The insular nature of the Maltese archipelago provides a unique opportunity to explore trade and cultural change from the Neolithic to the Bronze Ages in the central Mediterranean. I hypothesize that, during the period in which the Maltese islands were experiencing a form of isolation—owing either to their distance from Sicily and other populated regions, to the collective formation of an inwardly-focused culture, or to a combination of these factors—it is unlikely that pottery played a significant role as either an import or export in the archipelago’s exchange relationships with other communities in the central Mediterranean. I accordingly propose that ceramics were only significant in the interaction networks between Malta and its neighbors during periods when the archipelago was culturally connected to Sicily. Except for a limited number of archaeometric studies (Barone et al. 2015; Molitor 1988; Mommsen et al. 2006), analysis of similarities among ceramic wares produced in Malta and elsewhere that allow archaeologists to draw conclusions about the nature of Malta’s connectivity to other communities has been based on macroscopic observation. The present study builds on the few archaeometric studies by determining the provenance of ceramic samples based on their trace elemental composition. Included in this study were both clay samples and ceramic artifacts representing each of Malta’s chronological phases from the Neolithic to the Bronze Ages. Specifically, in order to address the question of the role that pottery played in the prehistoric trade of the Maltese islands, 392 Maltese ceramic sherds were analyzed using a Bruker III-V handheld portable X-ray fluorescence device, which revealed the relative abundance of six trace elements, namely thorium, rubidium, strontium, yttrium, zirconium, and niobium. The trace elemental composition of the Maltese pottery was compared with that of 18 Sicilian ceramic sherds and clay samples from both Malta and Sicily. The results of this research support my hypothesis in part, suggesting that neither ceramics nor raw clay materials played a significant role in overseas trade during Malta’s period of cultural isolation, which extended from the Ġgantija phase to the end of the Tarxien phase. On the other hand, ceramics played a more active role in Malta’s interaction networks during periods of connectivity with Sicily, for instance in the Neolithic Age. This study also provides the first chemical evidence that Malta exported pottery to Sicily during the Bronze Age and that Malta’s contact with Mycenaeans was indirect in nature. The findings presented here thus contribute to understanding Malta’s role in trade and interaction networks from the Neolithic to the Bronze Ages and point to new approaches to exploring the cultural change that becomes apparent in the Maltese Temple Period.

The diploma thesis focuses on didactic and historical analysis of history textbooks used during the Communist totalitarian regime at secondary schools in Czechoslovakia republic between 1948-1989. Goal of this thesis was to find out if there were any changes of historical events interpretation of Classical antiquity in consideration of political development in the country. The theoretical part consists of brief political development and development of education in Czechoslovakia in observed period. The practical part deals with the analysis and the comparison of textbooks from totalitarian and present era with emphasis on didactics and content. I concluded that interpretative texts influenced by the communist ideology were more focused on social problems in contemporary society. Textbooks were also focused on slavery issue, especially their hard life and described passed slave rebellions. This is most obvious in textbooks published in the 1950s. Keywords: history textbooks, antiquity, secondary school, communism, Czechoslovakia, education, 20th century

This study explores the Greeks' experience of the Dioskouroi before the arrival of the Romans, stimulated by Cicero's assertion (Cic. Nat.D. 3.15(39)) that by his time they were worshipped widely in Greece, possibly more than the Olympians: from the archaeological evidence, a surprising claim. The task is complicated by the brothers' different incarnations in different places and at different times, and the variability and patchiness of the evidence for the period, from Homeric times to c. 146 BC. To address this (explained in Chapter 1), the study is designed around examining the evidence in selected locations over time, with an underlying theme of comparing the archaeological with the literary evidence, much of which is Roman. An overview of the evidence from literature, images and buildings sets the stage (Chapter 2). The association of Kastor and Polydeukes with 'Lakedaimon' in the literature, from Homer onwards, led the study to focus primarily on Sparta and the Peloponnese (Chapter 3), looking closely also at Sparta's near neighbours, Messene and Argos. It then looks at evidence from Thera, Kyrene and Naukratis (Chapter 4), in order to include some of the earliest material evidence we have of cult of the Dioskouroi in Greek settlements, which also have associations with Sparta and Lakonia; evidence from Thasos is included too. The final chapter considers the findings and assesses the usefulness of the methodology. The paucity of architectural evidence for major monuments and buildings specifically dedicated to the Dioskouroi, except in centres where Greeks gathered from different places for trade or religious reasons, may be explained if the primary location of their cult was the individual household, buildings only being needed for dedications to the brothers by Greeks away from home. It could also explain the seeming mismatch between Cicero's statement and the archaeological record.

The origins of kingship have typically been accepted as a natural or inevitable development by scholars. The purpose of this thesis is to question that assumption. This work will re-examine the origins of early Anglo-Saxon kingship through a coherent and systematic survey of the available and pertinent archaeological and historical sources, addressing them by type, by period and as their varying natures require. The thesis begins with the archaeological evidence. ‘Elite’ burials, such as Mound One, Sutton Hoo, will be ranked according to their probability of kingliness. This process will point to elite burial as being a regionally-specific, predominately-seventh-century, phenomenon of an ideologically-aware, sophisticated and established political institution. Consequently, elite burial cannot be seen as an indication of the origins of kingship, but can instead be interpreted as a development or experiment within kingship. Analysis of ‘elite’ settlements, such as Yeavering, and numismatic evidence, will lead to similar conclusions. Further, consideration of various other settlement types – former Roman military sites in Northern Britain, former Roman Towns, and enclosed settlements – will point to various potential origins of Anglo-Saxon kingship in the form of continuities with previous Roman, Romano-British or British power structures. The thesis will go on to consider the historical sources. Those of the fifth and sixth centuries, primarily Gildas’s De excidio et conquestu Britanniae, point to several factors of note. The cessation of formal imperial rule over Britain following c.410 effectively created a power vacuum. Various new sources of political power are observable attempting to fill this vacuum, one of which, ultimately, was kingship. Through analogy with contemporary British kingdoms, it is possible to suggest that this development of kingship in England may be placed in the early sixth, if not the fifth, centuries. This would make the origins of Anglo-Saxon kingship significantly earlier than typically thought. This kingship was characterised by the conduct of warfare, its dependence on personal relationships, and particularly by its varying degrees of status and differing manifestations of power covered by the term king. Further details will be added to this image through the narrative and documentary sources of the seventh and early eighth centuries. These predominately shed light on the subsequent development of kingship, particularly its growing association with Christianity. Indeed, the period around c.600 can be highlighted as one of notable change within Anglo-Saxon kingship. However, it is possible to point to the practice of food rents, tolls and the control of resources serving as an economic foundation for kingship, while legal intervention and claimed descent from gods also provide a potential basis of power. Several characteristics of seventh- and early-eighth-century kingship will also be highlighted as being relevant to its origins – the conduct of warfare and the exercise of over-kingship – relating to the general propensity for amalgamation through conquest. Other trajectories are also highlighted, specifically continuity from previous Roman and British entities and the development of ‘pop-up’ kingdoms. The overall result is one in which long-term amalgamation and short-term disintegration and re-constitution were equally in evidence, set against the wider context of broad regional continuities. Overall, therefore, the thesis will not fully resolve the issue of the origins of Anglo-Saxon kingship, but it does offer a means to re-frame discussion, explore the social and economic underpinnings of kingship and assess its primacy as an institution within early Anglo-Saxon England.

Dans la littérature grecque archaïque et classique, l'exil apparait et évolue dans des contextes politiques déterminants. Du VIIe au IVe siècle avant J.-C., à travers les régimes tyranniques et oligarchiques, mais aussi durant la démocratie, c'est une mesure à la fois punitive et préventive qui sert à maintenir un pouvoir en place, tendant à évoluer vers une modération des expulsions, à travers notamment l'ostracisme, tout en étant de plus en plus encadrée par la législation. L'exil peut également être une démarche volontaire pour fuir les malheurs de l'existence, échapper à un procès ou encore s’éloigner d'une cité corrompue. Au-delà de cet ancrage politique, les représentations de l'exil et des exilés participent à un imaginaire riche qui est exploité dans tous les genres littéraires de cette période. Ces représentations font naitre une réflexion sur l'histoire et l’état de la démocratie, ainsi que sur la dimension métaphorique de l'exil. De plus, les malheurs de l'exil, les plaintes ou la souillure qui lui sont associées côtoient des représentations moins attendues, telles que celle d'une communauté active et vindicative d’exilés ou encore celle d’archétypes du bon ou du mauvais exilé. L'exil prend souvent fin lorsque l'on a intégré une terre d'accueil ou que l'on est rappelé dans son pays d'origine, mais peut tout aussi bien être à perpétuité et parfois perdurer au-delà de la mort. Enfin, l'abondance de ces représentations, autant que de son vocabulaire, fait de l'exil une image propre à illustrer des concepts politiques et philosophiques de premier plan dans la pensée grecque. / In archaic and classical Greek literature, exile is shown to evolve within determining political contexts. From the VIIth to the IVth century B.C., through tyrannical and oligarchical regimes, but also during a period of democracy, it is both a punitive and preventive measure which is used to maintain an authority in power, tending to evolve towards a moderation of expulsions, notably through ostracism, while being more and more regulated by legislation. Exile may also be a deliberate move to flee away from life's woes, escape from a trial or even get away from a corrupt city. Beyond this political anchoring, the representations of exile and of exiled people take part in a rich imagined world which is exploited in all the literary genres at that time. These representations give life to reflection on history and the status of democracy, as well as on the metaphoric dimension of exile. Furthermore, the woes of exile, the grievance or the pollution which are associated with it go along with less expected representations, such as one of an active and vindictive society of exiled people or even one of archetypes of the good or the bad exiled person. Exile often comes to an end when one integrates a host haven or when one is called back to one's country of origin, but may as well be for the rest of one's life and sometimes continue after death. Eventually, the abundance of these representations, as well as the vocabulary associated with it, makes exile become an image suitable for the illustration of the leading political and philosophical concepts in Greek thought.

La reconnaissance du christianisme comme religion de l’Empire romain eut pour conséquence, au début du Ve siècle, la suppression radicale du culte païen, tel que l’atteste la Constitution Sirmondienne 12 de l’empereur Honorius, datée du 25 décembre 407. La promulgation de cette loi provoqua de violentes émeutes de la part des païens de Calama. Ils s’insurgeaient contre une décision qui niait maintenant une tradition multiséculaire qui avait assuré jusque-là le salut et la prospérité de l’Empire. Prenant la défense de ses concitoyens, Nectarius s’adressa alors à Augustin pour que celui-ci intervienne auprès des autorités impériales afin d’obtenir l’atténuation de peines encourues par les coupables. Nectarius plaça sa démarche sous l’autorité de Cicéron, la justifia fondamentalement par son patriotisme municipal, et montra, au passage, la plus grande aptitude du paganisme à exprimer le lien traditionnel entre religion et devoir civique. Augustin qui entra volontiers dans ce débat, se référa lui aussi à Cicéron, à d’autres auteurs classiques et à la Bible. Cette démarche lui permit d’articuler exigences morales de sa foi et idéologie patriotique romaine, et de mettre aussi en évidence le loyalisme politique des chrétiens. Cet échange est original, car il constitue un véritable dialogue théologico-politique, rendu possible grâce au même univers culturel auquel appartenaient Nectarius et Augustin. / The recognition of Christianity as the official religion of the roman empire resulted, at the beginning of the fifth century, in the radical abolition of the pagan cult, as testified in the Sirmondian Constitution 12 of Emperor Honorius, dated 25th December 407.The promulgation of this law triggered violent riots by the pagans of Calama. They rebelled against a decision that denied a multi-secular tradition that brought, until then, peace and prosperity to the Empire. Defending his fellow citizens, Nectarius addressed Augustin so that he intervenes with the imperial authorities in order to obtain a reduction of punishment against the culprits. Nectarius put his action under the Cicero’s authority, justified it fundamentally by his municipal patriotism, and showed at this occasion, the better capacity of paganism to express the link between religion and civil duty. Augustin who willingly joined this debate, also referred to Cicero, to classic authors and to the Bible. This approach allowed him to articulate moral duties of his faith and the roman patriotic ideology, and to highlight the political loyalty of the Christians. This sparring match is unusual as it constitutes an authentic theological-political dialogue made possible thanks to the similar cultural environment where Nectarius and Augustin both belonged.

Notre étude porte sur le secteur commercial qui, dans l'Antiquité romaine, fournissait contre paiement un accueil provisoire, consistant en un hébergement et/ou des prestations de restauration et de débit de boissons avec consommation sur place; elle se concentre sur la partie occidentale du monde romain, de la période médio-républicaine au début de l'Antiquité tardive (IIIe s. av. J.-C.-IVe s. ap. J.-C.). Cette activité, que nous rangeons sous le titre générique d'accueil mercantile, jouait dans le contexte de l'Occident romain un rôle essentiel dans la gestion des mobilités humaines, en dépit de la déconsidération dont elle faisait l'objet, notamment de la part des élites qui privilégiaient, pour se faire héberger hors domicile, les réseaux d'hospitalité gratuite. Le premier chapitre de cette étude est consacré à une approche terminologique des questions traitées, qui vise à préciser la construction de notre objet d'étude et à poser les enjeux culturels du sujet, dont le lexique latin se fait le reflet. Dans un deuxième temps, une analyse synthétique des corpus textuel et archéologique permet de proposer une définition plus directement romaine de cette activité commerciale d'accueil, que les Romains associaient en particulier à la figure générique du caupo, de l'aubergiste entendu dans une perspective englobante. Notre troisième chapitre est dédié à une étude des comportements économiques et commerciaux des professionnels de l'accueil et de l'encadrement juridique auquel leur activité était sujette. Les quatrième et cinquième chapitres s'intéressent enfin à l'identité de ces professionnels et de leurs clients ainsi qu'aux représentations dont ils faisaient l'objet. / The research presented in this study is based in the context of Roman Antiquity, and is concerned with the commercial provision of temporary accommodation and/or catering, with consumption taking place on the premises. In this study, I focus on the western part of the Roman Empire over a long period of time: from the middle-republican period to early Late Antiquity (IIIrd century B.C.-IVe century AD). I shed light on the fact that in spite of social and cultural prejudices against the commercial accommodation industry (emanating especially from members of the elite who preferred to use free hospitality networks when they were abroad), this activity played a crucial role in the development of human mobility through the Western Roman world. The first chapter is dedicated to a lexical approach to this activity, and is aimed at clarifying the limits of the object of research and at introducing some of the cultural issues of this topic. In the second chapter, I develop a global analysis of the textual and archaeological corpus, and propose a definition in a Roman point of view of the activity studied, mostly associated with the generic figure of the caupo (the innkeeper in a broad perspective). The third chapter addresses the economic and commercial behaviour of the professionals involved in the accommodation business, and the juridical frame of their activity. The fourth and fifth chapters focus on both the professionals and their patrons; the approach taken considers their social and juridical statuses, and the representations of which they were the object.

Faute de travaux scientifiques, Constantine, capitale de l’Est algérien, a quelque peu disparu de la bibliographie archéologique ces dernières décennies. Il est vrai que l’étude archéologique en milieu urbain n’est pas aisée. Pour palier cette absence, cet exposé propose un état des lieux des travaux antérieurs sur le sujet, afin de mettre en place l’ébauche d’une recherche sur la topographie urbaine de la ville, dans l’Antiquité. Le point de départ de ce travail correspond à une prise de conscience de l’éparpillement des sources et de la difficulté à les consulter. Ainsi, regrouper les sources anciennes et récentes était nécessaire pour créer un répertoire de notices de découvertes, agrémentées ou non de planches. Ces notices forment chacune un site à reporter, dans la mesure du possible, sur une carte, elle-même divisée en plusieurs parties, correspondant à diverses sections, mises en place pour faciliter l’organisation de cette étude. Ce catalogue, première évaluation du potentiel archéologique de Constantine, permet finalement former quelques hypothèses qui pourront servir d’appuis aux travaux archéologiques à venir. / For lack of scientific works, Constantine, capital of eastern Algeria, has somewhat disappeared from the archeological bibliography these last decades. It is right to say that the archeological study in urban areas isn’t that easy. To overcome this lack of research, this presentation offers an inventory of fixtures of the previous works on the subject, in order to produce the outline of a research on the urban topography of the city, in Antiquity. The starting point of this work represents an awareness of the dispersal of the sources and the difficulty to consult them. Thus, gathering the old and the recent sources was necessary to create a notebook of discovery notes, accompanied or not by «boards». These notes each form a site to copy out, when possible on a map, that is divided in several parts, corresponding to different sections, made up to facilitate the organisation of this study. This catalog, first estimation of the archological potential of Constantine eventually allows us to establish a few hypothesis that will be used as a support for further archelogical research.

Longtemps considérée comme une période perturbée, l’Antiquité tardive apparaît aujourd’hui comme une époque riche de changements et d’influences mêlées, induisant des problématiques d’étude multiples. Ces particularités se traduisent notamment par des spécificités dans les traitements funéraires. Afin de les restituer au mieux, une étude à la fois biologique, topographique, archéologique et historique s’impose. Nous avons choisi cette approche pluridisciplinaire pour aborder les ensembles funéraires urbains et péri-urbains de Vienne et Arles, du IIIème siècle au VIème siècle de notre ère.Le protocole d’étude s’attache à observer les caractéristiques biologiques des échantillons issus de l’ensemble des nécropoles connues, simultanément aux données taphonomiques, à l’organisation spatiale intra- et inter-sites, mais aussi à la topographie à l’échelle de la ville ou aux archives historiques. Cette approche novatrice, mettant en œuvre des outils méthodologiques originaux, s’avère pertinente et a permis de mettre en évidence les mutations et évolutions qui s’opèrent dans la gestion et la représentation des morts à la fin de l’Antiquité. Les ensembles funéraires montrent des faciès très différents en fonction de la période chronologique et il existe bien une spécificité des nécropoles du IVème siècle, entités « intermédiaires » où subsistent de nombreuses pratiques du Haut-Empire, avant la mise en place des premiers ensembles clairement chrétiens, à une époque plus tardive où l’Eglise est devenue dominante. / Long thought of as a time of social upheaval, Late Antiquity seems rather to have been a period of wide-ranging social change encompassing a mixture of influences that pose many problems for study of the period. These multiple influences affect funeral treatments of the period and studying them requires consideration of multiple lines of evidence: historical, archaeological, anthropological, and biological. We chose this multidisciplinary approach in the study of urban and peri-urban burial sites of the antic cities of Vienne and Arles from the 3rd century to the 6th century A.D.Our study protocol allows us to observe the biological characteristics of samples simultaneously to taphonomic data, spatial organization within and between sites, but also topography data or historical archives. This innovative approach, implementing original methodological tools, is relevant. It highlighted the changes in the management and the representation of the dead and Death in Late Antiquity. The burial sites show very different profiles depending on the time period and we can see specificities in the necropolis of the 4th century,” intermediate” structures where many practices of the High Empire are still used, before the establishment of new Christian structures in different places of the city, which have moved again the necropolises locations.

Cette thèse analyse la Correspondance de Jérôme comme une pratique sociale, dans sa forme littéraire et dans son contenu idéologique. Les lettres de Jérôme exposent et promeuvent l’idéal de vie ascétique qui repose sur l’expérimentation de divers types de souffrances. Le moine développe une pluralité de discours pour répondre aux besoins de la pluralité de son lectorat et des différents contextes sociaux et culturels auxquels il fait face.Les pensées philosophiques grecques et stoïciennes concevaient les pratiques ascétiques comme des entraînements à la vertu. Jérôme a dressé des parallèles entre disciplines et techniques ascétiques profanes et chrétiennes. L’ascèse hiéronymienne prend appui sur ces différentes traditions pour former un modèle de vie ascétique inédit.L’ascétisme promu par Jérôme change de forme et d’intensité entre sa jeunesse, son échec érémitique à Chalcis et sa rencontre avec le cercle de l’Aventin. Il se fait progressivement le chantre d’une ascèse présentée comme modérée et forge un nouvel ethnotype de l’ascète à partir de l’ethnotype du noble romain. Le moine tourne le dos au message évangélique et diffuse un ascétisme réservé aux nobles : dans une logique propagandiste, il produit un nouveau type de prestige spirituel qui transcende le prestige social.L’importance de la figure de l’ascète dans le discours hiéronymien pose la question de sa fonction sociale. Les grands ascètes se caractérisent par leur mépris pour les activités profanes et par leur patience face aux rigueurs et aux souffrances : ils sont indispensables à la société du IVème siècle pour susciter et préserver le dégoût des plaisirs faciles chez les fidèles. / This thesis analyzes Jerome's Correspondence as a social practice, in its literary form and in its ideological content. Jerome's letters expose and promote the ideal of ascetic life which is based on the experimentation of various types of suffering. The monk develops a plurality of discourses to meet the needs of the plurality of his readership and the different social and cultural contexts that he faces.The Greek and Stoic philosophical thoughts conceived ascetic practices as entrainments to virtue. Jerome has established parallels between philosophical and Christian ascetic disciplines and techniques. The monk’s asceticism based on these different traditions creates a new model of ascetic life.The form and the intensity of the asceticism promoted by Jerome change between his youth, his eremitical failure at Chalcis and his encounter with the circle of the Aventine. The monk progressively promotes an asceticism presented as moderate. He forges a new ethnotype of the ascetic from the ethnotype of the Roman noble. The monk turns his back on the gospel message and spreads an asceticism restricted to the nobles : his propaganda campaign produces a new type of spiritual prestige that transcends social prestige.The importance of the figure of the ascetic in Jerome’s discourse raises the question of its social function. The great ascetics are characterized by their contempt for secular activities and by their patience to face austerities and sufferings. They are essential to the society of the fourth century to arouse and preserve the disgust of easy pleasures among the faithful.