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This paper aims, on the one hand, at contributing to the analysis of one of the most enduring stock-characters in Roman comedy: the comic soldier, in its Plautine manifestations in particular. On the other hand, it will shed light on a much more serious soldier: Telamonian Ajax, and his in some way unfortunate reception. Weaving a twofold discussion of such apparently distant figures, I will evaluate the possible echoes of the mighty warrior Ajax in the parodic processes enacted by Plautus' milites , as well as the role played in turn by these echoes in the Roman reception of Ajax himself. I will show how the Roman Ajax enhanced and developed comic nuances, which can be better understood through the trigger of Plautine memories and play a role in Rome's own reflection on everchanging criteria for measuring valour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that unsettled people, far from being "marginal" individuals, played a key role in shaping early modern cities. It does so by going beyond the traditional binary between rooted and unstable people. Specifically, the paper takes the temporary places of residence of this "unsettled" population – notably inns (garnis in France, osterie in Italy) – as a vantage point to observe social change in early modern cities. The case studies are two cities which shared a growing and highly mobile population in the early modern period: Rome and Marseille. In the first section, the paper focuses on two semi-rural neighborhoods. This is to assess the impact of mobility in shaping demographic, urbanistic, and economic patterns in these areas. Moving from the neighborhood as a whole to the individual buildings which composed it, the second section outlines the biographies of two inns: Rome's osteria d'Acquataccio and Marseille's hôtel des Deux mondes. In turn, this is to evaluate changes and continuities over a longer period of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1894 Germain Morin identified a collection of 31 Pseudo-Chrysostomic sermons as the work of a single late antique Latin author. Although widely read in the Middle Ages, there is still little consensus about where or when this author wrote. Morin himself originally proposed sixth-century Naples, Adalbert de Vogüé noticed parallels with the Rule of the Master, and, most recently, Jean-Paul Bouhot and Francois Leroy have argued for fifth-century North Africa. This paper explores the collection's contextual clues, pre-baptismal liturgy, and anti-Arian and anti-Pelagian theology to make a case for considering it the product of clerical circles within Ostrogothic Rome. The author may have been writing during the Second Semi-Pelagian Controversy (519–529 CE), perhaps in direct dialogue with Fulgentius of Ruspe. He displays an attitude towards human free will that is surprisingly similar to Boethius's and may have been a member of the circles of Boethius, Proba, and the deacon John in the early 520s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes to discuss one of Arrian's so-called 'minor texts'—the Acies contra Alanos which I prefer to call Ektaxis kata Alanōn— and show how it is not only a military manual, but also allows Arrian to discuss identity, fitting into broader patterns and discourses of the Second Sophistic. In the Ektaxis Arrian, much like a sophist, creates different personas and layers of identity not just for himself but also for his troops, and takes the opportunity to present the Roman army in a diverse way, which differs from portrayals in other authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The alleged lower standard of the rights of the accused under the Rome Statute compared to those guaranteed by the US Constitution was one of the most important areas of criticism of the Rome Statute by American scholars. This criticism was made in the early 2000s and was based on the text of the Rome Statute alone, before any ICC jurisprudence existed. This article draws on the 20 years of operation of the ICC to ascertain whether the judicial interpretation and application of the procedural rights of the defendant, guaranteed under the Rome Statute, have made them more compatible with their counterparts under the US Constitution. The premise of this article is that the 20 years of interpretation and application of those rights may have strengthened them to the point where the gap between the procedural guarantees under the Rome Statute and the US Constitution has become negligible. This, in turn, would make the early criticism of the ICC system obsolete, at least insofar as the legal argument is concerned. Accordingly, this paper examines existing jurisprudence of the ICC in the areas of prosecutorial disclosure obligations, admission of evidence and the examination of witnesses. This is for several reasons: firstly, the selected three rights were among those criticised by American scholars in the early 2000s as falling short of what was required under the US Constitution; secondly, unlike some other criticised rights, which reflect the ICC's institutional design and, therefore, are unlikely to change in scope, the selected three are relatively vaguely phrased, thus making it possible to transform their meaning through judicial interpretation; thirdly, the selected rights have been sufficiently elaborated on by the ICC through case law so as to carry a meaning exceeding what the Rome Statute alone provides. The findings of the study indicate that inasmuch as the ICC's jurisprudence has moved some aspects of the three areas under examination towards their counterparts under the US Constitution, the procedural rights of the defendant before American courts generally remain more robust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Immanuel of Rome's Bisbidis abounds with onomatopoeic inventiveness, it has received little critical attention aside from its status as a curiosity: a dazzling poem by the only Italian Jew with extant medieval Italian lyrics. While this paper explores Immanuel's familiarity with works by Cecco Angiolieri, Dante Alighieri, and other duecento Italian poets, it aims to demonstrate the ways in which Bisbidis embodies the medieval Hebrew-via-Arabic genre of the maqāma. After providing background on secular medieval Hebrew literature composed in the Mediterranean region and situating Immanuel's composition in its literary-historical context, I evaluate several components – including thematic, formal, and philological correspondences – that Bisbidis shares with the Hebrew maqāma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that Cicero's critique of Epicureanism in De finibus is motivated by a concern about its degrading effect on the moral sensibility of Rome's best men. In place of earlier objections to Epicureanism, which centered on its inability to explain or recommend the virtuous conduct of Roman maiores, De finibus focuses on its inability to do so properly and, more prospectively, to assist boni in the work of maintaining the dignity and respectability of Roman civic life. Responding to optimates like Cassius who claimed that Epicureanism was compatible with Roman politics because it treats virtue as being necessary for pleasure, Cicero holds that instrumentalizing virtue in this way is actually a grave corruption of it. Not only do Epicureans debase politics by reducing it to considerations of utility alone: they also introduce deeper forms of civic confusion by distorting and abusing the very idea of honorableness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the region of Campania as a zone of contact between Rome and Egypt, especially with regard to the cult of Egyptian Isis. Her cult first penetrates into port cities: Puteoli, Pompeii and, possibly at an even earlier date, Cumae. Later Rome, as the capital of the empire, affected each and every thing, including the spread of Isidic cult. The focus of our attention is the Iseum in Beneventum built by Domitian who obviously liked to present himself as a dominus et deus in a truly pharaonic spirit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much has been written on the various aspects of casus belli in Aeneid 7, but the setting of the episode (in which Ascanius shoots a stag with great horns) remains unclear. This paper proposes a new reading of this crucial juncture by situating it on the river Tiber and contextualizing the fluvial setting within the wider structure of books 7-9. The role of the Tiber is significant because the Italian landscape is a major theme in the second half of the epic and the Tiber features in several key episodes, e.g. Tiberinus appears to Aeneas and directs him to the site of Rome. The history of the river is tied up with the larger history of early Latium. The river shares many affinities with the stag in terms of legal status, visual representation, and mythic significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactantius on the Death of Galerius. This paper argues that De mortibus reflects in a practical fashion two central themes in Lactantian thought: firstly, that the existence of divine anger is proof of the action of divine providence in the world, and secondly that the Roman Empire could be made Christian. To illustrate these points, it looks closely at the death of the emperor Galerius, who dies in De mortibus 33 from a disease that causes his body to produce worms, which culminates in the issuing of an edict of toleration. Using a combination of close reading and contextualization, this article argues that Lactantius moves beyond a narrative of divine punishment to suggest that the death of Galerius is necessary for the reshaping of the imperial office, and by extension the entire Roman Empire, in the person of Constantine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Apocalypse of John is filled with monsters who threaten both spatial and cultural boundaries. They are generally understood as ciphers for the Roman Empire and its -rulers. Rather than seeking the ancient Near Eastern origins of the monstrous imagery, the intent of this paper is to use monster theory to better understand why John employs monsters throughout the apocalypse. I argue that the author's portrayal of the threat and punishment of hybrid monsters reveals his own insecurities and fears concerning his communities' assimilation with Roman culture. John uses monsters specifically to target rival prophets in his communities that espouse a different vision of living under Rome rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a reconstruction and analysis of the Herodian family as a presence in the city of Rome over more than three generations. The scholarly tendency to view the Herods as an aspect of a broader governmental system overlooks the workings of the particular relationships that elevated the Herods in their own land as well as at the centre of Roman power. Beginning with the foundation of a lasting connection between the Herods and the Julio-Claudians laid by Herod the Great and Augustus, this paper traces the legacy of that connection and its impact on affairs in both Judaea and Rome. The peculiar challenges of retaining status in both Roman and Jewish contexts are assessed and their importance as a vital aspect of our understanding of first-century Judaean politics is established. Examination, finally, of the development of their aspirations and their negotiation of dynastic change shows vividly the processes of 'Romanisation' in the context of an elite family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to show how local civic communities, nominally subject to the Seleucid dynasts, integrated Roman magistrates into an existing framework of authority during the late second and early first centuries BCE. I argue that as Roman magistrates played an increasingly significant role in the region, cities initially framed them in quasi-regal terms, which their interlocutors consciously accepted. Through a close reading of two Roman letters to the Cilician city of Mopsuestia, dated to 87 BCE (SEG 44.1227), and analysis of literary, epigraphic, and numismatic evidence for the final collapse of Seleucid authority in the early 60s BCE, I reveal that this was a locally driven process. Consequently, local agents played a critical role in both legitimising Roman hegemony in local contexts and encouraging Roman intervention within the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early release has been regularly granted by the ad hoc tribunals for over 20 years. However, it could be argued that some issues still remain contentious. In fact, in May 2020, the Practice Direction ruling early release in the Mechanism of the International Criminal Tribunals was amended. This was intended to clarify key matters, such as the time needed to be served before early release, the possibility of imposing conditions upon those released, and the unappealable character of the resulting decision. At a glance, it could be argued that the International Criminal Court is better equipped to confront the many challenges posed by early release. This is owing to its detailed regulation, which may consequently lead to a more reasoned and solid case law. After comparatively examining ten features key to the application of early release, however, this paper argues that the ultimate problem lies within the nature generally conferred to early release in the Rome Statute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the archaeological evidence for western imperial campaigns between the reigns of Diocletian (A.D. 284--305) and Honorius (A.D. 395--423). Military campaigning is an ephemeral and rapidly changing process of human interactions. Although Roman campaigning is often well-documented, archaeological evidence is not especially well-suited to documenting events within a particular year, though it is very useful in enhancing our knowledge of resources and processes. This paper analyses the army's actions, and then discusses how the archaeological evidence contributes to our understanding. There were enormous differences between the resources available to Rome and her enemies in the 4th c. West, even if frontier culture was similar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The juxtaposition of the Catalogue of Heroes and Anchises' presentation of the fate of souls immediately preceding it in Book 6 of the Aeneid is a meaningful one. Building on Feeney"s 'paradox' regarding the juxtaposition, this paper reinterprets the Catalogue by way of extrapolating from Anchises' speech possibly profound implications regarding Rome's future heroes. The problem is that that speech is ambiguous. Drawing on different Greek eschatological models for help in discerning the metaphysical interpretive possibilities of Anchises' portrait, I show that the Greek rubrics do not in fact solve but contribute to the ambiguity of the passage. But they contribute in a meaningful way by rerouting the line of inquiry away from attempting either to pinpoint a singular philosophical influence or to determine once and for all what a soul's fate is. Rather we are invited to reflect on how the very vagueness functions. This paper posits that reading Anchises' speech through each of the philosophical models leads us to question whether Rome's future heroes were so bright after all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the potential in the study of ceramic building material (CBM) recovered from archaeological contexts, and how it can shed light on archaeological questions. It can contribute to the dating of archaeological deposits and sites. As a large artefact, which can be subsequently reused in Antiquity, it can provide important information about site formation processes. The knowledge that large quantities of this material are not locally made, and are in fact part of wider regional distribution networks, makes CBM an extremely useful means of tracing ancient trading patterns. The proportions of different CBM forms in an assemblage can help inform us about the nature of a deposit, as can traces of sooting and mortar on recovered CBM. This material also provides important evidence for reconstructing the appearance of a building or neighbourhood and its change over time. A methodology and sampling strategy, which has been developed to elucidate this information in an efficient manner, is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Civil war is much documented by text, but far too little by archaeology. The later roman world was one often afflicted by civil conflict and power struggles between rival emperors, generals and troops, and these all appear to have had serious impacts on communities, regions, economies and frontiers. in what ways though can archaeology offer a guide or additional insight into these many conflicts? Or are these wars intangible materially, despite their destructive human impact? This paper broadly considers the types of materials and evidence--from walls to coins--that might reveal something of the 3rd to 5th c. wars that damaged the roman West in particular, and argues that much more weight needs to be placed on these internal traumas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the extent to which warfare is particularly characteristic of the 5th c. and whether the typical scholarly focus on barbarian invasion in this period is justified by the evidence. It then examines the ways in which archaeological and literary evidence do and do not shed light on one another in the context of 5th c. warfare, taking a series of specific examples, including the re-occupation of high places in northern Spain, the ethnic interpretation of artefacts in Mesetan cemeteries, and the evidence of violence from Late Roman Emerita Augusta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to give some insight into the role that Roman military reconstruction archaeology can play in the understanding of Roman military equipment from Late Antiquity. It can only provide a brief introduction to some of the equipment of the Late Roman army though, and Bishop and Coulston's Roman Military Equipment, first published in 1993 (2nd ed., 2006), must remain the standard work.1 This contribution will chiefly aim to examine how items of equipment were made, and more importantly, to consider how they were used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a fresh discussion of the available information concerning the life of the late antique Roman aristocrat and poet Postumius Rufius Festus signo Avienius, formerly known under the erroneous name 'Avienus'. His two proconsulships are tentatively assigned to the period between 333 and 336 (Africa) and to 339 / 40 (Achaea) and his major poems to the time between 340 and 360 / 3. Festus' family connections and his relationship to Sextus Petronius Probus are discussed as well as the reason, why he came to be known as 'Avienus' in later times. In addition, an identification of two Anonymi from PLRE I is proposed (Anonymus 37 = Cezeus Largus; Anonymus 46 = Postumius Rufius Festus signo Avienius). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The city of Rome is described in a number of Arabic and Persian geographical and historical texts produced between the ninth and thirteenth centuries. Despite the chronological range and geographical distances that separate many of these texts, a common thread of transmission unites them, testament to the fact that very few eyewitness accounts of the city were used. Instead, the descriptions of Rome drew on the authority of more ancient literary accounts, that were reproduced with variations and additions deriving from a number of different origins. While it is not possible to identify the exact web of sources used, nor whether some descriptions refer to Old Rome-the city of the Pope-or to the new Rome on the Bosporus, Constantinople, these texts nevertheless reveal a substantial knowledge of the city's symbolic features. Indeed, it appears that accurate physical descriptions of Rome were considered less important than exemplary representations of the city. One of the figurative details assumes the iconographic form of a labyrinth, at times identified as a map of the city of Rome, and at other times as a prison located in the city. In this paper, it will be argued that the labyrinth icon is drawn from one of Rome's own myths concerning the founding of the city by complex and at times obscure means that offer promising directions for further research. More generally, it would appear that the Arabic and Persian sources considered here share a view of the city of Rome that is nourished by a great respect and admiration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to establish for the first time the relationship between the verbal and visual elements of the Jewish epitaphs from 3d/4th-century C.E. Rome. A close analysis of the approximately 500 usable inscriptions leads to the conclusion that, the Jewish character of most of the images notwithstanding, the key operative factor at every social level was Roman memorialisation practice. The study thus throws considerable light on the acculturation of Rome's Jews in Late Antiquity. Two appendices, in which all the symbols that occur are listed individually and by cluster, complete the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Late Antique Archaeology is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Late Antique Archaeology is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The title of prince of the Holy Roman Empire was conferred in 1704 upon all the children heirs and lawful descendants, male and female, of John Churchill, the first duke of Marlborough. The title of prince of Mindelheim was granted in 1705 to all male descendants and daughters of the first duke. But following the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and the Treaty of Rastatt in 1714 the principality passed to Bavaria. The right of the dukes of Marlborough to use the style and title was thus lost, and any residual rights would have expired in 1722 on the death of the duke, as they could not pass to a daughter (unlike his British titles). Despite this it is still common practice to describe the Duke of Marlborough as a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and Prince of Mindelheim. This paper considers the differences in the treatment of the descent of the British and imperial titles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eschatological fantasies of divine judgment and retribution constitute a common feature of sacred literature and often serve to legitimate violence, both physical and rhetorical, against others. This paper examines allusions to Roman spectacles of violence—which operated part and parcel of imperialist strategies to dominate and intimidate subject populations—in descriptions of final judgment. It argues that these references constitute forms of colonial mimicry, which ambivalently appropriate Roman symbols of power for their own self fashioning. This process, however, is not uniform, but serves different purposes and strategies in different texts and contexts. This article explores examples of such mimicry and asks what it means for visions of the final judgment to reinscribe the very methods of domination that these fantasies seek to displace. Additionally, it considers the role of voyeurism implicit in public disciplinary displays and the implications that imagining eschatological justice as a blood spectacle has for theological conceptions of divine surveillance and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal sacrifice was one of the most pervasive and socially significant practices of Graeco-Roman religion. Yet, numerous Greek and Latin writers tell of a golden before the advent of sacrifice and meat eating. In this idealized world, humans lived at one with the gods and animal sacrifice did not exist. Such texts are often seen as pare of a wider ancient critique of Greco-Roman religion in general and animal sacrifice in particular. This interpretive model, largely sprung from Christian theologizing, sees animal sacrifice as a meaningless and base act, destined to be superseded. As a result of this 'critique model', scholars have not asked what the myth of a world without sacrifice means in a world in which sacrifice predominated. This paper seeks to correct the above view by analyzing these texts as instances of created myth. It approaches each occurrence of the myth as an instance of position-taking by a prayer in the field of cultural production. The paper seeks to further a redescription of Greco-Roman antiquity by revealing the variety of ancient positions on sacrifice and their strategic use by competing cultural producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Null models are an essential tool for investigating structure in natural communities of animals, including reptiles. In this paper, we studied the assembly structure of a lizard community constituted by four species (Lacerta bilineata, Podarcis muralis, P. sicula, Chalcides chalcides) along 25 different transects, each 300 m long and representing a specific habitat type, in five independent urban green areas in Rome, central Italy. Lacerta bilineata was observed in 92% of the total transects (n = 25), P. muralis in 100%, P. sicula in 72%, and C. chalcides in 52%. Based on the number of lizards observed along the various transects, it seemed that each species was linked especially to particular habitat types within each study area, but that the habitat types frequented by each species were not necessarily exactly the same across the study areas. Null model analyses revealed that the lizard community was not randomly organized in four of five study areas by RA2 (thus denoting that the generalist-specialist nature of the species reduced ecological similarity) but not by RA3 algorithms (thus denoting that the types of resources used did not reduce ecological similarity). Thus, the community structure was due mainly to the different specialist-generalist nature of the various co-occurring species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper it is argued that Jörg Rüpke's proposal to date the creation of the Roman triumph to the late 4th century BC cannot be accepted. First, it is demonstrated that some of R.'s reinterpretations of the triumphal phenomenology are debatable, others improbable or inconceivable, one (the most essential) impossible. Next, a few historical implications of the new theory are shown to evoke serious questions and objections. Finally, the four major historical arguments or premises on which the theory is founded are shown to be at variance with the available evidence. Consequently, there is no reason to reject the well-founded and practically unanimously accepted idea that the triumph was introduced in the "Etruscan period" of Rome (late 6th century BC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally assumed that from 367 BC the praetor was charged with iurisdictio, i.e. the supervision of civil litigation, and that, before that time, this task was performed by some other magistrate. Pontiffs were legal experts who served as advisers. However, new research has shown that the praetor originally had military duties and that it was only around 200 BC that he became involved in administering the law. In this paper the author suggests that, up to 200 BC, it was the College of Pontiffs which was responsible for supervising civil litigation. Mitchell put forward a similar hypothesis a few years ago, but so far he failed to convince his readers. In the author's view, close reading of Pomp. D. 1,2,2,6 and appreciating the fact that around 200 BC the relationship between pontiffs and magistrates changed fundamentally indicate that, before that year, the pontiffs were directly involved in civil litigation and were more than simply advisers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two striking representations of screaming or shouting male barbarians, one on the Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome and the other on the Pannonian tombstone of the Roman legionary C. Septimus, are analysed and discussed in detail. These two disturbing and provocative images of suffering are situated in the broader context of institutionalised violence in Roman society, as reflected in certain kinds of judicial punishments and in the games in the arena, and of depictions of pain and suffering in other contexts, both ancient and modern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two kinds of sources are available to the historian to reconstruct the first centuries of the history of Mithradates' antidote: biographical information on Mithradates' interests in medicine, and a series of recipes. In this paper I argue that we cannot reconstruct the original recipe of Mithridatium from our existing sources. Instead, I examine how the Romans remodelled the history of the King's death and used the royal name to create a "Roman" drug. This drug enjoyed a huge popularity in the first centuries of the Roman Empire. An Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, consumed it as well as members of the upper class; and many highly literate physicians recommended it notwithstanding the medical sect they were belonging to. With all its expensive ingredients, and its claim to work as a panacea, Mithridatium responded to a real demand in a Roman Empire at its commercial and political apogee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of studies have attempted to investigate which species traits influence species proneness to extinction in vertebrates. By contrast, studies involving insects are scarce, because of difficulties in obtaining complex assessments of species extinction risk and measures of species traits. In this paper, a simple (binary) codification based on literature data and field observations was used to determine the importance of various traits (notably ecological preferences) in determining species vulnerability of the tenebrionid beetles inhabiting urban Rome (Italy). Vulnerability scores were calculated from mea-sures of geographical, habitat and population rarity. Vulnerable species were distributed with similar proportions among different tenebrionid guilds, which suggests that conservation programs in urban ecosystems should be more addressed to the development of species-oriented actions than to the iden-tification of priority 'habitats'. Species traits accurately predicted species assignment to vulnerability classes, with some traits being particularly important in determining species vulnerability. Species as-sociated with ruins and cellars, and which are typically fairly common in Rome, tend to be moderately or middle vulnerable. The identification of important sites for these species and definition of measures for population management would be useful strategies to preserve them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This article posits that both Roman and early Chinese states underwent four stages in their multiple-step transformations from local states to major empires during the classical period. For both states, at stage 2, one dominant state formed alliance with a group of smaller autonomous polities, and at stage 3 that dominant state deepened its regulation of the smaller polities whose autonomy was curtailed. There existed striking similarities between Rome and China (early Han Empire) at stages 2 and 3 regarding the constitutional rules enforced by the two central governments to control the newly-acquired subordinate territories, which were the Macedonian/Greek states for Rome and the vassal kingdoms in eastern territories for Han Empire. In particular, this article discusses: (i) why Macedonian/Greek states have been chosen for comparative studies; (ii) similar constitutional rules at stage 2 governing the two empires' relationships with their subordinate polities; (iii) similar legal rules at stage 3 aiming at dividing up the territories of the subordinate polities and restraining their self-rule; (iv) similar stage-3 constitutional rules that preserved some autonomy for the subordinate polities; and (v) similar stage-3 legal rules that regulated certain economic activities of the subordinate polities. After analyzing Roman governance of Macedonia/Greece within the broader context of Roman institutions for territorial integration, the article explores the underlying trends and deeper mechanism that led to such convergent evolution of legal rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some nineteenth-century scholars misleadingly thought that no Greek codex supports Galen's legal affiliation to the gens Claudia. When the manuscript Thessalonicensis Vlatadon 14 was thrust into the limelight with regard to this issue in 2011, it was promptly imagined that the relevant information derived from Renaissance Italy, thanks to the voyages and studies of John Argyropoulos. Allegedly there also is a codex gemellus of the Vlatadon witness, the MS Athous Iviron Graecus 184, which does not transmit that gentilic name. The article shows that the latter codex cannot reasonably be regarded as a twin manuscript of the former. Moreover, it disproves the widespread scholarly claim that Galen is never named Claudius in documents that antedate the Age of Humanism, drawing attention to some insufficiently explored Byzantine sources, the oldest of which dates back to around 1200 AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rule 44 of the ICC Rules of Procedure and Evidence stipulates that non-state parties to the Rome Statute may accept the jurisdiction of the Court with respect to the crimes referred to in Article 5 of relevance to the situation by lodging a declaration under Article 12(3) of the Statute. The ending phrase of this provision gives rise to the speculation that a non-member state has a power to accept the Court's jurisdiction in a partial way, namely over a specific situation. To examine this feasibility, the present article will: (i) explain the functions of the Article 12(3) mechanism; (ii) discuss the possibility of making a situational acceptance; and (iii) contemplate the meaning of the concept of situation. This article suggests that a non-state party can exclusively accept the Court's jurisdiction over a specific situation, and that is a concrete crisis within a territory. Keywords contextual element – crisis – ad hoc jurisdiction – acceptance – delegation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bemba Appeal Judgment undermines confident prospects that the International Criminal Court could make a greater use of charges alleging command responsibility. This judgment introduces serious uncertainties in the law on command responsibility, in particular by reflecting long-lasting disputes concerning this doctrine on the 'all necessary and reasonable measures' element under Article 28 of the Rome Statute. The Bemba Appeal Judgment, indeed, includes a controversial evaluation of the relevance of a commander's motivations in taking measures and of her geographical remoteness from the crime scene. This Article analyses these issues through the lenses of International Humanitarian Law and of fundamental principles of International Criminal Law, in particular the principle of legality and the principle of individual culpability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes three different case studies related to the Graeco-Roman cult of Anubis, located in different historical periods (Early, Middle, and Late Roman Empire) and approached by the study of different types of material (namely literary, epigraphic/archaeological, and iconographic sources). The goal of this study is to explore the social dimension of religious practice, stressing its variety, creativity, multiplicity, fluidity, and flexibility of identities, changes in forms of individuality, and spaces for individual distinction. By means of a detailed inquiry of Mustafa Emirbayer and Ann Mische's schema of "disaggregation" of agency into three component elements (iteration, projectivity , and presentification), this analysis will stress the historical variability of religious agency and will show how, across time, emerging situations forced religious actors to select among alternative possibilities of action by recovering patterns belonging to past routines and creating new future options that responded to present hopes and fears. The results of this investigation will then be conceptualized according to the methodological framework of the Lived Ancient Religion paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article reports the discovery of a previously unknown ninth-century Arabic paraphrase of Dionysius the Areopagite and demonstrates that this paraphrase was accessible to al-Ġazālī (and, probably, to other authors, notably the Brethren of Purity). It also proves that this paraphrase was produced by the same translator as the Doxography of Pseudo-Ammonius. The doctrinal content of the Arabic Dionysian paraphrase is then analyzed in relation to Arabic Neoplatonic texts as well as al-Ġazālī's writings. The influence of Gregory of Nyssa and John of Damascus on some Arabic philosophical texts (notably al-Kindī's Book of Definitions) is also considered. The origin of "Interpositional Neoplatonism" (i.e., the kind of Neoplatonism that interposes an intermediate hypostasis between the First Principle and the Intellect) is examined. The Appendix discusses the relationship between the Doxography of Pseudo-Ammonius and Hippolytus of Rome's Refutatio omnium haeresium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, images of rage against monuments have filled the media. Unmistakably expressing a high degree of tension in societies, these forms of hostility against heritage have been diversely interpreted, prompting passionate expressions of support as well as fierce criticism. Contesting public memorials, however, is not a new form of socio-political dissent. During Late Antiquity, for example, a new sensibility towards ancient monuments emerged in the vast territories that were once part of the Roman Empire. In this article, the late-antique fate of the so-called 'temple of Hadrian' at Ephesus is analysed as a case-study. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the approaches adopted to accommodate traditional monumental landscapes in the changed late-antique socio-political context. This analysis offers a new perspective on ancient and contemporary phenomena of contestations of monuments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term ‘magic’ is problematic. Magic studies have rapidly developed in recent decades and have suggested various ways of understanding the term, especially regarding objects from the medieval Roman Empire, Byzantium. Two early Byzantine amulets (as case studies) display conventional semiotic structures, which include persuasive analogy, speech-acts, and show-acts. Persuasive analogy, speech-acts, and show-acts – and how they organize information – operate also in religious, medical, and philosophical examples. Accordingly, art, archaeology, and texts of ritual power exemplify intersecting communities of thought and various types of social practices. Magic studies is interdisciplinary, and it encourages critique of modern assumptions regarding authority and of our intellectual colonization of times past. This essay is broad with several object examples across media, written as a conference presentation. Another approach to these semiotic structures on magical amulets – with examination of fewer objects and wider attention to the historiography of magic studies – will appear in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Byzantine Art and Architecture, ed. Ellen Schwartz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents texts that are relevant to the story of the twins Romulus and Remus in Rabbinic literature. The story of the twins is connected with the legend founding of Rome. The twins were suckled by the she-wolf. The story of the twins and the she-wolf is an example of God's mercy on the helpless.

The Christianisation of the Roman Empire in the 4th-5th centuries led to a blurring of the traditional ethnocultural dichotomy (Barbarians – Romans), and to the emergence of a new type of social division on the basis of religion: pagan – Christian. The present article is devoted to the analysis of the image of a "pious" (pagan) barbarian, formed in Late Antique pagan historiography. The conclusion is made that pagans saw their barbarian coreligionists as the defenders of their faith against the anti-pagan state policy. Comparing pagan barbarians to their fellow Christian tribesmen, they tried to prove that only pagans can be true allies of Rome. Finally, the military successes of the pagan warlords served as evidence of the active participation of the gods in the affairs of their followers and acted as an argument for the preservation of the traditional forms of worship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines three sections of the proem to Lucretius' De rerum natura : the so-called hymn to Venus (Lucr. 1.1-43), the praise of Epicurus (1.62-79), and the Iphigenia passage (1.80-101). The article's goal is to show that distinct, interconnected political echoes are perceptible in these three sections of Lucretius' proem, and that Lucretius intertwines his philosophical teaching with Roman political culture in such a way as to make his Epicurean message more acceptable to Roman audiences. The article demonstrates Lucretius' interaction with the use of myth in political language in Rome in the 60s and 50s BCE. It analyzes the relevance of the Mithridatic wars to Roman discussions of imperialism and Lucretius' exploitation of this conflict's iconic status. This article suggests that Memmius' political action in the 60s may have made him a particularly suitable addressee for Lucretius' poem. It also explores the implications of this new reading of the proem for the date of Lucretius' De rerum natura. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Onofrio Panvinio was hired by sixteenth-century Roman families to write their histories and, where necessary, be prepared to bend the facts to suit their interests. This occasionally entailed a bit of forgery, usually involving tampering with specific words in documents. In most respects, however, Panvinio employed the same techniques—archival research and material evidence such as tombs and inscriptions—which distinguished his papal and ecclesiastical histories. This suggests that genealogy, despite being commissioned by aristocratic families to glorify their ancestries, can be seen as a more serious field of historical investigation than is often assumed. Yet the contours of this genre of history for hire in sixteenth-century Italian historiography are nowhere near exact. Panvinio struck a balance between fulfilling the expectations of the noble families who commissioned him and following his own scholarly instincts as an historian, but he nevertheless did not seek their publication. By contrast, Alfonso Ceccarelli, who also composed family histories, veered considerably in the direction of flattering his patrons, even forging entire papal and imperial privileges. Indeed, he was condemned to death for the forgery of wills concerning the property rights of nobles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay 1 explores the reception of Pope Julius II's statuary deities in his Cortile del Belvedere through the poetic works of two humanists, papal courtier Evangelista Maddaleni de' Capodiferro and Savonarolan philosopher Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola. The construction of the Cortile animated a lively querelle on the state and mission of the Catholic Church, as it allowed the pagan idols of antiquity to re-enter the holy grounds of the Vatican. Through the analysis of two divergent poetic receptions of the Belvedere gods, this article will explore the Cortile del Belvedere and Julius II's Rome, as a space of spiritual dialogue and religious hybridism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 9/11, there has been a surge in interest in the topic of violence both among scholars of religion and in the humanities more broadly. This article suggests that such works operate with a "hermeneutics of the spectacular" that functions to legitimate the liberal status quo by concentrating its focus upon the most visibly heinous forms of state violence under the aegis of a politics of "resistance." This article uses the New Testament and its depiction of the military as a site for thinking about how folk definitions come to classify certain activities as "violent" and not others, both today and in antiquity. If biblical scholarship—or the study of religion more broadly—is to be something other than an ideological repository for late capitalism, it is necessary to reconsider the issue. This article, by point of contrast, discusses three theoretical approaches to violence that may be useful: Objective-Structural Violence, Symbolic Violence, and Violent Subjectivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]