Denys d'Halicarnasse affirme dans son oeuvre historique l'origine grecque des institutions romaines. Cette perspectivre, très nettement idéalisante, est le fruit de ses réflexions sur la politique et sur l'histoire. Elle porte également la marque de la période augustéenne, dans laquelle s'inscrit l'auteur. A travers l'étude de la présentation dionysienne des institutions romaines, des hommes qui les font vivre, des valeurs morales qui les sous-tendent, cette recherche pose la question des objectifs politiques et culturels poursuivis par l'historien d'Halicarnasse dans un monde en devenir. Les efforts qu'il déploie pour réduire les différences entre Rome et le monde grec font de lui l'un des premiers penseurs d'un Empire gréco-romain unifié. In his historic work Dionysius of Halicarnassus asserts the Greek origin of the Roman institutions. This strongly idealizing position is derived from his thinking on politics and history and is also influenced by the Augustan era. Through the study of dionysian presentation of Roman institutions, of men who make them live and moral values which underlie them, this research aims to explain the political and cultural purposes of the work. By his efforts to reduce differences between Rome and the Greek world , Dionysius appears as one of the first thinkers of an unified Graeco-Roman Empire.

This thesis examines the cultural and social relationships cultivated by ethnically diverse auxiliary soldiers in the western Roman empire. These soldiers were enrolled in the Roman auxilia, military units that drew primarily on the non-Roman subjects of the empire for their recruits in numbers that equaled the legionaries. I argue that auxiliary soldiers could and did maintain large families, and demonstrate, from epigraphic data collected and presented in my dissertation, how foreign ethnic and religious identities were variously integrated into Roman military culture by both individual auxiliaries and the Roman state. The history of the auxilia in Germany from the time of Augustus and in Britain from the time of Claudius is discussed, with extensive reference to epigraphic material provided in appendices to this work. Analysis of military diplomas from across the Roman empire demonstrates a significant phenomenon of auxiliary family creation that helps to contextualize the diploma data from Germania and Britannia. Research on further epigraphic evidence from Germania and Britannia demonstrates a marked diversity in religious dedications by auxiliary soldiers and further evidence for auxiliary families. From a discussion of the history of the concept of ‘Romanization’ and other theoretical models that can be applied to the study of the auxilia, the continued usefulness of the evolving concept of ‘Romanization’ to our understanding of auxiliary cultural integration is assessed. Auxiliary service is shown to have provided many non-Roman ethnic groups avenues of cultural and legal inclusion that each soldier, surely in his own way, could exploit.

This thesis examines the cultural and social relationships cultivated by ethnically diverse auxiliary soldiers in the western Roman empire. These soldiers were enrolled in the Roman auxilia, military units that drew primarily on the non-Roman subjects of the empire for their recruits in numbers that equaled the legionaries. I argue that auxiliary soldiers could and did maintain large families, and demonstrate, from epigraphic data collected and presented in my dissertation, how foreign ethnic and religious identities were variously integrated into Roman military culture by both individual auxiliaries and the Roman state. The history of the auxilia in Germany from the time of Augustus and in Britain from the time of Claudius is discussed, with extensive reference to epigraphic material provided in appendices to this work. Analysis of military diplomas from across the Roman empire demonstrates a significant phenomenon of auxiliary family creation that helps to contextualize the diploma data from Germania and Britannia. Research on further epigraphic evidence from Germania and Britannia demonstrates a marked diversity in religious dedications by auxiliary soldiers and further evidence for auxiliary families. From a discussion of the history of the concept of ‘Romanization’ and other theoretical models that can be applied to the study of the auxilia, the continued usefulness of the evolving concept of ‘Romanization’ to our understanding of auxiliary cultural integration is assessed. Auxiliary service is shown to have provided many non-Roman ethnic groups avenues of cultural and legal inclusion that each soldier, surely in his own way, could exploit.

The dissertation examines Suetonius' ideals of feminine conduct by exploring the behaviors he lauds or censures in imperial women. The approach comes from scholarship on the biographer's practice of evaluating of his male subjects against a consistent ideal. This study argues that Suetonius applies the same method to imperial women. His tendency to speak of women in standardized rubrics (ancestry, marriage, the birth of children) suggests that he has a fixed notion of model feminine behavior, one that values women for being wives and mothers. Chapter 1 argues that because Suetonius' Lives center on male subjects, his picture of women is fragmented at best. The biographer uses this fragmentation to manipulate his female characters. Livia, for instance, is cast as a "good" wife in the Augustus, but as a "bad" mother in the Tiberius. Suetonius' often inconsistent drawing of women reveals that he uses them primarily to elucidate certain aspects of their associated men. Having a "good" wife, mother, or sister reflects well on an emperor, while having a "bad" one reveals his lack of authority. Chapter 2 explores the role of mother. Atia serves as the "good," silent type and Livia and Agrippina the Younger the "bad," meddling type. Chapter 3 investigates the role of wife. Livia exemplifies the "good," loyal wife who is not politically active, while Agrippina the Younger illustrates the "bad," sexually manipulative wife who murders her husband to advance her son. Chapter 4 looks at members of the wider imperial family, noting that Suetonius writes more about sexually promiscuous women, such as Drusilla and Julia, than those women, like Domitilla the Younger, who followed social norms by marrying and bearing children. As a result, the Caesares are slanted towards negative portrayals of women. Chapter 5 "reassembles" the fragmented picture of women. The small role that Suetonius writes for Poppaea reveals his independence from Tacitus. The biographer's portrayal of Livia and Agrippina subverts ideals espoused on imperial coins and statues. Overall, the most important role for women in the Caesares is that of mother. By focusing on his portrayal of women, this study also sheds light on Suetonius' use of rhetoric and stereotypes. / Dissertation

The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether the Roman administrative towns of Britain continued in their original Romanized form as seen in the second century AD, or were altered in their appearance and function in the fourth and fifth century, with a visible reduction in their urbanization and Romanization. It will be argued that British town life did change significantly. Major components of urbanization were disrupted with the public buildings disused or altered for other purposes, and the reduction or cessation of public services. A reduction in the population of the towns can be perceived in the eventual disuse of the extramural cemeteries and abandonment of substantial areas of settlement or possibly entire towns. The cause of this will be shown to be related to the towns' relationship with the imperial taxation and revenue system, and the accelerating pattern of British involvement in revolts and usurpations. / Graduate

Analisa-se na primeira parte desta tese a estrutura de composição do Historiarum Liber, obra de maturidade em que Tácito se propõe a relatar a história romana a partir do conturbado ano 69 d.C., o chamado ano dos quatro imperadores. Por meio de requintes na composição narrativa, em que se utiliza de toda uma gama de artifícios retóricos, o autor traça um vasto painel daquilo que considerou execrável nos romanos, bem como daquilo que procurou exaltar como boa forma de governo. Detém-se nos aspectos históricos do ano 69 e apoia-se nos aspectos literários para narrar a época pós-Nero, momento em que o poder se divide entre o senado e o exército. Dessa maneira, do que chegou a nós, o Historiarum liber propõe reflexão acerca das formas de governar, já apontando uma decadência daquilo que Tácito julgava como a força do Império. Na segunda parte, apresenta-se o texto estabelecido por Henri Goelzer para a editora Les Belles Lettres, com nossa tradução a latere, acrescida de notas de cunho gramatical, histórico e literário. / We analyze in the first part of this thesis the structure of composition of the Historiarum Liber, a work of maturity in which Tacitus intends to report the Roman history considering the agitated year of 69 d. C., the so called year of four emperors. Through strategies of refinement in the narrative composition, in which he uses a variety of rhetorical sources, the author pictures an ample frame of those things he considered abominable in Romans, as well as of those things which he tried to exalt as a good form of government. We dwell on the historical aspects of the year 69 and consider the literary aspects so as to narrate the post-Nero age, a moment in which the power is divided between the senate and the army. This way, taking into account what survived in history, the Historiarum liber proposes a meditation on the strategies of government, while pointing to the decadence of that which Tacitus judged as the strength of the empire. In the second part, we present the text established by Henri Goelzer for the French editor Les Belles Lettres, with our translation a latere, added by notes of grammatical, historical and literary nature.

This investigation is in the discipline of theology (Church History) and seeks to discover how and why the early Christians separated themselves from the world in which they lived, and the results thereof. A study is made of the Roman Empire of the first three centuries, its politics, commerce and industry, and entertainment. The Christians’ separateness-policy under these three headings is then examined in some detail. They lived and worked among the people of the empire, but were separate from them in their code of conduct. The Christians’ separateness in politics was expressed by their refusal to worship the state gods and participate in the ceremonies, festivals and sacrifices associated therewith. They were ‘atheists’ who brought down the wrath of the gods upon the land. They followed a non-violence policy and preferred not to join the army and were viewed as disloyal subjects. People of all class-distinctions were welcomed at their gatherings and this was seen as a challenge to Roman sovereignty and the established class-order. The Christians’ separateness in commerce and industry was expressed in their refusal to join the guilds and to make sacrifices to the gods. They would not take jobs that promoted immorality or idolatry or that devalued human life. Their allegiance was to Christ and not to human patrons, and they supported one another financially within the Christian fellowship. The Christians’ expressed their separateness in leisure and entertainment by refusing to attend the games and spectacles of the arena and would not take part in the sacrifices associated with them. They spoke against gambling and the activities of the theatre, and followed a new style of sexual conduct that taught modesty, purity, and the sanctity of marriage. Rather than take part in meals that encouraged drinking and immorality, they met for simple Love Feasts. Many Christians died cruel deaths in these arenas. In spite of the opposition, Christianity continued to grow and by the end of the third century was a ‘state within a state’, independent and able to take care of her own. The last great persecution took place between AD 303-313 when severe and cruel ultimatums were issued to the Christians. Eventually the pagan world was convinced that if Christianity was worth dying for then it was worth living for. Many believed that their own gods had failed them. In AD 313, emperor Constantine proclaimed Christianity to be legal, and not long afterwards Christianity was proclaimed the state religion. Some hundred years later, it was the empire that ended, not Christianity. A comparison can therefore be made of the separateness of the early church who believed Christ’s words stating that they were ‘in the world but not of the world’, and today’s contemporary Christian and Pentecostal movements who claim to use the early church as a role-model. / Dr. M. Nel Prof. L. Grundlingh

This is a study of how late Republican and early Imperial authors recast different elements of episodes from the Struggle of the Orders (509-287 BCE) based on the events and circumstances of their own times and their authorial aims. The study is divided into two parts. Part I focuses on portrayals of Sp. Cassius’ third consulship in 486 BCE, when he sought to pass a lex agraria. Part II examines the treatments of Sp. Maelius’ private frumentary distributions, which purportedly occurred in 439 BCE. Both episodes seem to have been treated briefly by earlier sources; the main thread of the stories centred around Cassius’ and Maelius’ desire to acquire regnum, which led to their suppressions and deaths. Over time, the stories evolved and became more detailed. Elements were exaggerated, added, or omitted, which often spoke to what was happening during the time at which a certain author was writing. By means of a comparison of the primary sources I examine the contemporary Roman historical realities contained within our surviving narratives on the patricio-plebeian conflicts of the early period. Late Republican authors frequently recast the patrician-plebeian struggle in the context of the recent political conflicts between optimates and populares, using the political idiom of their own times to describe the Struggle of the Orders. Cassius and Maelius became embedded in the political controversy surrounding the suppression of men (reportedly) seeking kingship by the state that began with the institution of the SCU and continued long into the first century BCE. I analyze the changes that take place in the accounts of Cicero, Livy, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, our main sources on the episodes involving Cassius and Maelius. Different authors reinterpret, emphasize, and omit various elements of the events of 486 and 439 BCE. A single author might, as is the case with Cicero, reimagine the episodes differently at different times based on his immediate aims. While the ways by which the sources reimagine elements of these episodes has led to harsh criticisms of these authors, especially Livy and Dionysius, I argue that our sources were engaging with the material at their disposal and shaping it in ways that were acceptable to ancient audiences. This historical interpretation helped the Romans to make sense of their own past and derive meaning from it, which, in turn, helped them to engage with and make sense of their present. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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This thesis focuses on a short period of time between 50 B.C. to A.D. 14, which is marked by the increased prominence of pax as a central concept within the victory rhetoric of the period. The period is one of immense political and social upheaval and change that was to dictate the power structures of the Roman world, and one of the ways in which this change was conceptualised was through the language of peace. In this thesis I examine pax as a concept within the Roman empire and as part of an discourse on the nature of Roman imperialism. This examination considers not just the development of pax as a concept over time, but also how it was variously conceptualised and presented to different audiences and in different locations. This focuses the examination of pax on understanding what the term as an expression of Rome’s imperium meant to various peoples within the Roman empire, how it was expressed and for what reasons. As David Mattingly has recently emphasised the nature of Roman imperialism changed radically over time (‘Imperialism, Power, and Identity: Experiencing the Roman Empire’ (2011)). This study of the different rhetorics of peace offers new insight into this changing nature. Beyond the specific examination of pax as a part of imperial discourse within the late Republic and early Principate, this study raises questions about the way we think about concepts in the ancient world. Rather than talking about a single development or evolution over time, we should rather consider concepts as constantly active and changing in time. Our view of the ancient world and the way in which it was conceptualised should not be a static one, but one where the meaning and value of words give us insights into how individuals and communities expressed and explained changing social and political conditions.