Theses (Greek and Roman Studies)
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item The production, trade, and consumption of pictorial pottery in Late Helladic IIIC(2024) Watts-Wooldridge, Ben; Van Damme, TrevorThe collapse of the Mycenaean palatial administrations at the end of the 13th century BCE marked a period of significant transformations in social organization and interregional mobility across mainland Greece. The developments and innovations of this period were accompanied by the revival of Mycenaean pictorial style pottery. This decorative style employed figural motifs on vessels primarily intended for use in commensal social activity and was produced and traded across mainland Greece. Its study thus prompts consideration of regionalism, social ideology, and exchange in the post-collapse period: the present thesis examines the 12th century BCE rise of the pictorial style in the context of these themes. I utilize the pictorial style pottery from the post-palatial settlement of Eleon in Eastern Boeotia as a primary case study. Among the large corpus of Late Helladic (LH) IIIC ceramics unearthed at the site is included a sizable and unpublished body of pictorial style pottery comprising 50 fragmentary vessels decorated with a variety of figural motifs. The study of pictorial pottery has historically focused on iconographic analysis and elements of stylistic development, often without consideration for the relationship between iconography, the site of production, and the movement of the pottery itself. Drawing on previously published neutron activation analysis conducted on ceramic materials from Eleon, the thesis responds to this trend in the scholarship by presenting the results of a macroscopic fabric study, integrated with iconographic analysis, that allows for attribution of provenance to the pictorial style pottery from the site. I contextualize my findings by comparing Eleon’s pictorial pottery with that from Lefkandi and Mycenae, highlighting the stylistic trends and interregional motif preferences present in the post-collapse landscape. My macroscopic fabric study attributes a significant portion of Eleon’s pictorial pottery to Euboean production centers, attesting to a high degree of interregional exchange. This is corroborated by stylistic elements associated with the Euboean workshops. Eleon’s locally produced pictorial material reflects the predilection of Boeotian workshops for producing fish and bird motifs, while the Euboean workshops are shown to be the exclusive source of chariot and horse iconography consumed in LH IIIC Boeotia, supporting the recent suggestion that a limited number of centers produced chariot kraters. Stylistic continuity and reflections of palatial iconography in the pictorial art of post-palatial communities are also suggested to be indicative of a relationship between workshops of the pre- and post-collapse periods. Lastly, I investigate the function of pictorial pottery within post-palatial communities. The main shape decorated at all sites is the ring-based krater (FS 281/282), a vessel used for the mixing of wine. Contextual analysis of the pottery shows that it is found primarily in domestic structures and more rarely shrines. I therefore propose that pictorial iconography was primarily seen during communal acts of drinking across Greece and less often in ritual contexts at sites such as Eleon and Kalapodi.Item Something for everyone : Plautus and his heterogeneous audience(1998) Wilson, Paul FrancisThis thesis examines the work of the late third and early second century B .C. Roman comic poet Plautus, and in particular considers the question of whether any serious, sophisticated or thought-provoking themes which Plautus might have included in his comedies could have been appreciated by members of his original Roman audience. In the first two chapters, textual evidence from antiquity and modem psychological theory are used to establish the existence of conditions which suggest the heterogeneous appreciation of Plautus' comedies by members of his original Roman audience. From these conditions, the case for the appreciation of serious, sophisticated or thought-provoking themes by members of Plautus' original Roman audience is given strength. In the final three chapters, interpretative treatments of three Plautine comedies (the Menaechmi, the Amphitruo and the Asinaria) are offered in order to demonstrate the possible existence of serious, sophisticated and thought-provoking themes within Plautus' comedies.Item The Roman widow : a social studya social study(1992) Venour, Kelly CharleneThe object of this thesis is to provide an analysis of Roman widowhood, to determine what the Roman widow did during her widowhood, and to place the widow within the broader social context of Roman society. To this end, legal, literary, and prosopographical evidence is used, and attention is given to determining the widow's legal, domestic, political , and social roles. The introductory chapter begins by outlining the interest in Roman society over the past two decades, and the particular attention given to the Roman family. It specifies the sources pertinent for the Roman social historian, emphasizes the importance of sub-disciplines (such as the study of Roman law), and comparative historical evidence, and indicates the dangers of imposing our own value system and modern viewpoint on Roman society. A discussion follows of the limitations placed on the study of Roman women by the male-centered and male-authored texts, and notes that the patriarchal and hierarchical norms of the society are reflected in the literature. As a point of departure the mechanics of Roman marriage are examined: how the institution was used to solidify social and political ties; the woman's passive position; and the high rate of widowhood and remarriage due to the age hiatus between husbands and wives. The second chapter interprets the Roman legal corpus pertaining to widows. A discussion of widows in regard to legacies, children's patrimony, posthumous heirs, the mourning period, charges of infamia. stuprum, and adultery follows. The widow obtained no special legal rights with her status of widowhood; she was a dependent, manipulated figure within the context of Roman law. In addition, the question of maintenance is not addressed in the legal corpus: no maintenance was provided for the widow until the Christian era, when under the Novellae of Justinian (c. AD 538), she was legally entitled to receive a fourth of her husband's estate. Conversely, the legal sources give much attention to the remarriage of a widow, and the Augustan marriage legislation, which enforced a mourning period of specified length and made remarriage at the end of it obligatory, theoretically compelled the widow to seek a new husband while simultaneously mourning her old one. The third chapter examines the portrait of the widow in Roman literature (from Plautus in the second century BC to Apuleius in the second century AD). The literary images seen fall into clear-cut stereotypes: the helpless or poor widow, the rich or powerful widow, the merry widow, and the tragic widow. As well, themes in the stories of the Widow of Ephesus and Apuleius' Charite are examined, and the image of the univira is also analyzed. The literary portraits of the widow, drawn by male writers, not only betray patriarchal norms of female conduct, but also reveal an image of the widow as sexual property. The widow was seen as threatening and open to censure if she was a lascivious "merry" widow; but if she was chaste, passive, and faithful to the memory of her husband she was lauded as a model of female behavior. As well as inviting hostility from Roman males, sexual activity on the widow's part may have damaged her chances of remarriage. The expectation that widows will remarry is inherent in the literary sources, even in cases of deep grief, indicating that remarriage of a widow was encouraged in Roman society. The fourth chapter examines prosopographical evidence. It works within the boundaries of a universe of seventy widows, most of whose lives are known in considerable detail. The legal and literary images are thus tested against the historical evidence. Some demographic conclusions are drawn from the collected material pertaining to age at widowhood, at what point in the marriage it occurred, duration of widowhood, percentage of widows who remarried, and women widowed more than once. The chapter also examines historical instances of widows and Roman law in the areas of the tutor, dowry, charges of stuprum or maiestas, residence and children, and the question of maintenance. Historical univirae and actual instances of the remarriage of widows are examined in detail: whether the widow remarried at all, and if she did, who arranged her marriage, when she remarried, and how effective Augustan marriage legislation was in compelling her to remarry. In the fifth chapter, the historical evidence culminates in the examination of the life of Aemilia Pudentilla, the provincial widow of Apuleius' Apology, Pudentilla's life and long widowhood are known in some detail, and specifics from the Apology may be used to illuminate aspects of widowhood seen imperfectly elsewhere, such as sexual comportment, legal status, maintenance, and choice of a husband. The course of her remarriage can also be successfully reconstructed, and the social forces that affected it may be equated with those which influenced the marriages of most Roman widows. Pudentilla's life therefore provides a unique opportunity to reconstruct the life of a Roman widow. The conclusion summarizes the images of the widow as she is presented in the body of Roman law, in the literature, and in the prosopographical evidence; outlines views on maintenance, sexual comportment, and the mechanics of remarriage; and links widowhood at Rome with other social factors such as heirship and dynamics of family structure.Item Seneca's Ad Helviam : its content and purpose(1984) Twiddy, Andrew D.This thesis examines the Ad Helviam, a consolatory treatise written from exile by Seneca to his mother Helvia which is not only one of Seneca's best works, but is also among the very best of extant consolations. The thesis is in two movements, covering (i) the content of the Ad Helviam, and (ii) the purpose of the Ad Helviam. The introduction sets the writer and his work in their respective contexts, and illustrates the main areas of interest and relevance which the work has for us today. It then outlines the two areas of study which are contained in the body of the thesis. The first chapter looks at the content of the Ad Helviam, dealing with its literary and philosophical debt. This includes a survey of the genre of consolation literature and the subsection of that genre which dealt with consolations for exile. Following a treatment of Seneca's various philosophical sources in the dialogue is a detailed study of how the structure and argumentation of the Ad Helviam are affected by generic concerns, concluding that there are elements of originality, although .there is a debt to tradition. Seneca deserves credit not only for his innovations, but also for the many means which he uses in order to maintain a tone of freshness and intimacy, and thus to keep his readers interested in his work. Using the first chapter as a basis, the second chapter is an examination of the many purposes which the writer had for composing the work. Here we move from a re-evaluation of material which for the most part has been previously studied to a fresh synthesis of ideas and a new statement on the Ad Helviam. Six purposes are suggested for the composition of the dialogue, the first two of which are of a private nature, while the rest assume a wider audience. Seneca may have written to console Helvia, to console himself, to expound his philosophy, to defend himself on the adultery charge for which he had been exiled , to bolster his literary reputation in Rome, or to set the scene for and politely request his return to society. Evidence for these motives is obtained both from within the dialogue and from external sources; it is possible to believe that all the motives existed in the writer's mind simultaneously at the time of composition. Finally , the conclusion not only summarises the two chapters , but unites them by stating that it is through the use and refashioning of generic material that Seneca achieves his purposes.Item The Literate woman in the Roman World(1998) Tkach, Darca JoyceThe object of this thesis is to explore the role of literacy in the lives of women in the Roman world during the central period of Roman history. A variety of evidence from ancient literacy, visual, and documentary sources is brought together in order to examine how women acquired and applied the skills of reading and writing in domestic, cultural and legal contexts, the different forms and levels of literacy available to them, and the social attitudes expressed towards literate women. Chapter One establishes a context for this study by reviewing recent scholarship on ancient literacy and women's studies. It begins by comparing different approaches to the subject of literacy the problem of defining such a flexible concept, the need to examine not only applications of literacy but also related attitudes and customs, and the effect of the very limited dissemination of reading and writing skills in antiquity. Modern trends in the study of ancient women, relating to the recovery of details of women's lives and contributions within the private sphere of the family and Roman society in general, as well as the construction of gender roles, are also considered. Although it is probably that only a minority of women in ancient Rome were literate, the social factors associated with this phenomenon have rarely been analyzed in depth. Chapter Two explores the evidence from literature. Although most of the extant literary and historical text were male-authored and reflect the perspective of the most highly educated class of men, some information can be extracted concerning the educational opportunities for girls, and the cultural, professional and domestic activities which literate women might undertake. Also considered are the conventional and conflicting images of literate women which appear in a variety of literary genres, reflecting approbation or censure the image of the literate and dutiful mother, wife or daughter who assumes the traditional values of the Roman woman is most admired, while educated women who step outside these roles are alternately praised in love poetry or mocked in satire for their intellectual pretensions or immoral conduct. The fact that women's education and literary culture were based upon the same doctrina as that of men may have been a cause of anxiety to men who dislike the idea of women transgressing a traditionally male sphere of influence. Chapter Three focuses on artistic representations of women with the iconography of literacy book-rolls, writing tablets, and other writing implements. These images were primarily designed as private portraits in houses or on funerary monuments. A brief history of the motif of the literate woman in the art of earlier periods precedes a discussion of representative images from the Roman world, which are collected together in a catalogue which follows the chapter. Women and girls can be portrayed alone or alongside men in "intellectual" scenes, however, artistic conventions might subtly dictate an unequal power relationship in the later case, when women are most often presented in a subordinate role not quite equal to that of men, perhaps reflecting patriarchal norms. However, the fact that both men and women are depicted, either individually or as couples, as participating in literary culture in the idealized contexts of decorative and commemorative art indicates that intellectual abilities were admired as distinctive markers of education and status. Chapter Four considers the direct testimony for women's literacy which emerges from a study of documentary texts from Oxyrhynchus in Roman Egypt and Vindolanda in Roman Britain, two extreme and unassuming locations of papyrological finds. Although only a small percentage of women actually appended autograph evidence of their writing abilities to legal and personal documents, emphasizing that education was usually a privilege of the elite, the mass of texts m which women made use of writing through the ubiquitous intermediaries of scribes clearly implies that many more women recognized the use of written documents as integral and practical tools in their lives. The conclusion ts reached in Chapter Five that although only a minority of women are represented as literate m the ancient source material, for this select group literacy was a source of prestige and pride as well as a practical commodity. The acquisition of the skills of reading and writing was a potentially leveling technology which brought women into a sphere dominated, and jealously preserved, by men, but where women could advance their own social, cultural, and legal interests.Item Real and theoretical boundaries : human geography in Herodotus(1998) Small, Margaret AnnHerodotus' interest in the geography of the world was governed by his fascination with humanity. To his mind humans and their environment were interrelated. In an era when the majority of geographical writing did not focus solely upon the human world, but set this world into a universal context, Herodotus studied only the inhabited world, the oikoumene. Herodotus saw the world as divided into loosely-defined zones of inhabitation. At the heart of the world lay Greece, a region where owing to climate and environment the people were the bravest. Greece provided the standard of normality. The further one ventured from this region the more bizarre the inhabitants; their characteristics were determined by the region they inhabited. At the furthest reaches of the oikoumene the lands were weird and wonderful their inhabitants correspondingly peculiar and almost unhuman. Beyond these regions lay the eremoi territories - uninhabitable regions which thus provided boundaries to the world and to investigation. Once outside the inhabited world certainty was impossible so all knowledge must be based to a greater or lesser degree on speculation. Herodotus, who placed importance on investigation rather, did not discuss any region outside the realm of potential investigation. Nonetheless, although Herodotus placed importance upon the idea of investigation, he did not adhere strictly to the principle of empiricism, but was influenced by the philosophical beliefs of his day. Like the majority of intellectuals of his day he believed in the idea of limit, demonstrating that all ethnographically - determined regions were separated from one another by natural boundaries which could not be transgressed without repercussion. The theoretical notions of balance, reciprocity, symmetry and limit pervade his geographical thought and provide the means with which he connected humans and their environment. This thesis begins with a survey of the major trends in Herodotean scholarship over the last century. While not specifically geographically oriented this scholarship has provided much background material for the study of Herodotean geography. The thesis continues with a study of the geographical ideas extant at the time of Herodotus. Although Herodotus used the empirical information which was filtering into Greek geographical writings, he derided the majority of his predecessors' ideas because they seemed to him speculative, founded either upon theory or myth. Chapter Three is a discussion of the outer boundaries of the world as described by Herodotus who had rejected the traditional theoretical idea of Ocean as unfounded. The eremoi regions at the edges of the oikoumene formed these boundaries. The idea of zones of inhabitation is also important in this chapter, since the eremoi were bordered by the dehumanising eschatai regions. Although the existence of these eremoi regions was supported by investigative knowledge, in describing their role as limits Herodotus also resorted to the more theoretical ideas of symmetry and balance. Chapter Four is a study of the importance of natural boundaries in the Histories. Humans who tried to cross them in an act of aggression were hubristically attempting to exert their authority over nature and consequently suffered the penalties ordained by natural law. The limits were discernible by investigation, but the moral implications for transgressing them were the product of theory not investigation. An examination of Herodotus' perception of the relationship between race and environment follows. Contrary to the popular ethnographic theory of a polarity between Greeks and barbarians, Herodotus adopted a theory of environmental determinism which accounted for the racial variety which he perceived in barbarian races. The conclusion shows how these disparate aspects of Herodotus' geographical thought were related to one another, particularly by his belief in balance and reciprocity. It further demonstrates how Herodotus saw that the consequences of the violation of natural boundaries provided a lesson to the aggressive Athenians and Spartans of his own time that conquest brought inevitable repercussions for the aggressor.Item Poetic responses to the Battle of Actium : a study of Horace, Vergil, and Propertius(1992) Smulders, David AnthonyItem Intrusive flora of economic importance in ancient Italy(1980) Sherwood, Andrew NeilThe aim of this thesis is to determine which plants were imported into ancient Italy , the circumstances permitting the introductions to take place and become established, and the subsequent effects of the intrusive plants upon the native flora and peoples of the peninsula. The introduction provides a brief preface to the mechanics of plant introduction and defines the category of plants and the chronological period examined. This chapter contains a short discussion of the problems encountered in determining the geographical origins of a plant and used t o solve t hem. A brief account of the most important ancient and modern sources of information concludes the chapter. Chapter II is a catalogue of the plant s which are known to be foreign to Italy. Entries are arranged in botanical order and where possible, common and ancient Lat in names a re given. A short description of the functions , importance, date and agent of introduction accompanies each entry. A summary of the pattern of introduction with regard to chronology and economic importance is provided by Table I and its interpretation in chapter III. In chapter IV the factor s which resulted in plant importation and establishment in Italy are examined. Contact with new lands and peoples provided the greatest stimulus for importation. At first, alien plants were introduced by foreign peoples coming to Italy , but as Roman military and political power grew, the Romans penetrated other lands and imported plants into the peninsula themselves. Chapter V reviews the consequences of alien flora upon the countryside and people. Except for relatively small areas, it would appear that native crops were not severely affected by intrusive plants until the first century A. D. In fact, the importation of certain plants probably helped to maintain the fertility of Italian soil and agricultural production. The effect upon the people of the peninsula was direct and important almost from the beginning. The staples of the Italian diet were largely formed from the products of introduced plants and variations in the diet were the result of importations. The change from subsistence to profit farming was made possible by alien flora and created a special problem for Rome--the need to import grain. The summary offers a terse survey of the patterns of plant introduction in the general light of changing Italian culture. It also places t he investigated period within the larger chronological framework of the major waves of plant introduction into Italy in order to illustrate the great importance of this period to the peninsula.Item Children and toys in the Roman world : a contribution to the history of the Roman family(1993) Shumka, Leslie JoanThe object of this thesis is to collect and analyze evidence on Roman toys and games with a view to establishing the significance of play in the lives of Roman children. The study is set in the context of recent scholarly discussion of child-rearing in antiquity. Evidence of all kinds is considered, but special attention is given to compiling a catalogue of toys from archaeological sources. Chapter 1 begins by raising the question of whether it is feasible to think in terms of a history of ancient childhood, and what approaches might actively be pursued in an effort to reconstruct the world of Roman children. A synopsis of scholarship on childhood in the modern period prefaces an explication of a recent addition to the study of childhood in antiquity. This discussion provides the foundation for contrasting and comparing the methodology of modern and ancient historians in their evaluations of parental and societal attitudes toward children. Examination of expressions of affection, as evinced by two ancient authors from divergent backgrounds, concludes the chapter. Children are plainly regarded by these authors as integral parts of a prosperous social and political life, but also as sources of pleasure, aggravation and even perplexity. The assemblage of literary evidence for toys and games that appears in Chapter 2 is drawn from an extensive range of Republican and Imperial authors, and is organized along very broad lines. A synthesis of the literary material both demonstrates the all-pervasive influence of children in Roman society, and validates the investigation of toys and games as indicators of social attitudes. Furthermore, the analysis accentuates the need for greater focus on two particular issues: parent-child interaction within the context of play and leisure, and recreational space for children. With the literary and historical evidence for toys and games safely established we turn, in Chapter 3, to a profile of the material evidence, which is presented in the form of a catalogue. The chapter stresses the strong correlation between the literary and archaeological records, and furnishes evidence of objects not attested or noted by ancient authors, but which archaeologists generally regard as the playthings of children. A detailed discussion of the archaeological record is conducted in Chapter 4. Origins for toys, technological developments, media, construction methods, along with geographic and chronological concerns are considered in an attempt to explain society's apparent desire to create a variety of appealing toys for its children. Building upon the archaeological and literary framework established in preceding chapters, the fifth chapter explores the potential for socializing Roman children through toys and games. The work of modern child psychologists and sociologists is drawn on to formulate hypotheses on how children developed motor skills and analytical abilities; how boys and girls learned about their sexual and social roles; and how Roman parents ensured that their children acquired requisite social skills while preserving the diversionary aspects of toys and play at the same time. The conclusion is reached that children in Roman antiquity lived in the constant shadow of potentially fatal illnesses and, from a contemporary perspective, experienced a harsher way of life. Nonetheless, it is evident from the toys and games examined in this thesis that Roman children could and did enjoy themselves immensely. A more lighthearted view of Roman childhood can be achieved, and it is clear that Roman parents were very concerned with both the present and future comfort of their children.Item Immigration and integration : the augmentation of Macedon's military population under Philip II and Alexander III(1990) Ross, Richard StevenThis thesis is an examination of the conventional wisdom and methodological approaches that underly a particular part of the scholarly debate surrounding the rise of Macedon in the latter half of the fourth century B.C. The wider debate needs to be intimately connected with an appreciation of Macedon's military strength, which was, in a pre-technological age, largely dependent upon the number of men that could be conscripted into the army. While this relationship has been acknowledged in modern works it has rarely received more than a cursory treatment and even then has been done in such a manner as reveals a simplistic approach to the evidence. Theories have been based upon imperfectly understood evidence - the results have been predictable. As a result of this the first three chapters examine the varying methods that have been employed in an attempt to ennumerate the number of Macedonian soldiers that fought for Alexander III and for his father, Philip II. Chapter 1, "Evidence, Problems and Approaches", aims to create a model that assesses the possible number of Macedonian casualties throughout Alexander's reign. Chapter 2, "The Human Resources of Macedonia", attempts to calculate a total for the Macedonians that fought for both Philip and Alexander and to which the model created in the previous chapter can be applied. Chapter 3, "Demography and Ancient Macedonia", seeks to establish whether the large numbers of Macedonians that, it is argued, fought for their kings, can be accounted for by an internal population boom, generally assumed to be the result of the "peace and prosperity'' established under Philip. As modern historiography has focused almost exclusively on Alexander's military reserves, and rarely on both his and his father's, it is argued throughout that credible results can only be attained if both reigns are examined in tandem. The fourth chapter, "Immigration and Integration within Macedonia 360-323B.C.", presents an argument for substantial immigration of non-Macedonians into Macedonia under Philip. Thus Macedonia is considered to have exploited the worsening social and economic conditions prevalent in Greece during the fourth century B.C. It is suggested that only through such a mechanism, external of Macedonian demographic realities, can the size of Macedonian armies under Alexander be accounted for. The conclusion contains a brief restatement of the various methodological approaches of modern historiography and contrasts it with that employed herein. While the dearth of evidence means that no models can be considered to provide any absolute answer it is to be hoped that those suggested here help represent an advance on previous work.Item Love and magic : a social study of Roman erotic defixiones(1996) Ripat, PaulineThe purpose of this thesis is to analyse a collection of forty-six erotic defixiones (curse tablets) found to date in Italy and the western provinces of the Roman Empire for the information they contain concerning affective relationships in Roman society. Though the nature of Roman conjugal and de facto unions has attracted much recent scholarly attention, and while ancient magic in general, and defixiones in particular, have also captured the interest of many scholars, the erotic defixiones of the Roman west have thus far gone largely untapped as evidence to further the understanding of Roman affective relationships, particularly those of the non-elite. The present work seeks to begin to fill this void. Chapter One summarises the major trends of scholarship to date concerning both the study of ancient magical practices and Roman conjugal relationships. It opens with a discussion of the problems of defining "magic" as opposed to "religion" or "science" in the context of Graeco-Roman society, and ancient attitudes towards the idea of magical practice. The second half of the chapter analyses the image of Roman marriage and de facto unions presented by the legal sources and the elite ideology of marriage; modern attempts to deduce the realities of conjugal relations from other source evidence are summarised. Chapter Two describes and analyses the western erotic curse tablets, the material of the study. Topics discussed include trends in chronological and geographical distribution, trends in the desired effect of the tablets, formulaic wording, and the gender ratios of practitioners and victims. The tablets are also placed within the greater context of ancient cursing tradition and ancient defixio usage in general. Chapter Three examines the social significance of the tablets. A discussion of ancient attitudes towards passionate and romantic love precedes the main argument that the tablets represent difficulties which may have been commonly encountered by males and females respectively in the course of their affective relationships. The evidence of the erotic curse tablets suggests that males may have experienced difficulty and a period of powerlessness at the inception of relationships, while females may have had little real ability to maintain pre-existing relationships in the event of infidelity on the part of the males. An inventory of the forty-six tablets follows the main text, and includes a text, a translation wherever possible, and a bibliography for each tablet, in addition to the location of its discovery, its date, and a general description of its appearance.Item Poisons and poisoning among the Romans(1994) Richards, Elizabeth JenniferThe purpose of this thesis is to explore poisons and poisoning in Roman antiquity - to find out what poisons were available and possibly used, to try to establish the identity, toxicity, and effectiveness of orally administered toxic substances, and to discuss the social and political context of intentional poisoning. The best sources of information on the poisons themselves are the medical and pseudo-scientific writers. The Roman historians and biographers are useful for their accounts of alleged incidents of intentional poisoning, but their reliability is very difficult to establish. Modern sources of toxicological information were used in an attempt to understand the toxicity of the poisonous substances. A variety of poisons was available to the Romans, but it is unclear how often and to what effect poisons were used. Chapter I, the introduction, elaborates on the focus of the thesis - the types of poisons and poisoning included and excluded and the main chronological period. Methods and some of the problems in researching the topic are mentioned. This chapter also includes a brief survey of some of the ancient sources and a summary of general toxicology. Chapter II covers the botanical sources of poison. Brief surveys of climate and plant toxicity are followed by the main poisonous plants of antiquity - hemlock, aconite, the nightshade family, autumn crocus, hellebore, poppy, yew, and a particularly toxic mushroom. Chapter III explores metallic (with a focus on lead) and animal sources of poison. It also covers substances that were thought to be poisonous in antiquity but were probably not. Chapter IV examines the remedies of the ancient world and also ways of avoiding being poisoned. The ancients were aware of the most important and effective treatment for oral poisoning, but they also believed in the power of amulets and talismans as preventatives. Chapter V deals with alleged motives for poisoning, ways of acquiring and administrating poison, and superstitions and theories surrounding poisons and poisoning. This chapter also contains a brief summary of the thesis.Item The Roman bath-house at Humeima in its architectural and social context(1996) Reeves, Mary BarbaraIn early second century Provincia Arabia, a Roman fort was built next to the Nabataean settlement of Hawar (Humeima in modern Jordan). Excavation indicates that Hawar's fort complex contained many of the components traditionally associated with Roman forts, including an external bath-house. This thesis places Hawar's bath-house in both its architectural and social-cultural context. The first goal is achieved by comparing this bath-house with 172 other baths associated with Roman forts, and with 175 baths in the ancient Near East. The analysis reveals that this is a typical Roman military bath. The second goal, to recreate the bath's social context, is approached by considering evidence from other sources about the purpose of this building, who used it, when it was used, and how it was used. Two appendices contain catalogues of comparative bath material. A third appendix argues that this Roman bath was used into the early Islamic period (c. 687-750).Item Bishop, preacher, teacher : a social approach to St. Augustine's educational theory and practice(2003) Pitts, Anna MichelleThis thesis takes a social approach to St. Augustine's preaching, arguing that his theoretical and practical model for Christian education transforms the prevalent model of secular education in response to the social reality of his audience. A traditional Roman education placed him among an elite that defined itself through the literary culture, rhetorical excellence, and social values imparted through education. It is unlikely that the same elite formation was prevalent among his audience at Hippo. Augustine's Confessions, De Doctrina Christiana, and De Catechizandis Rudibus confront this social reality with an educational theory that reverses elitist values, by changing the focus of education from stylistic perfection to content, especially the content of the creed and basic moral teachings, available to all Christians regardless of social or educational background. The Sermons apply this especially to the grammatical model, transforming its approach to text with the same focus on the basic content of Christianity.Item The textual self : autobiographical self-expression in Augustine's confessiones(1993) Olson, Linda Anne DawnAugustine's Confessiones are a spiritual autobiography in which internal progression and self-expression are achieved through the engagement of highly textual conventions. The autobiographer records his spiritual development as an intellectual and meditative journey through various authoritative voices and texts, both true and false; his essential self is personally constructed from the building blocks provided by these texts. In expressing the individuality of the self so shaped, Augustine naturally engages the texts he has assimilated, creating an intertextual and allegorical, yet nonetheless deeply sincere means of self-expression. Augustine's Confessiones are an influential spiritual authority, yet they demand to be read in an intimate and meditative manner; thus Augustine's textual individuality informs both the meditative process of medieval monastic reading and writing, and the autobiographical writing which relates a similar spiritual ascension throughout the Middle Ages. This thesis traces Augustine's individual progression and intertextual expression in the Confessiones through the three critical stages of lection, meditation and composition, and views Augustine's text as unified precisely by the expression of his textual individuality, by, that is, its intensely autobiographical vein. Engaging the monastic meditative triad and calling upon the responses inherent in medieval iconography, the thesis hopes to reveal a new perspective from which to view the learned conception of spiritual individuality generated by Augustine's Confessiones in the Middle Ages.Item Peregrinatio Animi : the Metamorphoses of Apuleius and the religious culture of the second century AD(1997) Moyer, Ian StrachanThis thesis examines Apuleius' Metamorphoses in the cultural context of the High Roman Empire in order to describe its religious content and the notions of pilgrimage present in the text. The first chapter of the dissertation discusses the major themes in recent scholarship on Apuleius' novel. This includes a discussion of the sources and genres on which Apuleius drew in composing the Metamorphoses, the literary and linguistic qualities of his work as it relates to the intellectual climate of the Second Sophistic, and recent attempts at elucidating the "serious" themes of the novel. Among the most prominent cultural aspects of the novel is its religiosity, usually identified with the Isiac conclusion in the eleventh book. The second chapter explores the religious content of the work and demonstrates that religion is a pervasive element of the Metamorphoses and not confined to its final divine resolution. The religiosity represented in the novel is a diverse assemblage of magico-religious practices and beliefs. The third chapter shows that this religious diversity derives from the historical context of the novel: a culture of religious pluralism. By the second century, the Roman peace had caused a mutual interpenetration of numerous cultures and therefore the diffusion of various religious traditions to different parts of the Empire. Under such conditions, religion no longer consisted solely of the embedded religion of local civic communities. With the rise of differentiated religious institutions came the possibility of religious choice for the individual. The third chapter also examines the experiential implications of religious pluralism. Though direct first-person accounts of religious experience are scarce in the ancient evidence, a number of narratives of religious journeying attest the presence of religious curiosity and experimentation in the second century. The final chapter takes up the notion of the religious journey or pilgrimage as an explanatory model for the structure and significance of the Metamorphoses. An examination of the novel in the light of contemporary narratives of the religious journey and cross-cultural descriptions of religiously motivated ravel reveals that Lucius' adventures are in essence a pilgrimage, and that pilgrimage in both its actual and metaphorical forms was a significant element of contemporary religious experience.Item Some aspects of the choral odes of Seneca's Thyestes(1976) Millar, ElizabethThis thesis offers an examination of the dramatic, poetic and philosophical' aspects-of the four choral odes in Seneca's Thyestes. A chapter is devoted to each of these aspects. Criticism of the Thyestes, and of the other tragedies, has tended to discredit Seneca as a dramatist, some critics stressing a philosophical influence on the plays, while others concentrate on making comparisons between the Senecan plays and Greek precursors. Although some critics do find merit in the tragedies, the majority have denied Seneca's work much dramatic or literary value. In this thesis; therefore, I show that Seneca's Thyestes is a play which provides firm evidence of the author's excellence and finesse as a writer of drama. In Chapter I, I discuss the dramatic aspects of the odes, indicating that the structure of the play relies on a thematic basis rather than on a continuous action or plot. The odes play a significant role in this structure, being closely connected with the action and highlighting its important elements. A notable feature of the play is the many deliberate verbal echoes between certain characters and the Chorus. Where such similarities occur between ode and Act, there is also a marked ironic contrast. This type of contrast is evident in Odes I to III, while Ode IV performs a slightly different function. The Chorus_ pursue one train of thought, peace and security, but the possibility of such ideals being attained is denied by the events in the play. It is only in Ode IV that the Chorus realise the true situation, and here they resign themselves to facing total destruction. The subsequent irony is that though Atreus achieves all his evil wishes, the world does not in fact come to an end. In my examination of these aspects of the odes, the verbal echoes and the irony, I attempt to show that the odes are highly relevant to the structure of the play. The poetic elements of the odes are examined in two sections in Chapter II. In Part I, I discuss Seneca's use of metre, language and rhetorical tropes. Seneca's use of metre has been much criticised for monotony and dullness. I attempt to show that his handling of metre does have its virtues, while the other aspects display his poetic abilities convincingly. I offer also some discussion on the place of rhetoric in Senecan drama, since· criticism has tended to find fault with this element. In Part II, I discuss some parallel passages between Seneca's odes and works by Horace and Virgil in order to show that certain suggested borrowings do not exist, while the genuine borrowings have been carefully integrated into the particular context. Chapter III is devoted to the philosophical aspects. The moralising nature of the odes is closely examined to determine whether they reflect theories from any particular school of philosophy or whether the origin of their material is literary and traditional. Certain critics have placed undue emphasis on Seneca's interest in the doctrines of Stoic philosophy and assumed that Stoic theories have influenced the Thyestes. My approach in this Chapter is, therefore, initially a negative one, to show that Seneca's ideas in his prose works are not entirely Stoic and that the Thyestes is not intended to portray Stoic theories. While the odes form the focal point of the discussion, the rest of the play and the characterisation of Atreus and Thyestes are also discussed. The presentation of the two main characters i s seen to show conclusively that Stoicism has not influenced the composition of the play. More positively, I suggest that the bulk of the material in the odes, and in the play, is derived from a literary tradition and that Seneca has composed a well-constructed play containing a penetrating study of human passion.Item A commentary on selected Latin poems by Walter Savage Landor(1976) McKinnon, John BruceLandor wrote a large quantity of Latin verse on which virtually no scholarly work has been done. My selection of thirty poems (about 450 lines) tries to be representative of his different approaches to the subject of women. The introduction includes a discussion of Landor's classical background for he was exceptionally well read and thoroughly knew all the major classical poets. The bulk of the thesis is a commentary on the texts of individual poems (prose translations of selected poems are included in an opens with a few general remarks about the interpretation or structure of the poem, it is fundamentally a philological study with special emphasis on prosodiacal and lexicographical features. A number of general characteristics of Landor's Latin verse arise from this study. He was a great craftsman but occasionally made errors, some of which could easily have been avoided. Al though Landor fully utilized his knowledge about the words, phrases and metrical techniques employed by classical poets, his poems never become a patch-work even when he clearly had one specific classical poem in mind. Many of his poems are free from difficulties of understanding; however a number do contain linguistic and structural obscurities which de tract greatly from the overall effect of the work.Item Self-construction in Senecan tragedy, with special reference to Medea and Phaedra(1993) McElduff, Siobhan RachelThe aim of this thesis is to illustrate a particular and prominent element in Senecan tragedy, the element of self-construction. By discussing the characters in relation to their process of self-construction (the process by which a character attempts to create a secure and independent identity in the course of a drama), I hope to illuminate a hitherto largely ignored feature of Seneca's dramaturgy. Chapter one focuses on former scholarly critiques of Senecan tragedy and shows that there is a Renaissance in the field of Senecan drama and an increasing number of favourable critical studies available to the reader. It discusses both those who believe that the plays are important as Stoic dramas or historical documents, and those who have more literary concerns (such as an interest in the self-reflexive nature of Seneca's characters). It concludes with the assertion that the plays are extremely concerned with the establishment and maintenance of a secure, self-assured persona, which is constructed in the course of the drama and whose function is to enable the characters to obtain their deepest wishes and to protect themselves against the claims of society. Chapter two lists and illustrates the materials of self-construction and shows how they are utilized throughout Seneca's dramatic corpus. The materials of self-construction are often such things as the emotions, the soul, or the name (often used as shorthand to represent an entire literary-mythological tradition) and precedents in the history of the family or the individual which are used self-consciously by the characters to build a powerful identity that can withstand the claims of others. Next the thesis turns to Medea and Phaedra (in chapters three and four respectively) to portray how the process of self-construction works in two specific characters. Phaedra, because of her inability to fashion herself on any single model for a continuous time, is weak and ineffective and unable to consummate her desire for her stepson Hippolytus. She attempts to employ the materials of self-construction outlined in chapter two but is unable to use them to create a coherent identity. Medea fashions herself primarily on her monstrous literary-mythological tradition and, using this as her model, constructs an identity. Chapter five looks briefly at Seneca's Stoicism to see if there is any common ground between the philosophy and the plays. His Stoicism is seen to be concerned mainly with the individual and the care of the self, which should be shaped and trained into the correct mold: the wise man is one who looks inwards and finds satisfaction inside himself and who is indifferent to the world. Despite some surface similarity between the sage and the dramatic characters, it is likely that all the tragedies and the philosophy share is an extreme concentration on self and the belief that the self can be shaped into whatever form we wish. Finally, I conclude with a summary and some suggestions on the meaning of self-construction. Self-construction rests upon a belief in the importance of the self and assumes that the needs of the self are more important than the claims of society. In addition, I argue it is a heroic pose and should be recognized as such; it inspires admiration as well as abhorrence. However, despite its heroic nature, self-construction is doomed to failure because the self cannot live up to all the demands made of it, and, most importantly, the self is not a perfectible object.Item The Portrayal of the family in early Greek hexameter poetry(1994) Pearson, Sara L.The purpose of this thesis is to examine the portrayal of the family in Early Greek hexameter poetry, and to describe the influence of that portrayal upon the identity of the characters within the poems and upon the structure of the poems themselves. The introductory chapter defines the family as described in early Greek. The definition of the family is governed by two distinct concepts, γενός and οἶκος. I describe γενός as a 'vertical axis' which consists of the male line of genealogy (usually associated with sons); I describe the οἶκος as a 'horizontal axis' which includes the household (usually associated with marriage). I examine these familial axes and their attendant polarities (male/female, immortality/mortality, stability/flux, loyalty/treachery). Chapter One examines the family as a backdrop for the scenes of male heroism which dominate the Iliad. The relationship of father and son is portrayed as highly valued, that of husband and wife as fragile and ambiguous. The figure of Hektor provides an example of the valuing of γενός over οἶκος, heroic glory over the home. I examine the anomalous figure of Achilleus in relation to his own familial situation, and with respect to his shifting attitudes towards the vertical and horizontal axes. I also discuss the role of female family members who are helpless spectators and provide a counterpoint to the world of war; and the family of the gods, whose inability to rescue their mortal children amplifies the theme of familial tragedy which pervades the poem. I also describe the Iliad's structural framework in terms of the father-son relationship and the husband-wife relationship. In Chapter Two I discuss the family in the Odyssey. The Odyssey is framed by the accounts of Odysseus' son and father, with the theme of the treacherous wife woven throughout. The Telemacheia serves to establish Telemachos as _Odysseus' son, and, along with the wanderings of Odysseus, it offers other familial paradigms which contrast with Odysseus' οἶκος. The eventual homecoming of Odysseus and his reunification with his family reveals the trustworthiness of blood relationships and the potential treachery inherent in social relationships. Chapter Three shifts us to the world of the gods as described in the Homeric Hymns. I examine the immortal father-son relationship, and the threat that an immortal son can pose to the reign of his father. The Hymns celebrate Zeus' successful Olympian reign, which can be partially explained in terms of his successful dealings with his children and wives also examine the anxiety surrounding immortal mothers and birth, and the intersection of mortal and immortal within the medium of the family. Chapter Four covers Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days. Hesiod covers the world of gods and of men, providing a portrayal of the family which contrasts with the other epic poems, in that it is almost entirely negative. The succession myth emphasises the problem of immortal sons, and celebrates Zeus' success in producing a few dutiful sons, numerous dutiful daughters, and his success at controlling procreation. Hesiod's own family provides a counterpart to the familial portrayal in the poems, for he depicts tension between father and son, brother and brother, and husband and wife. The conclusion of his Works and Days somewhat alleviates his predominantly negative view of the family. The Conclusion of the thesis summarises the contents of the chapters, and explores some broader issues regarding the role of the family in early Greek literature.