This article proposes a new understanding of the etymology of histrio. It is likely that it originally came from Greek histor, as has been demonstrated by Szemerényi 1975. However, the conclusions presented by this scholar must be slightly revised, in particular the distinction he establishes between histrio and ludius. While the second word has…[Read more]

Johann Joachim Winckelmann not only idealized Greek Classical art, but also the whole ancient Classical Greek world in a way that went well beyond what could be envisaged as historical knowledge. His influence on the history of contemporary literature and on classical scholarship, however, is not an obvious topic to scrutinize, since he was almost…[Read more]

In this episode of The History of European Theatre, Phil Rowe interviewed me on the evolution of Greek theatre after the Classical period and the existence of dramatic performances in Greek in Roman Italy.

The article shows that the character of Odysseus in Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes constitutes a crucial element for the redefinition of the concept of ‘nobility’. This figure has already been seen to promote a new definition of the concept, but previous analyses have tended to focus only on one or the other of the two plays, as Odysseus appea…[Read more]

This paper looks beyond Ptolemaic Alexandria to consider the literary dynamics of another Hellenistic kingdom, Attalid Pergamon. I offer a detailed study of the fragmentary opening of Nicander’s Hymn to Attalus (fr. 104 Gow–Schofield) in three sections. First, I consider its generic status and compare its encomiastic strategies with those of T…[Read more]

THEATER OF THE PEOPLE:
SPECTATORS AND SOCIETY IN ANCIENT ATHENS

Greek drama has been subject to ongoing textual and historical interpretation, but surprisingly little scholarship has examined the people who composed the theater audiences in Athens. Typically, scholars have presupposed an audience of Athenian male citizens viewing dramas…[Read more]

Review of Kings, Countries, Peoples: Selected Studies on the Achaemenid Empire, by Pierre Briant, translated by Amélie Kuhrt. Oriens et Occidens, vol. 26. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2017. Pp. xxv + 633. €99.

Evidence for some ephemeral, Roman, ritual practices, particularly using organic materials, is lost to us. This paper will introduce a case study which has not been previously considered as a platform to explore the material relationships between invertebrates and their use in magical or medicinal practices. Through a combination of discussing the…[Read more]

This paper contains two poems by Sappho discovered on papyrus in 2014, in the Greek original with a facing Hungarian translation by the author, along with an essay on Sappho and her historical and cultural context.

This is the first page only. Full article is available at https://doi.org/10.3764/aja.124.4.0523 (JSTOR subscription required) or https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/310940 (open access).

Abstract:
A wide variety of edits can be identified in the Linear B administrative documents from Mycenaean Greece. The writers of these documents…[Read more]

A three-page paper on the artistry of a bronze age ring whose discovery was reported in 2019.

The Romans developed a sophisticated body of law over one thousand years. The law was consulted and used in medieval and modern Europe, and from Europe it was exported around the world. Many modern legal systems are based, or partly indebted to, Roman law. The Roman legal tradition endured, even as specific rules fell away. The success of the…[Read more]

Isocrates has been comparatively neglected as a source for political and cultural history and theory. However, the many works of his long career show a continuing
engagement with Athenian political culture and the education of its political class, and his assessment of Sparta is significant for both of these. He imagines and explores the struggle…[Read more]

I wrote the first version of this guide in the summer of 2018. For the first time in my career I had received a multi-year fellowship, and I had been told that the position had a good chance of continuing beyond the initial fellowship period, if not of becoming permanent. So, since I did not expect to have to search for employment again, it seemed…[Read more]

n this chapter, Atack argues that Xenophon’s depiction of the performance of kingship by Cyrus (Cyropaedia), Agesilaus (Hellenica, Agesilaus), and other kings contains an evaluative model that explores alternative techniques a ruler can use to persuade others to be ruled. By deploying frameworks of performativity and spectacle derived from J…[Read more]

Wir verfügen insgesamt über wenige Quellen zur Verfassungsgeschichte und dem
Rechtswesen im vandalischen Nordafrika. Die vorherrschende Sicht lässt sich in etwa
folgendermaßen zusammenfassen: Das vandalische Afrika war ein zweigeteiltes Gemeinwesen.
›Germanische‹ Vandalen und ›Romanen‹ lebten nebeneinander und jede dieser
Gru…[Read more]

Aus historischer Sicht sind genauere Definitionen, Abgrenzungen und ethnische Zuweisungen der
Bevölkerung des Alpengebiets in vorrömischer Zeit ausgesprochen schwierig, umstritten und problematisch.
Die einschlägigen Diskussionen drehen sich meist um die Kategorien „Kelten“ oder „Räter“
3. Beide Zuordnungen sind jedoch seit der Antike unsc…[Read more]

This chapter examines the ways in which the Linear B ‘extra’ signs – syllabograms which can in certain circumstances replace the ‘core’ signs of the Linear B syllabary – are often used as evidence for the process by which this writing system was created from its parent writing system, Linear A, and thus, by extension, for reconstructing aspects of…[Read more]

Due to the great interest for the first two sessions of the Digital Humanities Doctoral Seminar, we are very happy to announce two new online sessions on August 3rd & 4th and on September 3rd & 4th. This doctoral seminar is an introduction to Digital Humanities defined as the application of methods and tools from Information and Communication…[Read more]

Scholars have long noted the deeply intertextual features of Simaetha’s monologue in Idyll 2, including its Homeric, Sapphic and tragic resonances. In this contribution, however, I focus on an underexplored connection between Theocritus’ speaker and the Odyssean Penelope. I first highlight the Idyll’s pervasive engagement with heroic epic, dwell…[Read more]