Alexander the Great represents the pinnacle of mortal achievement. There are many histories, novels, and even self-help books written on Alexander, though very few discuss in detail exactly who this enigmatic youth was. Tragically, many historians deny the possibility of understanding the intricacies of Alexander's complex personality. This thesis espouses that Alexander can be studied as a human-being brimming over with wisdom and accomplishment. The research conducted for this thesis has involved combing the ancient authors whom Alexander read and was influenced by in order to fully represent Alexander as a deeply emulative hero. The portrait of Alexander that readers will find below is both deeply historical and fascinatingly mythical, for he lived in both worlds. Alexander believed in a prophecy uttered by Prometheus which foretold of a weapon that would "best the thunderbolt" of Zeus; the fulfillment of this prophecy would bring the glory of Alexander's heroic bloodline to a dramatic and powerful conclusion. To reach this goal, Alexander had to rival his ancestors Achilles and Hercules in accomplishment and then excel them in memory. It is the hope that this thesis will paint an original portrait of Alexander which is overflowing with the spirituality, passion, and adventure that characterized the young king.

L’objectif principal de la thèse a été de fournir une révision de l'édition critique, avec une traduction et un commentaire des scholia du ps.Acron au quatrième livre des Carmina. Considérer le quatrième livre a répondu à l'exigence de déterminer une section 'indépendante' dans la production lyrique d'Horace.Le corpus pseudacronian se présente comme un ensemble de scholies à l'œuvre d'Horace pas reconductible à une individualité ou à un moment historique bien précis mais qui résulte comme la conséquence d'une stratification commencée au V siècle et qui a duré jusqu'au Moyen Age attribué de manière erronée à Elenius Acron, auteur du IIè siècle d.C.J'ai proposé des interventions critiques à l'édition de O. Keller publié pour la Teubneriana (Leipzig 1902).Dans la rédaction du commentaire, une grande importance a été conférée à l'évaluation des enquêtes littéraires dans le texte pseudacronian. L’étude comporte également une focalisation attentive sur les typologies de caractéristiques, très diffuses dans les commentaires anciens, grâce auxquels on peut déduire les compétences linguistiques, rhétoriques, littéraires, mythiques, historiennes.Le travail a été complété par un essai initial organisé en sections: la première partie concerne la réception du texte des auctores, et en particulier d'Horace, dans le contexte de l'école. Une seconde section concerne les caractéristiques du commentaire au quatrième livre des Carmina, illustratifs pour l'évaluation de la technique exégétique du ps.Acron. / The main objective of the thesis was that to provide a review of the critical edition, with a translation and a commentary of the scholia pseudacroniana on The Fourth Book of the Odes of Horace. In the vast field of the Horatian lyric, it's been considered un 'independent' section. The pseudacronian corpus looks like a jumble of Horace's scholia not due to an individuality or to a precise historic moment: they are the result of a stratification began in the fifth century and lasted until the Middle Ages, mistakenly attributed to Elenius Acron, author of the second century AD. Some critical interventions have been proposed to the edition of reference, that of O. Keller, published for the series Teubneriana (Pseudacronis Scholia in Horatium vetustiora, Leipzig 1902).During the draft of the commentary I've given great importance to the evaluation of the literary investigations proposed in the pseudacronian text. It's not even a careful focus on the types of notes, too, from which we deduce the linguistic, rhetorical, literary, mythical, historical competences. The work has been completed by an essay divided by sections: the first part concerning the receipt of the text of auctores, and in particular Horace, in the context of the school. The second section concerns the characteristics of the commentary on the fourth book of Odes, taken as an example for the evaluation of ps.Acron's exegetical technique.

<p>The aim of this thesis is to explore the Roman <em>salutatio</em>. The morning ritual was reiterated daily throughout the Republic and Empire, and was a fundamental facet of Roman interactions between citizens of varying status. This thesis moves beyond the traditional interpretation of the ritual as a manifestation of Roman patronage, and rather examines the asymmetrical social relationships that existed at the <em>salutatio</em> within the context of the applicable socio-political ideologies of the Republic and Empire. As a ritual that was enacted on a daily basis for centuries, the <em>salutatio</em> is a useful conduit to understand the complexities of social interaction in Roman society.</p> <p>Much of the traditional scholarship on the <em>salutatio</em> has interpreted the <em>salutator</em>/salutatee relationship essentially as a system of social acquiescence, where the salutatee was able to accrue significant social esteem, and the <em>salutator</em> was merely a humble <em>cliens</em> or social inferior. This thesis dissects the abundant, yet fleeting references to the social practice in the ancient sources to analyze how participation in the <em>salutatio</em> impacted individual social status within the greater Roman collective, which was inherently hierarchical. The sources consequently suggest that the ritual was not a system of social subordination, but was rather an accepted behavioural practice which served as a mechanism to promote or establish a distinct ‘Roman-ness’ within the collective Roman identity, irrespective of status. This study furthermore considers influences which prompted significant adaptations of the <em>salutatio</em> over time, which consequently illuminates greater complexities of the Roman social structure.</p> <p>This thesis ultimately presents the <em>salutatio</em> as a Republican ritual which was monopolized by the emperor after the substantial socio-political shift that ensued from the political modification of Republic to Empire. The ritual of the <em>salutatio</em> is therefore a manifestation of the instabilities of the Roman social structure.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The epic hero Diomedes is, in my opinion, considered a marginal hero, as he is relegated to a backbench in ancient Greek thought and ideology. I examine why this is the case, considering his role and impact in Homer's <em>Iliad</em>. Greek society valued its epic heroes beyond the words of the poets, yet some heroes received much more attention that others as central characters in tragedy and iconography, consequently regarded as favourites by mass audiences. I believe that examining a marginal hero like Diomedes is important in order to understand why Greek culture generally disregarded some warriors in favour of others, especially in the case of Diomedes, who displays heroic virtues more evidently than several other heroes who have received more attention. Overall Greek attitudes toward him offer an intriguing perspective on the epic heroes and the ways in which the Greeks idealized them. An examination of Greek literary, visual, and religious spheres of influence effectively aid in determining the reasons behind this phenomenon. In summary, this work attempts to understand Greek attitudes towards a hero who has received very little scholarly attention. The concept of the epic hero requires analysis of even the most neglected characters; one cannot understand Odysseus, Achilles, or Hector without examining Diomedes, who has a notable role in the very same tradition as the aforementioned heroes.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This thesis is concerned with the representation of children on sculptural funerary commemoration, with a focus on freedmen panel reliefs and funerary altars. Although there is evidence found from all regions of the Empire, the majority of the material discussed here is from the city of Rome itself. Representations of young children first appear on freedmen panel reliefs, which date to the end of the Republic and were produced into the first century of the Empire. When this genre declined in popularity at the end of the first century AD, funerary altars emerged as the new, preferred form of commemoration. The goal of this thesis is to show that these two types of funerary monuments reveal much about the children themselves, but also provide insight into the social and cultural identity of their parents. Due to the family relationships expressed on these commemorations, I also evaluate the degree of affect demonstrated by the parents or the dedicator towards the children present on these monuments. The first chapter provides a socio-cultural background on the role of children in the family and Roman society as well as the importance of funerary commemoration. In this chapter I also discuss the likelihood of high infant and child mortality rates and explore reactions towards the death of children in literary evidence and social conventions. In the second chapter I provide a background on the significance of the freedman family, followed by an examination of the panel reliefs. The third chapter examines funerary altars that commemorate young children. The material discussed in this chapter is analyzed through a case study approach of nine altars, examining both the epigraphic elements and the sculptural components.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This dissertation is an attempt to study and comment upon the text of Aeneid 11. In so doing it has been necessary to trace the literary origins of the characters concerned in the hope that this would give some consistent direction to their characterization.</p> <p>Since the world's first historians had been Greeks who had associated history with epic poetry,considering that "history owed its technique and its very existence to Homer and other Greek poets" and that "Athenian tragic drama in the fifth century B.C ... also influenced Greek historical writing" (M.Grant. The Annals of Imperial Rome,10), history and poetry were inextricably woven together as Virgil's Shield of Aeneas clearly indicates (Aeneid 8.626 ff.). That this rapport would have some bearing upon Vergil's work is an aspect noted by a number of scholars who see the Aeneid in terms of allegory,a point of view which I have attempted to explore in treating Aeneid 11.</p> <p>In assessing Vergil's major heroes and his heroine Camilla,it was necessary to evaluate both descriptions and behaviour patterns of other major characters throughout Vergil's epic.As a result of this,my awareness of Vergil's knowledge of ambiguous writing techniques grew and it seemed to me that a subtle manipulation of mythology and Roman history would provide an excellent vehicle for both characterization and narrative of outstanding personages of Vergil's own era.</p> <p>Vergil's deliberate yet sensitive treatment of his major characters,his variatio in the use of typology,his highlighting of motivation and interests,of the horrors of war in which the young and frequently the innocent suffer on both sides,his recording of public debates between prominent politicians and pen portraits of regal furiosae,all find their counterparts in the period of civil strife which ensued after the assassination of Julius Caesar. The sympathy and humanitas of Vergil for all concerned,mirrored in his generally successful attempt to write aequo animo,might be summed up in Aeneas'desperate groan as he views the battle-scenes and carnage depicted on the walls of Juno's temple at Carthage: sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt (Aen.1.462).</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The three works of Procopius of Caesarea, the History of the Wars, the Buildings and the Secret History, form a corpus which can be profitably studied as a whole. My thesis is a typology of the visual in Procopius’ corpus, which is embedded in a study of narrative technique. It concerns itself with the representation of material reality and the complex relationship between materiality and the text. It utilises the digressive and the descriptive as an indirect entry point to expose Procopius’ literary finesse and his use of poikilia. In the first half of this thesis, the main object of my study is the representation of the material world in Procopius. The first chapter is devoted to the first book of the Buildings as it depicts the city of Constantinople. The second chapter moves to the representation of space and the third chapter to that of objects of all sizes and kinds. From these three different angles, I demonstrate how the visual is deeply charged with both ideological and meta-textual intentions. The second half of the thesis goes beyond materiality to examine what I discuss as the imaginaire of Procopius. The fourth chapter examines the way violence is depicted in a material and spectacular manner as well as its meta-textual implications, and the fifth and final chapter addresses the omnipresence of the supernatural in the corpus as well as Procopius’ self-representation as narrator and character. While preoccupied to some extent with ideological and political concerns, this thesis is first and foremost centred on the text itself and how its relationship to the description of material culture throws light on a crucial author on the cusp between the classical and the medieval imaginaire, one of the most significant authors in Byzantine literary culture.

This thesis is an exercise in the archaeology of memory. It investigates the reuse and ‘reinvention’ of late antique sarcophagi during the Middle Ages in the southern part of Gaul, with a particular emphasis on their reinvention for saints. The region of Provence has a large number of sarcophagi reused for the burial of saints (at least 20), including many of its most important holy figures such as Mary Magdalene, Cassian and Honorat. I shall analyse three groups of sites: the Alyscamps in Arles, Saint-Maximin and Tarascon (the sites connected with Mary Magdalene and her companions) and the monastery of Saint Victor in Marseille. In each case, the sarcophagi became part of an invented narrative created around the imagined antiquity of the site. These narratives varied significantly: some were monastic, others episcopal or biblical, still others heroic: but all were created around antique sarcophagi. Antiquities thus became monumental realms of memory for individuals and events that were thought to have been of significant historical importance in Provence. They formed part of the popular history and collective identity of the region. I will show that their association with saints changed the very function of these objects, as many were no longer seen simply as tombs but also as relics in their own right. I use a variety of sources to help reconstruct this imagined history, particularly saints’ vitae that often provide information about cults, particularly regarding the location of sarcophagi and sometimes even details of miracles that they produced, but also medieval chartae, sermons, and pilgrims’ descriptions of sites and rituals. The results of this study show that sarcophagi were of major importance in the religious history of Provence during the Middle Ages, as they became "proof" of the antiquity of local cults and of the histories based on these legends that the region created for itself. My work contributes to our knowledge of medieval Provence and the history of its collections of sarcophagi.

This thesis studies, for the first time, Bede’s use of the image of the Jewish temple across all his writings. Not only analysing how Bede developed earlier Christian interpretations of the temple, it also uses the temple-image to shine light on under-explored aspects of his theological thought. Throughout, I argue that the communal understanding of the temple-image in Bede’s monastery helped shape his exegesis; we should think of Bede, not as an individual scholar, but as a monk engaged in an active discourse concerning the Bible. <strong>Chapter 1</strong> introduces the thesis, providing the historiographical and historical context. Bede’s exegesis existed within a long tradition of Christian interpretation of the temple, as <strong>Chapter 2</strong> shows; one image could be interpreted in diverse ways by Bede and therefore this thesis follows a thematic approach. <strong>Chapter 3</strong> studies Bede’s engagement with the cosmic interpretation of the temple, in particular his use of the image to emphasise the Anglo-Saxons’ participation in the universal Church. Analysing Bede’s interpretation of the Jewish priesthood, <strong>Chapter 4</strong> argues that he championed an élite of ordained clerics in the role of reforming the temple-Church. This Church clashed with the Body of Satan, symbolised by the Tower of Babel, concerning which the contemporary Northumbrian situation shaped Bede’s understanding. For Bede, the temple-image stressed Christ’s humanity and his sacrificial priesthood, as <strong>Chapter 5</strong> shows. Bede urged the faithful to shape themselves as pure temples in imitation of Christ, directing them towards union with God. A diachronic overview of Bede’s writings on the temple in <strong>Chapter 6</strong> highlights the importance of the years immediately prior to 716, the period in which the Codex Amiatinus was created at his monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow, in the development of Bede’s interpretation of the temple. We should consider the possibility that Bede’s temple-commentaries drew upon interpretations formed in this communal, monastic, context.

This thesis investigates cognition and knowledge in a rich selection of late medieval Florentine commonplace books (zibaldoni) and diaries (ricordanze) with a special focus on Giovanni Rucellai’s Zibaldone Quaresimale. In Chapter Two a new methodology, named Mental Model Framework in History (MMFH), is elaborated. By studying mental processes such as categorisation and decision making, MMFH enables us to study cognition in historical documents. The dissertation is based on a computer-assisted analysis described in Chapter Three . This has brought together a number of technologies (Natural Language Processing, Semantic Web, Text Encoding Initiative) and used them according to the interpretative goals of the MMFH. Chapter Four investigates the knowledge-constructing practice of late medieval Florentines, and concludes that commonplace books and diaries were tools of information management and knowledge transmission. The core chapters study four domains of thinking: space, time, agency and perception. Chapter Five analyses social recognition and judgement in Renaissance Florence and reveals how a new ethical thought took shape, one that prepared the transition to capitalism. By applying decision and game theory, Chapter Six examines horizontal friendship, a bond that functioned as an informal but risky social insurance in Florence. Chapter Seven studies how Florentines used superlatives to construct a hierarchy of the world, with Florence on the top. This was the manifestation of a fierce competition within and outside the walls of Florence, competition that strongly influenced the social and physical environment of the city. By studying selection, periodisation and causal reasoning, Chapter Eight pinpoints the gradual secularisation of the conception of time. The thesis concludes that the late medieval revolution in information culture marked by the gradual transition from an overwhelmingly oral culture to an increasingly literate culture produced quantitative and qualitative changes in human thought. This largely contributed to the birth of modern thought, and to the late medieval transformation of the social and physical environment.