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This thesis explores the perception of the emperor in the mentalités of his subjects, exploring the different ways he was understood. Drawing upon written material from Augustus to Alexander Severus, this thesis explores the roles he was cast in, alluding to a discourse concerning who the emperor was and what he should be, exploring similarities across the period. It is argued the participants in this conversation are not restricted to an elite, but also involved scrutiny from a wider population. Accordingly, this thesis is an alternative history about how the Emperor seemed. It is split into three parts according to episodes of an emperor's life: Part 1 and Chapter 1 explore the nature of the succession, including a discussion of the scholarship concerning the nature of the emperor's power and its transmission. It explores the nature of the succession, the imperial family, and perception of this issue from the perspective of his subjects. Part 2 explores the discourse about the emperor's conduct during his reign. Chapter 2 discusses the issues with the evidence, and how to glean a wider perspective. Chapter 3 is a thematic treatment of the 'topics of conversation' within the discourse, and each help to describe the 'thought-world' concerning the emperor, involving the fears and expectations of his roles in government, culture, and society; from the banal to the fantastic. Part 3 and Chapter 4 concern the emperor's legacy. It discusses the impression of the emperor's timelessness, and the comparability of the emperorship. This is reflected in the afterlife of an emperor, showing the relevancy of dead emperors to subsequent generations, and is manifested in diverse ways, from historical discourse to the appearance of false emperors. Finally, comparability is stressed, opening possibilities for further study on the nature of the emperorship as an example of autocracy.

Orientador: Andrea Lúcia Dorini de Oliveira Carvalho Rossi / Banca: Margarida Maria de Carvalho / Banca: Ivan Esperanca Rocha / Resumo: A presente pesquisa tem como objeto as figuras dos governantes Júlio César e Augusto na De Uita Caesarum, e buscar-se-á uma análise da representatividade heroica dos personagens e dos seus ideais explorados nesta narrativa biográfica elaborada nos governos de Trajano e Adriano (98 a 138 d.C.), primeiros imperadores da Dinastia Antonina. Para isso é necessário compreendermos alguns aspectos em torno da figura do herói e da constituição do mito. O arcabouço ideológico fundava-se na estrutura de propaganda que buscava construir a imagem do princeps infalível, semideus, futuro divus e provedor da justiça. Os romanos tinham ainda como suporte da construção dessa imagem, no plano da realidade concreta, o Senado, os generais e as forças militares e, principalmente, um aparato cerimonial complexo e utilitário, capaz de manter as categorias de valores morais nos patamares desejados pelo poder constituído. Ao estudar a trajetória de construção dos personagens César e Augusto na De Uita Caesarum de Suetônio, torna-se imprescindível à análise do papel da religião pública romana, assim como suas manifestações rituais e míticas. Assim, ao se verificar a figura do general e do princeps nesta fonte, busca-se entender a remissão às práticas políticas e religiosas do século I a.C., período final da República romana. / Abstract: This research has as object the figures of rulers Julius Caesar and Augustus in the De Uita Caesarum, and will seek an analysis of the representativeness of the heroic characters and their ideals explored in this biographical narrative developed in the governments of Trajan and Hadrian (98 to 138 AD), First emperors of the Antonina Dynasty. For this it is necessary to understand some aspects around the figure of the hero and the formation of myth. The ideological framework was based on the structure of propaganda that sought to build the image of infallible princeps, demigod, future divus and provider of justice. The Romans also had as a support of the construction of this image, in terms of concrete reality, the Senate, the generals and the military forces, and especially a complex and utilitarian cerimonial apparatus, able to keep the categories of moral values in the levels desired by the constituted power. When studying the trajectory of the construction of the characters of Caesar and Augustus, in the De Uita Caesarum of Suetonius, it becomes essential to consider the role of the public Roman religion, as well as its ritual and mythical manifestations. Thus, verifying the figure of General and princeps in this source, we seek to understand the remission to the political and religious practices of the first century BC, the final period of the Roman Republic. / Mestre

Bibliography: pages 115-125. / This dissertation concerns itself with the study of epidemics between 430 B.C. - A.D. 600, in an attempt to find positive evidence for the existence of bubonic plague in the ancient world. Most major studies on the Black Death have concerned themselves with the great pandemics of the Middle Ages and none (to my knowledge), have systematically examined the ancient records for earlier evidence of the disease. The time period chosen for this study, from the Athenian Plague to the Plague of Justinian, contains some relatively well documented epidemics, which has made it possible, in some cases, to identify the disease. Plague is a complicated disease, dependent on numerous factors for its successful spread, but few historians have considered this. The word 'plague' was loosely used in ancient texts to denote any epidemic disease with a high mortality rate and not a specific microbial infection. Most historians however translate 'plague' as bubonic plague and make no attempt at a medical analysis of the symptoms given by a particular author. The point of this dissertation is to examine the ancient epidemics from a medical as well as a historical angle. Our evidence for the existence of epidemic diseases comes from a variety of sources, and these are examined. Sculptures and frescoes show numerous chronic and acute disorders. Human remains have shown evidence of certain diseases, while animal and parasitic remains have helped to confirm the existence of certain species instrumental in the spread of a specific disease. However, written texts are the most reliable source for obtaining a detailed account of the symptoms and accurate interpretation of these texts is therefore important. To achieve this, the symptoms mentioned by an ancient author are compared and contrasted, through the use of tables, with the symptoms of some of the known infectious diseases of today. This dissertation will show that epidemics which were previously labelled plague could either not be identified as such, or were misdiagnosed. Evidence does point to the existence of bubonic plague in the ancient world, but it never reached epidemic proportions until A.D. 600.

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No description available.