Introductory chapter to the collective volume ‘Theatre and Metatheare: Definitions, Problems, Limits’

The aim of this book is to explore the definition(s) of ‘theatre’ and ‘metatheatre’ that scholars use when studying the ancient Greek world. Although in modern languages their meaning is mostly straightforward, both concepts become problematical when applied to ancient reality. In fact, ‘theatre’ as well as ‘metatheatre’ are used in many differe…[Read more]

The aim of this book is to explore the definition(s) of ‘theatre’ and ‘metatheatre’ that scholars use when studying the ancient Greek world. Although in modern languages their meaning is mostly straightforward, both concepts become problematical when applied to ancient reality. In fact, ‘theatre’ as well as ‘metatheatre’ are used in many differe…[Read more]

Der Vergleich der Auswirkungen der Französischen Revolution auf die Literatur und Kultur in Polen und in den deutschen Staaten ist sehr schwierig. Die polnischen Schriftsteller und Denker der ersten und zweiten Romantikergeneration sind zu spät geboren worden, um Zeugen der Französichen Revolution zu sein. Für die Älteren, wie Kazimierz Brod…[Read more]

This article provides a short history of the methods and tools developed by the Pelagios initiative: a series of seven projects dedicated to linking digital historical resources based on the geographic places to which they relate and refer. The first section of the article situates the work within the wider field of semantic and geospatial…[Read more]

In this paper, I explore the literary aesthetics of Attalid Pergamon, one of the Ptolemies’ fiercest cultural rivals in the Hellenistic period. Traditionally, scholars have reconstructed Pergamene poetry from the city’s grand and monumental sculptural programme, hypothesizing an underlying aesthetic dichotomy between the two kingdoms: Ale…[Read more]

This article reconsiders a number of the metapoetic oppositions which Harder has identified between Callimachus and Apollonius (in the lead article of this volume of Aevum Antiquum, ‘Aspects of the Interaction between Apollonius Rhodius and Callimachus’) and subjects them to closer scrutiny. First, I explore two metapoetic motifs (talking birds…[Read more]

The film The Small Back Room was written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and released in 1949. It is the wartime tale of an injured and embittered back-room scientist, who is recruited to help combat a new kind of explosive device. Based on Nigel Balchin’s 1943 novel, the film significantly alters the story’s climactic seq…[Read more]

The film The Small Back Room was written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and released in 1949. It is the wartime tale of an injured and embittered back-room scientist, who is recruited to help combat a new kind of explosive device. Based on Nigel Balchin’s 1943 novel, the film significantly alters the story’s climactic seq…[Read more]

In our days, the interpretation of Plato’s Atlantis story as an invention of Plato is prevailing in academic scholarship. Atlantis scepticism is the choice of the bright side of life, so to say. Closely connected to the good feeling of being on the bright side is the depiction of Atlantis belief as dark and dangerous. Atlantis believers are c…[Read more]

The structure of fifth-century Athenian society remains largely unknown, as is the distribution of its citizens into different socio-political categories. Ancient literary sources mostly describe a society divided into élite and poor. However, the model of a society alternately dominated by
the élite and the ‘lower-class’ is to be recon…[Read more]

The structure of fifth-century Athenian society remains largely unknown, as is the distribution of its citizens into different socio-political categories. Ancient literary sources mostly describe a society divided into élite and poor. However, the model of a society alternately dominated by
the élite and the ‘lower-class’ is to be recon…[Read more]

This paper publishes a ceramic bowl in the Metropolitan Museum of Art depicting a Parthian shot. Although it lacks archaeological provenance, the bowl can be dated to the 4th to 2nd centuries BCE, and probably comes from northwestern Iran. It is, therefore, one of the few possible instances of a Parthian shot from the Arsacid Empire.

This paper publishes a ceramic bowl in the Metropolitan Museum of Art depicting a Parthian shot. Although it lacks archaeological provenance, the bowl can be dated to the 4th to 2nd centuries BCE, and probably comes from northwestern Iran. It is, therefore, one of the few possible instances of a Parthian shot from the Arsacid Empire.

This chapter examines the rhetorical skills displayed by secondary (low–status)
characters in the extant tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. “Rhetorical
skills” are here broadly understood as the abilities required to have one’s voice heard and
one’s opinion taken into account. These speaking abilities contribute to the socio–pol…[Read more]

This chapter examines the rhetorical skills displayed by secondary (low–status)
characters in the extant tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. “Rhetorical
skills” are here broadly understood as the abilities required to have one’s voice heard and
one’s opinion taken into account. These speaking abilities contribute to the socio–pol…[Read more]

Demons and monsters are inherently moveable creatures: from the late second millennium BCE onwards a number of demons and monsters migrate from their native Mesopotamian contexts, moving westward. Of course, these figures do not remain static throughout their journey, instead acquiring the characteristics of the different cultural contexts wherein…[Read more]

A short essay on the different forms of money used in the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Translated into German by Julia Linke.

A short essay on the different forms of money used in the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Translated into German by Julia Linke.

An overview of taxation in ancient states.