This thesis examines the development of identities within Iberia during the Roman conquest of the peninsula through the lens of cultural hybridism, urbanism and economic changes. The aim is to explore how local Iberian communities evolved culturally through centuries of pre-Roman contact, and how these interactions fuelled later adaptations to Roman rule. Iberian communities, within this context, did not simply ‘become Roman’ but many acculturation theories have struggled to create alternatives to the ‘Romanization’ model successfully. While ‘Romanization’ is clearly problematic, this thesis will challenge and adapt several acculturation models to explore the visibility of cultural hybridity within ‘Roman’ and Iberian communities, and alternatively suggest the emergence of a pan-Mediterranean cultural background. These theories will then be applied in four case studies of prominent cities in southern Iberia: Italica (Santiponce), Hispalis (Sevilla), Corduba (Cordoba), and Augusta Emerita (Merida). In each of these case studies the thesis will address aspects of acculturation seen in the urban and economic evidence at those sites. The conclusion of this thesis will indicate that, while further study should be conducted, a more flexible approach to cultural identity should be considered in light of the evidence presented in the case of the evidence seen in these four towns.

In Byzantium, usurpation was made possible by the conflict between hereditary-dynastic and meritocratic-republican theories of rulership. Legitimacy was founded upon subjective notions of idealized moral-behavioural norms drawn from the imperial virtues and Christian ideology. Authority could be challenged when it was perceived to deviate from these norms. Investitures transformed a usurper from a private individual to an emperor on the basis of ratification by popular consent. The historic ritual of reluctance allowed emperors to present themselves as ‘moral ideals’ at the moment of proclamation, ridding them of blame for a usurpation. Guilt and sin were inevitable byproducts of usurpation, but imperial repentance facilitated an expiation and legitimized imperial authority in relation to moral ideals. On occasion a usurper’s successors would perform repentance on his behalf, freeing the dynasty from the sins of its foundation. The treatment of defeated usurpers could take a variety of forms: reconciliations enabled a peaceful ‘healing’ of the community. Political mutilations transformed the victim’s appearance and rendered him ‘other’ in an attempt to demonstrate his immorality and illegitimacy. Degradation parades inverted recognised investiture rites in order to permanently alter a victim’s identity and reveal him to be a tyrant, acting against the interests of the people.

The Western Zhou period (ca. 1045-771 BCE) saw the dissemination of a particular style of ancestral ritual across North China, as the Zhou royal faction leveraged its familiarity with the ritual techniques of the conquered Shang culture to complement its project of state formation. Looking back on this era as the golden age of governance, Eastern Zhou and Han thinkers sought to codify its ritual in comprehensive textual treatments collectively known as the Sanli and, in particular, the Zhouli, or "Rites of Zhou." Later scholarship has consistently drawn on the Sanli as a reference point and assumed standard for the characterization of Western Zhou rites. Current understandings of the formative era of early Chinese ritual are thus informed by the syncretic and classicizing tendencies of the early empires. To redress this issue, the present study explores the ritual practices of the Western Zhou based on their records on inscribed bronzes, the most extensive source of textual information on the period. It characterizes Western Zhou ancestral rites as fluid phenomena subject to continued redefinition, adoption, cooption, and abandonment as warranted by the different interests of Western Zhou elites. Separate discussions consider the role of ancestral rites and inscribed bronzes in materializing the royal presence within the interaction spheres of elite lineages; the evolution of ritual performances of Zhou kingship, and their relationship to the military and political circumstances of the royal house; the emergence of new ritual contexts of patronage, recognition, and reward that differentiated between members of expanding lineages and intensified royal control over key resources; and the combination of multiple ritual techniques with royal hospitality provision to create major ritual event assemblies. A final synthesis brings these discussions together into a sequential analysis of Western Zhou ritual, relating them to the evolving political situation of the Zhou royal house.

Carthage is the least understood imperial actor in the ancient western Mediterranean. The present lack of understanding is primarily a result of the paucity of evidence available for historical study. No continuous Carthaginian literary or historical narrative survives. Due to the thorough nature of Roman destruction and subsequent re-use of the site, archaeological excavations at Carthage have recovered only limited portions of the built environment, material culture and just 6000 Carthaginian inscriptions. As a result of these limitations, over the past century and half, historical study of Carthage during the 6th- 4th centuries BCE traditionally begins with the evidence preserved in the Greco-Roman sources. If Greco-Roman sources are taken as direct evidence of Carthaginian history, these sources document an increase in Carthaginian military activity within the western Mediterranean during the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. Scholars have proposed three different dates for the creation of the Carthaginian Empire from this evidence: c. 650, c.550 or c. 480 BCE. Scholars have generally chosen one of these dates by correlating textual narratives with `corroborating' archaeological evidence. To give an example, certain scholars have argued that destruction layers visible at Phoenician sites in southwestern Sardinia c. 550-500 represent archaeological manifestations of the campaigns of Malchus and Mago's sons recorded in the sources. In contrast to previous studies of Carthaginian imperialism, my presentation begins with the evidence preserved in the archaeological and epigraphic records of Carthage, its colonies and dependencies. By switching evidentiary focus and interpretive method, I establish in this dissertation that the Carthaginian Empire of the 6th-4th centuries BCE, as recovered archaeologically and epigraphically, bears little resemblance to the narratives of the Greco-Roman sources. More importantly, I demonstrate that Carthaginian imperial power leaves archaeological manifestations very similar to those of Athenian or Roman imperial power. Colonization, the establishment of metropolitan political institutions at dependent polities and the reorganization of trade into a metropolitan hub and spoke system are traceable for each of these imperial systems.

This dissertation analyzes the paradigms Christian writers (150-500 C.E.) used to array, historicize, and polemicize ethnographic data. A study of late antique heresiological literature (orthodox treatises about heretics) demonstrates how the religious practices, doctrinal beliefs, and historical origins of heretics served to define Christian schematizations of the world. In studying heretics, Christian authors defined and ordered the bounds of Christian knowledge and the process by which that knowledge was transmitted.

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This work analyses the most important sources for manumission in Ancient Greece from a legal perspective, with the aim of unearthing the legal concepts and definitions that informed the liberation of slaves in the ancient documents. More specifically, this study will examine the legal nature of manumission in exchange for money while also analysing the legal condition of those ἀπελεύθεροι who, after their liberation, were required to perform παραμονή-services towards their former masters. This analysis will focus on the origins of manumission in Greece (which can be traced back to the Homeric poems), on the body of Hellenistic inscriptions from Delphi and Chaeronea, on some forensic speeches from Classical Athens and, finally, on the so-called ‘public manumissions’. All these sources are unequivocal in showing that, on the one hand, manumission in exchange for money had the nature of a bilateral legal transaction between the slaves’ masters and a third party, other than the slaves; and on the other hand, that the legal condition of manumitted slaves is always understood as one of freedom, independently of the possible imposition of post-manumission obligations upon them. This work ultimately shows not only that the Greeks’ conceptualisation of manumission relied on a solid understanding of key legal concepts such as slavery, freedom and ownership, but also that this institution was informed by common legal principles shared by different geographical and chronological contexts of the Greek world.

This thesis examines the development of Roman Illyrian policy, from the late Republican hegemony over the region to the establishment of permanent imperial frontiers on the Danube and the beginning of the process that would integrate Illyricum ( the area between the Adriatic Sea and the River Danube ) into the Roman Empire. This thesis has two principal aims. Firstly, on the regional, ' microscopic ', level it defines and explains the development of Roman policy in Illyricum. Secondly, on the global, ' macroscopic ', level it examines some of the mechanisms of Roman policy - making, and fits Illyrian policy into the wider picture of Roman foreign and later provincial policy. Ultimately, the thesis recognizes and explains the reasons for a major change in Roman strategic interests from the Eastern Adriatic coast to the interior of the western Balkans in the late Republic and early Empire. Despite the problems of deficient sources, this thesis observes Roman Illyrian policy as essentially a political interaction between Rome and the entire regional geopolitical system of Illyricum, rather than defining it through Roman interactions with individual polities inside the system, or as part of the system. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Humanities, 2005.

Echnaton, Nofrete und die neu gebaute Hauptstadt Amarna beschäftigen nicht nur Archäologen und Ägyptologen, sondern sie sind seit langem Themen der Religions- und Kunstgeschichte, jetzt auch der Sozialgeschichte. Seit dem Fund der Tontafeln (1887) mit der Korrespondenz des Königs und der deutschen Ausgrabung von 1911-14 sind die Diskussionen über die Amarnazeit nicht abgerissen. Die Publikation stellt die Lebensräume der Stadtbewohner (Stadt, Umland, Gebäude) vor, zeichnet die Lebensbilder bedeutender Persönlichkeiten und beschreibt die Weltbilder dieser Zeit, die sich in Kunst und Religion widerspiegeln.

Inhalt: 1. CHARAKTER DER ANLAGE 2. AUFGABENSTELLUNG 3. ZIEL DER ARBEIT 4. ANTIKE QUELLEN 5. FORSCHUNGSGESCHICHTE 6. VERMESSUNG DER ANLAGE (Blatt 1) 7. BESTANDSAUFNAHME (Blatt 2) 8. GRABUNGSARBEITEN 8.1 Die Plana - schichtenweises Abtragen (Blätter 2, 3, 4) 8.2 Anlegen von Schnitten (Blätter 5, 6, 7) 8.3 Zeichnen der Profile (Blätter 8, 9, 10) 8.4 Beschreibung 9. ARCHITEKTURELEMENTE 9.1. Architrave (Blatt 11) 9.2. Säulenfragmente (Blatt 12) 9.3. Hohlkehlen, Steine mit dem Uräusschlangenmotiv und andere Architekturelemente (Blätter 11, 13, 14, 15) 9.4. Fundamentsteine ( Blatt 16) 10. SKULPTUREN (Blätter 17, 18, 19) 11. KLEINFUNDE (Blatt 20) 12. SONSTIGE FUNDE (Blätter 21, 22, 23) 13. KERAMIK 13.1. Vereinfachte Keramikbearbeitung (Blätter 24, 25) 13.2. Verfeinerte Methode der Keramikbearbeitung (Blatt 26) 13.3. Vollständige Keramikgefäße 14. FOTOARBEITEN 15. REKONSTRUKTION