This thesis is a survey of Mount Amani, the northwestern province of Chios island (east Aegean). The thesis examines the natural environment and explores the landscape using different kinds of information, in order to reconstruct the medieval historical topography of this region and to contribute to the problématique of the history and evolution of the Byzantine village and its remarkable longevity. The methodology applied ranges from the scanty literary sources, and visible archaeological evidence, and extends to the tracing of any sign of human activity on the landscape. Additionally, toponmy, ethnography and oral tradition are implemented for the examination of other aspects, such as the peasant architecture and material culture. From many perspectives, the study is paramount. It presents archaeological evidence for sites, for which there are no literary sources to rely upon. It highlights their share in the economy of Chios during the Byzantine and the Genoese periods. Finally, it aims to contribute to the debate over the ‘depopulation’ or ‘demographic decline’ of mountainous terrains in the ages prior to the eleventh century.

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Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Paris IV, 1987. / Summary in English.

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): David S. Yost, Donald Abenheim. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

The evolution of the Western Mediterranean takes place between the converging African and Eurasian plates, therefore the motion between them cannot be determined directly. The motion between them is the finite difference between the independent seafloor spreading systems in the Central and North Atlantic Oceans. Primary magnetic anomaly data from the North and Central Atlantic was reexamined. All Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic anomalies (Anomaly 34 - Anomaly 2) were remapped. Fracture zones were remapped using bathymetic maps, topographic profiles from ship tracks, SEASAT altimetry (geoid deflection) data, and SEASAT derived gravity images. Fracture zones were used as the primary control for the determination of rotation parameters. Finite difference solutions were computed between matched anomalies using the newly determined rotation parameters for each ocean with parameters of Pindell et al. (1988) used for Early Cretaceous and Jurassic spreading in the Central Atlantic. The product was a kinematic model describing the motion of Africa with respect to Europe from 175 Ma to the present. The motion of Africa was seen to be much smoother and not marked by the sharp, unusual direction changes that characterized previous work. On a gross scale the motion could be divided into phases that correlated with major geological events, but on a smaller scale it was clear that relative motion between Africa and Eurasia did little more than set very broad boundary conditions within which a variety of geological events occurred. Africa's motion is divisible into several distince phases. From the Jurassic start of seafloor spreading until the Late Cretaceous Quiet Zone (KQZ) the motion between the plates was sinistral strike-slip. During the KQZ, but prior to Anomaly 34 (84 Ma, Campanian) Africa's motion changed to northeasterly directed compression. Shortly after Anomaly 30 (68 Ma), close to the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, until after Anomaly 24 (55 Ma, mid-Eocene) there was a period of little relative motion between the two plates. After Anomaly 24 strong relative motion recommenced between Africa and Eurasia. Africa continued on a trajectory between N and NNE until the Middle Miocene (Anomalies 5A - 5D) when motion became directed to the NW. Within the relative motion framework a model for the geological evolution of the Western Mediterranean Sea is evolved. Although the Western Mediterranean is a Neogene phenomena the history of the region prior to this time is also examined, albeit in less detail. Among the major problems for which solutions are suggested is the convergence direction of Iberia with respect to Europe and the reason extension initiated in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The purpose of my research is to illuminate the gendered and ethnic stereotyping of Easterners in Roman literature of the central period (c. 200 BCE to 200 CE), particularly in texts concerned with masculinity and warfare. Military situations were often constructed as the ultimate ‘tests’ of masculinity and Romanness, and they are, therefore, uniquely revealing for the constructions of these ideas. The idea of gendered lifestyles was central to these constructions. Roman authors distinguished between easy, pleasurable, feminine lifestyles and hard, austere, masculine ones. Masculinity and virtue were intertwined, and these precepts informed the ways in which Roman authors constructed their own worth, and the worth of other peoples. Easterners were presented as living luxurious, pleasurable lives, which were contrasted with a stereotypical Roman life of martial toil. However, when Easterners were depicted in martial contexts, this resulted in the caricature of their inabilities in this area. The accusation that Easterners allowed pleasure into martial contexts underpins these caricatures, and this was particularly challenging for Roman authors. Athletic training, for example, was constructed as pseudo-martial but inadequately so, as it was enjoyable. This was contrasted with difficult, ‘true’ military training, which helped build a man’s endurance, and proved his masculinity. The relationship of Easterners to arma (arms) was also deemed troubled, and Easterners were often constructed as having poor ability with arms, or an interest in adorned arms for their aesthetic value rather than their rugged purpose. Similarly, in the naval sphere, Roman authors were prone to depict Hellenistic rulers with luxurious and ornamented flagships, oversized and unsuitable for real warfare. In essence, these constructions were used to affirm Roman superiority – both moral and military – and also to serve as a warning as to what could happen should Romans allow themselves to succumb to easy, ‘effeminate’ lifestyles. Fundamentally, I argue that gendered constructions of ethnic ‘warlikeness’ were the principal force behind the disparagement of Greeks and other Easterners in Roman literature.

Despite the wealth of research on Roman interior decoration, little has been said about the use of motifs of arms and armour in domestic contexts. Previous scholarship has generally interpreted such images as representing Roman spoils of war. This study challenges this connection with spoils, looking at a wider range of influences on the development and deployment of motifs of arms. It explores how such motifs could have been interpreted in light of their wider decorative context. Drawing on an extensive catalogue of images in painting, mosaic and stucco dating from 100 BC to 100 AD, this thesis looks at the ways real captured arms were displayed in public and private contexts to assess how closely the domestic decorations mirror these idealised practices. It also explores the influence of Greek culture on Roman decorative motifs, decorative fashions across Mau’s Four Styles, the possible influence of gladiatorial combats on the depiction of arms and begins to assess the extent to which all of these factors may have been involved in interpreting motifs of arms in the Roman home. This allows a more nuanced approach to motifs of arms in decorations, emphasising their flexibility and ambiguity. This study also begins to explore how the location of motifs of arms within the house can impact on how a Roman observer could have interpreted the images, opening up a further avenue of research on motifs of arms and understanding how they were deployed and responded to in Roman domestic contexts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 238-252). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 238-252). Also available on the Internet.

No description available.