The thesis begins with an overview of views concerning the dating of Isa 24–27 and its place within the genres of apocalyptic and eschatology, before stating its aim as showing how Canaanite myths were used by the author to give future hope rooted in cultic ideals. The second chapter looks at the image of the divine warrior, with particular emphasis on the chaos enemy as the dragon/serpent/sea, and the remarkable similarities between Isa 27:1 and the Ugaritic KTU 1.5.i.1–5. A possible cultic setting of the combat myth is examined, together with the question of why the myth appears here in an eschatological manner. The following chapter discusses the Israelite and Canaanite traditions concerning the holy mountain and divine banquet. Zion motifs are compared with those of Mt. Zaphon, and the nature of cultic feasts considered in Israelite and Canaanite literature, as well as later traditions. Chapter Four argues that the verses concerning death and resurrection represented exile/oppression and restoration, at a time when ideas of resurrection and judgment after death were emerging. The Israelite imagery of Mot/Death and Sheol are examined in relation to the nature of Ugaritic Mot, showing how Canaanite traditions were used to demonstrate Yahweh’s might and the possibility of individual and universal restoration. The following chapter places Israelite religion within the context of Canaanite fertility cults and popular practices. That myth and cult are connected is the basis for the view that the themes in Isa 24–27 were passed down to the post-exilic era via cultic activities and the reuse of myths to promote Yahweh, whether the author was aware that he was using ancient, mythological ideas or not. The sixth chapter gives a short overview of hope in the Hebrew Bible, before demonstrating how the universalism of Isa 24–27 combines with the ancient mythic themes to provide an eschatological hope in an all-encompassing deity. The paper concludes that the author of these chapters deliberately used Canaanite mythology to show how the final victory, rule, and celebration of Yahweh would bring about a personal and moral victory for all nations.

This dissertation investigates one subset of the many "signs and symbols" representative of traditional Roman religion at Ostia -- its temples and sanctuaries. It uses this body of evidence to foreground a discussion of social and cultural transformation from the 3rd through 6th c. C.E. This period witnessed the decline of traditional religious practices and the rise of a more prominent Judaism and Christianity. Earlier treatments of this topic, however, have often approached the material by assembling a catalogue of buildings, documenting limited incidences of new construction or repair evidenced throughout the Late Roman town. This project, by contrast, instead of beginning with material dated to the "twilight years" of Roman Ostia, starts with the first records of excavation at Ostia Antica. It is these archaeological reports, some comprehensive, others more impressionistic, which document the eclectic nature of objects, sculpture, and architecture that were frequently found preserved throughout the town. These reports represent a new starting point for reconstructing the appearance of the Late Antique city. Drawing upon this material, each of my four chapters takes one element of the traditional landscape (the Capitolium, the so-called Temple of Hercules, the Sanctuary of Magna Mater, or the cult of Vulcan) and then interweaves one or more facets of Christianity or Judaism in order to reveal, dialectically, the dynamism of urban change. Socially and economically, Ostia itself witnessed significant changes during this time. This dissertation provides new answers to when, why, and how those changes took place. It reveals how ambitious architectural projects of the Late Roman Empire continued to achieve stature by visually engaging with both the presence and prestige of earlier monuments. Uncovering new evidence with which to challenge the concept of a late 4th c. "pagan revival," my research, in particular, suggests that accommodation of the past, not urban conflict, was a dominant social model. Finally, I suggest that a broad view of traditional and Christian festivals, from the 4th c. through 6th, shows how new cults, like those of Aurea or Monica, mother of Augustine, simultaneously preserved and transformed the city's traditions into the Early Middle Ages. / text

This is a study of a Roman legal document of unknown date and debated origin conventionally known as the Edictum Theoderici (ET). Comprised of 154 edicta, or provisions, in addition to a prologue and epilogue, the ET is a significant but largely overlooked document for understanding the institutions of Roman law, legal administration and society in the West from the fourth to early sixth century. The purpose is to situate the text within its proper historical and legal context, to understand better the processes involved in the creation of new law in the post-Roman world, as well as to appreciate how the various social, political and cultural changes associated with the end of the classical world and the beginning of the Middle Ages manifested themselves in the domain of Roman law. It is argued here that the ET was produced by a group of unknown Roman jurisprudents working under the instructions of the Ostrogothic king Theoderic the Great (493-526), and was intended as a guide for settling disputes between the Roman and Ostrogothic inhabitants of Italy. A study of its contents in relation to earlier Roman law and legal custom preserved in imperial decrees and juristic commentaries offers a revealing glimpse into how, and to what extent, Roman law survived and evolved in Italy following the decline and eventual collapse of imperial authority in the region. Such an examination also challenges long-held assumptions as to just how peaceful, prosperous and Roman-like Theoderic’s Italy really was.

La musique est étroitement liée à la pratique liturgique des Grecs de l’Antiquité. Un scrupuleux examen des sources confirme l’omniprésence de l’aulos au sein du sacrifice sanglant, un fait qui semble ne pas s’accorder avec certains propos anciens dépréciateurs de l’instrument. Grâce aux sources textuelles et surtout iconographiques, on constate que l’importance attribuée au rôle de la musique, et plus spécialement de l’aulos, dans le sacrifice varie d’une étape rituelle à l’autre. Certaines actions cérémonielles, comme la procession, s’accomplissent au son de la musique, alors que d’autres, comme l’immolation, semblent en être dépourvues. Puis, en observant quelques représentations de sacrifices humains, on remarque que la musique est abordée différemment en fonction du contexte et de la nature du rituel sacrificiel dans lequel elle s’insère. Ainsi, la façon dont on traite la musique dans les sources peut fournir des indices quant aux principes idéologiques relatifs aux différents rituels. / In Ancient Greece, music was closely linked to religious practices. In fact, scrupulous examination of sources confirms the use of the aulos in bloody sacrifices, a fact that contradicts some ancient texts which belittle the instrument. Through study of textual and iconographical sources, the importance accorded to music in sacrifices, and more specifically to the aulos, varies from one ritualistic step to another. Some ceremonial actions, like the procession, were performed with music, while others, like the actual sacrifice, were not. Furthermore, observation of some sacrifices showed that music was treated differently, according to the nature of the ritual. Therefore, the way music was dealt with in sources may provide valuable information about the ideological principals linked to various rituals.

With the end of Western Roman rule and the emergence of new polities in the medieval world, it has been assumed that the technology of mortar reverted to a weak and friable building material. However, this period brought about the implementation of large-scale construction projects that still remain as a testament to their high quality construction techniques and materials. In order to meet the needs of its growing populace, the infrastructure of the new capital city of Constantinople was bolstered by these projects, many rivaling the scale and intricacy of Imperial Rome. A prime example of this is the extensive channel networks of the fourth and fifth centuries, built in the hinterland of Constantinople to supply fresh water from springs hundreds of kilometres away. In addition, the sixth century Long Wall of Thrace was built from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara as a first line of defense against increased aggression. This project examines the tradition of monumental construction in the Late Antique and early Byzantine world through laboratory analysis of mortars and valuations of the structural makeup of the Water Supply of Constantinople and Anastasian Wall. By investigating the material technology, scale, and labour requirements of these systems, a better understanding can be gained of two of the largest building project of the early medieval period.

This study is about one of the most ubiquitous and yet little studied aspects of ancient Greek religion, the offering of so-called ‘first-fruits’ (aparchai) and tithes (dekatai) in Archaic and Classical Greece (c.700-300 B.C.). A widespread and traditional custom all over Greece and the Greek Mediterranean, the offering of ‘first-fruits’ and tithes entailed using a portion of the proceeds from a diversity of human activities (such as craft-work, fishing, trade, military expeditions) to present something to the gods. I look at the different kinds of aparchai and dekatai offered to the Greek gods by individuals and states under various circumstances, the various contexts in which the language and practice of making such offerings were used, the deployment of this religious custom in politics, and the transformation of a voluntary practice into a religious obligation. Ultimately, however, my major concern is with questions of religious psychology: why people should bring aparchai and dekatai to the gods, and what motivations and expectations they might have had. Because it was such a commonplace practice, the custom has been taken simply as a given in both ancient and modern scholarship; and no attempt has been made to explain its religious significance. By drawing on current anthropological studies of gift-giving, I argue that that aparchai and dekatai do not merely give to the gods, but give back to the gods some of the benefits granted by the divinities in the first place, reflecting first and foremost a sense of dependence on the divine. I suggest that the offering of aparchai and dekatai may be thought of as a means of settling men’s debts to, and thereby maintaining good relations with, the gods, who were considered the sources of both goods and evils. I challenge the emphasis, common in modern scholarship, on material returns as the central motive behind the act of bringing gifts to the gods. Instead I suggest that the study of gift-giving between humans and the divine should embrace the possibility that psychological feelings of dependence on and gratitude to the gods might also have been involved.

Alcibiades was one of the most dynamic and engaging figures of the Peloponnesian War. Like a chameleon, he managed to change himself to fit almost any occasion and audience; few historical figures can claim to have successfully switched allegiances as many times during a conflict. Starting as a general in Athens, he moved on to side with the Spartans, then the Persians, and then returned to Athens. Some would consider him a young and impulsive egoist, but a closer investigation indicates that he more than likely had a larger, pragmatic goal motivating his actions. This essay will aim first to establish his break from the philosophical status quo of Athens, and then to determine the nature of these larger goals. It will pivot around Alcibiades’ address to the Athenian assembly, using it in a comparative analysis of both Pericles’ Funeral Oration, and briefly supplementing it with Plato’s Alcibiades I.

The written was the world of early medieval Iberia. Literacy was limited, but textuality was extensive, in the authority conferred on text and the arrangements made to use it. Roman inheritance is manifest, in documentary and legal culture, engendering literate expectations which define the period; continuity across conquest by Visigoths and Arabs, and the weakness of states in the north of the Peninsula, must lay to rest the traditional coupling of literacy with politics which underlies the paradigm of the Middle Ages. Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, as estates expanded to surmount locality and enter communities which had made do with memory, engagement with documentation was incentivized for the laity. Organization to do so followed, at one remove: the person of the scribe, who wrote the charter and recorded all those involved in and present at it, before recycling the text back into the community by public reading. The scribe mediated the text, and as his occupation consolidated he became more fully a literate interpreter. The charter, once created, had an active afterlife of dynamic circulation, enabled by multiple and accessible archives, particularly in the hands of the clergy. Written evidence was the surest defence in case of dispute; charters were self-promoting in their mutual citation as well as practical efficacy. But they also diffused legal knowledge: as each rhetorical, pragmatic, silent, and legislative reference to written law was read aloud by the scribe, how to capitalize on its provisions became better known, so kings and counts seized the potential. For the clergy, the Bible, canon law, and monastic rules were the texts which bestowed identity, but as they interacted with the laity, they set the charter in the history of salvation, and modelled textuality to society, as their monasteries became the microcosms of its written framework.

This study will explore the similarities and differences between Alcibiades and Nicias’ speeches to the Athenian Assembly in 415 BC and Secretary Hillary Clinton and President Donald J. Trump’s first presidential debate in 2016. The ancient speeches were regarding the Sicilian Expedition, while the modern speeches focused on each candidates’ foreign policy plan regarding Syria and the Islamic State (IS). Despite the near 2,500-year difference between these two democracies, there are striking similarities between the ways their governments are structured as well as the values they uphold. I explore the significance of the fact that the Athenians and the modern-day Americans have two ostensibly functioning democracies yet the candidates whom they elected and the subsequent results were disadvantageous for the long-term sustainability of their countries. I will look at the differences between the expectations of the democratic institutions and what the outcomes of the debates were. Additionally, I compare the differences between the Athenian democracy and the American democracy.

La thèse présente la première traduction française du troisième livre du Contre Eunome de Grégoire de Nysse (fin du IVe s.), accompagnée d’une annotation consacrée principalement à l’identification des sources bibliques et profanes et à l’étude du vocabulaire. La première partie du commentaire offre une étude de l’histoire de la transmission du texte et constitue les prolégomènes à une nouvelle édition. La seconde partie est consacrée aux outils littéraires de la controverse et prête une attention particulière aux sources profanes de la polémique mise en œuvre par Grégoire. La troisième partie concerne le rôle du texte biblique dans l’écriture de Grégoire ; l’étude de plusieurs lieux exégétiques permet de montrer comment ces développements échappent pour partie à leur contexte immédiat et s’inscrivent dans un débat plus large. La thèse montre l’importance de cette œuvre dans le développement d’une écriture chrétienne de la polémique et en rassemble les principales caractéristiques. / This work proposes the first French translation of Gregory of Nyssa’s book III Contra Eunomium (end of the 4th century), with comprehensive annotation devoted to the biblical and classical sources and the vocabulary used by the author. The first part of the commentary, which is conceived as a preliminary study for a new edition, deals with the transmission of the Greek text and offers a tentative reconstruction of its textual history. The second part is a study of the literary tools put forth in the controversy and pays particular attention to classical sources. The third and last part deals with the use made of biblical citations. By examining closely some exegetical passages, we show how Gregory’s opus goes beyond the contextual frame of the controversy against Eunomius and widens the scope of debate. Our main argument is to highlight the importance of the Contra Eunomium in the development of a Christian polemical style and points out the main characteristics of this literary genre.