more powerful state apparatus falling into the hands of aspiring tyrants. Next, the steep political costs of this fear-driven reform unwillingness are appraised: conservative and more progressive aristocratic factions alike descending into increasingly violent and deadly tit-for-tat games of 'constitutional hardball', sacrificing the guardrails of the Roman political system (mutual toleration and forbearance), resulting in the rise of factionalism and the loss of hope/faith in the traditional political process. The senatorial aristocracy's scorched-earth fight against undesirable reforms arguably put the Republic on the road to autocracy as its tacticsquickly adopted by their political opponentsdemonstrably displayed all four key indicators of authoritarian behaviour. The epilogue, then, offers some possible lessons for the 21 st century.

This article presents the results of high-resolution multimodal remote sensing surveys which were performed in the Roman city of Caesarea Maritima at the sunken Herodian harbour of Sebastos. A joint team of scholars from the Universities of Malta and Haifa conducted the surveys at the area of the harbour's entrance in order to answer questions related to its original architecture, long-term functioning, and gradual degradation processes. The core methodology employed comprised teams of divers performing a meticulous photogrammetric survey in order to generate a high-resolution 3D plan of the harbour's entrance. The results present two different architectural styles on either side of the harbour entrance, which suggests two different building stages, potentially deriving from a late renovation attempt. The current state of the entrance channel, still deep and wide enough for the passage of vessels despite collapse and sedimentation processes, suggests the long-term functionality of the entrance, even while other parts of the harbour have structurally deteriorated and gone out of use.

The Collectio Thessalonicensis is a collection of documents compiled in the 9th century, in which, in addition to papal letters to the bishops of Illyricum and to the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Proclus and Anatolius, two lengthy fragments have been preserved, representing a letter from the Western Emperor Honorius (395423) to the Eastern Emperor Theodosius II (408–450) and the latter’s response. The correspondence apparently took place in 422 and is devoted to the privileges of the Roman see in Eastern Illyricum, which shortly before had become a prefecture of the Eastern Roman Empire with its capital at Thessalonica. The authenticity of these letters has long been rejected in the scholarly literature. As a consequence, the task of the article is to present the arguments of the old literature, provide new evidence of the authenticity of both fragments, and highlight the ecclesiastical-political and ecclesiastical-administrative situation that they reflect. The arguments of J. Friedrich, Th. Mommsen, and E. Chrysos in favour of the forgery of these fragments are considered. These arguments range from complete denial to partial acceptance of their authenticity, with speculation about the motives for the falsification and the timing of its implementation. The author of the article points out the inconsistency of these arguments. The newest casual arguments of P. Riedlberger, which deny their authenticity, are also refuted. Based on ascertaining the authenticity of these documents, the author reconstructs the circumstances of the correspondence between the two emperors and the motives of both correspondents in recognising the authority of the Roman see in Eastern Illyricum. The text of the messages and their connections with other similar imperial documents are analysed, and the factor of influence on their composition of the ecclesiastical circles of the West and the East is determined. Contrary to the old literature, the authenticity of fragments of correspondence between Honorius and Theodosius II on the issue of church and administrative affiliation of Eastern Illyricum has been put beyond doubt. The letters fit well into the context of other surviving imperial documents that did not have a legislative nature but related to issues of church policy and church governance. From them it is clear that church and administrative issues were entirely under the jurisdiction of the emperors: neither the Pope nor the Patriarch of Constantinople had the means to obtain jurisdiction in a particular region, bypassing the opinion of the emperors.

Among the letters of the Roman bishops of the late 4th — first half of the 5th centuries addressed to the bishops of Eastern Illyricum, there is a letter of Pope Leo the Great (440–461), which is not contained in the so-called Collectio Thessalonicensis. Meanwhile, this letter is both the most extensive and the most important document in terms of content for clarifying the structure of church administration and ecclesiastical jurisdiction that the Roman bishops envisaged for Eastern Illyricum, seeking to subordinate it to their authority. This letter of Leo, the fourteenth in the collection of his letters, is addressed to Metropolitan Anastasius of Thessalonica and is intended to bring order to the church-administrative issues of Eastern Illyricum. In it, Pope Leo develops his views on the role and place of the Metropolitan of Thessalonica as the head of the bishops of Eastern Illyricum, the limits of his authority and jurisdiction, issues of ecclesiastical court in the region, the relations of the local episcopate with the sees of both Thessalonica and Rome. It is in this letter that Leo clearly formulates the concept of the “plenitude of power” (plenitudo potestatis) of the Roman bishop, the inequality of episcopal dignity at different levels of church government and the exceptional position of the Roman See as the highest appellate authority in the Church.

This article studies the Commonitorium super nomine Caelestii, an information note compiled by Marius Mercator, describing the participation of the Roman See in the condemnation of the heretics Pelagius and Caelestius, mainly during the pontificate of Pope Zosimus (417–418), and addressed to Emperor Theodosius II (408–450) and Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople (428–431). The aim of the study is to identify the characteristics of Marius Mercator’s presentation of information on ecclesiastical and political events in the first quarter of the fifth century in the western part of the Roman Empire, and to clarify the reliability and comparative completeness of the information reported. The purpose of the article is a critical comparison of the information of Marius Mercator with the data of other official sources, such as: conciliar acts, conciliar epistles, official correspondence of church hierarchs, and documents of imperial legislation. Special emphasis is placed on the analysis of how the Commonitorium presents the role and place of the Roman See, as well as personally of Pope Zosimus in the events related to the dispute over the personalities and doctrines of Pelagius and Caelestius. Based on the work done, the author draws several conclusions. The work of Marius Mercator is replete with numerous inaccuracies, significant omissions and even juggling with facts. With their help, Marius is diligently trying to whitewash Pope Zosimus and present him in the eyes of Emperor Theodosius and Patriarch Nestorius as a consistent adversary of the repeatedly condemned heretics Pelagius and Caelestius, and Pope Zosimus’ letter of repentance (epistula tractoria) as an important church-wide doctrinal document. On the whole, the Commonitorium of Marius Mercator can be seen as a tendentious and manipulative document, the purpose of which was to present in a favourable light the very controversial role played by Pope Zosimus in the events surrounding the condemnation of the heretics Pelagius and Caelestius in the western part of the Roman Empire. This role, according to the author of the article, is clear evidence of the crisis in the reputation and status of the Roman See in the period under consideration.

Im epigraphischen Befund Palmyras finden sich viele Hinweise auf lokale Elitenangehörige, die über kriegerisches Potenzial und damit verbundene gesellschaftliche Machtpositionen verfügten. Ab severischer werden diese Männer in den Inschriften oftmals als Strategen angesprochen. Basierend auf diesen Inschriften postulierten Franz Cumont und ihm nachfolgend weitere Historiker und Archäologen, dass eine palmyrenische Miliz, angeführt von eben jenen Strategen, für Sicherheit und Ordnung in der Palmyrena und bis zum Euphrat hin gesorgt habe.
Bei der systematischen Betrachtung dieser Strategeninschriften fallen jedoch gleich drei Gemeinsamkeiten auf, die gegen das Konzept einer palmyrenischen Miliz sprechen. Erstens wird in keiner der Inschriften eine palmyrenische Miliz explizit genannt. Zweitens zeigen die Aufstellungsdaten der Ehrungen ein intervallähnliches Muster, welches einen Zusammenhang zwischen den Nennungen von Strategen und der politischen Situation im Euphratgebiet nahelegt. Palmyrenische Strategen wurden immer dann geehrt, wenn die politische Stabilität im Grenzgebiet zwischen Rom und Parthien bzw. dem Sāsānidenreich durch militärisches Agieren der Großmächte gefährdet wurde. Dies gilt insbesondere für die Kriege unter Septimius Severus und Severus Alexander. Die dritte Gemeinsamkeit besteht im gemeinsamen Auftreten von römischen Amtsträgern und palmyrenischen Strategen in den Ehreninschriften, die zu Ehren dieser Palmyrener errichtet wurden.
Die Publikation zeigt, dass diese Männer, die in den Inschriften als Strategen bezeichnet wurden, aufgrund ihrer Machtstellung als Angehörige der tribalen Lokaleliten zugleich als lokale Ansprechpartner im Rahmen der severischen Grenzpolitik fungierten. Den Schlüssel für ihre lokale Machtstellung bildete die Strukturen der palmyrenischen Gesellschaft. Ihr kriegerisches Potenzial bezogen diese Männer aus ihrer Vernetzung mit den vor allem halbnomadisch- und nomadisch lebenden Palmyrenern außerhalb des Stadtgebiets, da diese durch ihren Lebensstil über militärische Fähigkeiten verfügten und sich für Raubzüge und andere Unternehmungen ad-hoc zusammenschließen und als kriegerischer Verband agieren konnten. Die römisch-parthischen und sāsānidischen Auseinandersetzungen in severischer Zeit sowie insbesondere das politische Agieren der römischen Kaiser Septimius Severus und Severus Alexander offerierten diesen Palmyrenern die Möglichkeit, ihr kriegerisches Potenzial römischen Interessen zur Verfügung zu stellen. Im Gegenzug erfuhren sie durch Rom eine Formalisierung ihrer bis dato informelle Machtposition durch die Verleihung des Strategen-Titels. Dieser stärkte ihre persönliche auctoritas und wertete ihre lokale Machstellung im lokalen Machtgefüge auf. Langfristig führte diese Entwicklung im Verlauf des ausgehenden 2. und beginnenden 3. Jh. zu Machtverschiebungen innerhalb der lokalen Elite Palmyras.

The present paper discusses a military diploma fragment discovered in the principia of the auxiliary fort at Călugăreni / Mikháza on the eastern limes of Dacia superior, in the destruction layers related to one of the weapon deposits (armamentarium). The fragment of the diploma dates between 133 and 142 AD. Taking into account the perfect cut, which was obviously intentional, and the late 3rd century AD context, we can conclude that it was prepared for recycling.

L’année 2028 marquera le 500e anniversaire de la découverte de
la « table claudienne » à Lyon et le (quasi) centenaire de l’édition de
référence de Philippe Fabia. Cette séance sera l’occasion de présenter
le projet collectif Tabula, qui se propose de réexaminer ce document
exceptionnel dans tous ses aspects, archéologiques, historiques,
littéraires et mémoriels, antiques comme modernes. Nous présenterons
le programme du projet scientifique (2026-2027) et en dessinerons les
premières pistes à partir d’exemples concrets, en suivant une trame
chronologique, depuis le discours de Claude prononcé au sénat jusqu’à
la fabrication et l’installation de la table à Lugudunum et, encore au-delà,
à son destin après sa découverte au 16e siècle.

Representan una generación, porque su infancia o juventud coincide con la dictadura de Sila (81-79 a. C.) y mueren entre las batallas de Farsalia (48 a. C.) y la de Accio (31 a. C.)  Muchos procedieron de la Galia Transpadana  Dejan el modelo de Ennio y lo buscan en los poetas de la literatura griega más reciente, la de los Alejandrinos como Euforión de Calcis (275-200 a. C.); Calímaco (310-240 a. C.); Arato (310-240 a. C.); Apolonio de Rodas (295-215 a. C.)  Se puede decir que cultivan un "arte por el arte" en el que la elevada expresión lírica no mira para nada afuera del poeta y su texto.  Búsqueda de motivos remotos o exóticos  Selecta erudición en el vocabulario y la métrica  Descripción de elementos pequeños, elaboración atildada de las vivencias personales más cotidianas  El nombre les fue dado por Cicerón:

RESUMO: Este trabalho apresenta o núcleo de nossa pesquisa de mestrado onde procuramos fazer um ensaio de interpretação sobre a forma e a função das estruturas romanas de Apollonia escavadas em conjunto entre as equipes israelense e brasileira do P r o j e t o A p o l l o n i a . UNITERMOS: Apollonia -Arqueologia Clássica -Império Romano -Projeto Apollonia -Província Palestina -Arquitetura -horreum -macellum -villa maritima. Visando identificar a natureza e função do edifício romano parcialmente escavado durante a primeira missão brasileira do Projeto Apollonia, 1 nos propomos nesta pesquisa a lançar bases para se estabelecer uma relação entre esta estrutura arquitetônica e a constituição e organização disciplinar do espaço urbano de Apollonia durante o período de ocupação romana na Província Palestina.2 Para tanto, efetuamos uma análise comparativa dos vestígios da estrutura em questão com edifícios de contextos comerciais e residenciais de outros sítios de ocupação romana na orla mediterrânea, tais como Óstia, Cesaréia Marítima, Thibilis e Pompéia. Primeiramente, optamos pela estratégia de comparação entre as estruturas escavadas em Apollonia durante a missão AP X II98 "A" com as de outros edifícios de contexto comercial de sítios romanos. Esta estratégia foi tomada devido ao fato de este edifício indicar, em uma primeira análise, um contexto de uso comercial, podendo ter sido um (*) Pesquisa vinculada ao P r o j e t o A p o l l o n i a , projeto de

Readers of history judge historians for what they say. But what about historians' silences, what they have left unsaid? Giving attention to this dimension of an historian's writing can pay rich dividends. By looking at specific omissions we may gain understanding about what historians wanted us to believe, how they attempted to manipulate their readers, and how they arranged their narratives to achieve their objectives. In this chapter, I pursue this line of inquiry concerning the history of the Greek historian Polybius. As a political hostage at Rome, Polybius necessarily offered a foreigner's perspective on Roman imperial power. Despite his well-deserved reputation as an ancient historian of the first order 1 , several bewildering aspects of his treatment of Rome, especially in the sixth book, have not received the careful attention they deserve: 1) Polybius ignores the significance of allied forces in the Roman army in Book 6; 2) he presents a simplistic picture of a monolithic Senate united in its foreign policy decisions during the Hannibalic war; 3) he is silent on political disturbances in Rome surrounding the levy of military recruits at the midpoint of the second century BCE; and 4) he misrepresents Roman elites' religious practices. No one, to the best of my knowledge, has ever considered these suppressions, inconsistences, distortions, and silences together as evidence for the historian's politically motivated narrative strategies. In general terms, Polybius' historiographical solution to the problem of Roman hegemony for Greek political elites was one of blending-that is to say, the cultural assimilation

This paper argues four main points: 1) Polybius does not dwell on horrors of war, the insane chaos and unpredictable nature of battle, and terrifying experiences of rank-and-file soldiers in combat.  2) Warfare primarily interests him as a rational, chess-board affair, showcasing skills or weaknesses of power elites serving as field commanders.  3) While non-Greeks, such as Hannibal and Scipio Africanus, are masters of command, military science in Polybius’ narrative is mainly the preserve of Greeks, and he stresses that outnumbered possessors of Greek λογισμός have overcome vast numbers of mindless and impulsive barbarian hordes.  Romans, as honorary Greeks, can continue to do so if they will follow Polybius’ precepts. And (4), as intrusive, editorializing, first-person narrator, Polybius qua military scientist (we should remember that he wrote a lost Tactica), emerges as educator and advisor for elite Roman field generals who will read his history.

Il Concilio di Nicea (325) è un evento cardine nella formazione della teologia cristiana e della cultura occidentale. Questo volume raccoglie lettere, canoni, credo, documenti imperiali e dichiarazioni sinodali circa le questioni teologiche, istituzionali e disciplinari discusse al Concilio di Nicea, non solo la controversia “ariana”. Il libro comprende testi scritti tra l’inizio della crisi meliziana (304 circa) e la morte di Costantino (337). Questi testi sono stati tramandati in greco, latino e siriaco, e sono qui accompagnati da traduzione italiana e note. Uno strumento imprescindibile per tutti gli studiosi di storia della Chiesa antica.

Questo contributo si sofferma sulla relazione tra
monetazione e statuti-tipo, quali civitas sine suffragio / munici
pium, civitas optimo iure, coloniae optimo iure / coloniae latinae,
ideati da Roma e adottati nei rapporti con comunità e territori,
entrati nella sua sfera di controllo tra la fine del iv sec. a.C. e i
primi del iii sec. a.C. In particolare, si esamina l’ambito campa
no-sannitico con le città o comunità, secondo i casi, di Capua e
Cuma, Atella e Calatia, Allifae e Venafrum.
Parole chiave · monetazione, statuti-tipo, municipium / muni
cipes, coloniae, Capua.
Suggestions on the relationship between Rome and the
Italici in Campania and in the Samnium between iv and iii century
BC: The coinages’ evidence · This paper focuses on the relation
ship between coinage and institutional status, such as civitas
sine suffragio / municipium, civitas optimo iure, coloniae optimo
iure / coloniae latinae in Campania and Samnium when Rome
strengthened its ties with these countries in the last decades of
the iv century BC and the first ones of the iii century BC.
With this topic in mind, some communities are taken into con
sideration, first of all Capua and Cuma, Atella and Calatia
among Campanian cities, Allifae and Venafrum among Samni
tian communities.
Keywords · Coinage, Institutional Status, municipium / muni
cipes, coloniae, Capua.

During archaeological excavations at Andriace, the harbour of Myra, an honorific inscription was discovered in front of the quay structure just north of the granarium (horrea Hadriani). It was prepared by Arrius Paetus Themistius, the praeses of Lycia province, to honour the Roman emperor Jovian with a statue. The discovery provides new information about Themistius, who was introduced to us only by the sophist Libanius, including his tria nomina and unexplored service period in Lycia. It has also led to reconsidering the tenure of the praesidatus of two uiri clarissimi, Themistius and Sozomenus. In this context, addenda et corrigenda are proposed for another honorific inscription to emperor Julian in Andriace. Finally, the administrative importance of Myra and Andriace in Lycia during the 4th century is presented.

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Durante las excavaciones arqueológicas en Andriace, el puerto de Myra, se descubrió una inscripción honorífica delante de la estructura del muelle, justo al norte del granarium (horrea Hadriani). Fue preparada por Arrio Peto Temistio, presidente de la provincia de Licia, para honrar al emperador romano Joviano con una estatua. El descubrimiento aporta nuevos datos sobre Temistio, del que sólo nos había hablado el sofista Libanio, como sus tria nomina y su inexplorado periodo de servicio en Licia. También ha llevado a reconsiderar la titularidad del praesidatus de dos uiri clarissimi Temistio y Sozómeno. En este contexto, se proponen adiciones y correcciones para otra inscripción honorífica al emperador Juliano en Andriace. Por último, se señala la importancia administrativa de Myra y Andriace en Licia durante el siglo IV.

This is a draft of a paper now accepted by Hesperia in which Tyler Leblanc (a PhD student at McMaster) and I argue that Butera and Sears (Hesperia 2017) were correct to locate the Battle of Philippi at the eastern end of the plains of Philippi.  We bring into the conversation a letter of M. Antony that describes the battle location. We also note the letter refers to the affects of a volcanic event in the Aleutians in 42 BCE.  We argue that Appians reference to a gold mine near the battle line is likely the Hapte Hyle mines mentioned in several ancient sources.

Current modern attention and concern about (human-driven) climate change has prompted much focus on the historical/archaeological relevance and role of (natural) climate change in the past. The topic is both relevant and important-and especially those short(er)-term events that perhaps helped trigger historically substantive change episodes. But, at the same time, initial, somewhat naïve enthusiasm has now run headlong into the limitations of the available data sources before the early modern era, and the many complications of establishing actual causal associations. These need to be, first, closely defined in terms of timing and effects, and then also, second, established as relevant to the specific human societies/civilizations and contexts in question. This paper seeks to highlight the need for appropriate care and rigorous method when seeking to associate climate and environmental events with the available ancient historical and archaeological evidence, and investigates three illustrative, problematic, cases from the Classical Mediterranean world.

El mercado laboral representa un desafío constante para las universidades, las cuales tienen el compromiso de formar profesionales a la altura de los retos económicos y sociales de su entorno inmediato y global. En ese interés por satisfacer esas necesidades educativas, las universidades buscan innovar en las estrategias para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje. Este ensayo tuvo como objetivo analizar los sustentos teóricos y metodológicos de una estrategia denominada Acciona UCAL, la cual se ha implementado como una experiencia educativa integral y vanguardista que promueve el desarrollo de competencias, fortalece el perfil de los estudiantes y los prepara para afrontar el entorno laboral con excelencia y creatividad. Se hizo el análisis en función de cuatro argumentos relacionados con: (1) la idoneidad para el desarrollo de competencias desde los fundamentos epistemológicos de las metodologías activas, (2) la pertinencia de basarse en la resolución de problemas, (3) la pertinencia del contexto en que se desarrolla y (4) la idoneidad para un modelo que se basa en un enfoque de enseñanza por competencias. Como resultado se pudo sostener y sustentar en la literatura científica cada uno de estos argumentos. Se concluyó que esta estrategia reposa en cimientos teóricos y metodológicos firmes y cónsonos con el contexto de la enseñanza basada en competencias. Además, impulsa la formación integral esperada para que los egresados cumplan con los estándares actuales del mercado laboral y estén preparados para liderar e innovar en sus respectivas áreas, contribuyendo al desarrollo ético y sostenible de sus comunidades

br.) 1. Rome (Italie) --Vigna Barberini 2. Rome (Italie) --Monte Palatino 3. Fouilles archéologiques --Rome (Italie) I. Villedieu, Françoise CIP -Bibliothèque de l'École française de Rome © -École française de Rome -2021 ISBN 978-2-7283-1504-8 VII. PROPOSITIONS POUR UNE RESTITUTION DE L'ÉDIFICE ET DE SON ENVIRONNEMENT par Françoise Villedieu et Nathalie André Comme toutes les autres études relatives au passé, la restauration architecturale a pour idéal de ressusciter le réel, mais doit se contenter, pour but pratique et suffisant, d'atteindre le vraisemblable. Dans tous les cas, la méthode est la même : elle consiste à recueillir les documents ; à les classer, à les clarifier, à les mettre en oeuvre enfin, de telle manière que le résultat concorde avec la totalité des renseignements fournis et dûment contrôlés. Mais, comme il est impossible que, même dans les cas les plus favorables, la somme des faits inclus dans les documents matériels ou écrits soit rigoureusement équivalente au total des détails nécessaires pour achever la restitution intégrale, force sera toujours de combler les lacunes par un recours à l'hypothèse, c'est-à-dire à l'imagination « maîtresse d'erreur ». Des Anges -Seure 1932, p. 10.

During his labour confinement in the far North, Joseph Brodsky formulated his poetic credo as 'normal classicism' (see To a Certain Poetess, 1965). This chapter explores the significance of this artistic belief in the Soviet context after Stalin, where the state had an absolute and exclusive monopoly on setting norms for all manifestations of public and even private life, including art. It posits that Brodsky's interpretation of classicism was diametrically opposed to the aesthetics of Socialist Classicism. While Stalin's socialism, as with Italian and German fascisms, had used the label to convey solidity to the monolithic stasis of its utopian political projects, Brodsky saw classicism as a common matrix of 'world culture'-the concept passed onto him by his poetic predecessor and model Osip Mandelstam. The chapter argues that Mandelstam's and later Brodsky's insistence on 'world culture' was a form of aesthetic protest, as it stood in stark contrast with the official programme in Stalinist as well as post-Stalinist Russia-a country that had insulated itself from the rest of the world, severing most of its intellectual and material ties with the West. Conversely, for both Mandelstam and later Brodsky, antiquity became absolutely central as it represented the idea of cultural continuity, the uninterrupted link of times, and the unity of culture. The chapter then proceeds to show that the poets of Brodsky's generation suffered the effects of 'cultural disinheritance'-a feeling of being isolated from the repositories of Western culture, a burden shared by the artists from the Soviet Bloc. To overcome this cultural disinheritance Brodsky and his counterparts taught themselves Polish, as after 1956, censorship restrictions in Poland became significantly less rigid than in Russia. The chapter then conducts comparative close readings of poems by Brodsky and by the Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert (1924-1998), which use themes and tropes from classical antiquity, discovering similarities in their use of classical themes and imagery, including a shared use of Aesopian language and irony. The chapter concludes that, for Brodsky, the Polish poets and, in particular, Herbert, became the gatekeepers not only to Western culture, but also to classical antiquity.

This conference series explores ancient cities and their surrounding micro‑regions as interconnected socio‑ecological systems. Rather than viewing urban and rural spaces in isolation or hierarchy, the project emphasizes their mutual entanglement across time and place. It is guided by an international advisory board consisting of Manuel Fernández-Götz (Oxford), Elif Koparal (Istanbul), Naoíse MacSweeney (Vienna), Jeroen Poblome (Leuven), Andrew Wallace-Hadrill (Cambridge) and Martin Zimmermann (Munich).