Karia, a region in southwest Asia Minor, was inhabited by a people native to Anatolia and probably of Luwian origin. Documents in the Karian language, only recently deciphered, remain scarce and usually unforthcoming. In the past, various scholarly attempts at extricating indigenously Karian cultural or religious elements from Greek sources have met with mixed results, and what constitutes Karian ethnicity remains difficult to define. This dissertation is a contribution to the now growing understanding of that question. It offers an edition, with extended commentary, of a series of stone inscriptions from Karia written in Greek, and dating from the 6th to the 1st centuries BC. These texts, all of which are cui tic regulations, some published more than fifty ago, others newly discovered during the last decade, are analysed thoroughly with the aim of illuminating distinctive aspects of religious life in Karia. While avoiding the theoretical pitfalls of earlier scholarship, notably the question of indigeneity, this study demonstrates that it is possible to use Greek sources, including the inscriptions presented herein, to attempt at least a partial elucidation of the particular and defining characteristics of religious phenomena in ancient Karia.

The Early Helladic period in the Peloponnese (c. 3100 -2000 BC) is traditionally viewed as a phase of incipient hierarchical social organisation. This interpretation rests with a series of socio-economic developments perceived to represent an increased socio-economic complexity over that visible during the Late and Final Neolithic, including the appearance of organised, highly-socialised burial practices, a monumental architectural tradition, a non-uniform shift in Peloponnesian settlement patterns, the advent of sealing practices, an expansion of overland and maritime trade relationships and an increased visibility for metallurgical practice and Other specialist technologies. The second phase of the period, Early Helladic (E!"!) Il, and particularly so its later stages, is seen to represent a socio-cultural apex for the Early Helladic period and that for which the existence of elite groups on the Early Bronze Age Greek mainland -: has been most fervently proposed. There is a persistent belief that these dynamic multi-scale changes represent correlative developments articulated within a coherent and contemporary 'system' of social behaviours, within which social hierarchy was present from the start or out of which it quickly developed. Through the analysis of infant and adult burial practices, regional settlement activity and the use of monumental architecture in multiple modes of social interaction, this thesis demonstrates that a far more complex situation is evident. One in which systemic centralisation of 'elite' behaviours can be largely deconstructed in favour of temporally- and spatially-specific developments resulting from inter-group interaction or the particular geological, geographical or socio-political position of the study area. Increasingly accurate artefactual chronologies have allowed the identification of local and regional variation in behaviour which challenge existing ideas of 'hierarchy' and its operation in the Early Bronze Age Peloponnese, and suggests instead that the evident complexity of the period may find its origins in non-stratified communal and inter-communal action.

This investigation focuses on the Athenian navy, by which I mean the state-owned fleet of triremes. The study covers the years between 480 and 322 BC while Athens did possess a fleet in earlier years, it was in this period that it became an institution of the highest importance. The work is divided into three parts. Firstly, a systematic review of the operations of the Athenian navy, along with case study of naval activity around Naupactos, which brings up general debates regarding the nature of Athenian imperialism, the scale and nature of naval activity, and the experiences of the crew. Also in this first part, the diversity amongst the crew in terms of both social and professional status will receive attention. The second section seeks to explore the extent and nature of the link between the navy and the democracy. I shall look at the evidence for the participation of naval people in democratic politics at Athens, and the extent to which the policies and decisions of the Assembly can be viewed as favouring the trireme crews. One particularly important example of the trireme crews playing an active political role concerns the events on the island of Samos in 411 BC, when the men of the fleet constituted themselves as a democracy, independent of the oligarchy that had recently taken over in Athens. The third part of the study concerns the ideology of the navy. The first task will be to investigate whether the crewman can be fairly described as staunch democrats, and then to tackle the wider ideology and characteristics of the navy. It is preferable to speak of intersecting ideologies within the navy, an institution manned by slaves, foreigners, citizens and mercenaries, accompanied by armed men and all led by wealthy liturgist captains.

Two stones that form a part of the spolia on the Little Metropolis church (Aghios Eleutherios) in central Athens consist of a frieze depicting a calendar year. The thesis begins with a Preface that discusses the theoretical approaches used. An Introduction follows which, for reference, presents the 41 images on the frieze using the 1932 interpretation of Ludwig Deubner. After evaluating previous studies in Chapter 1, the thesis then presents an exploration of the cultural aspects of time in ancient Greece (Chapter 2). A new analysis of the frieze, based on ancient astronomy, dates the frieze to the late Hellenistic period (Chapter 3); a broad study of Hellenistic calendars identifies it as Macedonian (Chapter 4), and suggests its original location and sponsor (Chapter 5). The thesis presents an interpretation of the frieze that brings the conclusions of these chapters together, developing an argument that includes the art, religion and philosophy of Athenian society contemporary with the construction of the frieze. Given the date, the Macedonian connection and the link with an educational establishment, the final Chapter 6 presents an interpretation based not on the addition of individual images but on the frieze subject matter as a whole. This chapter shows that understanding the frieze is dependent on a number of aspects of the world of artistic connoisseurship in an elite, educated audience of the late Hellenistic period. Important is an awareness of their intellectual appreciation of the perfection of the cosmos and the links between this comprehension of a rational domain and religion. Coupling their wonder at these two spheres with the custom for enjoying enigmatic pieces of work leads to a conclusion that the frieze attempts to relate religion and astronomy, rather than present a straight-forward calendrical list of events.

My thesis presents a significant new understanding of ‘sacrifice’ and demonstrates the applicability of a cognitive-informed approach. I begin by outlining my methodology and then discuss how 'sacrifice' has been approached by scholars up until the present day. I demonstrate the emergence of the term ‘sacrifice’ in a particular cultural milieu that is not reflective of ancient experience. I then address the issue of 'sacrifice' through the lens of the 'other', focusing specifically on Herodotus and the range of issues he does, or does not, show interest in when discussing 'barbarian' practices. I then continue to deconstruct the modern category of 'sacrifice' in my next two chapters, where I analyse the evidence for the main range of practices involving the ritual killing of animals as well as so-called 'bloodless offerings'. I demonstrate, for example, the way 'sacrifice' can be broken down into smaller elements, how difficult it is to draw simple lines between different kinds of ritual activity and how the same or similar elements are used in different contexts. I then dedicate a chapter in turn to my two main approaches: an approach based on sensory analysis and an approach based on cognitive ritual theories. These correspond to emic (insider) and etic (outsider/modern scholar) perspectives and are used to supplement each other's conclusions and mitigate each other's weaknesses. The emic perspective emphasises the largely conscious, culture-specific, sensory and purposeful whereas the etic approach highlights the mainly unconscious, cross-cultural and automatic. In both instances, however, the emphasis is on the experiential nature of 'sacrifice'. I show that ‘sacrifice' is far more complicated than has been generally understood and multiple interpretations are necessary, both traditional and cognitive. Although an appreciation of cognitive experience, emotion and sensory perception is necessary to explain ‘sacrifice’, these aspects have been largely neglected by modern scholars.

This thesis is a socio-cultural study of the Greek gymnasion in the Hellenistic period: its development, the factors that underpinned its adoption, and the role of native educational practices in that process. Focusing on the Seleukid and Ptolemaic kingdoms, it presents a parallel study of the gymnasion in each. It investigates the motives behind its adoption, the differences between gymnasia, the networks of contacts that were constructed through them, and their impact on the opening up of the institution to non-Greeks. Chapter 1 sets out the research framework and presents the findings of recent scholarship on the gymnasion and on the participation of non-Greeks. It gives an account of the sources, the problems of the evidence, the methodology, and the research questions. Chapter 2 begins with an account of the types of cities and other settlements that fostered the institution of the gymnasion, highlighting how their diversity influenced its diffusion and maintenance. Next the military and cultural roles of the gymnasion are reviewed and conclusions drawn about the variety of educational programmes it offered and its role as a unifying element in elite society. Chapter 3 presents the network of interpersonal relations created in gymnasia. The first section presents rulers’ policy and demonstrates the variable picture of royal benefaction and communities’ reciprocation of royal goodwill. The next examines the internal community of the gymnasion, the roles of gymnasiarchs, and relations between various groups of participants. Chapter 4 examines the participation of non-Greeks and the impact of Greek education upon non-Greek communities. It proposes a new approach to the gymnasion, viewing it as a continuation of pre-existing concepts of education. It views the cultural borrowings and common educational elements among ancient civilizations as laying the foundation for a cultural bridge between Greeks and non-Greeks in the gymnasion.

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This thesis proposes the reading of medieval chronicles, specifically those of the crusades, for their medical content. The crusades left a mark on the historical record in the form of dozens of narrative sources, but texts such as these are rarely considered as sources for medical history. Chapter 1 suggests how chronicles can be used to discover how medical knowledge permeated the literate society of the Middle Ages, and at the same time, by reading the crusader chronicles in a medical mode, to learn more about the lived experience of crusaders and the narrative art of crusader chroniclers. Chapter 2 responds to Roy Porter’s highly-influential concept of ‘the patient’s view’ by engaging with critiques of this concept and developing a method to apply it to medieval sources, ‘the chronicler’s-eye view’, demonstrated through a linguistic survey of the identity of sick crusaders and crusaders who offered medical care. The next three chapters take the ‘chroniclers’-eye view’ of the experience of sick crusaders in three spatial and military contexts. Chapter 3 shows how the crusader march could engender poor health by exposing the travelling crusader to different environments, while Chapter 4 explores conditions for crusaders in port and at sea. Chapter 5 is a detailed examination of the health of crusaders during siege engagements. Finally, chapter 6 shows how the health of a particular facet of crusading society, the crusader leader, had significance for the leader himself and those who followed him. Throughout the key focus is on how the health of crusaders was represented by contemporary chronicles and what narrative significance is revealed by reading these texts for their medical content.

The standard view of Greek tyranny is that it was a unique phenomenon in the ancient Greek world, representing neither continuity nor a long-lived institution. The turannoi are generally described as illegitimate leaders who seized power with the support of the lower classes, usurping the rule of the aristocrats. This school of thought locates the origins of Greek tyranny in the supposed changes in the economic and social climate around the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. Although the image of the tyrant as a populist leader has come under attack in recent years, there has been no attempt to challenge the theory that tyranny was a new phenomenon in the seventh and sixth centuries. This thesis contends that the turannoi were not a new form of ruler born from the supposed turmoil of this period. In reality, the word turannos came to represent a new way of thinking about an old style of leadership. This thesis shows that the Greek tyrants represented a continuation of the form of leadership practised by the Homeric basileis. As new ideas about law and order were formed in the seventh century, such as limited terms of office and magistrates with divided powers, these basileis began to be seen as a negative force by those engaging with the new political concepts and institutions. This change in attitude caused the traditional basileis to become the polar opposite of what was thought to be good for the polis, and not at all compatible with eunomia. Their apparent irreverence towards dikaiosune was at odds with the political atmosphere of the Archaic and Classical Greek polis. These rulers were not seen as representing continuity or a traditional form of rule, but became abhorrent to those practising the new ways of law and politics, attracting the label turannos.

This thesis sets out to explore whether the Greeks had a concept of economics and whether it is appropriate to talk about the polis economy. These issues are explored, first by studying Greek coinage and economic practices related to polis public finance and, second, by studying Greek historians' understanding of economics. In the latter case, we consider Herodotus' treatment of the economics of the Persian Wars as well as Thucydides' and Xenophon's treatment of the economics of the Peloponnesian War. From the study of economics in Greek historiography, it is maintained that Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon were not only interested in economics but also understood war economics. This is due to the dominance of naval warfare especially in the last years of the Peloponnesian War, which resulted in the monetization of the polis economy. However, we claim that the above historians in varying degrees failed to encapsulate the ramifications of the polis economy and its complexity, because there is a disparity between the reality of the polis economy and its interpretation by the historians. Thus any reconstruction of the polis economy and of the rationale for economic practices based on fifth century Greek historiography is limited and insufficient. It is for this reason that we have studied Greek coinage and certain economic practices employed by the polis to manage public finances, finance public expenditure and deal with economic crises. From this study, we argue that the polis economy was a rational and independent institution operating within the polis. In a nutshell, the main conclusion of this thesis is that although the understanding of economic factors was 'embedded' in the prevailing ideology of wealth and money, there was indeed a polis economy as an independent institution.