Under the Constantinian dynasty, the Roman senatorial aristocracy was subject to two major social and political transformations. Firstly, emperors gradually modified the rules for senatorial office-holding, moving away from a hereditary model towards a more flexible system in which rank could be gained through merit (service to the emperor). The number of senatorial posts in the administration was increased, which resulted in the expansion of the senatorial order from outside the hereditary aristocracy. Secondly, Constantine founded Constantinople, where a second senate emerged, prompting the formation of a new eastern senatorial order. Roman senatorial nobles were among the most powerful individuals of the empire. The expansion of their order, the transformation of senatorial office-holding and the foundation of Constantinople did not lead to the reduction of their influence in government. Constantine actively encouraged the involvement of Roman grandees in government as a means of supporting imperial rule, especially in the East. Constantine's son, Constantius II, emperor of the East, continued these policies until 350, when the military and dynastic context forcefully disrupted his relationship with the Roman senate. In this situation, Constantius moved to found a second senate in Constantinople to legitimise his position in the East. Modelled on Rome, the new senate quickly assembled the top echelons of the traditional eastern elite. However, the emergence of this order did not impinge on the authority of the Roman senate, restored to its traditional authority by Constantine. Constantius made it clear that the support of the Roman nobility remained a vital source of political stability and (above all) a necessary means of risk-reduction in the continuing context of the fragility of imperial power.

This thesis will add to the debate on the nature of popular politics at Rome from the time of the Gracchi to Sulla. It examines contemporary evidence in order to reconstruct the terms in which political discourse was conducted. The period marks a time of political dynamism in the Republic, prior the fateful precedents set by Sulla, and falls before the period dominated the Ciceronian corpus. The first aim of the thesis will be to evaluate and utilize the fragmentary evidence of contemporary oratory in order to consider the terms in which politicians described themselves and their opponents. This will allow for a critique of the model of Roman politics derived from Cicero's works which has been often ascribed to the period. Rather than substantiating the traditional picture of politics, conducted in terms of the opposition between popularis and optimas, it reveals that this period is characterized by competition to appropriate the same rhetorical concepts and identification with the traditional role of the Senate in the res publica. The second aim is to contribute to the question of the role of ideology in Roman politics by further demonstrating the existence of a versatile and varied vocabulary capable of articulating a discourse between different ideological standpoints.

No description available.

This thesis studies the inscriptions produced by the southern and western settlements on the Anatolian peninsula - modern Turkey - from the death of the emperor Commodus (AD 192) to Diocletian's accession (284). The 3rd century AD, a period of fundamental transition between the high and late Roman imperial ages, has traditionally been considered an age of crisis and decline. This crisis supposedly affected civic life as members of the local communities were not willing or financially able to take part in politics. Against this prevalent opinion in scholarship, the purpose of this study is to analyse the abundant epigraphic evidence surviving from this region in order to reassess the local activity of such political communities. The first chapter intends to determine whether the effects of the Constitutio Antoniniana on the nomenclature of the peregrine (i.e. non-Roman) population can be used as a reliable dating criterion. It also explains the methodology on which my collection of epigraphic evidence has been based. The second chapter examines the families, individuals, institutions and celebrations comprising the civic life of Ephesus, Lydia, Aphrodisias and Southern Anatolia (esp. Termessos, Perge and Side) in the first half of the 3rd century. These four case studies demonstrate a high level of local activity, which was recorded with inscriptions resembling those produced in the 2nd century AD. The third chapter analyses the communication between these local communities and the ruling power of Rome. On the one hand, this analysis describes the prevalent diplomatic procedures followed and their motivations. On the other, it evaluates the testimonies attesting direct contact between the population of south-western Asia Minor and imperial representatives such as governors, administrators and soldiers. The final chapter deals with the particular circumstances affecting the production of inscriptions in the region from 250 to 284. These four chapters demonstrate that the civic life of south-western Asia Minor can be studied from a local perspective and beyond the narrow methodological framework imposed by adherence to the model of the '3rd century crisis'. The contextualised analysis of epigraphic evidence provided shows strong elements of continuity in the civic life of the region and its relation with Rome. The same analysis also concludes that the stark decline and changes of the inscriptions produced in the second half of the 3rd century were not only caused by internal factors. According to these results, this thesis hopes to contribute to the reconsideration of the Anatolian peninsula in such a crucial period of the history of the Roman Empire.

No description available.

No description available.

The political career of Gaius Marius (ca. 157-86 BC}, which spans the years between 120 and 86 BC, was memorable not only for its unprecedented personal and public triumphs, but was also of momentous significance in the whole history of the Roman Republic. At precisely the time that Marius achieved a supreme position in the state, the military might of the Romans, hitherto invincible at least in fairly recent times (second century}, had been dealt a series of humiliating setbacks abroad. Firstly, in North Africa by a rather minor despot, Jugurtha the king of Numidia. Secondly, much closer to home in Illyria and in southern Gaul by the migrating Germanic tribes, the Cimbri and the Teutones. Against this background of quite unremitting disaster, Marius obtained a place in republican political life which had not been witnessed before. In his pursuit of senatorial offices, Marius initially experienced both victories and disappointments (success in the tribunician elections but failure in elections for the aedileship) before finally winning the prestigious consulship in the elections held in 108. Thereafter, he was consul a further six times, and five of these consulships were held in successive years between 104 and 100. Just as he was dominant on the field of battle against the Numidians and the Germanic tribes, so, too, did he control the politics of the city during the decade from 108 to 99: The chapters which follow below set out to trace Marius' long rise to preeminence, his contribution to the intricate tribunician legislation of the period in which he flourished and, moreover, his involvement with other senior political figures who were his contemporaries. Furthermore, this biographical study seeks to fully expose the fact that, as a result of his participation in the politics of the time, Marius' career became an obvious example which other equally ambitious politicians (for instance, Sulla, Pompey, Crassus, Caesar and Octavian) sought to emulate or even to surpass. Consequently, Marius may not have realised the extent of the dangers which he bequeathed to the res publica but, inadvertently or not, he caused the beginning of the fall of the Roman Republic. / D. Litt. et Phil. (Ancient History) / History

No description available.

Orientadora: Andrea Lúcia Dorini de Oliveira Carvalho Rossi / Banca: Nelson de Paiva Bondioli / Banca: Ivan Esperança Rocha / Banca: Cláudia Valéria Penavel Binato / Banca: Germano Miguel Favaro Esteves / Resumo: Esta pesquisa pretende analisar os elementos religiosos presentes na obra do poeta Juvenal, que viveu entre os séculos I e II d.C na cidade de Roma. Nascido por volta do ano 60, o autor é influenciado pela corrente filosófica estóica e pela educação retórica, ambas muito presentes na cidade de Roma no período e escreve utilizando-se do gênero satírico. Analisando-se as Sátiras de Juvenal é possível discutir inúmeros assuntos do cotidiano de um romano: o clientelismo, as mulheres, as condições sociais dos intelectuais, as diferenças sociais. Entre todos esses temas, elencou-se, para os estudos aqui empreendidos, a pesquisa acerca do contexto de diversidade religiosa vivido em Roma. Inúmeros cultos são citados nos poemas, alguns ligados ao Estado e aos cultos oficiais e outros não. A partir do discurso do autor é possível examinar a aceitação de determinadas práticas e as críticas a outras, entendendo assim as relações que a religião mantinha com a política romana / Abstract: This research intends to analyze the religious elements present in the work of poet Juvenal, who lived between first and second centuries A.D. in the city of Rome. Born around of the year 60, the author is influenced by the philosophical stoic current, and for the rhetoric education, both very present in the city of Rome in the period, and write utilizing the satiric genre. Through the analysis of the Satires of Juvenal is possible discuss many subjects of the daily life of a roman: clientelism, the women, the social conditions of the intellectuals, the social differences. Among all these topics, it has been listed for the studies here undertaken; the research about of the context of religious diversity lived in Rome. Innumerable worships are mentioned in the poems, some connected to State and to official worships and others not. From the discourse of the author it is possible to examine the acceptance of some practices and the criticism of other, understanding as well the relations that the religion maintained with the roman politics / Doutor

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.