This thesis explores the process of archaeological interpretation by considering how we can interpret the Iron Age settlement in Wigtownshire, SW Scotland. Traditional images of Iron Age warfaring hierarchical societies have persisted through the use of well-established classifications, such as ‘fort’ or ‘roundhouse’ and by the uncritical acceptance of the definition and identification of ‘settlement’ in the archaeological record. Alternative interpretations of Iron Age settlement landscapes are possible by considering a variety of other observations, which traditional classifications ignore, such as the landscape context of specific monuments. This thesis presents a critical review of these alternative interpretations and other more traditional classifications used to define Iron Age settlement and illustrates how multiple narratives of the past can co-exist. This thesis emphasises the essential part classification plays in archaeological interpretation. Interpretation is a complex and ongoing process and it is important to be aware of the assumptions that we make and how these may affect further interpretations of the archaeological evidence. Common standardised classifications stress the importance of certain morphological characteristics over other observations and the interpretations of the archaeological evidence are therefore restricted. Traditional approaches neglect the importance of context, which is integral to the interpretation of the archaeology on many levels. Understudied, but archaeologically rich, Wigtownshire is an ideal case-study. Rather than limiting the discussion of archaeological features by only comparing them through traditional ‘typologies’, here experiential observations of the evidence – within their landscape context – offer an alternative approach by which the iron Age in Wigtownshire can be considered. A flexible process of classification is advocated – dependent upon the research questions that are addressed in particular studies. My approach to the re-evaluation of the Iron Age settlement in Wigtownshire is also influenced by a critique of the definition of the term ‘settlement’ in archaeology. The identification of ‘domestic’ practices in contrast to ‘ritualised’ ones in the Iron Age evidence is questioned and from a variety of perspectives the complex processes of settlement in the Iron Age are explored.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a thematic analysis of the historical, political, and economic context of Seleucid portraiture, namely that on coins, but with reference to gemstones, seals, and sculpture where evidence exists. No attention has been given to the aesthetic value of such items, as has been the habit of art historians, as a great deal of the evidence analysed here consists of bronze coins. Nor is this work intended to be a catalogue, as technical information on coins has been well documented in the many catalogues in this field. The first chapter provides a general survey of the issue of autonomy and its relationship to the Seleucids, whether among the Greek poleis of Asia Minor or other autonomous areas of the Seleucid empire. This is followed by an obligatory discussion of the influence of Alexander on the Seleucids, which has been kept deliberately short due to the amount of scholarship already completed in this field. The issue of warfare and its effect on Seleucid iconography follows this. The first three chapters cover issues affecting Seleucid iconography, whether for legitimate kings or otherwise, which leads on to a chapter covering the Seleucid usurpers. The function of this chapter within the thesis is twofold; firstly, it introduces the concept of usurpation and its effect on the iconography of legitimate kings; secondly, it contains extensive discussion of the coinages of the individual usurpers. The next four chapters serve to analyse the variation of the royal image for legitimate kings, assessing the effect of autonomy, warfare, Alexander, and usurpation on the changing royal image. The kings discussed in the respective chapters were chosen on similarities of iconography and factors affecting this. The final chapter is a discussion on Seleucid female iconography, affected by many of the same factors as male portraiture.

This essay plans to research the fall of the Roman Empire and especially look at the land-tax angle, my hypothesis is that the land-tax had a bigger effect of the Roman Empire fall than previously thought. This essay also investigates why the Western Roman Empire declined. To accomplish this a lot of research will be made about the decline and analysis of the content.  The main source of information about the land-tax will come from The Theodosian Code which is a book from the 5th-century about taxes in the Roman Empire. To reach this goal I will interpret the sources to clarify what actually happened. I use this information to either to confirm or discard other scientists’ theories. The result is that land-tax had a bigger influence on the Roman Empires fall the previously believed.

To fight as a gladiator held such appeal to some Romans during the early empire that they actually were ready to incur the legal stigma of infamia (infamy) just in order to participate as gladiators. But there were not only men who were drawn to the lure of the arena, even women fought as venatores (beast-hunters) and gladiators in the Roman games. The roman historian Cassius Dio informs us that in the early empire during the reign of Nero even men and women from the equestrian and senatorial rank participated in the arena in increasing numbers. This often overseen fact that women would appear as participants in the gladiatorial games in the Greco-Roman world is just another signifier that we have to re-evaluate our knowledge of the women of antiquity and their social outlooks. The fact that women participated is in a sense nothing new for the modern scholars, who have tended to view the evidence in the light of the lacking material and appearance in the ancient sources and have been content to explain the phenomena as something of a novelty, which does not tell us much about the romans or their society at all. But what does the appearance of women in the gladiatorial games tell us about the Romans view on gender roles in the arena? How did a female gladiator differ from a male gladiator in the Roman empire? With an intersectional perspective and a close-reading of the texts referring to female and male contestants and gladiators this study has showed that the roman elite observed the female gladiators with overwhelmingly negative attitudes if they where of higher social status. In this case they differ little from male gladiators. But attitudes concerning female gladiators were not all bad, especially if they were of no prominent class, some were even praised for their bravery and likened with Amazons or even Heraclese

To describe a unified Jewish identity in the Mediterranean in the period between 200 BCE and 200 CE is incorrect, since each Jewish community approached its identity in unique ways. These varied on the basis of time, place, and how the non-Jewish population reacted to the Jews and interpreted Judaism. This thesis examines the three major centres of Jewish life in the ancient world - Rome, Alexandria in Egypt, and Judaea - demonstrate that Jewish identity was remarkably and surprisingly fluid. By examining the available Jewish, Roman, and Greek literary and archaeological sources, one can learn how Jewish identity evolved in the Greco-Roman world. The Jews interacted with non-Jews daily, and adapted their neighbours’ practices while retaining what they considered a distinctive Jewish identity. / October 2016

This thesis describes a new approach tor investigating cairns, stone enclosures, stone alignments and other small archaeological features found in the deserts around the Egyptian Nile valley. Investigation of these features has previously been restricted by their ephemeral nature, damage from modern development and the limited artefactual, epigraphic or archaeological evidence associated with them. This research focuses on a case study of eight cairns and adjacent courts at the Middle Kingdom carnelian mine of Stelae Ridge in the Gebel el-Asr quarries in southern Egypt. While accepting previous interpretations of the cairn-courts as ritual structures created for the worship of local divinities, this research sought a fuller interpretation of the site in its landscape context and a more nuanced understanding of the structures, their chronological development and the decisions which governed their location and layout. This was achieved through systematic visibility analysis of the eight cairn-courts with geographic information system (GIS) software, which provided new data concerning the patterns of visibility associated with the structures. Interpretation of these patterns in the context of the archaeological and textual evidence from the cairn-courts, practical experience of visibility at the site and evidence from the wider cultural context provided a new and more detailed understanding of the site. Stelae Ridge was chosen because cairns upon it made highly visible landmarks, particularly for people travelling south towards the other sites in the Gebel el-Asr gneiss quarrying region. Initially practical, the Stelae Ridge cairns also developed a ritual function, creating tension between the highly visible cairns and the secluded ritual courts, and suggesting that the cairn-building process became ritualised. By the end of the cairn-building period, in the reign of Amenemhat III, new cairns were constructed in less visible positions, suggesting that the ritual aspects of the cairn-courts had largely subsumed their earlier practical function as landmarks. This type of GIS research has never been undertaken on Egyptian archaeological sites and previous interpretations of visibility in Egyptian contexts have been limited. The detailed interpretation of the Stelae Ridge cairn-courts achieved here, shows that the technology and approach applied to this research can make a meaningful contribution to the investigation of other similar non-formal structures, and at Egyptian sites in general. It also reveals that GIS visibility analysis can answer relevant archaeological questions, when employed as a tool for data generation and properly contextualised with other evidence from the site.

This study will compare two prominent goddesses from the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, Athena and Minerva. The purpose is to explore what differences and likenesses the two goddesses have with each other, to see if a major distinction can be made between the two using mythological descriptions. The reason for the study is to show to what extent the Roman goddess Minerva had her own mythological background, attributes and character as distinct from that of Athena.  In academia the difference between Athena’s and Minerva’s characteristics are vague and unclear. Minerva’s Roman mythological background is often hard to point out since the Romans borrowed several mythological views of the gods and goddesses from the Greek perspective of the gods. With this comparison one will be able to more clearly know how the Romans viewed Athena’s counterpart by comparing the main Greek and Roman mythical description of the two. The materials used to compare the two will comprise of the Iliad, and the Aeneid. The fact that the ancient religions of Greece and Rome were different concerning their gods' character and place in the mythology of each culture is at times overlooked, albeit recognized. At instances they are simply lumped together as one and the same even though major differences might exist between them and the way they were viewed in their respective cultures. This habit of treating the gods in the respective sphere of Greek and Roman as the same is problematic because it takes away our understanding of them as gods from different religious cultures. This is particularly the case in our unconscious mind when we study Greek and Roman religion. The goal of this study is to identify what differences can be found and thereby get a clearer understanding of the similarities or differences between Athena and Minerva.

Orientador: Andrea Lucia Dorini de Oliveira Carvalho Rossi / Banca: Ricardo Gião Bortolotti / Banca: Fabio Vergara Cerqueira / Resumo: Em finais do século IV a.C., as fronteiras socioculturais do mundo grego já haviam sido abertas por Alexandre Magno, as poleis já não tinham a mesma autonomia que outrora, o demos já não estava mais absorto nos assuntos públicos e a religiosidade conseguia manter a duras penas sua identidade tradicional pátria. O filósofo Epicuro foi fruto desse contexto e, como tal, esforçou-se para suprir a alma humana com princípios que pudessem ainda lhe elevar ao Olimpo. Contudo, mesmo pregando o apolitismo, sendo um espírito humanista e cosmopolita, não se pode dizer que se absteve da prática politiké. Este termo grego é um adjetivo que faz referência à politeía, a "prática da cidadania", cujo campo, diferentemente da contemporaneidade, abrangia o espaço da política e da religiosidade. O mestre do Jardim, de modo aparentemente contraditório, orientava seus discípulos a exercitarem sua cidadania e, como cidadão de Atenas, anunciava suas participações nos principais festivais públicos da polis. Assim, a proposta desta dissertação lança a análise à compreensão do campo politikós do Jardim a partir dos valores que o estruturaram e sob a problemática da abalada piedade do período. A ruptura de Epicuro com o platonismo, que fez parte de sua formação filosófica juvenil, mostra-se decisiva para o entendimento de sua postura politiké e é esta a hipótese de que parte o estudo. / Abstract: At the end of the fourth century BC, the socio-cultural boundaries of the Greek world had been opened by Alexander the Great, the poleis no longer had the same autonomy that once, the demo was no longer absorbed in public affairs, religion, the hard way could maintain their traditional identity homeland. The philosopher Epicurus was the result of that context and as such trengthening to meet the human soul with principles that could still elevate him to Olympus. However, even the apolitical preaching, being a humanist and cosmopolitan, you can not say who abstained from the politiké practice. This Greek word is an adjective that refers to politeía, "the practice of citizenship", the field, unlike the contemporary, covering the space of politics and religion. The Master's Garden, so seemingly contradictory, directed his followers to exercise their citizenship and, as a citizen of Athens, announced its participation in major public festivals of the polis. The proposal of this dissertation introduces the analysis to the understanding of politikós field the Garden from the values in the structured and the problem of shaken piety of the period. The rupture of Epicurus with Platonism, which was part of his philosophical youth, seems crucial to understanding his politiké stance and this hypothesis is that part of the study. / Mestre

This thesis explores the composition and arrangement of Martial’s twelve-book series, the Epigrams. I investigate the way in which key themes combine to create a pseudo-narrative for the reader to follow which connects not only individual books but the series as a whole. This twelve-book series creates an ’anti-epic’, something which is meant to be considered as a whole and read, and reread, as such. In the course of investigating the inter- and intratextual links within the Epigrams, we see how Martial’s corpus instructs its reader on how (and even where) to read the text. In doing so Martial is engaging with a literary discourse at the end of the first century on different patterns of reading. The key themes explored, oral sex and os impurum, food and dining, and a literary theme comprised of reading and writing, all form part of this programmatic literary instruction to the reader. I have identified the importance of ’orality’ within the Epigrams as part of the defined method of reading. Applying concepts from Reader-Response theory,and thinking about the way readers read, we can see that Martial’s books of epigrams are more than the sum of their parts.

Over one hundred and seventy maps and plans are preserved from the ancient Near East, drawn on clay tablets or inscribed in stone, though a full study of all the available cartographic material from Mesopotamia has never before been undertaken. This thesis offers a critical analysis of these maps and plans, with particular focus on their graphic conventions, typology and function in Near Eastern society. The text on many of these maps is also undeciphered and a number of examples are translated here for the first time, including an unpublished map of an irrigation network in the Schøyen Collection. By examining all this material in a single study, it becomes clear that there was a coherent documentary genre in Mesopotamia which was cartographic in nature, and which served a variety of administrative and planning purposes. The Near Eastern cartographic corpus is also contextualised within the wider history of cartography, so that its place in the global development of graphic mapping can be better understood.