Cette recherche doctorale se propose d'analyser et de déterminer le contexte d'émergence du culte apollinien à Chypre ainsi que ses caractéristiques et son évolution de ses origines jusqu'à la fin de la période hellénistique / This doctoral dissertation aims to analyse and define the context of apparition of the Apolline cult in Cyprus as well as its characteristics and its evolution from its origins until the end of the Hellensitic era.

O objetivo desta dissertação é investigar o fragmento III.80-82 das Histórias, no qual Heródoto narra um debate entre três nobres persas, ocorrido em 522 a.C.. O que estava em discussão era a melhor forma de governo a ser adotada pela Pérsia após a morte do usurpador Smérdis. No chamado debate persa, Otanes propôs a adoção de uma constituição democrática, Megabizo sugeriu a instituição de uma oligarquia, e Dario, por fim, defendeu a manutenção da monarquia a ideia que venceu o debate. Nossa proposta é analisar a construção de um pensamento político nas Histórias, com o suporte da filosofia política, de modo a demonstrar que o autor pode ser classificado como um pensador político não-sistemático. Além disso, esse estudo demonstra a possibilidade da leitura do documento indicar a existência de seis formas de governo, sendo três constituições boas, e suas três versões degeneradas. / The objective of this study is investigate about the fragment III.80-82 of Herodotus Histories, in which the author describes a debate between three noble Persians, in 522 B.C.. They have been discussing the best form of government to be adopted in Persia after the death of Smérdis the usurper. In the Persian debate, Otanes proposed a democratic constitution, Megabyzus suggested an oligarchy, and after then Darius defended the maintenance of the monarchy the idea such win the debate. Our goal is to analyze the construction of a political thought in Histories, with the support of political philosophy, to show the author can be considered as a political thinking non-systematized. Besides, this work demonstrates a possibility to understand the document like a scheme of the six forms of government, with three good constitutions, and another three its bad versions.

What is the line between the “ancient” world and the “medieval” world? Is it 476? 330? 632? 800? Most historians acknowledge there is no crisp line and that these are arbitrary distinctions, but they are made anyway, taking on lives of their own. I believe they are much the same world, except for the pervading influence of one flavor of monotheism or another. This thesis endeavors to study top-down, monotheistic conversions in Pontic-Caspian Eurasia and their respective mythologizations, preserved both textually and archaeologically, which serve as a primary factor for what we might call “state formation.” These narratives also function, in many cases, as the bases of many modern nationalisms, however haphazard they may be. I have attempted to apply this idea to Christian Rome (Byzantium)’s diachronic missionary policy around the Black Sea to reveal how what we today call the “Age of Migrations” (the so-called “Germanic” invasions of the Roman Empire), was actually in perpetual continuity all the way up to the Mongolian invasions and perhaps even later. In this way, I hope to enhance the context by which we understand the entirety of not only Western history, but to effectively bind it to a broader context of global monotheization.

This thesis uses Byzantine coins in south India to re-examine pre-Islamic maritime trade between the Mediterranean and south India. Analysis of historiographical trends, key textual sources (the Periplous of the Erythreian Sea and the Christian Topography, Book Eleven), and archaeological evidence from the Red Sea, Aksum, the Persian Gulf and India, alongside the numismatic evidence yields two main methodological and three historical conclusions. Methodologically, the multi-disciplinary tradition of Indo-Roman studies needs to incorporate greater sensitivity to the complexities of different evidence types and engage with wider scholarship on the economic and state structures of the Mediterranean and India. Furthermore, pre-Islamic Indo-Mediterranean trade offers an ideal locus for experimenting with a practical global history, particularly using new technologies to enhance data sharing and access to scholarship. Historically, this thesis concludes: first, that the significance of pre-Islamic trade between the Mediterranean and India was minimal for any of the participating states; second, that this trade should be understood in the context of wider Indian Ocean networks, connecting India, Sri Lanka and southeast Asia; third, that the Persian Gulf rather than the Red Sea probably formed the major meeting point of trade from east and west, but this is not yet demonstrable archaeologically, numismatically or textually.

In this thesis, I examine the rhetorical strategies in Jenn Schiffer’s satirical conference talks in which she comments upon her own tech community. In part, I consider her arguments under the theoretical lenses of Burke, Epicurus, and Camus, theories placed alongside the reflective writing of Ullman as a queer woman in that selfsame community. I also discuss the pedagogical opportunities of such an analysis–of tech conference talks in general–to the modern student in our technologically-connected age. Finally, in the long term, I plan to connect the outcomes of this project to a larger project in partial fulfillment of a doctorate degree in Information Science, a project which will investigate the feedback loops between policy, software development, users of information and communications technology (ICT), and humanistic self-expression.

This thesis explores the sophistication of the ancient Roman economy through an analysis of credit instruments in elite finances. The study of the ancient economy is a contentious but important field of study, within which exists a lively scholarly debate. This project seeks to contribute to that debate through the investigation of late republican finances, using Cicero's Letters to Atticus. By studying Cicero's financial maneuvers and commentary, this thesis argues that elite usage of nomina during this time period provides evidence for the existence of a sophisticated elite credit system. Such a system allowed for the development of nomina as flexible credit instruments for Roman elites competing in a fraught socio-political context.

This paper argues the institution of Roman bathing was an instrument of cultural hegemony, which allowed the Roman Empire to maintain hegemony over the Roman provinces. Numerous frameworks have been suggested in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between Rome and the provinces. Roman imperialism has been a topic of debate for over one hundred years and the vicissitudes of scholarly thought are highlighted by the changes in the characterization of the theory of Romanization. In the recent past, scholars have sought a framework that could progress beyond the problematic concept of Romanization in order to better understand acculturation in the Roman provinces. In this paper, I provide an alternative method for examining the somewhat hackneyed issue of Roman imperialism. I argue the relationship between Rome and the provinces can be examined through the Gramcian theory of cultural hegemony. Using cultural hegemony, I explore the political consequences of direct change acculturation of the provinces of the Roman Empire. I argue that Roman culture was an efficacious mechanism for the dissemination of Roman ideology and diffusion of the Roman worldview was politically advantageous for Rome. Furthermore, I argue the custom of public bathing was a Roman cultural phenomenon that aided the Empire in preserving their hegemony in the provinces.

<p>This paper deals with the development of scientific geography during Antiquity from its mythical background before the seventh century BC to Claudius Ptolemy during the second century AD. The main focus is on questions concerning the shape of the earth, its place in the universe, size and mapping of the earth. Already before 400 BC, the idea of the earth as a globe was firmly estabished. During classical time, Aristotle used empirical and rational arguments to prove that the earth was a sphere and that it was situated motionless in the center of the universe. In the third century BC, the first reasonably correct measurements of the circumference of the earth was carried out by Eratosthenes. Later, a lower, incorrect measurement of the circumference of the earth was made by Poseidonius. His measurement was for some reason accepted by later geographers.The first map of the earth that we know of is on a clay tablet from Mesopotamia from c. 600 BC. The first useful maps were constructed during the Roman era.</p>

The following dissertation sets out to explore the evolution of a handful of civic institutions in the Hellenistic era. The first chapter focuses on the institution of the ephebeia and citizen-training. It centres on three documents: the gymnasiarchic law of Beroea (I. Beroeae 1 [ca. 167 BCE]), the oath of the agelaoi of Dreros (I. Cret. 1.9.1 [ca. 200 BCE]) and the honorary decree for Menas of Sestos. It argues first that citizen training programs of the Hellenistic period had higher rates of participation than the Athenian evidence seems to suggest, and second that three virtues of gymnastic training, euexia, eutaxia and philoponia, were also political and social virtues. The second chapter focuses on Zosimos of Priene (I. Priene 113 [ca. 100 BCE]) and the connection between his two most important reforms: instituting a system of duplicate record-keeping and funding rhetorical training for ephebes. It argues that the speeches of envoys and ambassadors (presbeutic rhetoric) constituted the dominant mode of Hellenistic rhetoric; within that genre, arguments based on history and on official records were considered the most effective. The third chapter focuses on Fabius' letter to Dyme (Syll.3 684 [144 BCE]). It argues that the destruction of Dyme's public archives was not part of a 'socialist' revolution, but rather was a means of rejecting changes to the citizen body forced on the city by Rome. The final chapter turns to the island of Kos. It explores Diokles' decree (IG XII.4.1 75 [ca. 200 BCE]) as an example of how the balance between self-interest and communal interests were negotiated.

Early Ptolemaic Alexandria provides a unique perspective on cultural interactions during the Hellenistic Period. With this idea in mind, I have tracked the cultural affiliation of the city from its foundation through the early years of the Ptolemaic dynasty. In order to do this, both literary and archaeological evidence, including various foundation myths for the city, the poetry of Theocritus and Herodas, papyrological evidence as well as the city plan and archaeological remains of the Serapeum, were analyzed. Using this evidence, this thesis attempts to describe the cultural state of the ancient city and the surrounding area in its early years, and tracks its development from an entirely Greek cultural background to a multicultural one.