Within a single year -- 146 BCE -- Roman generals had entered the cities of Carthage and Corinth and forever changed the course of Mediterranean history. Although involved in separate conflicts with Rome, these cities and their tragedies became uniquely linked, not only to each other, but also to a perceived trajectory of Rome as an imperial power. Subsequent generations have looked to 146 BCE as an important turning point, and in doing so have attached value-laden interpretations to it as a gauge on Roman imperialism. This dissertation looks at 146 BCE from a different angle, seeking to understand its significance in terms of its contemporary international context, asking how it first became viewed as a turning point. The analysis utilizes international relations theory of normative systems, focusing on collective perceptions and evolving political conceptions within an interstate cultural environment. Exploring contemporary texts and archaeological clues, it sees the second-century BCE as a period in which the Mediterranean was becoming increasingly globalized, drawn together by universalizing ideals. A framework of "Hellenistic" markers communicated networks of legitimacy, Rome being both participant and game-changer. At the same time, the international community was rife with disjunctions, which contributed to a disintegration of relations in North Africa, followed by re-eruptions of nationalistic fervor on the Greek mainland. When coupled with wider perceptions, that the oikoumene was becoming progressively interconnected and was moving toward a new juncture in world-history, the stage was set. The legal punishments to be inflicted by the Roman victor were to be viewed on a whole new plane, as reflections of a groundbreaking world-order. Romans were aware of these implications, made evident in the decisions of Scipio at Carthage, followed by Mummius at Corinth. In a rare and stunning move, both cities were decommissioned as political entities, and their tragedies linked to contemporary visions of cyclical world-history: Carthage burned in reiteration of Troy, and Corinth stripped of cultural Greek heritage. Polybius, uniquely positioned as a commentator on these outcomes, not only captured their ideological ripple effects, but also assured their direction over future generations, as a moment to color Rome as world hegemon. This dissertation looks at 146 BCE from a different angle, seeking to understand its significance in terms of its contemporary international context, asking how it first became viewed as a turning point. The analysis utilizes international relations theory of normative systems, focusing on collective perceptions and evolving political conceptions within an interstate cultural environment. Exploring contemporary texts and archaeological clues, it sees the second-century BCE as a period in which the Mediterranean was becoming increasingly globalized, drawn together by universalizing ideals. A framework of “Hellenistic” markers communicated networks of legitimacy, Rome being both participant and game-changer. At the same time, the international community was rife with disjunctions, which contributed to a disintegration of relations in North Africa, followed by re-eruptions of nationalistic fervor on the Greek mainland. When coupled with wider perceptions, that the oikoumene was becoming progressively interconnected and was moving toward a new juncture in world-history, the stage was set. The legal punishments to be inflicted by the Roman victor were to be viewed on a whole new plane, as reflections of a groundbreaking world-order. Romans were aware of these implications, made evident in the decisions of Scipio at Carthage, followed by Mummius at Corinth. In a rare and stunning move, both cities were decommissioned as political entities, and their tragedies linked to contemporary visions of cyclical world-history: Carthage burned in reiteration of Troy, and Corinth stripped of cultural Greek heritage. Polybius, uniquely positioned as a commentator on these outcomes, not only captured their ideological ripple effects, but also assured their direction over future generations, as a moment to color Rome as world hegemon. / text

This thesis offers a new contextualisation of weather signs, naturally occurring terrestrial indicators of weather change (from, for example, animals, plants and atmospheric phenomena), in antiquity. It asks how the utility of this method of prediction was perceived and presented in ancient sources and studies the range of answers given across almost eight hundred years of Greek and Roman civilisation. The presentation of weather signs is compared throughout to that of another predictive method, astrometeorology, which uses the movement of the stars as markers of approaching weather. The first chapter deals with the presentation and discussion of weather signs in a range of Greek texts. It sees hesitant trust being placed in weather signs, lists of which were constructed so as to be underpinned by astronomical knowledge. The second chapter assesses how these Greek lists were received and assimilated into Roman intellectual discourse by looking to the strikingly similar practice of divining by portents. This lays the foundations for the final chapter, which describes and explains the Roman treatment of weather signs. Here, the perceived utility of weather signs can be seen to reduce rapidly as the cultural significance of astronomy reaches new heights. This thesis provides new readings and interpretations of a range of weather-based passages and texts, from the Pseudo-Theophrastan De Signis, to Lucan's Pharsalia, to Pliny's Natural History, many of which have previously been greatly understudied or oversimplified. It allows us to understand the social and scientific place of weather prediction in the ancient world and therefore how abstract and elaborate ideas and theories filtered in to the seemingly commonplace and everyday. I argue that between the 7th century BC and the end of the 1st century AD, the treatment of weather signs changes from being framed in fundamentally practical terms to one in which practical considerations were negligible or absent. As this occurred, astrometeorology comes to be seen as the only predictive method worthy of detailed attention. These two processes, I suggest, were linked.

Thesis (MA (Ancient Studies)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / The term vir bonus as a comprehensive concept is nowhere precisely defined, yet the Romans clearly understood its meaning. To give substance to it, the role that the good Roman or vir bonus was expected to play in the Roman Republic, was examined. By his extensive descriptions of the evils of the Empire, Tacitus confirms this concept by emphasizing the absence of these exemplary qualities. The development of Rome from city state to Monarchy to Republic is steeped in legend. The foundation of the Roman constitution was believed to have been laid during that period, and adjusted to prevent the recurrence of a monarchy. This system of government was closely structured and demanded a high moral standard from its participants. While Roman territory was limited, this constitution functioned well. However, when after the Punic Wars Rome became master of almost the whole area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, it was impracticable. A long and often bloody strife followed between the advocates of change and those who would not accept it. Augustus won out and established an Empire, calling it by the euphemistic term of Principate. His successors automatically acceded to their powers as emperor. During the Empire the political structures of the Republic were disempowered and the moral fibre of the ruling classes perverted. It is this process that Tacitus examines critically. He does so by describing how different people reacted under different circumstances. Some behaviour he roundly condemns, but often he makes us realise that the participants did not have much leeway, and that this consequently affected their behaviour .

In this thesis, I examine the nature and role of persuasion in Roman politics in the period immediately following the assassination of Caesar on the Ides of March 44 B.C. until the capture of the city of Rome by his heir Octavianus in August 43 B.C. The purpose of my thesis is to assess the extent to which persuasion played a critical role in political interactions and in the decision-making processes of those involved during this crucial period in Roman history. I do this by means of a careful discussion and analysis of a variety of different types of political interactions, both public and private. As regards the means of persuasion, I concentrate on the role and use of oratory in these political interactions. Consequently, my thesis owes much in terms of approach to the work of Millar (1998) and, more recently, Morstein-Marx (2004) on placing oratory at the centre of our understanding of how politics functioned in practice in the late Roman republic. Their studies, however, focus on the potential extent and significance of mass participation in the late Roman republican political system, and on the contio as the key locus of political interaction. In my thesis, I contribute to improving our new way of understanding late Roman republican politics by taking a broader approach that incorporates other types of political interactions in which oratory played a significant role. I also examine oratory as but one of a variety of means of persuasion in Roman political interactions. Finally, in analyzing politics and persuasion in the period immediately after Caesar’s assassination, I am examining not only a crucial period in Roman history, but one which is perhaps the best documented from the ancient world. The relative richness of contemporary evidence for this period calls out for the sort of close reading of sources and detailed analysis that I provide in my thesis that enables a better understanding of how politics actually played out in the late Roman republic.

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This thesis analyses the relationship between Marcus Porcius Cato Censorius and his eldest son, Marcus Porcius Cato Licinianus, considering its importance for Cato's public image and political career, investigating its place within some of the central cultural debates of the 2nd century BC, and looking at the impact which this relationship had upon received impressions of Cato the Censor as presented by later Latin authors. This is done primarily through the examination of the written works which Cato addressed to Licinianus, the extant fragments of which are presented here, with a translation and commentary, in the first modern edition to treat these texts as a unified project. The subsequent sections of this thesis set the works which Cato addressed to his son within the context of the general cultural debate and individual political competition which engaged Rome's ruling elite during this period; Cato's adoption of a paternal persona within these works is related to the character's popular appeal in the military sphere and on the comic stage; and the didactic pose and agricultural instruction featured in these texts is used to illuminate some of the challenges posed to Cato's successful performance of his duties as censor. A final section considers the reappropriation of Cato's relationship with his son as found in the De officiis of Cicero, the Institutio oratoria of Quintilian, and the anonymous Disticha Catonis. This thesis suggests that the Censor's relationship with his son, and the works which he addressed to the young man, played a more significant part in Cato's public image and political career than has hitherto been acknowledged. These texts illuminate some of the finer points of Cato's clever political strategy and they offer fresh insight into the popular culture and elite competition of the period in which he lived. The relative importance of this relationship within Cato's public life helps to explain the popularity of later images of the Censor as a paternal and educational figure and offers us a better understanding of modern conceptions of Cato.

The purpose of this dissertation is to conduct a comprehensive study of Roman women's portrait busts of the third century AD. The free-standing portrait bust forms a discrete historical category through which to trace developments in third-century women's portraiture. The high-status, commemorative tradition of the bust and the durability of this format, which could be displayed and utilised in a large range of different contexts, made this an important portrait genre for women in the third century. These busts consequently offer powerful insight into the ideological function and status of Roman women in the third century. By placing third-century women's busts in the context of their form, history and provenance, I hope to create a methodology that allows me to ascertain the ancient intention of these portraits. My hypothesis is that, while elements of self-styling and bust-format reveal innovation, the moral vocabulary of Empire as presented in women's portrait busts did not change dramatically in the third century. I will argue that these portraits reflect the heightened ideological status of certain forms of Roman femininity in this period. Rather than being expressive of spiritual escapism or emotional turmoil women's portrait busts functioned as a means of re-confirming the Roman rhetoric of feminine virtue in the third century.

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Many accounts, both ancient and modern, have maintained that the Julio- Claudian women had unprecedented influence in their spheres. This dissertation attempts to determine the degree of autonomy and influence that the Julio-Claudian women had and to examine the factors that may have contributed to their exceptional influence. In trying to establish the extent and nature of the influence of the Julio- Claudian women, the ancient sources (literary, documentary and iconographic), in conjunction with modern scholarly views, were critically examined throughout. In attempting to determine the factors that influenced such weight and autonomy as these women had, the dissertation looks at the influences on women of earlier times, in particular the late Roman Republic, from a legal and a socio-historical angle. Whether the Julio-Claudian women could be considered, for example, to have been part of a “super-elite” in comparison with aristocratic women of earlier, and even later, times, was discussed and evaluated. On the surface the Julio-Claudian women did seem to enjoy a wider range of freedoms, power and influence than their counterparts, or the Roman women before or after them. Yet it is clear from the sources that these women also had restrictions laid upon them and that the patriarchal framework still curtailed their influence. When they over-stepped the accepted bounds, they were invariably vilified by the ancient historians, and often came to be negatively portrayed by subsequent generations. Whether these women truly deserved their vilification, or whether it can simply be ascribed to the bias of the ancient writers, was also explored throughout. / Classics & World Languages / M.A. (Classical Studies)

Many accounts, both ancient and modern, have maintained that the Julio- Claudian women had unprecedented influence in their spheres. This dissertation attempts to determine the degree of autonomy and influence that the Julio-Claudian women had and to examine the factors that may have contributed to their exceptional influence. In trying to establish the extent and nature of the influence of the Julio- Claudian women, the ancient sources (literary, documentary and iconographic), in conjunction with modern scholarly views, were critically examined throughout. In attempting to determine the factors that influenced such weight and autonomy as these women had, the dissertation looks at the influences on women of earlier times, in particular the late Roman Republic, from a legal and a socio-historical angle. Whether the Julio-Claudian women could be considered, for example, to have been part of a “super-elite” in comparison with aristocratic women of earlier, and even later, times, was discussed and evaluated. On the surface the Julio-Claudian women did seem to enjoy a wider range of freedoms, power and influence than their counterparts, or the Roman women before or after them. Yet it is clear from the sources that these women also had restrictions laid upon them and that the patriarchal framework still curtailed their influence. When they over-stepped the accepted bounds, they were invariably vilified by the ancient historians, and often came to be negatively portrayed by subsequent generations. Whether these women truly deserved their vilification, or whether it can simply be ascribed to the bias of the ancient writers, was also explored throughout. / Classics and World Languages / M.A. (Classical Studies)