This thesis studies how three Greek writers differentiate between each other in their texts about ancient Egypt. The three writers included in this thesis are Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch. Their texts describe Egypt and its many aspects, and the names of their texts are as following; Histories and Library of History by Herodotus and Diodorus, and De Herodoti malignitate, De Iside et Osiride and Placita Philosophorum by Plutarch.        This thesis is comparing these writers with each other using two case studies; The Nile and Egyptian cleanness for their gods. The case studies were chosen to limit this thesis upon two aspects of Egypt that the writers should have encountered if they went to Egypt. This brings a theory to light; if the writers' texts are truthfully representing Egypt or if their texts are nothing but literature constructions. This thesis is also looking at how Egyptians are portrayed by the writers with use of the theory the other.        By reading the texts and modern literature about the writers a conclusion is made. The writers are different from each other in their descriptions of Egypt. Herodotus and Diodorus view Egypt as a wonderful land with a wonderful culture. Plutarch is also portraying Egypt with respect as Herodotus and Diodorus but does at the same time view Egypt with a more negative view. This is because Plutarch believes that the Greek culture is the foremost culture in the world.        A problem with all the writers’ texts is based upon that they did not speak ancient Egyptian and could therefore not make use of all the sources presented to them. Herodotus is viewed to not even have visited Egypt. Their texts are to be looked at with a grain of salt even though they clearly tried to represent Egypt as well as they could in their texts. Their texts are to be view as a literature construction simply because the writers did not understand Egyptian and therefore relied on earlier texts about Egypt made in Greek.

This thesis offers an interpretation of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur that accounts for its popularity in fifth century Athens. The myth of the Minotaur had particular political resonance in Classical Athens because of the Minotaur’s hybrid character and eastern connotations. In the wake of the Persian wars, Theseus came to embody Athenian democratic and anti-Barbarian ideals. His canonical opponent, the Minotaur, represented the enemy of the Athenian citizen: an eastern hybrid such as the Persian/Carian/Lycian groups of Anatolia and the east. By aligning the Minotaur with his Near Eastern origins, the story of Theseus sailing to confront the Minotaur can be viewed as the story of Greeks, specifically Athenians, facing what was for them, very real threats from the east. By integrating iconographical and mythological evidence for the myths of Theseus and placing the Minotaur myth within the wider historical and political context of fifth century Athens, this thesis shows that the hybrid Minotaur was a stand in for the Persians. / Graduate

This study presents an overview of the spreading of the Protovillanovan culture on the Acropolis of San Giovenale through a typological study of the materials such as the oval huts and the ceramics of this period. Through a typological study of ceramics this study will be able to define what type of ceramic vessels are more common during the Protovillanova period. The oval huts are included in this study in order to see the size and the spreading of the proto-urban society of San Giovenale.

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Esta dissertação trata da interação entre linguagem escrita e figurativa, aproveitando um debate geral, mas concentra-se na experiência grega sobre o tema. Assim, partindo da compreensão antiga dessa aproximação, serão perseguidos os aspectos gráficos (que integravam conceitualmente escrita e desenho - como indica o verbo graphêin), presentes na cerâmica ática ornamentada do período arcaico. Questões sobre a articulação de fontes escritas e materiais na pesquisa arqueológica também serão tratadas. Estruturalmente, este texto se divide em questões teórico-metodológicas relativas à natureza da documentação e seu tratamento no campo da Arqueologia Histórica e Epigrafia; e as justificativas das delimitações espaço-temporais. Depois, uma discussão sobre o gráfico, de forma geral, caminhando para o caso grego. Por fim, a apresentação de questões gráficas e relacionadas, próprias da documentação selecionada; bem como um estudo de caso: as ânforas panatenaicas / This work deals with the interaction between written and figurative languages in the general debate, but concentrates in the Greek experience about this subject. Therefore, we will begin with the ancient understanding of this approach; the graphical aspects present at Attic decorated ceramics of the archaic period will be pursued (due to the fact that these graphical aspects conceptually included writing and drawing, as it is indicated by the verb graphêin). Questions about the relationship between written and material sources in the archaeological research will be also considered. Structurally, this text is divided in theoretical-methodological questions about the nature of the documentation discussed in the field of Historical Archaeology and Greek Epigraphy and the justifications of time and space limits. After that, it is also included a general debate over the graphic, restricting to the Greek example. Finally, there will be a presentation of graphical questions and the ones related to the chosen documentation, as well as a case study: the panathenaic amphorae.

O assentamento selêucida de Dura Europos constitui um apropriado campo de análise do processo de transformação cultural em antigas áreas coloniais. O sítio, fundado no entreposto entre as maiores civilizações orientais e ocidentais, é um assentamento multicultural que expressa a coexistência de judeus com várias populações. Esta tese analisa como o grupo de judeus desta cidade usou a cultura material do local a fim de preservar sua identidade e ao mesmo tempo dialogar com outros povos. A transformação resultante desta interação é vista na arte e na arquitetura de duas sinagogas por eles construídas que constituem um dos mais antigos testemunhos da arte judaica produzida por aqueles que viveram na Diáspora. / The Seleucid Settlement of Dura Europos constitutes an appropriate setting to analyze the process of cultural transformation in ancient colonial areas. The site, founded at the crossroad between major Eastern and Western civilizations, is a multicultural settlement that expresses the coexistence of Jews with various populations. This dissertation analyses how the Jewish group of this city used the local material culture to preserve their identity and at the same time did dialogue with other people. The transformation resulted out of this interaction is seen in the art and architecture of the two Synagogues that they built there and which constitutes one of the most ancient testimony of the Jewish art produced by those who lived in the Diaspora.

The ancient city of Morgantina in Sicily was an important city during the Hellenistic age and probably member of a koinon (a union) under the leadership of Syracuse. Much research has been done on the city of Morgantina, but as far as I know, no study has had the aim to show what role Morgantina played in the Second Punic War. Therefore, this essay focuses on Morgantina during and after the Second Punic War (218–201 BCE). The main questions presented in this essay are what happened to the city after the war and what was the aftermath of the war? What happened to the people in the town and why were some houses abandoned and others not? To answer these questions archaeological evidence (numismatic material and buildings) as well as ancient historians’ narrations have been used (the historians used are Diodorus Siculus, Livy, Cicero and Strabo). The study argues that Morgantina might have been the last important free Greek town in Sicily (and possibly the very last) and that the city probably did not fight actively for either side, but might have provided Rome with grain and therefore taken Rome’s side.

The dissertation is entitled "Patronage and social mobility in the aristocracies of the Principate". Patronage is defined as a reciprocal exchange relationship between men of unequal social status (municipal patronage is excluded). The work falls into three parts. In the first the language of patronage (patronus, cliens, amicus, beneficium, etc.) is defined; the reciprocity ethic implicit in the language is described; and the spheres of social life in which the patronal ideology was applied by Romans are located. The core of the dissertation is devoted to a description of the patronage networks extending from the emperor through the imperial aristocracy to the provincial aristocracy (in particular, that of North Africa). At each level a description is offered of the economic, social and political goods and services exchanged and the types of people who entered into the patron-client relationships. Further, there is an attempt to show that the fact that Rome remained a patronal society in the Principate has broad implications: the distribution of a variety of offices and honors depended solely on patronage; senators continued to be important patrons distributing their own as well as imperial beneficia to their clients; senators and equites were bound together in a single patronal network; and patronage is perhaps the best explanation for the increasing entry of provincials into the imperial aristocracy. Traditionally it has been argued that the importance of patronage in the Principate was diminished by increasingly rigid bureaucratic machinery in which appointments and promotions were based on merit and especially seniority. Chapter three provides a demonstration that the influence of these bureaucratic criteria on senatorial and equestrian careers have been greatly overestimated and that there is no reason to minimize the effects of patronage.

Today modern scholars only have few records left that discusses the plebeian women from the Roman society. One group that is known are females who appeared on the Roman stage as dancers and actresses. This paper serves to discuss those two groups. It will focus on the Roman authors attitudes towards female actresses and dancers during the 1 century BC from two points of views: terminology and descriptions. The study will prioritize text passages from three ancient Roman authors during the investigative time-period with focus on three women: Volumnia Cytheris, Dionysia, and Arbuscula. These women, could if successful, integrate the elite society and gain richness and reputation. They often had names and terminology that represented and identified them to a specific social class in the Roman society. These women’s lives, have mostly during the 21 centuries, been discussed and debated from different gender and class aspects with focus to increase our understanding about them. A discussion this paper tends to contribute to.

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