During the medieval period the order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem was one of the oldest, wealthiest and farthest reaching of the crusading military orders. Granted official recognition by Pope Pascal II in 1113, the Order of the Hospital expanded its original vocation of caring for the sick to include a martial function within the Holy Land during the course of the twelfth century. In support of its various activities, the Hospitallers were given vast estates both in the east and in Western Europe from which it drew continual supplies of men, money, equipment and foodstuffs. This dissertation seeks to expand the current understanding of the activities, nature and function of the military orders generally by providing a study on the estates of the Order of St John in Britain and Ireland, the regions physically farthest from the most active centre of traditional crusade activity, focusing on the period of time from the twelfth to the sixteenth century.

This thesis argues that archaeologists have ignored fundamental aspects of ceramic assemblage formation. The factors that are traditionally invoked to explain quantitative variation in ceramics are such things as distance from source, breakage rates and trade flows. These considerations are all perfectly valid. However, this thesis argues that it is essential that we also consider the effects of changing eating habits. Using the example of African Red Slip Ware (ARS), a particularly common late Roman fineware in the Mediterranean, it is shown that changes in dining practices can have had dramatic effects on the amount of pottery that would have been used at any given period in time. A model is developed for the circulation of ARS which takes these culinary changes into account. It is argued that the changes were related to the role of the ancient meal as a means of negotiating ethnic identities. Specifically, it is suggested that many of the observed changes can be related to the rise of early Christianity. This model is then used to challenge long-accepted views of the Roman economy and late Roman rural demography, both topics in which ARS plays an important role. It is argued that the traditional view of the Roman economy, as having undergone successive boombust cycles, is misguided. In large part this model is based on a misunderstanding of the formation processes of ARS assemblages, and so a new model is forwarded which allows for the effects of changing eating habits. Finally, ARS is commonly used as a guide to the density and spread of late Roman rural occupation. Traditional views cite massive depopulation in Late Antiquity. It is argued that, by re¬ examining the ARS sherds, it can be shown that this view is also misguided. This is demonstrated through an analysis of the British School at Rome's South Etruria survey ARS collection, and a critical reappraisal of the historical evidence.

By providing a holistic viewpoint this thesis has gone some way to correct the imbalance in the secondary literature which has been dominated by coverage of the Mediterranean from either a domestic or international perspective. The thesis clarifies whether there has been a resurgence of regionalism in the Mediterranean since the end of the Cold War by examining regional dynamics in the area from five different perspectives. The first investigates the concept of regionalism in international relations. The second gives an historical perspective of regionalism in the Mediterranean. The third focuses on contemporary international relations in the Mediterranean. The fourth examines the influence of external actors in the international politics of the Mediterranean. The fifth provides a “reality check” of the Mediterranean in the post-Cold War world. Patterns of interaction in the Mediterranean area reveal that there are two neighbouring international regions that are very different in character: Western Europe and the Middle East, which include three subregions bordering the Mediterranean, Southern Europe, the Levant, and the Maghreb. Post-Cold War trans-Mediterranean political proposals resonate with older traditions. This research project investigates the substance behind such Mediterranean regional rhetoric. The conclusions of this analysis are that external actors have often influenced regional patterns of relations, but have not been able to alter the basic pattern of regional alignment and conflict within international regions. In addition, regionalising proposals are more accurately described as attempts to pursue particular national and subregional interests, and as boundary management devices rather than boundary transcending ones. A reality check at the end of the twentieth century shows that the Mediterranean is more of a frontier zone than an international region.

According to its first great historian, the story of the English Church began in a street market in Rome sometime around 580. There, Bede reported, a young cleric named Gregory joined a large crowd examining what newly arrived merchants had to sell: Dicunt, quia die quadam cum, aduenientibus nuper mercatoribus, multa uenalia in forum fuissent conlata, multi ad emendum confluxissent, et ipsum Gregorium inter alios aduenisse, ac uidisse inter alia pueros uenales positos candidi corporis, ac uenusti uultus, capillorum quoque forma egregia. Quos cum aspiceret, interrogauit, ut aiunt, de qua regione uel terra essent adlati. Dictumque est, quia de Brittania insula, cuius incolae talis essent aspectus. The conversation continued as Gregory quizzed them regarding their religion and homeland, including the part usually summarized as “non Angli, sed Angeli!” The slaves were from Deira and their king was named Ælla; Gregory made further puns on these. Afterward, he went to the Bishop of Rome, begging to be sent as a missionary to the English. Though the Pope was willing to send him, the Roman people would not allow Gregory to leave the city. Eventually, Gregory himself became Pope and dispatched Augustine and his companions to fulfil his ambition. Gregory’s encounter with the angelic slaves has long been one of the most familiar stock-images of English history even though, in the principal source, Bede himself warns that he cannot testify to its veracity as he only knows the story from oral accounts. However, the very strength of an oral tradition makes it seem likely that the idea of English slaves being sold in Rome did not surprise Bede or his audience while, as Pope, Gregory himself wrote instructing his representatives in Marseille to purchase English slaves there. Other written evidence demonstrates that, at the end of the sixth century, there was a movement of slaves from the Anglo- Saxon kingdoms southwards to Gaul as well as a further movement of slaves from Gaul into the Mediterranean world. Whether or not Gregory ever actually had the reported conversation, it was widely seen as likely that slaves from Britain would be offered for sale in Rome. This slave trade across Gaul, as well as a second route along the Atlantic coasts of western Europe, brought a steady supply of goods from the developed economies of the eastern and southern Mediterranean to these western lands while, in return, the peoples of those regions exported both raw materials and other humans. At the time of Gregory’s papacy, this system of exchange linked all the parts of the former Roman Empire. Within little more than a century, however, it had all but disappeared. That trade within the former boundaries of the Roman Empire and its disappearance in the period between the time of Gregory’s visit to the market (roughly 580) and Bede’s recording of it (sometime before 731) is the subject of this thesis. Investigating the slave trade in the long seventh century in the post-Roman world will involve investigations into both slavery and commerce in a period in which neither was static. Instead, the seventh century was an era of rapid and profound change in many things, not least of which were transformations within the slave trade itself. Yet, the slave trade, as argued in this thesis, can be seen as providing a critical framework for understanding the economic and cultural developments of the entire period. The slave trade and its fluctuations may even have been a driving force in some of the enormous social changes of the time that continue to shape the present world. Four principal theses will be advanced and supported through the combination of a reading of the written sources (primarily, though not exclusively, those in Arabic, Greek, and Latin), an examination of relevant archaeological data, and the use of analogous evidence from other periods. These four propositions may be seen as the basis of the overall argument demonstrating 1) that slaves were numerous and that they played a crucial role in the societies of the post-Roman world, 2) that the continuing function of these societies required a greater supply of slaves than could be provided internally, 3) that this resulted in a long-distance slave trade that was a key force in the post-Roman system of exchange in the Mediterranean world, 4) and that the breakdown of this system of trade and of many contacts across the Mediterranean during the seventh century was caused primarily by alterations in the sources of the slave supply of the most developed economies. None of these four has been argued previously though academics have been increasingly examining the pre-modern history of slavery and of the slave trade. Though numerous articles and volumes have looked at particular aspects of slave-systems in the periods immediately before or after, none have examined the slave trading systems of the long seventh century itself. Similarly, those works that do touch on it have been largely concerned with other issues or focussed solely on a single region, whether that is the Byzantine Empire, the British Isles, Spain, Gaul, or the earliest Islamic societies. Older works were similarly limited in geographic scope, with even the broadest concentrating solely on European or Islamic materials. No one has previously attempted to bring together materials from the whole of the post-Roman world in a single coherent account nor has any prior scholarship shown either the ubiquity of slavery in the period or the extent of the slave trade at the time. By putting together these four arguments, an overall thesis that provides an original synthesis and reconciliation between divergent interpretations of the economies of the end of the Roman Empire and the formation of the medieval world will be created.

Background: In the U.S., Hispanics have among the highest rates of overweight and obesity when compared to other racial/ethnic groups placing them at a greater risk for obesity-related disease. Identifying intervention strategies to reduce caloric intake and/or improve cardiometabolic health in Hispanics is critical to reducing morbidity and mortality among this large and growing population. Evidence exists to support diet-specific behavioral interventions, including beverage modifications, in reducing obesity-related health risks. However, the acceptability and feasibility of a beverage intervention in obese Hispanic adults has not been robustly evaluated. Methods: The objective of this pilot study is to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a randomized, controlled beverage intervention in 50 obese Hispanic adults ages 18-64 over 8-weeks. Eligible participants were obese (30-50.0 kg/m(2)), between the ages 18-64, self-identified as Hispanic, and were able to speak, read, and write in either English and/or Spanish. Study recruitment was completed August 2017. Upon the completion of baseline assessments, participants will be randomized to either Mediterranean lemonade, Green Tea, or flavored water control. After completing a 2-week washout period, participants will be asked to consume 32 oz. per day of study beverage for 6-weeks while avoiding all other sources of tea, lemonade, citrus, juice, and other sweetened beverages; water is permissible. Primary outcomes will be recruitment, retention, and acceptability of the intervention strategies. Our study will also evaluate participant-reported tolerance and as an exploratory aim, assess safety/toxicity-related to renal and/or liver function. Fasting blood samples will be collected at baseline and 8-weeks to assess the primary efficacy outcomes: total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Secondary outcomes include fasting glucose, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Discussion: This pilot study will provide important feasibility, safety, and early efficacy data necessary to design a larger, adequately-powered randomized controlled trial.

La thèse compare la documentation épigraphique relative aux métiers portuaires de six cités de la Méditerranée antique (Aquilée, Ostia-Portus, Arles, Lyon, Narbonne, Hispalis). La première partie étudie les termes latins relatifs aux métiers portuaires pour déterminer le rôle des professionnels. Cette première partie doit être envisagée en complément du corpus documentaire. La seconde partie étudie la hiérarchie sociale à l'intérieur des métiers portuaires et vise à identifier les éléments d'identité et de cohésion au sein du port. Enfin, la dernière partie évalue la place des professionnels portuaires dans l'économie locale et au sein des élites. Le lien avec d'autres cités est également envisagé. / The thesis compares the epigraphical documentation of port occupations of six Mediterranean cities (Aquileia, Ostia-Portus, Arles, Lyon, Narbonne, Hispalis). The first part studies the latin words concerning port occupations to determine the role of the professionals. This first part must be viewed in addition to the documentary corpus. The second part studies the social hierarchy inside port occupations and aims to identify elements of identity and social cohesion inside the port. Finally, the last part estimates the place of port professionals in local economy and inside the elites. The link with other cities is also considered.

Wildfires play a significant role in many different elements of Mediterranean forest ecosystems. In recent years, prescribed fires have started being used more often as a fuel reduction tool, and also as silvicultural treatment to help the regeneration and health improvement of stands. Apart from the fact that fire may alter microsite conditions, very little is known about the impact of prescribed burning on natural regeneration or plant species renewal in Mediterranean pine forests. Likewise, knowledge about the influence of seedling predators on post-fire regeneration is still scarce. In this study, we aimed to compare the effects of seedling predation on recruitment in earlier stages after prescribed burnings in three pine stands in Central Spain: a pure stand of Pinus nigra; a mixed stand of Pinus halepensis and Pinus pinaster and a mixed stand P. nigra with P. pinaster. In situ we superficially sowed seeds from two different species. In the sowing experiment, we tested two different seed provenances (drier and more humid spanish regions) for each species. In all, 60 plots (30 burned, 30 unburned) per site, with 10 seeding units per plot and more than 20,000 seeds, were used in the whole study. Seedling predation was evaluated by replicating the seeding units inside and outside a wire cage as protection for rodents and birds. Our results showed that prescribed fires alter initial seedling predation intensity: predation was significantly higher in the seedlings grown in the plots affected by prescribed fire. The individuals sown before the fire passed showed slightly more predation than those sown after fire passage. Provenances did not appear as an important predation drive. Understanding the role of the predation associated with these treatments can help improve Mediterranean pine forest management.

This thesis examines warfare, social power, and the state in central Italy for the period between 900 and 343 BC.1 The goal of this research is to better understand how warfare fit into the dialogue of social power in Etruria and Rome. This is achieved through the fulfilment of a number of aims. The first is to understand the patterns of warfare present in central Italy, as these can help us better understand the social aspects of conflict in the region. The project assumes that the practice of warfare is important for understanding its role in this dialogue, and thus an analysis of arms, armour, and tactics is also necessary. The second aim is to understand how warfare and politics affected one another. The condottieri paradigm is challenged and the strength of central Italian states asserted. The third aim is to explain the interaction between warfare and economic power, and the interaction between these two aspects of social power. The fourth aim is similar, and analyzes the connections that are visible between warfare and religion. Through these aims, this project creates a clearer picture of warfare in Etruria and Rome from the Iron Age to the Archaic Period. It argues that the exchange and dialogue of social power was not alienated from the state, and that independent warfare would have been of less value than it was probably worth. To this end, the Servian Constitution is re-examined and the idea of an early Roman hoplite phalanx, and single class army, is rejected. The original contribution of this work is in reasserting the position of the state in Tyrrhenian warfare and rejecting the idea that private interest was more powerful.

From the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940 through to the end of December 1944, the British and their allies waged a major campaign against Axis shipping in the Mediterranean. Uniquely for the British, this campaign took the form of a combined arms offensive throughout its conduct, and utilized all four methods of attacking shipping; surface vessels, submarines, aircraft and mine warfare. This thesis approaches the campaign thematically, examining each of the four methods individually. The priority given to the campaign, the forces and equipment available throughout, the tactics used and their development, the successes achieved in numbers and tonnage of merchant vessels sunk and the losses in numbers and casualties are all considered for each method. By examining these factors and the relevant quantitative data, the efficacy of each form of attack is determined and a final comparison of the four different methods made. The thesis concludes that overall, torpedo aircraft were the most effective method due to their ratio of high success and low number of personnel casualties, despite considerable losses of aircraft. Submarines were also very successful but ultimately more costly. The thesis demonstrates that mine warfare might well have achieved significant results had a greater priority been placed on it and that surface vessels no longer retained the ability to operate successfully for sustained periods in an anti-shipping role unless in an area of aerial and naval superiority.

Since Ardashir’s victory over the Parthians in A.D 224 to his successors’ eventual defeat at the hands of the Arabs in 651 the Roman and Sasanian Empires had been bitter and deadly rivals. Throughout Late Antiquity the Roman-Sasanian relationship was dominated by competition; a constant battle for imperial prestige, military supremacy, cultural influence and economic advantage. In the course of their relationship Ctesiphon, the Sasanian capital, was sacked by Roman forces, the Roman emperor Valerian was captured and taken prisoner, Julian the Apostate was killed by Sassanian forces in his infamous campaign of 363, and the great Roman city of Antioch had been captured and razed. Yet in this seemingly never-ending imperial struggle the fifth century stands out as a period of unprecedented peace between the imperial rivals. It is the aim of this thesis to analyse what made the fifth century a unique period of peace. This thesis seeks to expand on current scholarship on the fifth-century Roman-Sasanian relationship, which has focused on the investigation of specific and individual events, by taking a more holistic approach. In this regard, all aspects of the relationship, military conflicts, frontier zones, barbarian threats, religious issues, economic considerations and the development of diplomatic contacts, will be analysed in order to identify what pushed the two empires towards a peace and, more importantly, how this peace was maintained in the face of old hostilities and traditional antagonism. Viewing the Roman-Sasanian relationship as merely one part of the wider late antique world, not as something unique and separate, will also be a key component of this investigation. Central to the aim and approach of this thesis is the use of political realism, a theory for understanding international relations, to reveal the motivations and pressures that both empires faced in this period that pushed them towards peace. In this regard, it will be argued that the Roman and Sasanian overriding desire and goal of ensuring their own safety and security in an anarchic world in the face of the new and dangerous threats posed by the ascendant Huns, Hephthalites and Vandals was the underlying motivation behind the fifth-century peace. It was the threat posed by these groups that forced a shift in Roman-Sasanian relations towards the accommodation that both needed to survive the turbulent fifth century. As such, it was these new threats that stimulated the development of imperial diplomacy in the fifth century that allowed the two empires to mediate their traditional casus belli and maintain peace throughout this period. This diplomatic development allowed them to reach new and innovative diplomatic solutions to their problems in the frontier zones of Arabia and Armenia.