<p>The Roman any of the early Empire is well-documented as a successful instrument of Roman political and military strategy. Josephus commented in the first century AD that "for them, victory is more certain than fortune" (BJ 3.107). The legions were moved about like chess pieces in order to satisfy the territorial aspirations of Rome's leaders and safeguard the frontiers of a vast empire; however, the legions were more than an amorphous mass safeguarding the Empire. The early Imperial legion was a well-disciplined collection of professional soldiers organised and led in a fashion that was consistent throughout the Empire. Unfortunately, much of modern literature dealing with the legions does so in a generalised fashion. Few authors deal with the mechanics of the cohorts that comprised the legion.</p> <p>Several questions and controversies surround the tactical organisation of the early Imperial legions. The strength of the legion and its sub-units are far from certain in this period. In addition, the organisation of the cohorts, how they deployed and moved about the battlefield, is questionable. The officers who commanded these units formed a distinct class in Roman society, yet their functions and duties in the legion are uncertain at best.</p> <p>This thesis alms to consider the evidence surrounding these questions to determine if any reasonable answers are possible. Syntheses of existing theories will be coupled with the extant evidence to produce a coherent answer for each question.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The study of late Etruscan funerary urns has fascinated scholars for over a century. This topic has generated a large corpus of works, but much research remains to be done to better understand the meaning and place of these urns in Etruscan society. This thesis will examine the iconographic development of one motif, specifically those themes that employ a central quadriga. The study of the development of this motif, since it was adapted to mythological, exclusively funerary, and civic themes, is valuable because it reveals the artistic processes that Etruscan artisans may have employed when selecting and executing their works of art. An examination of the possible significance of each theme, furthermore, reveals that the selection of the individual themes, is, to some extent, influenced by the larger forces at play in the Mediterranean world between the third and first centuries BC. Consequently, a detailed iconographic analysis of this motif, and its changing role on the urns, can offer insight not only into the changing styles and tastes, but also into the deeper beliefs and mentalities of the society that produced them.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The distribution of money as small handouts is a practice, which is attested in both the Eastern and Western provinces of the Roman Empire. These gifts can, in the East, be seen as a development of Hellenistic euergetism, but they were also influenced by a parallel practice in the West. The groups in the East which received the handouts of money, <em>διαvoμαí</em>, correspond in general to the groups in the Roman West which received <em>sportulae</em>, <em>divisiones</em> and <em>congiarii</em>. Thus, the distribution of individual gifts of money in the Greek cities of Asia Minor can be studied as a measure of Romanization.</p> <p>However, the manner in which the distributions themselves were conducted also serves as a measurement of Romanization, as there is evidence that <em>διαvoμαí</em> were provided on different occasions and to different groups of individuals before the advent of Roman control. Thus, distributions in the East were provided on the same occasions as those in the West, and, what is most important for the study of Romanization, the gifts were given in accordance with social rank: the higher an individual stood in the social hierarchy, the more he generally received. Such a stratification does not appear in Hellenistic distributions of meat, so that it is possible to attribute stratified gifts to the Romans.</p> <p>To measure Romanization is not he only value of the <em>διαvoμń</em>-inscriptions, though. They provide an important perspective into the workings of individual cities, on both a public and a private level. Thus, they show us the efforts of wealthy individuals on behalf of their cities and regions, as well as their efforts on behalf of themselves.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The Augustan Forum contained the statues offamous leaders from Rome's past. Beneath each statue an inscription was appended. Many of these inscriptions, known also as elogia, have survived. They record the name, magistracies held, and a brief account of the achievements of the individual. The reasons why these inscriptions were included in the Forum is the focus of this thesis. This thesis argues, through a detailed analysis of the elogia, that Augustus employed the inscriptions to propagate an image of himself as the most distinguished, and successful, leader in the history of Rome.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The Geneleos Group from the Heraion at Samos is a monument unparalleled in the Archaic period. The unique composition of this monument, which includes one seated, four standing, and one reclining figure on a long base, has led to disagreement concerning who these figures represent and what activity is depicted. The most frequently cited interpretation is that the Geneleos Group represents a nuclear family group taking part in a banquet; other scholars have identified this group as a generational family group, or a group of priestesses. Issues which affect the interpretation of the monument include the gender of the figures, their attributes, and identifying inscriptions. The comparanda cited by many scholars who follow the nuclear family group interpretation are narrow and limited by their preconceptions about who and what this monument represents. When a wider range of monuments are considered as comparanda for the individual figures, the postures, clothing, attributes and inscriptional information which previously had been considered indicators of a nuclear family group, actually diminish the credibility of this model and increase the plausibility of other identifications. The location of the monument is another important consideration that is not adequately addressed in the nuclear family group theory; the Geneleos Group was positioned along the Sacred Way leading to the temple, it was proximate to the altar and was in clear view of the temple of Hera. The prominent position of this monument in the sanctuary may indicate that the figures rendered had important roles in the sanctuary as attendants to the goddess. Although little is known about the cult practices and festivals from the Samian Heraion, Pausanias discusses the Heraea at Elis, which was organized by the Sixteen Women and their assistants. Pausanias also mentions footraces and dances which were performed in honour of Hera; the activities described in his account correlate nicely with the figures in the Geneleos Group. From its pose, it is clear that the reclining figure was a highly respected individual and she may have been an administrator of the festival; the seated figure, a married woman, may have assisted the reclining figure; the figure beside the seated figure was possibly a participant in the footraces, and the three standing maidens are depicted taking part in a ritual dance. Although questions concerning this monument still remain, reexamination of the physical evidence, scholarly arguments, comparanda, context and literary evidence together suggest a new interpretation of the Geneleos Group.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The focus of this thesis is on ancient archaic and classical Greek cult statues and how their placement reflects both the role of the statues themselves and the continuity in worship. Greek sanctuaries generally exhibited a strong continuity of cult in terms of building successive temples directly on top of the remains of their predecessors. The sanctuary of Hera on Samos and the sanctuary of Apollo at Didyma are two such sanctuaries in Asia Minor that exhibit this type of continuity even though their early temples were replaced by large superstructures. The temple of Athena Nike in Athens is another example of continuity, since the larger Classical temple was built on the same site as the archaic one. The Athenian Parthenon, the temple of Zeus at Olympia, the Classical Heraion at Argos and the Classical temple of Dionysos on the south slope in Athens, however, were not built on the same site as the archaic temples. The relation to the archaic site varies in each instance, but old statues or old sites continue to play a role. The erection of these temples seems to correspond with a recent political victory in each city; I believe that these achievements provided the impetus for the building of these large temples and statues. This seems quite evident considering that each temple contained quite vivid victory imagery: the architectural sculpture was usually symbolic of various conquests made by the Greeks, and the colossal statue housed in the cella often depicted the same themes. Were they built primarily to showcase their newly acquired power and prosperity? They certainly would have provided the sanctuary with a new and very impressive physical focus, monumental in both scale and expense. But did they also serve as a new spiritual focus? I do not think that they became the new focus of the cult, although they were likely involved in it to some degree. I believe that the focus remained on the ancient cult site and on the ancient cultic traditions. I think that the new adjacent temple was primarily built as a type of victory monument, as an ostentatious display of wealth and power that was meant to both impress the visitor and to thank the deity for helping the city achieve their success. This study will examine the traditional religious conservatism evident in the archaic period and see how it relates to the new needs of the fifth century polis. The study of the location of the cult statues seems to reveal evolving priorities in Greek religious life from the sixth to fifth centuries BC.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The aim of this paper is to examine the figure of Cyrus II of Persia, as it appears in The Histories of Herodotus and Xenophon's Cyropaedia. The author's primary concern is the historical background of the narratives, rather than their literary aspects. An attempt will be made to relate the various episodes in the Greek works to the cuneiform evidence, which is quite substantial with respect to the capture of Babylon. An examination of the cuneiform evidence (in translation) will form the main topic of the first chapter. Chapter Two will focus on the Herodotean account of Cyrus, which is the most important one to survive from the Classical world. Although the presence of various heroic motifs render substantial portions of the narrative questionable, these will nevertheless be examined in the light of the many parallels that have been found for them in the Near East and Greece itself. Also, an attempt will be made to uncover the historical truths that are quite possibly hidden beneath the mythic façade. Moreover, in the pursuit of reliable traditions, the differences and similarities between the Greek accounts and the cuneiform records will be noted. The same method will be used in the third chapter, which focuses on The Cyropaedia. Because of the largely fictitious character of this work, however, only those sections which can be related to historical events will be examined in any detail. A reconstructed biography of Cyrus, based on all viable evidence, will form the bulk of the concluding chapter. At this point the testimony of other Greek historians, most notably Ctesias, will be examined. My own views on the proper reconstruction of events will be fully expounded, but dissenting opinions will also be noted. It is inevitable that opinion be sharply divided when the relevant texts are either ambiguous or fragmentary.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>After more than two centuries of bottling the wines of Italy in amphorae of a standard Roman shape (Chapter One), Italian potters in the first century B.C. turned to the use of a container whose form was inspired by the wine amphora of the Aegean island of Cos. This Coan form offered certain economic and technical advantages over the previous Italian types (Chapter Two). The new Italian container, the Dressel 2-4, was adopted by pottery production centres throughout Italy, and transported Italian wines beyond the bounds of the Mediterranean, from Britain to India (Chapter Three). Its distribution, the greatest of any ancient Mediterranean amphora, inspired provinces like Spain and Gaul to imitate the shape for their own increasing wine exports. However, the emergence of the provinces onto the scene led to a dramatic change in the wine trade: Italy was no longer the dominant supplier of wine to the western Mediterranean; Spanish and Gaulish vineyards could now provide their own vintages (Chapter Four). Wine exports in Dressel 2-4s from these provinces and from Italy were already dropping by the second half of the first century A.C. in favour of increasing self-sufficiency; by the mid-second century, Dressel 2-4 production had declined to very low levels, heralding the end of production of wine amphorae intended for major overseas distribution. Although manufacture of the Dressel 2-4 continued until at least the beginning of the third century, the fiat-based amphora, originating in the provinces in the early first century A.C., took over the transportation of the wines of the central and western Mediterranean, on a much more regional level of distribution (Chapter Five).</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The worship of a mortal has long been an intriguing topic among scholars, The Roman imperial cult, which centered on the veneration of the emperor, exemplifies this phenomenon and its study has resulted in thousands of articles that attempt to explain the institution. Despite the vast amount of scholarly research regarding the imperial cult, few examine an important aspect of the cult: women, The emperor was not the only individual to receive the honours which are associated with the cult Although the role of women in the imperial cult is frequently overlooked, it is an essential aspect of the cult This thesis will examine the role of women in the cult of the emperor, specifically that of the Julio-Claudian women, The study of these women is particularly valuable as they were the first women to be included in the imperial cult. An examination of ancient and modern sources, comprising physical and literary evidence, reveals that there are three identifiable roles for women in the cult They were included as members of the imperial family, priestesses, and goddesses, Through a detailed analysis of these roles, the underlying impetus for the inclusion of J u1io-Claudian women in the imperial cult may be elucidated,</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>[missing pages: 10,11,27,28, 48, 49, 50, 69, 129, 165, 166, 211]</p> / <p>The Hellenistic Period was a time of great cultural change for the Middle East. New peoples and ideas were introduced into the region, interacting with local cultures. In the process, new ideas and traditions were produced and defined. Such phenomena were weil represented in the temples which were built in the Middle East after the death of Alexander the Great. These structures, in their construction and use, benefitted from the influences of a variety of sources with the result of producing forms of structure and cult which had previously not been seen.</p> <p>This thesis examines the religious structures at three sites, spaced widely across the Middle East: Ai Khanum in modern day Afghanistan, the island of Failaka off the coast of Kuwait, and Dura-Europos in Syria. Each of these three sites was a new foundation by the incoming Greeks, and each possessedmultiple religious structues which have been relatively weil documented archaeologically. For each temple in this study, the structure and, where possible, the the evidence for cult is described and examined in order to identify the cultural heritages of the various elements and how the elements work together. Sorne of the possible cultural heritages of the temples to be examined may include the Mesopotamian tradition with its courtyards and massive mudbrick constructions or the Greek tradition with its Doric or Ionie orders. This thesis also analyses the resulting information so that any patterns and processes, which emerge from this complex picture, might then be identified and explained.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)