This dissertation addresses the role of recipe writing in the culture and development of empiricism in Spain over the course of the long sixteenth century. In 1516, Charles of Habsburg was named King of Spain, and began his project to consolidate and extend Spanish rule, picking up where his grandparents, Isabel and Ferdinand, left off. While the Iberian Monarchy attempted to control empirical practice and knowledge of the natural world by way of its administrative institutions, Europe was developing a bit of a recipe habit. Across sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe, there was an surge in readership of recipe books, manuals, books of secrets, and artes, as well as any other book containing recipes (including natural histories). Much like today, there was a rich culture of recipe writing and exchange. When it came to household affairs such as cooking, toiletries and cosmetics, cleaning, and pharmaceuticals, most people had their own practices, and many were also willing to share their tested recipes with others. As I argue in this dissertation, local experimentation and the exchange of said knowledge took place among heterogenous networks of practitioners across Habsburg Spain. While the Crown was influenced by these practices and often appropriated them as well, it was not the only force behind the empirical turn in the history of science and medicine in Spain. Rather, local practitioners and cohorts of experimenting nobles and laypeople alike all played a role in the turn toward experimentation as scientific method.

This thesis is a historical and historiographical commentary on Book 57 (Chs. 1-17.8) of Cassius Dio's Roman History. It comprises two sections, an Introduction followed by the Commentary itself. The introduction is sub-divided into three chapters. The first of these introductory chapters (The Roman Historian at Work) presents a discussion of the historical material available for Dio's Tiberian narrative, and a discussion of the factors which were instrumental in Dio's writing and shaping his narrative of the reign of Tiberius. The second chapter (Dio on Tiberius) is an analysis of Dio's portrayal of Tiberius and of the historian’s understanding of Tiberius in the historical context of the early Principate. These chapters are followed by some brief Notes on the Text of Book 57, which considers the manuscript tradition of Book 57, and comments on portrayal of the reign of Tiberius in the Dionian tradition, and in particular the Excerpta Constantiniana, Xiphilinus, and Zonaras. The second part of the thesis, the commentary, presents an analysis of Dio's narrative from both historical and historiographical perspectives.

Cette thèse se propose d’étudier dans le cadre d’une mise en série les différents procès incorporés à la collection de papyrus communément appelée Acta Alexandrinorum, sorte de corpus inclassable regroupant plusieurs documents de nature administrative, judiciaire ou diplomatique ayant trait aux relations entretenues entre l’Empire Romain et la cité d’Alexandrie aux deux premiers siècles de notre ère. Au nombre de cinq, ces procès, retrouvés uniquement à l’état fragmentaire et rédigés en grec, souvent après un travail de réécriture trahissant le parti pris des auteurs alexandrins, apportent un éclairage inédit sur les tensions entre les deux entités politiques et posent quantité de problèmes juridiques, tant sur le plan du droit privé que du droit public. L’arrière-plan égyptien place en outre ces procès à la croisée de trois traditions juridiques pouvant s’influencer et s’imbriquer mutuellement. Ces documents illustrent par ailleurs les débats qui marquaient alors la pensée politique et philosophique véhiculée par la Seconde Sophistique puisqu’ils proposaient le plus souvent un affrontement direct, dans le cadre du procès, entre les intellectuels grecs attachés aux valeurs traditionnelles de l’hellénisme et le pouvoir romain incarné par l’empereur lui-même. Il paraît donc particulièrement intéressant d’analyser au prisme du droit et des sources juridiques ces procès, très politiques, qui n’ont jusqu’alors bénéficié d’aucune étude d’ensemble dans l’historiographie française, ni même par ailleurs d’une traduction complète, et qui ne connurent à l’étranger qu’une approche essentiellement philologique. / This thesis aims at studying the various trials incorporated in the papyrus collection commonly known as Acta Alexandrinorum, an unclassifiable corpus regrouping several administrative, judicial or diplomatic documents concerning the relationships between the Roman Empire and the city of Alexandria during the first two centuries AD. These trials, recorded in Greek, were found unfortunately in a very poor state of conservation, and are characterized by a process of rewriting which reveals the partiality of the Alexandrian authors. They bring a new insight to the tensions between the two political entities and cause legal problems both in terms of private and public law. Moreover, the Egyptian context places these trials at the center of three legal traditions which could influence and interact together. These documents enlighten also the debates around the political and philosophical thought conveyed by the Second Sophistic through a direct confrontation between the Greek intellectuals attached to the traditional values of Hellenism and the Roman power incarnated by the emperor himself. Therefore it seems particularly interesting to analyze these very political trials under the perspective of law, since these sources, which were mainly studied only by philologists abroad, have never been the subject of a complete study in France until now and even never completely translated.

The main objectives of this diploma thesis are to describe and analyze character of the Roman Emperor Nero, the last member of Iulo-Claudian dynasty, in the historical film, which was made as a part of a series about Roman history. The first part deals with history of the Roman Empire since Gaius Octavius`s arrival to Rome in 44 BC till death of the Emperor Claudius in 55 AD. The second part gives a description of the character Emperor Nero of the Roman Empire. It is believed that it was he who had the whole city of Rome burnt. Other parts of this thesis show analysis of the film Nero, císař římský. Imperium: Nerone (TV film) 2004. It is a comparison of his character from literary to theatrical sources. The last part describes a didactic use of the film. There is a presentation of a model lesson that was created and taught in practice by the author herself. Key words Agrippina History classes Film Historical film Film Imperium: Nerone The Iulo-Claudian dynasty Nero Principate

La prière, parce qu’elle suppose une reconnaissance du pouvoir des mots et des gestes, est une pratique tangible et un fait historique. Étudier sa nature et ses évolutions fait progresser la connaissance des comportements et des dispositifs religieux. Ainsi, les prières formulées par les empereurs romains, qu’ils soient païens ou chrétiens, participent de la manifestation de leur pouvoir et de l’expression des rapports complexes entre l’individu, la communauté et le monde divin. Néanmoins la nature de la documentation et la spécificité des différents systèmes religieux conduisent à privilégier une relative synchronie. L’étude des prières récitées par l’empereur dans la célébration des cultes publics permet de préciser l’articulation entre la personne impériale et la communauté publique. Sur le temps long, il est alors possible de discuter les supposées évolutions ou mutations de ces responsabilités et de leurs représentations. Aussi la nature même des prières romaines peut-elle être éclairée au regard des interrogations modernes sur les religions antiques et des concepts de spiritualisation, d’individualisation ou de performance collective. La définition du paysage cultuel des empereurs romains permet de reconsidérer le sens même de la prière individuelle et de ses enjeux religieux et sociaux. L’ensemble de ces approches se prolonge harmonieusement avec le passage du paganisme au christianisme. La place des empereurs dans le culte communautaire, la possible élaboration de dispositifs cultuels spécifiques et la représentation de leurs prières individuelles ou personnelles participent de l’étude historique de la lente constitution d’un christianisme impérial romain divers. / The prayer is a tangible practice and a historical fact. It implies recognition of the power of words and gestures. The study of its nature and evolutions improves knowledge of religious behaviours and setups. Prayers made by pagan or Christian Roman emperors involve representation of their power and show the complex relationship between the person, the community and the divine world. However, the available documentation and the specificity of different religious systems lead to adopt a relative synchrony. The prayers said in public cults are used to study the relationship between the imperial person and public community. It is then possible to have a long-term discussion of the supposed changes or mutations of these responsibilities and their images. The nature of Roman prayers can be discussed by the modern interrogations about antique religions and concepts such as spiritualization, individualization and collective performance. The definition of the Roman emperors worship landscape allows reconsidering the very meaning of individual prayer together with its religious and social issues. All these approaches extend harmoniously from Paganism to early Christianity. The position of emperors in community worship, the development of specific worship setup and representation of individual or personal prayers are part of an historical study focused on the slow formation of a diverse Roman imperial Christianity.

La passion des Romains pour les jeux du cirque, et surtout pour les courses de chars, apparaît comme un topos dans la littérature ancienne. Si les auteurs anciens ont maintes fois évoqué l’état d’excitation du public, les jugements moraux et les stéréotypes l’emportent sur toute tentative d’analyse et très peu d’amateurs de courses ont laissé de témoignage, comme la première partie de cette thèse le met en évidence. Il nous a donc fallu dépasser ces préjugés afin d’expliquer les raisons d’un tel engouement. La confrontation des données issues des sources textuelles aux résultats de travaux récents en psychologie des émotions et en sociologie du sport nous a permis de démontrer, dans la seconde partie, le lien entre la passion des jeux et les émotions provoquées par ces spectacles. En effet, cette passion se nourrissait largement des émotions intenses éprouvées par les spectateurs, elles-mêmes conséquence d’un phénomène d’hyperstimulation sensorielle auquel ils étaient soumis depuis leur arrivée aux abords du bâtiment jusqu’à la fin des jeux. Cet engouement pour les ludi circenses avait donc des causes intrinsèques aux spectacles. Face à ce constat et à l’intérêt croissant du pouvoir pour les circenses dès la fin de la République, la troisième partie de cette thèse examine la question de l’instrumentalisation de ces jeux à des fins politiques. Si des chefs d’armées, comme Pompée ou Jules César, comprirent tout le bénéfice qu’ils pouvaient en retirer en terme de popularité et si, à partir d’Auguste, les circenses font partie intégrante de la politique impériale, il serait néanmoins erroné de percevoir les spectateurs du cirque comme une foule manipulée par le pouvoir. Ils jouissaient en ce lieu d’une autorité considérable, non seulement sur le déroulement des jeux, mais aussi à l’égard de l’empereur, à tel point que le rapport de force avec ce dernier pouvait même éventuellement s’inverser. Le cirque a été en effet parfois le cadre de manifestations d’hostilité de la foule à l’encontre de l’empereur ou de ses proches et dans la plupart des cas les manifestants ont obtenu gain de cause. La clémence du prince semble donc avoir été l’usage en ce lieu. Cependant, il convient de ne pas réduire les acteurs de ces mouvements de protestation à la plèbe. Ces manifestations étaient vraisemblablement souvent orchestrées et soigneusement préparées à l’avance, or il nous est apparu que seuls des membres de l’ordre sénatorial ou équestre avaient les moyens humains et logistiques d’y parvenir. / Passion for Roman circus games, and especially for chariot races, appears as a topos in ancient literature. Even if ancient authors frequently evoke the excitement of the audience, this excitement often attracts moral condemnations and stereotypes rather than critical analysis and there are very few testimonies coming from chariot races enthusiasts, as it may be noted in the first part of the thesis. This study aims to overcome these prejudices in order to explain the reasons for such an enthusiasm. In the second part, after confronting data coming from textual sources with what recent works in psychology of emotion and sociology of sport can teach us, we demonstrate the link between passion for the games and the emotions provoked by those spectacles. This passion, indeed, was mainly entertained by the intensity of the emotions, resulting themselves from the sensory overload which the spectators experienced, from the moment they were reaching the circus to the end of the games. This passion may be due to factors intrinsic to the show. Considering this aspect as well as the growing interest of the power for circenses at the end of the Republic, the third part examines the exploitation of the games for political purposes. Even if army leaders, such as Pompey and Caesar, well understood all the benefits they could derive in terms of popularity, and even if the circenses started to be, from Augustus on, an integral part of imperial policy, it would be a mistake to see the spectators simply as a crowd manipulated by political power. It appears that the spectators enjoyed considerable authority over this place, not only in relation to the conduct of the games, but also even in relation to the emperor, insomuch as the power struggle between the emperor and his subjects could sometimes be reversed. On several occasions, indeed, the circus was the scene of the crowd’s hostility against the emperor or his relatives, and in many such cases, the demonstrators were successful. It seems that it was customary for the emperor to show clemency within the circus. However, it is important not to generalise about the participants of protests and not to consider them simply as a plebeian mob. Such protests were in all likelihood often carefully orchestrated and planned in advance; it seems clear that only members of the senatorial or equestrian orders had the human resources and logistical capacity to achieve that.

This thesis examines Charles V's inability to take decisive military action against the Protestant threat in Germany before 1546. It treats modern historiography on Charles V in Germany. The thesis offers a new theory concerning religious motivation for the delay. Charles was a man of deep and devoted faith in the Catholic Church and consequently, was unable to accept the possibility that any individual would doubt or abandon that persuasion without calculated intention or gross error. Charles was influenced by the Humanistic cries for reform in his age. As a result, Charles, a strong advocate for reform, declined military action before a meaningful outlet to address reforms and air grievances could be convened. But Charles was influenced by tradition, particularly the universality of faith and political unity of Christendom that could save the Church from the heretic and the Turk. Charles also felt himself personally responsible to avoid all conflicts that might endanger unity by creating a schism within Christendom. The evidence will be drawn both from the emperor's own words and deeds derived from primary source material and personal correspondence of Charles V between himself and those persons most likely have intimate knowledge of Charles's own thoughts. These include his personal advisors, Gattinara and Granvelle, and family members: Philip, his son, Mary, his sister, and Ferdinand, his brother. The unpublicized and private correspondence is less likely to be tainted by rhetoric and propaganda than are public declarations and correspondence. Instances not covered by these will be based on an interpretation of Charles's deeds. This thesis will therefore establish Charles's decisions regarding the Protestants in the context of his own convictions.