<p>This study attempts an overview of Ovid's attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and thoughts with respect to the religious, moral, and social framework of his day. It proceeds by extensive quotation from the poet's works, and these quotations are arranged by topic and theme. The rationale for this approach is set forth in the "Introduction".</p> <p>There are three major chapters: the first and third deal respectively with religion and morality (using those terms with their widest connotations); these chapters examine Ovid's interaction with both native Roman and Hellenistic Greek traditions; the second chapter deals with Ovid's beliefs about those important subjects poetry and love.</p> <p>For each chapter and each new topic relevant background information is given, while a running commentary strings the quotations together. The conclusions proceed from what the poet has written, and each chapter has its own concluding section. There is also a formal "Conclusion" to the thesis which examines the relationship between the poet's subject matter and his on-going popularity.</p> <p>This thesis attempts to add more definition to Ovid's worldview than has hitherto been possible. For each topic the relevant quotations are given, and the relations among topic areas are indicated. Thus this work can serve variously as a reference for specific topics, as a guide to the place of individual topics in the context of Ovid's thought, or as an overview of the poet's attitudes and beliefs.</p> <p>Although the nature of this thesis precludes any claim to startling originality, it does happen that this approach sometimes shows the poet in a new light. Examples of this would include the evidence of estrangement between the poet the his third wife cited in Chapter Two; and, in Chapter Three, the intimations of parody of imperial marriage legislation (in the abortion elegies), and of a female audience for Ovid's works.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Long-held views regarding the presumed depopulation and economic stagnation of northern Bruttium (modern Calabria) during the Roman period of occupation must now be abandoned. Instead, the examination of evidence has demonstrated that the Republican and imperial period settlement was significant. It took the form of cities, smaller nucleated settlements and dispersed rural sites, and its existence depended on the exploitation of land as well as on local and regional trade. The first two chapters deal with the preliminaries where an historical outline and a selection of relevant contemporary literary sources are presented. Chapters three and four offer an in-depth commentary and functional interpretation of the archaeological remains from the urban and rural contexts. This is the first such detailed account that this material has received in one place. Chapters five and six seek to put all this material into a wider historical context, as well as to address some issues raised by the bibliography, and, where possible, to carry this discussion further.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>The "games"--scenic representations, chariot races, gladiatorial combats and athletic displays--played a fundamental role in the Roman world. A great deal has been said on the program and cost of such events, on their social function, on the role of the senatorial elite and emperors as providers of games. These issues, however, can be treated almost only with the city of Rome in view; there is very little in the sources that allows for a study along these lines at the level of the several thousands of cities of the Latin part of the Empire. The main reason for this is easy to identify: ancient authors show very little interest for municipal life and institutions. Our documentation on the production of games at the municipal level happens to be almost entirely composed of inscriptions written in a highly formalized language. This material can be deciphered only by bringing together and studying most or all relevant inscription on a given issue. So far, this has been done mostly according to categories of games; one team of scholars, for example, is presently republishing all inscriptions belonging to the world of the amphitheater: honorary inscriptions recording shows, gladiators' epitaphs, dedications of amphitheaters, & c. Though this approach is commendable in many respects, it has the disadvantage of concealing features shared by the games in general. Accordingly, this dissertation studies the games as displays of the benevolence of the wealthy towards their community. Two broad objectives are set forth: to improve our understanding of the language of the inscriptions so far as the games are concerned, and to determine under what circumstances a production of games is worthy of an epigraphic commemoration. The second of these two objectives is justified by the surprisingly small number of about five hundred relevant inscriptions from the Latin part of the Empire over a period of more than five centuries.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>The Ibis of Ovid, an enigmatic poem written during the poet's exile at Tomis, contains a series of violent and allusive imprecations drawn from history and mythology. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a detailed study of the poem, to aid readers in their understanding and appreciation of the historiae caecae and ambages in which Ovid takes such delight; accordingly, an introductory chapter attempts to outline the historical and literary background to the poem, with particular attention devoted to placing the poem more firmly within the sphere of imprecatory writing in the ancient world. Following this is an explanatory commentary which covers models, parallels for topoi, and explanations of references, meanings, and allusions in the Ibis. Inevitably, this commentary is indebted to the efforts of previous commentators; however, I have endeavoured throughout to suggest additional lines of enquiry and to provide a fresh perspective on a challenging work.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Despite the large corpus of scholarly writing about the Roman army, the military oath, or <em>sacramentum</em>, of the late Republican legions has not been studied at length. Since the fall of the Republican was rooted in the struggle for political and military dominance by individuals, the loyalty of the legions to these commanders is of utmost importance. The first chapter focuses on the geographic and social origins of the soldiers of the late Republic, which have been studied extensively and provide a background from which to assess the composition of the army. As well, the conditions of service for this period are significant factors affecting the obedience of soldiers to their commanders, and the second chapter of this thesis places particular emphasis on problems of length of service, pay, booty and plunder, and military discipline. This framework of conditions and characteristics supports the analysis of the <em>sacramentum</em> itself in the third chapter. The textual evidence for the oath, both direct and indirect, are gathered for comparative purposes and applied to historical anecdotes of loyal and disloyal behaviour for the period in question. Conclusions about the religion and psychological impact of the <em>sacramentum</em> complete this assessment of the effectiveness of the Roman military oath in the late Republic.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This thesis is a primer for future Homeric narrative studies. It is based on a discussion of possible approaches to Homer and suggestions of directions for future study, focusing on the presentation of the primary plotlines of the <em>Iliad</em> and the <em>Odyssey</em> according to Zieliński's Law.</p> <p>Zielinski's Law holds that Homeric narrative eschews the simultaneous representation of events through three controversial narrative techniques. The research accomplished in this thesis is therefore twofold: a survey of the principal scholarship on Zieliński's Law, which discusses the methodological and terminological confusion engendered by Zieliński's three techniques, and a discussion of recent narratological approaches to the question of simultaneity in Homeric narrative. Zieliński's Law is found to be valid in both Homeric narratives, although its techniques are reformulated into two more functional and structural narrative methods, which are exemplified in the texts. Narratological approaches are found to be insufficiently text-based and are criticized. Narratonomy, a new approach to the Homeric narratives that follows from the discussion of the Law's techniques, is proposed. It involves quantifying what is readily observable in the text and disregarding interpretations that place an undue exegetical burden on the text.</p> <p>The thesis concludes that it is quite probable that Zieliński Law's and its two structural techniques could be applicable to other textual and even non-textual narratives. In particular, Zieliński's Law is identifiable with one of Olrik's "epic laws", laws that he observed to have validity for a wide range of folktales and sagas from around the world.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The purpose of this study is to examine the role played by the tree cult in the religion of the ancient Greeks, and to discuss various aspects and instances of tree worship which survived into the Classical period and later. By this means it is to some extent possible to deduce information regarding the form and character of the religion practised by the early inhabitants of Greece, particularly in the prehistoric period, when tree worship began. To this end, various general remarks have been included on the subject of tree worship as it was manifested in ancient Greek religion, as well as a more detailed account given of three cults in which the tree cult survived in association with the deities venerated there. These were the cults of Artemis Orthia at Sparta, Helen at Therapnai, and Hera at Samos.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Amongst the many pieces of silverware surviving from the later Roman Empire are the silver 'anniversary' plates commissioned by emperors and consuls in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D., which were manufactured and given as gifts to celebrate imperial anniversaries or appointments to the consulship. The decoration and decorative techniques used on these plates vary widely, from simple punched inscriptions to elaborately cast figural scenes.</p> <p>The presentation of these plates is closely related to other instances of largesse and the celebration of imperial anniversaries in the later empire, attested to both by the surviving literary sources and by the anniversary inscriptions found on other surviving artifacts of the period, such as coinage and statue bases. Unfortunately, some specific details concerning the production of these 'anniversary' plates are currently unknown.</p> <p>Comparison of the many types of decoration used on these plates with other later Roman art indicates that they borrowed many of their motifs from a wide variety of both imperial and private art. There are also decorative similarities between these 'anniversary' plates and other contemporary pieces of art done in less expensive materials like glass, which suggest that the silversmiths producing these plates were free enough from strict official supervision to draw on whatever other artwork they wished for inspiration.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>In the fourth century B. C. the depiction of the grypomachy, a battle between griffins and a group of Eastern barbaroi identified as the Arimasps, became popular in Attic vase-painting. The presence of a non-Greek scene upon Greek ceramics at this time indicates a continued interest in the representation of Orientalia and implies a desire to design wares that would appeal to foreign markets. The Introduction considers Greek and Near Eastern representations of the griffin and its role in vase-painting prior to the fourth century. Chapter 1 examines the ancient sources that deal with the griffins and Arimasps singly or in relation to each other. In Chapter 2, the grypomachy scenes found on Attic pottery are discussed, with emphasis on the representation of the griffin and the Arimasp, in an effort to ascertain the degree to which the visual representation correspond to those found in the literature of Chapter 1. Catalogue A lists, with illustrations, the vases decorated with grypomachy scenes. Chapter 3 discusses a scene related to that of the grypomachy: Arimasps and griffins working in cooperation with each other. This type of scene parallels others found on fourth-century pottery, those of gods riding griffins, and suggests iconographic contamination. The scenes examined in Chapter 3 are described and illustrated in Catalogue B. Chapter 4 examines the art of ancient Iran and Scythia, the lands most closely associated with the Arimaps in ancient sources, in an attempt to discover the source of the grypomachy scene. In chapter 5, the possible sources of the fourth-century grypomachy are discussed, along with the influence which affected the representation of its participants and the marker for which the scene may have been developed.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Marcus Junius Brutus is chiefly known for his assassination of Julius Caesar. The consequences of this deed forced him and Cassius to leave Italy and defend themselves in the East against their enemies, the Triumvirate. This thesis focuses on all those who supported Brutus from the time of the Ides of March until the battle of Philippi. These men are collected and analyzed in terms of their interrelationships, and their relations to Brutus against the background of the society and history of Rome. It is argued that Brutus was the leader of a political factio which could trace its roots back to the opposition to Pompeius at the beginning of his career in 70BC. Also many individuals of various former political alliances joined Brutus because the political circumstances of the last decade made it necessary for them to unite against the Triumvirate. In this way, Brutus' associates were motivated by traditional socia-political motives and by situations characteristic of the end of the Republic. All dates are B.C. unless otherwise noted.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)