Studies of Egyptian Late Period statuary often assume that the extant corpus is a representative sample of the artistic output of the Twenty-Sixth to Thirty-First Dynasties (c. 664–332 BCE). This assumption ignores the various human processes that affect the survival of statues after their initial dedication. In particular, the Roman practice of c…[Read more]

This essay considers the category of “Jewish law” in Jewish studies while inviting scholarly and historiographic assessment of the ways that Judaism’s link to law has come to appear as obvious. Considering that our present concepts of law are invariably linked to a geographically and temporally parochial “mythology of modern law,” the essay sounds…[Read more]

Exploration of the ways boy-slaves’ bodies were objectified in first century CE Roman art and literature.

This article shows how I have been lately combining my research in the cultural
history of the Spanish Middle Ages and Early Renaissance with the TV show Game
of Thrones for teaching purposes. I have been able to design a capstone seminar to
attract students interested in the popular medievalising TV fiction, proving them
than most of the…[Read more]

“Curial Communiqué: Memory, Propaganda, and the Roman Senate House,” in Aspects of Ancient Institutions and Geography: Studies in Honor of Richard J.A. Talbert, Impact of Empire Series, edited by Lee L. Brice and Daniëlle Slootjes (Leiden: Brill, 2014), 84-102.

As the 2017-18 academic job cycle came to an end I found myself, for the first time in five years, in the enviable position of not having to resume my search for employment again in the fall, thanks to a two-year position at a very eminent institution. This good fortune has prompted me to compile my reflections on the classical archaeology job…[Read more]

This chapter examines the impact of a putative oral Homer upon the work of recent performance-makers. The influence of oral-poetic theories is (as yet) an under-explored area of study, neglected by scholars whose literary expertise leads them to focus on dramatic texts and production histories, with each revisionary text or production regarded as…[Read more]

This paper argues that the Augustan period witnessed a dramatic reconception of Roman religion—a reconception that played a vital role in the emperor’s efforts to create a unified sense of identity that included both Romans and Italians. Instead of a religion of place tied to specific historical developments, both Virgil in the Aeneid and A…[Read more]

On scholarly traditions, quantitative assessments and academic malpractices in Italy, and how these factors affect Italian scholarship in the history of science.

Preface to Guy Beiner, Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular Historiography of a Rebellion in Ulster (Oxford University Press, 2018)

Book review of the book by Marco Leonardi (“Renaissance Quarterly,” Volume 71, n. 4, 2018, pp. 1489-1491).

This article discusses the identity of the Daniel character mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel.

A discussion of the different lists of Canaanite nations.

A discussion of the different lists of Canaanite nations.

In this article, we attempt to resolve only one of the many controversies centered round Muhammad Ali Jinnah – one involving his last name. (page nos.520-526, Reddy Smriti: exploring the Indian past (commemoration volume in honor of Dr.Y. Gopal Reddy). P. Chenna Reddy, ed., B R Publishing Corporation, New Delhi)

This is the original paper, which was edited slightly and renamed as: India: One Nation or Many Nationalities – Ancient Sources and Modern Analysis, History Today, Journal of the Ind. History and Culture Society). New Delhi, No. 7, 2006-07 (pp. 1-11).

A paper of 17 pages as described in its title and opening lines. “Hoa Hakananai’a” is an Easter Island statue, now in the British Museum. For “Linear and cult art”, see The Problem with Linear B (https://hcommons-staging.org/deposits/item/hc:20833/

This essay examines Giambattista Vico’s philology as a contribution to democratic legitimacy. I outline three steps in Vico’s account of the historical and political development of philological knowledge: first, his merger of philosophy and philology, and the effects of that merger on the relative claims of reason and authority; second, his use…[Read more]

This article focuses on the diplomatic mission of the Ragusean captain Casilari, to free the crew of a Ragusean ship captured by the Moroccan pirates. Through the relations between Ragusa and the empire of Morocco, the paper deals with an episode of the endemic piracy in the Mediterranean, but it also sheds light on the importance of the Ragusean…[Read more]

This article discusses the reason behind Jeroboam, king of Israel, instituting a holiday in the eighth month of calendar. We suggest an approach that looks at this holiday as misplaced from the seventh month by means of an additional unauthorized leap-month.