Scholarly Works - Classics
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Item Open Access Credit Where It’s Due; or, Further Reflections on Lending, Banking, and Exchange in Ancient Athens(Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge, 2020-09-29) Millett, PaulThis paper has a lot to do. Apart from exploring the debate on Athenian credit and exchange across forty years, relating that discussion to broader engagement over the ancient economy, it also aims to reassess the arguments of key contributors to the debate. Hence the more frequent and longer-than-usual endnotes, which aim to indicate for the reader, however briefly, the relevance of modern books and articles, rather than simply listing, along the lines of ‘See generally Bloggins (1999)’.Item Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed Introduction to the Persian Harmony of the Gospels(Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2018) Crellin, RSD; Hassanabadi, Mahmoud; Jahani, Roubik; Jahani, Carina; Crellin, Robert [0000-0002-0100-7437]Item Open Access Published version Peer-reviewed Palaeography, administration, and scribal training: a case-study(CNR-Istituto di studi sul Mediterraneo Antico, 2017-12) Judson, AP; Landenius Enegren, H; Nosch, M-LMore than 60 years after Michael Ventris’ decipherment of Linear B, 14 of its syllabic signs remain ‘undeciphered’:1 despite many proposals to assign sound-values to these signs,2 none has yet been officially accepted. This paper is based on part of a study investigating new approaches to these undeciphered signs: as signs which cannot yet be read in the same way as the rest of the Linear B script, they provide an opportunity to explore ways in which studying individual signs without necessarily being able to read them – that is, through palaeographic analysis of their forms and their use by different scribes – can contribute towards our understanding of wider questions about the script and its context of use.Item Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed Archaeological Field Survey in the Environs of Aldborough (Isurium Brigantum)(Informa UK Limited, 2018-01-01) Dobinson, C; Ferraby, R; Lucas, J; Millett, M; Wallace, L; Ferraby, Rose [0000-0002-2490-8713]; Millett, Martin [0000-0003-4073-3260]During the period from 1989‒97 an extensive field-walking survey was undertaken in the vicinity of the Roman town at Aldborough, North Yorks (Fig.1). Sponsored by the YAS's Roman Antiquities Section (henceforth RAS), the survey's aims were twofold: first, to map and characterise as much as possible of the immediate extra-mural settlement around Roman Aldborough; and second to see the Roman settlement in its immediate landscape context, by extending surface collection over all arable land up to 2000m from the urban core. Within the limits of available arable land, the first of these aims was successfully accomplished. Changed circumstances prevented the second aim from being fully achieved, although a wide-ranging sample of arable areas was examined. Altogether, the survey subjected some 58.3ha to intensive collection.Item Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed A view from the margin? Roman commonwares and patterns of distribution and consumption at Interamna Lirenas (Lazio)(Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2018) Launaro, A; Leone, N; Launaro, Alessandro [0000-0002-1770-2485]There can hardly be any doubt that goods moved in large quantities and over great distances under the Roman empire. This awareness is borne out of a long tradition of archaeological research attesting to the widespread distribution of specific categories of material culture across the full expanse of the Mediterranean and beyond. This phenomenon has been interpreted as a more or less direct result of Rome's military expansion and the fundamental political unification which came with it, bringing about unprecedented conditions which favoured trade and exchange. Scholarship has often stressed the rôle played in this by ‘institutions’: the spread and adoption of a common set of laws, currency and units of measure, fostered by a relatively long period of internal peace and political stability, would have boosted the economic performance of the empire to levels that had not been witnessed before and would not be seen again for many centuries. Indeed, the notion of ‘efflorescence’ has sometimes been employed to describe and explain the kind of economic growth to which this process might have contributed.Item Open Access Published version Peer-reviewed Monte Barro: an Ostrogothic fortified site in the Alps(2011) Martinez Jimenez, J; Martínez Jiménez, Javier [0000-0003-4132-4135]This paper is a reassessment of the original publications of the fortified site of Monte Barro, near Lake Como in Italy, excavated by G.P. Brogiolo and L. Castelletti, which studies its role within the Ostrogothic frontier system. The site is located on a mountain, overlooking the Po plain, but it is close enough to the Alpine passes to control the access into Italy. Built and fortified during the Ostrogothic period, the site was destroyed during the period of the Gothic Wars in the mid sixth century. Because of its location, its views and fortifications, it would be possible to think that it was a fort, especially as it fits perfectly into the Ostrogothic Alpine fortifications, but neither its finds, nor the presence of the main building fully support this statement. Above all, the presence of a bronze hanging crown seems to indicate that some sort of Gothic noble or official lived at the site, which may give Monte Barro not necessarily the category of villa or palace, but certainly an important role within the Gothic administration, probably linked to the Alpine fortificationsItem Open Access Published version Peer-reviewed The continuity of Roman water supply systems in Post-Roman Spain: the case of Valentia, a reliable example?(2011) Martinez Jimenez, J; Martínez Jiménez, Javier [0000-0003-4132-4135]Even if the general assumption is that Roman water supply systems (aqueducts in particular) ceased to function during the late Roman period, and that these were not present in medieval cities, recent archaeological research is proving that this was not always the case. Several cities in Spain show archaeological continuity in their water supply systems into the Visigothic period, and one of these seems to be Valencia. There is archaeological evidence to suggest a functioning aqueduct until the eleventh century, probably linked to episcopal patronage or, less probable, due to royal intervention. The information available comes from the excavations at L’Almoina, c/ Cavallers and c/ Quart, in which not only sections of the aqueduct with complete preserved stratigraphy have been retrieved, but also important water-consuming structures. Valencia is also a unique example of the reparation of Roman water supply systems in the Umayyad period.Item Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed Interamna Lirenas and Its Territory (Comune di Pignataro Interamna, Provincia di Frosinone, Regione Lazio)(Cambridge University Press, 2017) Bellini, GR; Launaro, A; Leone, N; Millett, M; Verdonck, L; Vermeulen, F; Launaro, Alessandro [0000-0002-1770-2485]; Millett, Martin [0000-0003-4073-3260]With the 2016 season the archaeological project at Interamna Lirenas has entered its seventh year of fieldwork. Building on an integrated array of research activities carried out across town and countryside, our team has been gathering a rich and varied array of evidence attesting to the liveliness of this Roman town from its foundation (312 bc) until the late Imperial period (Bellini et al., 2012; Bellini et al., 2013; Bellini, Launaro and Millett, 2014; Bellini et al., 2014; Ballantyne et al., 2015; Ballantyne et al., 2016). In 2016 we concentrated on two main activities: the excavation of the theatre and the full coverage ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey of the urban area, the latter being paired with systematic sample surface collections and test-pitting of the plough-soil.Item Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed Falerii Novi (Comune di Fabrica di Roma, Provincia di Viterbo, Regione Lazio)(Cambridge University Press, 2017) Launaro, A; Leone, N; Millett, M; Verdonck, L; Vermeulen, F; Launaro, Alessandro [0000-0002-1770-2485]; Millett, Martin [0000-0003-4073-3260]As part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded ‘Beneath the Surface of Roman Republican Cities’ project (2015–17), in 2015 our team started a full-coverage ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey of the entire intramural area of the Roman town of Falerii Novi (c. 28 hectares), paired with an assessment of the unpublished pottery from the excavations of 1969–75, in order to further extend our knowledge and understanding of the Roman town and its earlier phases of settlement (Launaro et al., 2016). The 2016 survey fieldwork has increased the total surveyed area to c. 19 hectares, roughly corresponding to two-thirds of the surface to be covered. The sectors so far explored include the central forum, the northern half of the settlement and, to the south, the theatre area.Item Open Access Research data on a statistical study of the lettersets used in inscriptions from the Aegean Basin, 7th and 6th centuries BC.Loy, MPA; Loy, Michael [0000-0001-9120-0515]Item Open Access Published version Peer-reviewed Journal for Late Antique Religion and Culture(Cardiff University Press, 2017-12-31) Martinez Jimenez, J; González Gutiérrez, Patricia; Martínez Jiménez, Javier [0000-0003-4132-4135]The high degree of specialisation achieved in the Roman world covered a vast area of trades and reached beyond economy and production into specialised knowledge and science, but in the transition to the Middle Ages large parts of this knowledge were lost. The continuity and end of some specialised trades which were common in the early Empire but which were rare (or disappeared) in late Antiquity can be seen through the material and written record. In this paper, we aim to explain the divergent evolution of two such professions (medics and engineers) in the western provinces, adding more examples and further case-studies to current debates. Whereas medics and medicine continued as a profession, in part through the protection of the Church, specialised engineers and architects (which were usually linked to state training and employment) seem to have disappeared, together with the state structures that supported themItem Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed Callimachus: the Hymns, written by Stephens, S.A.(Brill, 2016-11-18) Nelson, TJ; Nelson, Thomas [0000-0002-6654-8939]This new Callimachean commentary has a modest goal: “to provide readers with a convenient and accessible edition of all six of Callimachus’ hymns in one volume, accompanied by notes sufficient for ease of reading” (p. vii). S(tephens) has in fact produced a very helpful edition which more than fulfils this ambition and will be of much use to readers of Callimachus’ hymns, especially those tackling his work for the first time. Alongside considerable linguistic help, S. offers concise yet lively interpretations of these poems, succinctly distilling the fruits of past scholarship while also adding new interpretations of her own. Limitations of space mean that she has had to be selective in the material covered, so specialists in the field will treat this volume as a supplement to, not replacement of, the older, more extensive editions of individual hymns. Nevertheless, S. has packed a lot into this commentary, which should be welcomed for rendering Callimachus more accessible to a wider audience.Item Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed POETRY AND ART FROM ALEXANDER TO AUGUSTUS. (P.) Linant de Bellefonds, (É.) Prioux, (A.) Rouveret (edd.) D'Alexandre à Auguste. Dynamiques de la création dans les arts visuels et la poésie(Cambridge University Press, 2017-04-01) Nelson, TJ; Nelson, Thomas [0000-0002-6654-8939]This attractive volume presents the proceedings of the final colloquium of the CAIM research project (‘Culture antiquaire et invention de la modernité’) held at the INHA in Paris in May 2012. In the introduction, the editors express their wish to interrogate ‘les possibilités de croisement entre texte et image’ from the early Hellenistic to Augustan ages and to pose ‘des questions d’ordre méthodologique sur la façon même de mettre en relation les deux formes de création artistique’ (p. 8). These are important issues, and the editors have assembled an impressive cast of scholars to investigate them. Of the 22 contributions, arranged in six sections of varying cohesion, two are written in English, two in Italian and the remaining eighteen in French. As often in such proceedings, the papers are eclectic and wide-ranging and, although a great number are of excellent quality, the central concerns of the project are addressed inconsistently throughout. It is only when we come to the conclusion by Rouveret that an attempt is made to synthesise the diverse range of topics treated; I feel that the avowedly ‘brève introduction’ (only two pages) could have been considerably expanded to lay out the key questions more clearly.Item Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed SELEUCID SPACE AND IDEOLOGY - P.J. Kosmin The Land of the Elephant Kings. Space, Territory, and Ideology in the Seleucid Empire(Cambridge University Press, 2016-04-01) Nelson, TJ; Nelson, Thomas [0000-0002-6654-8939]This impressive work, a revised version of K.’s doctoral thesis, is an important contribution to the recent boom in Seleucid studies. K. applies spatial theory to the Seleucid kingdom, employing ‘an understanding of space as relational and relative, historically contingent and culturally constructed, with the capacity both to discipline social behaviors and to be molded, manipulated, and resisted by historical agents’ (p. 6). In short, K. explores how the Seleucid kings transformed their vast, disparate kingdom into a coherent, manageable space, bounding their territory through rituals and treaties and articulating its interior through royal movement and colonisation. In so doing, he moves away from reductive questions about the Seleucid empire’s structural ‘strength’ or ‘weakness’ to excavate the kingdom’s ideological underpinnings. The study spans the whole chronological scope of the empire and exploits a remarkably wide range of archaeological and textual evidence throughout.Item Open Access Published version Peer-reviewed Processions, propaganda, and pixels: Reconstructing the Sacred Way between Miletos and Didyma(University of Chicago Press, 2018) Slawisch, A; Wilkinson, TC; Slawisch, Anja [0000-0003-4036-2703]; Wilkinson, Toby [0000-0002-4905-0522]The Sacred Way connecting the city of Miletos to the sanctuary of Didyma has long been considered one of the best-documented examples of a processional road from the ancient world. Views of the road have become ossified around an orthodox reconstruction of the route, which is assumed to have remained relatively static from the Archaic to the Roman period. A reexamination of the full epigraphic and archaeological evidence, incorporating the latest research in the region, highlights the many gaps in our knowledge and the possibility that the route and identity of the Sacred Way may have changed substantially through time. Computational modeling of the local topography confirms the feasibility of alternative routes and the effect that probable long-term landscape change around Panormos might have had. This article calls for a fresh characterization of the Sacred Way from Miletos to Didyma, which envisages multiple periods of (re)invention and (re)construction from the Archaic period right up to the modern day.Item Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed Between art and text in late antique ecphrasis: Christodorus Coptus and the periochae of Nonnus’ Dionysiaca(Aureal Publications) Middleton, FranThere is increasing interest in what might be thought ‘special’ about late antique poetry. Two volumes of recent years, McGill and Pucci (2016) as well as Elsner and Hernández Lobato (2017), have focused on Latin poetry of this time, as it becomes increasingly acceptable to talk about late antiquity as a period in its own right, rather than a point of transition between high antiquity and the middle ages. Late antique Greek poetry has yet to receive the same level of attention, but this is not surprising as Greek poetry of the high empire still remains in many ways obscure. Simon Goldhill (2012) has discussed the poetics of late antique ecphrasis through the Latin writer Paulinus of Nola, arguing that this mode may be understood to reflect cultural change as different writers engage with the fundamentals of ecphrastic description, time and narrative, taking on culturally specific ‘forms of attention’. Ecphrasis might therefore be seen as a useful case study for poetics: Paulinus attempts ‘to construct a specifically Christian form of attention’, Goldhill remarks (p. 89, emphasis his), and in doing so he ‘provides a unique example from antiquity both of an ecphrasis of a self-portrait, and of an ecphrasis of an ecphrasis. Christian self-regard is articulated in an extraordinary manner through the ecphrastic discussion of a portrait of the author and the poems attached to it.’ My contention in this article is that this cluster of themes in Paulinus’ work – its turn to the text and its turn to the self qua viewer in ecphrasis – is not only more widespread in late antique ecphrastic poetry, but that this set of ideas may be discussed as a response to Christian concerns about the act of interpretation, not least of text, in the era after Constantine. I would suggest that there is a distinct late antique approach to the role of the text we may recognise in Greek poetry as well as Latin, and in poetry which describes works inspired by classical as well as Christian themes. This articulates itself in the tradition of poetic ecphrasis as the form moves to encompass the literary description of books as well as visual art.Item Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed The impact of the eldritch city: Classical and alien urbanism in H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos(Science Fiction Foundation, 2018-12) Martinez Jimenez, J; Martínez Jiménez, Javier [0000-0003-4132-4135]In the world of the Cthulhu Mythos ancient ruins and old towns (both human and alien) usually form an essential part of stories. These ancient constructions are usually depicted and explained by Lovecraft at length, and they give not only ambience to the narration but a background to the locations in which the story is set. Through the descriptions of these cities, various conclusions regarding Lovecraft’s use of classical urbanism and monumentality can be drawn. By looking at his descriptions of human and alien cities alike, it will be possible to see how the ideal of an ancient, classical Graeco-Roman city emerges constantly as an indicator of civilization either by inclusion of classical elements or by purposely altering and making them more alien.Item Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed Epicurus on the false belief that sense-impressions conflict(Presses Universitaires du Septentrion) Warren, JEpicureans say that all sense-impressions are true and that reason is based on sense-impressions. But lots of people believe that not all sense-impressions are true. The Epicureans explain why people might hold this false belief as follows: the belief at the root of such mistakes is often the belief that sense impressions can conflict. But this latter belief is often the result of what the Epicureans think is our natural and often helpful tendency to generalise and extrapolate in forming beliefs on the basis of our sense-impressions.Item Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed Archaeology and the Archaeology of the Greek Language: on the origin of the Greek nouns in -ευς(Edinburgh University Press, 2014-11-07) Meissner, T; Rutter, K; Bintliff, JItem Open Access Accepted version Peer-reviewed (Mis)reading the gnat: truth and deception in the pseudo-Virgilian Culex(Cambridge University Press, 2018-12) Kearey, TEZ; Kearey, Talitha [0000-0002-8987-5342]Recent reassessments of the Culex consider it self-consciously pseudepigraphic, overtly protesting its Virgilian authenticity yet simultaneously flaunting its impersonatory poetics. This paper develops this approach, exploring how the poem showcases themes of truth, falsity and deception through metapoetic gestures, narrative structure, and self-positioning within various literary traditions. In particular, it argues that a reconsideration of the gnat’s katabasis-narrative as an embedded ‘poem within a poem’ provides insight into how the Culex models processes of reading (or rather misreading) within the fiction, and thus how it prompts its own readers to approach it.