Panel 1 Conceptualizations of Space
Jacob Glenister, Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Penn State University (USA)
The Vocabulary of Defense in Egypt’s Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period
Among lay people, and even among some historians, there is a persistent myth that the Old Kingdom was largely or wholly peaceful. While they were not as imperialistic as their later counterparts in the 18th and 19th Dynasties, the Old Kingdom of Egypt nonetheless maintained a sophisticated military system to rival their impressive civilian bureaucracy. While archaeological evidence for this is somewhat limited, written evidence speaks to a society capable of complex offensive and defensive operations at the behest of the central government (and, during the First Intermediate Period, by local powerbrokers).
This paper will examine the defensive systems during this fascinating period in military history through a linguistic lens. By examining the terms the ancient Egyptians used for the fortresses they and others erected, we may get a sense of how the Egyptians themselves thought of their military strategy. This will allow for both a better understanding of what structures likely existed that have left no archaeological traces and the attribution of ancient terms to known structures which have not yet been definitively labelled. Ultimately, the hope of this paper is to produce a framework by which the names and purposes of Old Kingdom forts both known and unknown may be made clear.
Elliot Luke, School of History and Heritage, University of Lincoln (UK)
The Significance of Thonis-Heracleion’s Sacred Topography to the Establishment and Success of the Ptolemaic Dynasty
Since its discovery in 1997, Thonis-Heracleion has intrigued and fascinated scholars and the public alike. A real ‘Atlantis’, its sunken nature affords a superb insight into the life of an ancient city. Due, however, to the unrivalled ship ‘graveyard’ discovered therein, much of the scholarship has focused heavily on the nautical history of the city. Therefore, the impact of Thonis’ religious landscape on the legitimacy of the Ptolemies, and how this can be linked to the later success of the subsequent dynasty will be assessed herein. Following the creation of a new central emporium at Alexandria, the topography of Thonis seemingly transitioned to prominently exhibit dynastic religion and as such will be discussed through the lens of divine legitimacy. This will encompass how the links to syncretised dynastic divinities, in both Macedonian and Egyptian contexts, as well as to temporal deities and their links to dynastic succession, can be shown to support the Ptolemaic rule of Egypt. This investment by the early Ptolemies in the religious environment of the Nile Delta could be paramount in their securing of power in a nation which had not seen a continuous dynasty since the incursion of non-native kings in the Late Period. The North-Western Nile Delta holds vast importance in the dynastic religion of Egypt through the compounding myths of Isis, Osiris, and Horus – all of whom are represented in the sacred topography of Thonis – and as such, Thonis affords, perhaps, an unrivalled microcosm of the links between sacred topographies and legitimacy in the Ptolemaic era. Combining this analysis with the potential Greek influence in architectural construction and the dual attribution of many temenoi dedicated to deities vital to both Heracleid and Egyptian succession, positions Thonis as vital to understanding the Ptolemaic fusion of Graeco-Egyptian dynastic religion and its impact on their legacy.
Alessandra Schultz, School of Historical & Philosophical Inquiry, University of Queensland (Australia)
Gauls in Roman Society: Political Change and its Cultural Effects under Emperor Claudius
The term ‘Romanization’ has too long defined discussions of cultural change within the Roman Empire. It presumes that all cultural phenomena emanated from Rome, to be imposed upon the subjects of empire. This paper will challenge this idea through examination of political change in the imperial period, specifically the integration of Gallic elites into the Roman administration, and the resultant and sustained increase to Gallo-Roman cultural interaction.
In AD 48, Emperor Claudius granted senatorial rights to the elites of Gallia Comata, and his speech advocating this action is documented by the Lyons Tablet, and by Tacitus in his Annals. These records, analysed and compared in modern scholarship, provide a reasonable basis for the argument that Claudius’ political move acted as a catalyst for cross-cultural change. The associated change, predominantly social, can be detected from analysis of epigraphic content and its extensive topography. Thus, by examining the historiographical and archaeological record in combination, where existing scholarship isolates each, this research will shed light on cross-cultural changes engendered in Rome and Gaul by Claudius’ inclusive political administration.
Matthew Paltiel Weinstein, Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University (USA)
Ruralization of Coastal Palestine During the Transition from the Byzantine to Islamic Periods: A Focus on Rural Developments in the Hinterlands of Caesarea Maritima
The role of the Islamic conquest in reshaping the cultural and social trajectory of the Near East has been a topic of intensive study, with a specific focus on its role in transforming the large cities and metropolises of mid-Antiquity into the small, locally-trading towns that are associated with the early medieval period. The traditionally-minded Orientalist school of thought has posited that there was a direct linkage between this urban collapse and the rapid political and religious transformations of the region that accompanied the arrival of Islam; according to this theory, what followed was a speedy and marked decay in the urban infrastructure of Near Eastern cities, the disappearance of a nearly thousand year epoch of Hellenistic, and later Roman, influence in the region, and the collapse of centralized governance of Western-based polities. However, a new perspective for the urban shift that occurred in the Near East was offered by Hugh Kennedy and his expedition that argued that the decay of Near Eastern metropolitan areas, primarily in the Levant, began as early as the late fifth century. Thus, he argued that the defining features of cities of mid-antiquity, such as central colonnaded streets and expansive public spaces, had already been absent for nearly a hundred years. Understanding the nature of the urban to rural shift in the hinterlands of major Levantine cities is critical to ascertaining the extent of demographic upheaval and transformation in the region, specifically in Byzantine Palestine. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to collate research that has been conducted regarding pre-Islamic decline in the agrarian nature of the Byzantine Palestinian economy with data regarding demographic shifts in the Jewish, Samaritan and Christian communities of Palestine during this time frame. The test case of this chronological development will consist of Caesarea Maritima and its outlying rural farmland-estates.
The Vocabulary of Defense in Egypt’s Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period
Among lay people, and even among some historians, there is a persistent myth that the Old Kingdom was largely or wholly peaceful. While they were not as imperialistic as their later counterparts in the 18th and 19th Dynasties, the Old Kingdom of Egypt nonetheless maintained a sophisticated military system to rival their impressive civilian bureaucracy. While archaeological evidence for this is somewhat limited, written evidence speaks to a society capable of complex offensive and defensive operations at the behest of the central government (and, during the First Intermediate Period, by local powerbrokers).
This paper will examine the defensive systems during this fascinating period in military history through a linguistic lens. By examining the terms the ancient Egyptians used for the fortresses they and others erected, we may get a sense of how the Egyptians themselves thought of their military strategy. This will allow for both a better understanding of what structures likely existed that have left no archaeological traces and the attribution of ancient terms to known structures which have not yet been definitively labelled. Ultimately, the hope of this paper is to produce a framework by which the names and purposes of Old Kingdom forts both known and unknown may be made clear.
Elliot Luke, School of History and Heritage, University of Lincoln (UK)
The Significance of Thonis-Heracleion’s Sacred Topography to the Establishment and Success of the Ptolemaic Dynasty
Since its discovery in 1997, Thonis-Heracleion has intrigued and fascinated scholars and the public alike. A real ‘Atlantis’, its sunken nature affords a superb insight into the life of an ancient city. Due, however, to the unrivalled ship ‘graveyard’ discovered therein, much of the scholarship has focused heavily on the nautical history of the city. Therefore, the impact of Thonis’ religious landscape on the legitimacy of the Ptolemies, and how this can be linked to the later success of the subsequent dynasty will be assessed herein. Following the creation of a new central emporium at Alexandria, the topography of Thonis seemingly transitioned to prominently exhibit dynastic religion and as such will be discussed through the lens of divine legitimacy. This will encompass how the links to syncretised dynastic divinities, in both Macedonian and Egyptian contexts, as well as to temporal deities and their links to dynastic succession, can be shown to support the Ptolemaic rule of Egypt. This investment by the early Ptolemies in the religious environment of the Nile Delta could be paramount in their securing of power in a nation which had not seen a continuous dynasty since the incursion of non-native kings in the Late Period. The North-Western Nile Delta holds vast importance in the dynastic religion of Egypt through the compounding myths of Isis, Osiris, and Horus – all of whom are represented in the sacred topography of Thonis – and as such, Thonis affords, perhaps, an unrivalled microcosm of the links between sacred topographies and legitimacy in the Ptolemaic era. Combining this analysis with the potential Greek influence in architectural construction and the dual attribution of many temenoi dedicated to deities vital to both Heracleid and Egyptian succession, positions Thonis as vital to understanding the Ptolemaic fusion of Graeco-Egyptian dynastic religion and its impact on their legacy.
Alessandra Schultz, School of Historical & Philosophical Inquiry, University of Queensland (Australia)
Gauls in Roman Society: Political Change and its Cultural Effects under Emperor Claudius
The term ‘Romanization’ has too long defined discussions of cultural change within the Roman Empire. It presumes that all cultural phenomena emanated from Rome, to be imposed upon the subjects of empire. This paper will challenge this idea through examination of political change in the imperial period, specifically the integration of Gallic elites into the Roman administration, and the resultant and sustained increase to Gallo-Roman cultural interaction.
In AD 48, Emperor Claudius granted senatorial rights to the elites of Gallia Comata, and his speech advocating this action is documented by the Lyons Tablet, and by Tacitus in his Annals. These records, analysed and compared in modern scholarship, provide a reasonable basis for the argument that Claudius’ political move acted as a catalyst for cross-cultural change. The associated change, predominantly social, can be detected from analysis of epigraphic content and its extensive topography. Thus, by examining the historiographical and archaeological record in combination, where existing scholarship isolates each, this research will shed light on cross-cultural changes engendered in Rome and Gaul by Claudius’ inclusive political administration.
Matthew Paltiel Weinstein, Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University (USA)
Ruralization of Coastal Palestine During the Transition from the Byzantine to Islamic Periods: A Focus on Rural Developments in the Hinterlands of Caesarea Maritima
The role of the Islamic conquest in reshaping the cultural and social trajectory of the Near East has been a topic of intensive study, with a specific focus on its role in transforming the large cities and metropolises of mid-Antiquity into the small, locally-trading towns that are associated with the early medieval period. The traditionally-minded Orientalist school of thought has posited that there was a direct linkage between this urban collapse and the rapid political and religious transformations of the region that accompanied the arrival of Islam; according to this theory, what followed was a speedy and marked decay in the urban infrastructure of Near Eastern cities, the disappearance of a nearly thousand year epoch of Hellenistic, and later Roman, influence in the region, and the collapse of centralized governance of Western-based polities. However, a new perspective for the urban shift that occurred in the Near East was offered by Hugh Kennedy and his expedition that argued that the decay of Near Eastern metropolitan areas, primarily in the Levant, began as early as the late fifth century. Thus, he argued that the defining features of cities of mid-antiquity, such as central colonnaded streets and expansive public spaces, had already been absent for nearly a hundred years. Understanding the nature of the urban to rural shift in the hinterlands of major Levantine cities is critical to ascertaining the extent of demographic upheaval and transformation in the region, specifically in Byzantine Palestine. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to collate research that has been conducted regarding pre-Islamic decline in the agrarian nature of the Byzantine Palestinian economy with data regarding demographic shifts in the Jewish, Samaritan and Christian communities of Palestine during this time frame. The test case of this chronological development will consist of Caesarea Maritima and its outlying rural farmland-estates.
Panel 2 Art History
Max Meyer, Department of Classics, College of Arts and Science, New York University (USA)
Visualizing Imperialism: The Pompeiian Second Style as a Recollection of Roman Elite Cultural Memory
In de Architectura, Vitruvius states that the Second Style, or the ‘architectural style’, was derived from Greek stage set paintings, likely transferred into the Roman visual vernacular as spolia. Seen and understood as influenced by Greece, or at least as ‘exotic’, this style was used as the primary decorative motif for villas on the Bay of Naples during the first century BCE. For wealthy Romans, a villa on the Bay of Naples represented the height of Roman domestic luxury, lavishly decorated to produce a space indicative of the financial and social status of its owner. Bayside villas were a space of otium and were central to elite Roman social life, and for a visitor to view Greek-informed art in a Roman villa was significant. The Roman use of Greek visual themes in a domestic context allowed the villa owner to capitalize on the cultural memory of their elite visitors, exoticizing the Greek east and visually presenting Rome’s history of imperialism as a mechanism of displaying their own power. By analyzing domestic painting trends, the cultural memory of Roman elite, and villa life on the Bay of Naples in the first century BCE, this paper will examine how the Second Style was used as a mechanism of recalling Roman imperial actions to visitors of bayside villas on the Bay of Naples.
Sean Silvia, Departments of Archaeology and History, University of Southern California (USA)
Decapitation and Dynamite: The Mutilated Roadside Monument of Gaius Julius Aquila on the Coast of Bithynia et Pontus
Kuşkayası Yol Anıtı (bird rock road monument) is a striking Roman monument carved in relief into the mountainside along an ancient road on the Black Sea coast of northern Anatolia. Though many different scholars have tangentially touched upon the monument, they rarely devote more than a few sentences and there is no scholarship which gives Kuşkayası the in-depth discussion and analysis that it requires. Almost all of them acknowledge that the identity of the monument’s decapitated human figure is mysterious, but do not offer any further discussion. This paper will give Kuşkayası much-needed scholastic attention. It will narrow its date range to 50-54 CE using Tacitus’ Annals and the monument’s inscription, and date the different eras of destruction that the monument has endured over the years. It will explicate how Kuşkayası Yol Anıtı monumentalizes the roman road and military that ensures Pax Augusta , and legitimizes Aquila as governor in its borrowed iconography from heroic and often royal cliffside naiskoi in the region. The cliff-cut monument further embodies and celebrates the engineering achievement of a rock-carved mountainside road, and Aquila’s civic expenditure on this impressive project. This paper will then address scholar’s uncertainty on the beheaded himation -wearing figure’s identity and argue that it likely represents Aquila the ’έπαρχος, rather than Claudius. Finally, the specific targets of the monument’s first phase of destruction–heads, hands, and feet–suggest an iconoclastic motivation, and this paper will argue that Kuşkayası was probably the victim of Christian mutilation in Late Antiquity like so many other statues in the ancient world. In recent decades the monument has faced substantial dynamite damage, which this paper argues are the result of treasure hunters based on the targets of destruction and similar damages to other ancient monuments in the region.
Christopher Thoms-Bauer, Department of Classics, Rutgers University (USA)
Diocletian and his Gods: Digital Analysis of Divine Association in Diocletianic Coinage
The project aims to evaluate how the Roman imperial coins authorized by Diocletian and Maximian as Augusti during 284-305 used images of deities to support their presentation of Diocletian. Identifying the deity on a coin then permits an examination of the location of the coin’s mint. Taking these two pieces of information together helps us to understand how the co-emperors chose to portray Diocletian in particular locations of the empire. Dating the coin’s production allows an analysis of gods on coins over a discrete period, which in turn helps us to determine changes to deities over time. Furthermore, division of the mints between the Augusti allows us to compare and contrast portrayals of Diocletian on coins in the eastern half of the empire with those of Maximian in the west. Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE) tremendously serves as the primary database for this study. However, OCRE is limited by its inability to provide tools necessary for this particular analysis. Palladio is a digital tool created by Stanford University that provides mapping, networking, and timelines that prove crucial in evaluating the association of these deities with Diocletian. The mapping and networking tools of Palladio allow one to visualize the mints that produced coins featuring specific gods, to determine whether these deities were featured on coins in other areas of the empire, and to try to understand their relationships to one another. Using Palladio has raised the question of why these gods would be in those particular parts of the empire, and its timeline tool, which identifies when certain deities were used, raises the question of why one of the Augusti implemented a particular deity during a particular period. Traditionally, Diocletian has been associated with Jupiter, but analyzing coins through Palladio demonstrates a more complicated relationship with his gods.
Visualizing Imperialism: The Pompeiian Second Style as a Recollection of Roman Elite Cultural Memory
In de Architectura, Vitruvius states that the Second Style, or the ‘architectural style’, was derived from Greek stage set paintings, likely transferred into the Roman visual vernacular as spolia. Seen and understood as influenced by Greece, or at least as ‘exotic’, this style was used as the primary decorative motif for villas on the Bay of Naples during the first century BCE. For wealthy Romans, a villa on the Bay of Naples represented the height of Roman domestic luxury, lavishly decorated to produce a space indicative of the financial and social status of its owner. Bayside villas were a space of otium and were central to elite Roman social life, and for a visitor to view Greek-informed art in a Roman villa was significant. The Roman use of Greek visual themes in a domestic context allowed the villa owner to capitalize on the cultural memory of their elite visitors, exoticizing the Greek east and visually presenting Rome’s history of imperialism as a mechanism of displaying their own power. By analyzing domestic painting trends, the cultural memory of Roman elite, and villa life on the Bay of Naples in the first century BCE, this paper will examine how the Second Style was used as a mechanism of recalling Roman imperial actions to visitors of bayside villas on the Bay of Naples.
Sean Silvia, Departments of Archaeology and History, University of Southern California (USA)
Decapitation and Dynamite: The Mutilated Roadside Monument of Gaius Julius Aquila on the Coast of Bithynia et Pontus
Kuşkayası Yol Anıtı (bird rock road monument) is a striking Roman monument carved in relief into the mountainside along an ancient road on the Black Sea coast of northern Anatolia. Though many different scholars have tangentially touched upon the monument, they rarely devote more than a few sentences and there is no scholarship which gives Kuşkayası the in-depth discussion and analysis that it requires. Almost all of them acknowledge that the identity of the monument’s decapitated human figure is mysterious, but do not offer any further discussion. This paper will give Kuşkayası much-needed scholastic attention. It will narrow its date range to 50-54 CE using Tacitus’ Annals and the monument’s inscription, and date the different eras of destruction that the monument has endured over the years. It will explicate how Kuşkayası Yol Anıtı monumentalizes the roman road and military that ensures Pax Augusta , and legitimizes Aquila as governor in its borrowed iconography from heroic and often royal cliffside naiskoi in the region. The cliff-cut monument further embodies and celebrates the engineering achievement of a rock-carved mountainside road, and Aquila’s civic expenditure on this impressive project. This paper will then address scholar’s uncertainty on the beheaded himation -wearing figure’s identity and argue that it likely represents Aquila the ’έπαρχος, rather than Claudius. Finally, the specific targets of the monument’s first phase of destruction–heads, hands, and feet–suggest an iconoclastic motivation, and this paper will argue that Kuşkayası was probably the victim of Christian mutilation in Late Antiquity like so many other statues in the ancient world. In recent decades the monument has faced substantial dynamite damage, which this paper argues are the result of treasure hunters based on the targets of destruction and similar damages to other ancient monuments in the region.
Christopher Thoms-Bauer, Department of Classics, Rutgers University (USA)
Diocletian and his Gods: Digital Analysis of Divine Association in Diocletianic Coinage
The project aims to evaluate how the Roman imperial coins authorized by Diocletian and Maximian as Augusti during 284-305 used images of deities to support their presentation of Diocletian. Identifying the deity on a coin then permits an examination of the location of the coin’s mint. Taking these two pieces of information together helps us to understand how the co-emperors chose to portray Diocletian in particular locations of the empire. Dating the coin’s production allows an analysis of gods on coins over a discrete period, which in turn helps us to determine changes to deities over time. Furthermore, division of the mints between the Augusti allows us to compare and contrast portrayals of Diocletian on coins in the eastern half of the empire with those of Maximian in the west. Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE) tremendously serves as the primary database for this study. However, OCRE is limited by its inability to provide tools necessary for this particular analysis. Palladio is a digital tool created by Stanford University that provides mapping, networking, and timelines that prove crucial in evaluating the association of these deities with Diocletian. The mapping and networking tools of Palladio allow one to visualize the mints that produced coins featuring specific gods, to determine whether these deities were featured on coins in other areas of the empire, and to try to understand their relationships to one another. Using Palladio has raised the question of why these gods would be in those particular parts of the empire, and its timeline tool, which identifies when certain deities were used, raises the question of why one of the Augusti implemented a particular deity during a particular period. Traditionally, Diocletian has been associated with Jupiter, but analyzing coins through Palladio demonstrates a more complicated relationship with his gods.
Panel 3 Perceptions/Senses/Bodies
Madeline Ouimet, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago (USA)
Maybe it’s a Sign: Observation and Doubt in a Mesopotamian Omen Series
From wailing demons and the waking dead to flaming rivers and cannibalistic sheep, the jarring signs which populate the first millennium terrestrial omen series Šumma Ālu puncture the membrane of mundane life, jolting observers into parallel planes of thought where prediction precipitates from the liminal fringes of possibility. Throughout one hundred and seven tablets, omens with explicit “observers” are juxtaposed with those in which the portent is merely present. By contrast and proximity, these omens thus adopt the implication of being unobserved. The apparent paradox of a sign which lies simultaneously beyond the ambit of observability and yet also within the interests and concerns of the omen system poses questions regarding the role of sensory perception as a process and of the observer as an agent in the formation of ominous meaning.
Omens in daily practice could only have dealt with observed phenomena or conditions. Why, then, would the solely theoretical category of unobserved signs exist in the compendia, an encyclopedic text to inform practice? I offer that the distribution of unobserved signs throughout Šumma Ālu asserts the emic existence of an external and therefore objective reality at the fundament of the omen system, independent not only of the observer’s mechanical liabilities and limits but also his doubts. Observed omens then integrate this certain systemic basis with uncertain human action and thought, generating new meaning but meaning which can be doubted. Although paradoxical, this consciously constructed coexistence yet distinction between uncertainty localized in the observer and certainty grounded in the system is what allows incongruities between predicted and real outcomes to accumulate without undermining the perceived value of divination. Incongruities do, however, perpetuate doubt of the self, but even the observer’s self-doubt is unexpectedly productive, maintaining the very anxiety which fuels appeal and need for augury and its textual elaboration.
Georgios Podaropoulos, Literary Studies, Leiden University (Netherlands); Pre-Doctoral Fellow in Sport and Society, CHS Harvard (USA/Greece) - IOA
The Body and the Shaping of Historical Discourse in Thucydides
Plague narratives have naturally taken centre stage in current scholarship and Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War provides an excellent case study. The historian delivers a thorough analysis of the symptoms and the stages of the plague which killed nearly a third of the Athenian population in 430 BCE (2.47-54) and his inquiry has prepared the ground for research on corporeality in historiography.
The purpose of this paper is to broaden and systematise the role that the body plays in Thucydides’ articulation of history. It argues that the notion of the body is essential in the construction of historical discourse on the basis of two strategies: the corporalisation of the causality and the corporalisation of the narrative. On the one hand, the body is considered to be a historical cause and a historical effect, therefore, indispensable within the causal chain. On the other hand, history itself is regarded by the narrator as a living organism and, thus, it is analysed in terms of symptomatology and prevention. On a second level, the paper aims to ‘anchor’ that literal and metaphorical construal of the body to its Hippocratic background.
Maria Lentz, Department of History, University of Southern California (USA)
From Disgust to Divinity: Ritual Debasement in 4th Century Athenian Legal Speeches
Surgical footage, yellow snow, and hair stuck in the shower drain. These all elicit feelings of disgust. But why? In her book Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law, philosopher and classicist Martha Nussbaum posits that disgust stems from the fear of our vulnerable animal bodies. Blood and guts remind us that, just like other animals, we are vulnerable to harm and will someday die. This paper explores the use of Nussbaum’s disgust in the 4th century Athenian legal cases “Against Meidias” and “Against Neaira.” The prosecutors in both these cases weaponized fears of animality and disgust to degrade their defendants. They recounted instances of Meidias’ and Neira’s disgusting behavior, the worst of which involving the debasement of religious rites. These rites were meant to honor the gods who were free from the animal bodies that disgust humans. By violating these, the defendants corrupted Athens’ connection to divinity, thus infecting the entire city with their animal disgustingness. According to the prosecutors, these defendants had to be punished both for their crimes and for pushing all Athenians farther from godliness and closer to animality.
Maybe it’s a Sign: Observation and Doubt in a Mesopotamian Omen Series
From wailing demons and the waking dead to flaming rivers and cannibalistic sheep, the jarring signs which populate the first millennium terrestrial omen series Šumma Ālu puncture the membrane of mundane life, jolting observers into parallel planes of thought where prediction precipitates from the liminal fringes of possibility. Throughout one hundred and seven tablets, omens with explicit “observers” are juxtaposed with those in which the portent is merely present. By contrast and proximity, these omens thus adopt the implication of being unobserved. The apparent paradox of a sign which lies simultaneously beyond the ambit of observability and yet also within the interests and concerns of the omen system poses questions regarding the role of sensory perception as a process and of the observer as an agent in the formation of ominous meaning.
Omens in daily practice could only have dealt with observed phenomena or conditions. Why, then, would the solely theoretical category of unobserved signs exist in the compendia, an encyclopedic text to inform practice? I offer that the distribution of unobserved signs throughout Šumma Ālu asserts the emic existence of an external and therefore objective reality at the fundament of the omen system, independent not only of the observer’s mechanical liabilities and limits but also his doubts. Observed omens then integrate this certain systemic basis with uncertain human action and thought, generating new meaning but meaning which can be doubted. Although paradoxical, this consciously constructed coexistence yet distinction between uncertainty localized in the observer and certainty grounded in the system is what allows incongruities between predicted and real outcomes to accumulate without undermining the perceived value of divination. Incongruities do, however, perpetuate doubt of the self, but even the observer’s self-doubt is unexpectedly productive, maintaining the very anxiety which fuels appeal and need for augury and its textual elaboration.
Georgios Podaropoulos, Literary Studies, Leiden University (Netherlands); Pre-Doctoral Fellow in Sport and Society, CHS Harvard (USA/Greece) - IOA
The Body and the Shaping of Historical Discourse in Thucydides
Plague narratives have naturally taken centre stage in current scholarship and Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War provides an excellent case study. The historian delivers a thorough analysis of the symptoms and the stages of the plague which killed nearly a third of the Athenian population in 430 BCE (2.47-54) and his inquiry has prepared the ground for research on corporeality in historiography.
The purpose of this paper is to broaden and systematise the role that the body plays in Thucydides’ articulation of history. It argues that the notion of the body is essential in the construction of historical discourse on the basis of two strategies: the corporalisation of the causality and the corporalisation of the narrative. On the one hand, the body is considered to be a historical cause and a historical effect, therefore, indispensable within the causal chain. On the other hand, history itself is regarded by the narrator as a living organism and, thus, it is analysed in terms of symptomatology and prevention. On a second level, the paper aims to ‘anchor’ that literal and metaphorical construal of the body to its Hippocratic background.
Maria Lentz, Department of History, University of Southern California (USA)
From Disgust to Divinity: Ritual Debasement in 4th Century Athenian Legal Speeches
Surgical footage, yellow snow, and hair stuck in the shower drain. These all elicit feelings of disgust. But why? In her book Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law, philosopher and classicist Martha Nussbaum posits that disgust stems from the fear of our vulnerable animal bodies. Blood and guts remind us that, just like other animals, we are vulnerable to harm and will someday die. This paper explores the use of Nussbaum’s disgust in the 4th century Athenian legal cases “Against Meidias” and “Against Neaira.” The prosecutors in both these cases weaponized fears of animality and disgust to degrade their defendants. They recounted instances of Meidias’ and Neira’s disgusting behavior, the worst of which involving the debasement of religious rites. These rites were meant to honor the gods who were free from the animal bodies that disgust humans. By violating these, the defendants corrupted Athens’ connection to divinity, thus infecting the entire city with their animal disgustingness. According to the prosecutors, these defendants had to be punished both for their crimes and for pushing all Athenians farther from godliness and closer to animality.
Panel 4 Reception
Joselyn Garcia, Classical Studies and Art History, Hunter College CUNY (USA)
From Augustus to Cosimo: Classical Art as a Language of Social and Political Power in Renaissance Florence
This article analyzes the connection between art and socio-economic political power during the Italian Renaissance, especially in regard to Cosimo Il Vecchio in comparison to Emperor Augustus. It asks the question: how did art function, both as a possession and method of communication, during the Medici rise to power? The article argues that it is due to the rise of classical ideology in the art world that Cosimo was able to slide so neatly into power and that this mirrors Augustus’ actions in the first century BCE during his own rise to power. By collecting and using not only financial but also social capital through art, both men were able to obtain and retain their power, while also ensuring their enduring legacies. This article is divided in four sections: the first two will establish why the rise of humanism was essential for the rise of Cosimo Il Vecchio and central to the importance of art, and the latter half will focus on the actual methods this movement allowed Cosimo to employ, and the similarities this use of art for power bears to the rise of Augustus. The first section of this article will focus on the rise of humanism in fifteenth-century Florence with the second focusing on the relationships people would have with art depending on their social class. The third segment will focus on Cosimo Il Vecchio’s patronage of the arts in the context of his social status. The final segment will then explore the similarities between Augustus and Cosimo in using art as a political tool in order to highlight its importance as language of power as well as raise the point that Cosimo Il Vecchio was likely looking at Emperor Augustus as a frame of reference for his own bid to power.
Brogan A. Smith, Department of Classics, Georgetown University (USA)
Reverse Colonization in the Silver Age: Understanding Trimalchio through Comparison with Count Dracula
The Cena Trimalchionis episode of Petronius’ Satyrica and the opening chapters of Bram Stoker’s Dracula bear extensive thematic and structural similarities. This has been overlooked, both in Classical scholarship on the reception of Petronius in English, as well as in Victorian scholarship on allusions to Rome in British imperial narratives. By explicating some of the important parallels between Trimalchio and Dracula, and building on the work of Victorian scholar Stephen D. Arata, this paper will argue that the character of Trimalchio is an expression of the imperial anxiety of reverse colonization. Arata describes reverse colonization, a popular narrative during the Victorian fin de siècle, as an archetypal narrative in which “problematic or disruptive figures come from the periphery of the empire to threaten a troubled metropole.” This narrative was certainly popular as a post-hoc diagnosis of Roman decline into decadence, but less has been said about how reverse colonization manifested in the literature of imperial Rome itself. In Classical scholarship, Trimalchio has been widely understood to be a symbol of some kind of cultural decline, but beyond that, he has been the subject of vigorous debate. Studying the Cena against Dracula yields a coherent reading on topics such as Trimalchio’s relationship with death and reproduction, the possible connection with Nero, and Roman cultural identity more broadly.
Jacob Hane, Classics Department, Hamilton College (USA)
ubi solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant: Empire and the Periphery in Arkady Martine’s A Memory Called Empire
Writing under the pseudonym Arkady Martine, Byzantinist Dr. AnnaLinden Weller brings her expertise in ancient and medieval history into her Hugo-award winning science fiction novel A Memory Called Empire (2019). The story centers around an ambassador from a peripheral nation-state journeying to the capital planet of a galactic empire and her experiences in navigating the politics of culture, autonomy, and violence. Martine creates an intertextual conversation between her futuristic science fiction world and classical antiquity; adapting ideologies, events, and historical figures from Roman history into a science fiction setting, Martine explores the dynamics between the imperial center and the periphery. In this paper, I flesh out Martine’s allusions to the classics, such as her adaptation of the Armenian catholicos Petros Getadarj, who traded Armenian sovereignty for cultural autonomy, and her allusion to Calgacus’ speech in Tacitus’ Agricola. I also draw connections between her fictional empire of Teixcalaan and the Roman Empire using sources such as Polybius’ Histories, Virgil’s Aeneid, Vitruvius’s On Architecture, and Constantine VII’s Book of Ceremonies. These sources speak directly to the structures of empire within both classical antiquity and A Memory Called Empire. Using postcolonial theory concerning centers and peripheries and how identities between both polities change via cultural diffusion, I connect ancient empires of the classical past and the futuristic empires of science fiction through their shared perceptions of empire, destructive capacities as political entities, and corruption of peripheral identities. These connections strengthen Martine’s novel by grounding it in history. I argue that Martine’s program of Greco-Roman and Byzantine allusion underscores the complexity of the negotiation of identity between peripheral figures and imperial centers. This, in turn, recreates multiple pieces of the classical conceptions of identity, such as the notion of the ‘barbarian,’ for a modern audience.
Jessica Alexander, Classical, Middle Eastern, and Asian Languages and Cultures, Queens College, CUNY (USA)
Classical Myths in Children’s Picturebooks
This paper examines how classical mythology, specifically Greek mythology, is incorporated into children’s picturebooks, using a range of primary resources between 1962 to 2011, including well-known works like Book of Greek Myths by D’Aulaires as well as later works like Island of the Minotaur: Greek Myths of Ancient Crete by Sheldon Oberman and illustrated by Blair Drawson, Greek Myths for Young Children by Heather Amercy and illustrated by Linda Edwards and Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classical Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes and Monsters by Donna Jo Napoli and illustrated by Christina Balit. I will be looking at the question: How are authors first introducing Greek myths to children? Through a close reading of each text I will be looking at the book’s language with a discussion of each work’s formatting and illustrations. I close with a discussion of the various ways the books present the story of Theseus, the heroic tale common among most of the texts. How have authors changed the tale of Theseus to fit their narrative they present to children? How are other key characters of Greek myth introduced through the myth of Theseus? In answering these questions, I hope to provide insight into the way that children’s literature’s use of classical myth has developed since the 1960s, building on and extending the recent work of Sheila Murnaghan and Deborah H. Roberts in their Childhood and the Classics: Britain and America 1850-1965 (2018) and Owen Hodkinson and Helen Lovatt’s work Classical Reception and Children’s Literature: Greece, Rome and Childhood Transformation (2018). By taking a closer look at all these picturebooks it becomes clear that authors and illustrators remove grotesque images because authors assume that children will be reintroduced to these myths later on in life.
From Augustus to Cosimo: Classical Art as a Language of Social and Political Power in Renaissance Florence
This article analyzes the connection between art and socio-economic political power during the Italian Renaissance, especially in regard to Cosimo Il Vecchio in comparison to Emperor Augustus. It asks the question: how did art function, both as a possession and method of communication, during the Medici rise to power? The article argues that it is due to the rise of classical ideology in the art world that Cosimo was able to slide so neatly into power and that this mirrors Augustus’ actions in the first century BCE during his own rise to power. By collecting and using not only financial but also social capital through art, both men were able to obtain and retain their power, while also ensuring their enduring legacies. This article is divided in four sections: the first two will establish why the rise of humanism was essential for the rise of Cosimo Il Vecchio and central to the importance of art, and the latter half will focus on the actual methods this movement allowed Cosimo to employ, and the similarities this use of art for power bears to the rise of Augustus. The first section of this article will focus on the rise of humanism in fifteenth-century Florence with the second focusing on the relationships people would have with art depending on their social class. The third segment will focus on Cosimo Il Vecchio’s patronage of the arts in the context of his social status. The final segment will then explore the similarities between Augustus and Cosimo in using art as a political tool in order to highlight its importance as language of power as well as raise the point that Cosimo Il Vecchio was likely looking at Emperor Augustus as a frame of reference for his own bid to power.
Brogan A. Smith, Department of Classics, Georgetown University (USA)
Reverse Colonization in the Silver Age: Understanding Trimalchio through Comparison with Count Dracula
The Cena Trimalchionis episode of Petronius’ Satyrica and the opening chapters of Bram Stoker’s Dracula bear extensive thematic and structural similarities. This has been overlooked, both in Classical scholarship on the reception of Petronius in English, as well as in Victorian scholarship on allusions to Rome in British imperial narratives. By explicating some of the important parallels between Trimalchio and Dracula, and building on the work of Victorian scholar Stephen D. Arata, this paper will argue that the character of Trimalchio is an expression of the imperial anxiety of reverse colonization. Arata describes reverse colonization, a popular narrative during the Victorian fin de siècle, as an archetypal narrative in which “problematic or disruptive figures come from the periphery of the empire to threaten a troubled metropole.” This narrative was certainly popular as a post-hoc diagnosis of Roman decline into decadence, but less has been said about how reverse colonization manifested in the literature of imperial Rome itself. In Classical scholarship, Trimalchio has been widely understood to be a symbol of some kind of cultural decline, but beyond that, he has been the subject of vigorous debate. Studying the Cena against Dracula yields a coherent reading on topics such as Trimalchio’s relationship with death and reproduction, the possible connection with Nero, and Roman cultural identity more broadly.
Jacob Hane, Classics Department, Hamilton College (USA)
ubi solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant: Empire and the Periphery in Arkady Martine’s A Memory Called Empire
Writing under the pseudonym Arkady Martine, Byzantinist Dr. AnnaLinden Weller brings her expertise in ancient and medieval history into her Hugo-award winning science fiction novel A Memory Called Empire (2019). The story centers around an ambassador from a peripheral nation-state journeying to the capital planet of a galactic empire and her experiences in navigating the politics of culture, autonomy, and violence. Martine creates an intertextual conversation between her futuristic science fiction world and classical antiquity; adapting ideologies, events, and historical figures from Roman history into a science fiction setting, Martine explores the dynamics between the imperial center and the periphery. In this paper, I flesh out Martine’s allusions to the classics, such as her adaptation of the Armenian catholicos Petros Getadarj, who traded Armenian sovereignty for cultural autonomy, and her allusion to Calgacus’ speech in Tacitus’ Agricola. I also draw connections between her fictional empire of Teixcalaan and the Roman Empire using sources such as Polybius’ Histories, Virgil’s Aeneid, Vitruvius’s On Architecture, and Constantine VII’s Book of Ceremonies. These sources speak directly to the structures of empire within both classical antiquity and A Memory Called Empire. Using postcolonial theory concerning centers and peripheries and how identities between both polities change via cultural diffusion, I connect ancient empires of the classical past and the futuristic empires of science fiction through their shared perceptions of empire, destructive capacities as political entities, and corruption of peripheral identities. These connections strengthen Martine’s novel by grounding it in history. I argue that Martine’s program of Greco-Roman and Byzantine allusion underscores the complexity of the negotiation of identity between peripheral figures and imperial centers. This, in turn, recreates multiple pieces of the classical conceptions of identity, such as the notion of the ‘barbarian,’ for a modern audience.
Jessica Alexander, Classical, Middle Eastern, and Asian Languages and Cultures, Queens College, CUNY (USA)
Classical Myths in Children’s Picturebooks
This paper examines how classical mythology, specifically Greek mythology, is incorporated into children’s picturebooks, using a range of primary resources between 1962 to 2011, including well-known works like Book of Greek Myths by D’Aulaires as well as later works like Island of the Minotaur: Greek Myths of Ancient Crete by Sheldon Oberman and illustrated by Blair Drawson, Greek Myths for Young Children by Heather Amercy and illustrated by Linda Edwards and Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classical Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes and Monsters by Donna Jo Napoli and illustrated by Christina Balit. I will be looking at the question: How are authors first introducing Greek myths to children? Through a close reading of each text I will be looking at the book’s language with a discussion of each work’s formatting and illustrations. I close with a discussion of the various ways the books present the story of Theseus, the heroic tale common among most of the texts. How have authors changed the tale of Theseus to fit their narrative they present to children? How are other key characters of Greek myth introduced through the myth of Theseus? In answering these questions, I hope to provide insight into the way that children’s literature’s use of classical myth has developed since the 1960s, building on and extending the recent work of Sheila Murnaghan and Deborah H. Roberts in their Childhood and the Classics: Britain and America 1850-1965 (2018) and Owen Hodkinson and Helen Lovatt’s work Classical Reception and Children’s Literature: Greece, Rome and Childhood Transformation (2018). By taking a closer look at all these picturebooks it becomes clear that authors and illustrators remove grotesque images because authors assume that children will be reintroduced to these myths later on in life.