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In surveying the role of the bull in Minoan-Mycenaean religion greater emphasis has been laid on the Minoan side since it is easier to trace the development of the religion of an insular, uninterrupted culture; whereas in Mainland Greece it is difficult to determine whether religious beliefs are indigenous or introduced by the Minoans or invading Mycenaeans. Since we are reliant upon evidence from archaeology and Greek mythology for our knowledge of the bull in Minoan Crete, a study is made of the contact the island had with the other areas of the Eastern Mediterranean, in which the bull is known to have played a major part in religion, with a view to determining at which periods of time those countries were most likely to have influenced Minoan cults. In the four major areas concerned, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine, and Egypt the role of the bull is examined for comparative purposes, to establish what type of influences they may have exerted on Crete, and to determine the usual type of role the animal played in religion as a whole. From this survey it appears that the bull's main characteristics are its strength and fertility. Through the latter the bull became the symbol of male potency, and symbolised the fertilising power of water in the form of both rain and rivers; through the former quality it symbolised protection; while both qualities helped to make it represent the sun. In the light of this and with the help of archaeological and mythological sources, the role of the bull in Minoan-Mycenaean religion is considered under these various categories, and an examination is made of the survival of these cults into the Hellenic Period. An attempt is also made to explain the feasibility and purpose of the Minoan bull-leaping, and possible survivals of it in Greek bull sports.

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This thesis offers a critique of currently dominant approaches to the history and archaeology of the Antonine Wall, and develops an expanded place-centred perspective in which this former Roman frontier is reinvested with wider significances that derive from both its Roman past as well as its post-Roman history and archaeology. Part 1 provides a general introduction to the Antonine Wall following the traditional perspective, and draws on interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological developments to outline how this traditional perspective will be challenged through reframing the Wall as a place rather than an artefact or monument. Part 2 offers a critical genealogy of Antonine Wall discourse from the earliest accounts until the present, tracing the development of current reductionist approaches and demonstrating that the Wall has been the focus of wider concerns in the past. Part 3 focuses on particular aspects of the Antonine Wall’s post-Roman archaeology and the Wall’s role in regional myths and legends to explore alternative themes for future research and wider significances that can be integrated into new understandings of the Antonine Wall’s meaning, significance, and value as a place of memory, meaning, and cultural heritage in the present.

The present research offers the rare opportunity to compare the human remains of an ancient (3rd-1st century BC) population from the North Cemetery of Demetrias, Thessaly, and a modern (late 19th-late 20th century AD) one, the Athens Collection, from various cemeteries in Athens, Greece. Its main purpose is to explore the biological similarities and differences between the two populations and among the subsets within each one of them, as these are defined by biosocial parameters, namely sex/gender, and purely social, that is socioeconomic status. An attempt is made to associate biological with social variation through oral pathology and wear and address questions as to whether the health status of burial populations can indeed reflect socioeconomic conditions and status in life. Data analysis produced very conclusive differences between the two populations, and among sex/gender and socioeconomic status groups and suggests that dental caries, antemortem tooth loss, occlusal wear and dental enamel defects are very sensitive indicators of social position and conditions in general. Comparisons between the ancient and the contemporary population reveal that environmental, cultural and socioeconomic circumstances did not have the same effect on all oral conditions. Moreover, variations between the sexes are quite evident in Demetrias and they appear to reflect the inferior social position of both women and female infants/children. In contrast, in Athens, there is no evidence to indicate gender discrimination or favourable treatment of male infants. Social class differentiation manifests itself in the distribution of oral pathology and wear between status groups in both assemblages, but it is clearly more pronounced in Demetrias. Finally, this thesis contributes towards a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between biological and socioeconomic status and of the Hellenistic biocultural history. It also emphasises that analysis of human remains should be carefully contextualised culturally, archaeologically and historically.

This thesis explores how Eusebius of Caesarea’s ideas about demons interacted with and helped to shape his thought on other topics, particularly political topics. In doing so, it builds on and complements recent work on early Christian demonology by scholars including Gregory Smith, David Brakke and Dayna Kalleres, as well as Stuart Clark’s work on early modern demonology. Eusebius’ political thought has long drawn the attention of scholars who have identified in some of his works the foundations of later Byzantine theories of kingship. However, Eusebius’ political thought has not previously been examined in the light of his views on demons. Moreover, despite frequent references to demons throughout many of Eusebius’ works, there has, until now, been no comprehensive study of Eusebius’ views on demons, as expressed throughout a range of his works. The originality of this thesis therefore lies both in an initial examination of Eusebius’ views on demons and their place in his cosmology, and in the application of the insights derived from this to consideration of his political thought. As a result of this new perspective, this thesis challenges scholars’ traditional characterisation of Eusebius as a triumphal optimist. Instead, it draws attention to his concerns about a continuing demonic threat, capable of disrupting humankind’s salvation, and presents Eusebius as a more cautious figure than the one familiar to late antique scholarship.

The following thesis surveys the deposition and distribution of copper alloy vessels in Britain during the Roman period and then applies this data to the study of culture change and the construction of identity in the province during this time. The principal research strategy was to categorize the objects from published sources within four groups based on Depositional Context and to then examine these data-sets for patterns in geographic and temporal distribution, object form and decoration as well as patterns among the findspots where these objects were discovered. The copper alloy vessels themselves are classified using forms and typologies familiar from previous scholarship, though a new system for classifying handled pans was found necessary and is introduced in this thesis. Multiple patterns emerged within Depositional Contexts, Site Types and regional distribution relating to vessel selection and decoration which indicate a variety of practice by diverse peoples. This analysis argues that the principal function of copper alloy vessels in Roman Britain was for ablutions, whereas it has been previously proposed that most vessels were used for dining or drinking services. Additionally, the spread of copper alloy vessels was found to be so wide across the province that it was determined that this commodity was utilized and adapted by much of the population of Britain. The conclusions were then applied to the principal paradigms currently ascendant in characterizing culture change in the province. It was found that the predominant theories, which largely rely upon a dualistic view of cultural aggression and resistance, are insufficient to characterize the complex interaction between cultures in Britain and the development of an integrated and fluid material culture as expressed through the repertoire, deposition and distribution of copper alloy vessels evident during the Roman period in Britain.

The profound relationship between Alexander the Great and British political discourse has been documented in the nineteenth century (for example, Vasunia 2007 and Hagerman 2009). Yet, beyond articles covering the historiography of the Scottish Enlightenment (Briant 2005) or case studies of his particularly negative repute in post-Restoration literature (Brauer 1980 and Wild 2004), little research has been conducted into the eighteenth-century Alexander. Focussing on the period between the Restoration and the Napoleonic Wars, this thesis explores how Alexander was used in discourse on martial achievement, heroic virtue, conquest and empire in British political thought. Concomitantly, it will discuss how various discourses, writers and imitators effected the conception of Alexander. The first chapter introduces a range of political appropriations of Alexander that emerged during the Restoration. The second chapter focuses on the discourse on civic virtue in English writing from the 1690s to the 1760s, to understand why Alexander’s character and achievements were criticised. The third chapter assess the deployment of Alexander in historical writing as a vexed and protean model for thinking through the ideologies of empire, from the 1690s until the 1790s. The fourth chapter investigates the British reaction to Napoleon Bonaparte, and particularly his invasion of Egypt. A final concluding chapter provides some reflections on the repute of Alexander in the nineteenth century. The evidence used in this thesis includes acts of Alexander imitatio by British and non-British figures, a range of different types of comparatio in drama and poetry, and works of history.

There have been few studies in Ancient Near Eastern archaeology that concentrated on domestic buildings. While there is an extensive knowledge of temples and palaces much less is on record about houses. Traditional studies are biased and have paid little attention to the less spectacular residential districts. This is a serious lack in the knowledge of Mesopotamian culture, considered the importance of the house in the society, as the main space of social dynamics. Publications of Mesopotamian domestic architecture usually consist of reports from excavations and remain at this stage; this means that they tend to be limited to one site and generally lack the development of a longer-term architectural analysis. The purpose of this thesis is to address this gap, analysing the characteristics and the variations of Mesopotamian houses. Moreover the majority of the studies have not related household-level evidences to the emergence of urbanism. This research takes into consideration sites of third millennium Mesopotamia in order to analyse them as case studies. The third millennium in Mesopotamia is a critical period of early urbanisation. It is very signi cant to look at how space was used in houses to understand the culture of this period. The intent of this thesis is to identify common aspects and di erences, and relate those characteristics to the socio-economical history of the period to broaden the understanding of this interesting period in Mesopotamian culture. To examine variations and use of space seven sites were analysed from north, centre and south Mesopotamia for a total number of 68 house plans. Many methods have been utilised to analyse the evidence such as ground plan analysis, context analysis, access analysis based on Hillier and Hanson syntax model.

The thesis is concerned with the official documents (laws and decrees) preserved in the public speeches of the Demosthenic corpus (18, 21, 23, 24, 59). These documents purport to be Athenian statutes and, if authentic, would provide invaluable information about fourth-century Athenian history and institutions. The introduction gives an account of the presence of the documents in the corpora of the orators and in the manuscript tradition, summarizes previous scholarship and delineates a new methodology for analyzing the documents. A specific section within the introduction analyzes the stichometric marks found in the medieval manuscripts of the Demosthenic corpus. Through those marks we can calculate whether a section of text was or was not present in the Urexemplar of the corpus: the documents in Dem. 23 and some of those in Dem. 24 were, but the others have been inserted later. The following 4 chapters analyze in detail the documents found in Dem. 18, 19, 23, 24 and 59, also providing the text of each document as it appears in the paradosis, with an apparatus criticus. This survey reveals that those documents that were part of the stichometric edition are in general more reliable than those inserted later. By contrast, many features of these last documents, such as anachronistic expressions, formulas never attested in Attic inscriptions, inconsistencies between the documents and the orator's summaries, betray forgery. The conclusion argues that the stichometric documents have been inserted in the speeches in an Athenian environment at the beginning of the 3rd century BCE, presumably by Demochares of Leuconoe, the nephew of Demosthenes and an active politician himself. The non-stichometric documents are instead a very early product of the tradition of historical declamations and progymnasmata, witnesses of the development, side-by-side, of rhetorical education and antiquarianism.