Current Issues

Volume 26

Volume 27

KURT A. RAAFLAUB, Homer and the Agony of Hoplite Battle, (1-22).

Abstract: At the first “Many Faces of War” conference Larry Tritle offered a thought- provoking essay, entitled “Inside the Hoplite Agony” (published in AHB 2009), on the real-life experience and agony of hoplite fighting, challenging many accepted views and urging us to discuss this topic not from a detached outside perspective but from that of the men and societies involved. My paper intends to show that the Iliad offers us many opportunities to meet Larry’s demands, although in a few cases it might force him to modify some of his views. In the first part I explain why and to what extent it is possible to find in Homer’s battle descriptions evidence of an early form of mass fighting in somewhat dense formations. The importance of this possibility is obvious: the Iliad contains by far the longest, most detailed, and most intense depiction of battle in all of Greek literature; if this depiction is at least in part (and in identifiable parts) realistic and historical, the gain for our understanding of the real-life experience of Greek battle is potentially enormous, even if this concerns a form of fighting that stands at the very beginning of the development of the hoplite phalanx. In the second part I will use epic evidence to support, illustrate, and in some instances challenge Tritle’s criticism of established views of hoplite fighting. In the third part I will present evidence that allows us to gain an insider perspective on the agony of those fighting in an intense infantry battle and thus to illustrate those aspects of battle that are rarely visible in other ancient sources and usually neglected in modern scholarship.

ARLENE ALLAN, ‘Thanks, but No Thanks’: Oikêia Kaka and Theramenes’ Failed Dokimasia, (23-28).

Abstract: Some thirty years ago George Adeleye suggested that Theramenes’ failure to successfully pass his dokimasia and enter the office of strategos, to which he had been elected, should come as no surprise: his former political association with the oligarchs of 411 BC would have automatically disqualified him from holding any office, based on the law proposed by Demophantes and ratified by the Assembly in 410/9 (Andoc. 1.96-98). Steven Todd, however, strongly rejected this explanation, in part because he did not accept Adeleye’s argument about the purpose of the dokimasia.As I hope to demonstrate in the following discussion, although there may have been very good grounds on which to suspect Theramenes’ commitment to the democracy after the battle of Arginousai and its aftermath, the strongest motivation for Theramenes’ rejection may be far less politically grounded than has been previously thought.

BRUCE LAFORSE, Praising Agesilaus: the Limits of Panhellenic Rhetoric, (29-48).

Abstract: Shortly after the death of the Spartan king Agesilaus c. 360, Xenophon wrote an encomium of his old friend and patron. As one of the two kings in the unique Spartan dual kingship, Agesilaus had played a crucial role from 400 to 360 BC, a period which saw Sparta both rise to the pinnacle of power and then collapse. The Agesilaus is one of the earliest surviving examples of a prose work written in praise of an historical figure. In such an encomium the object was not to present a strictly accurate portrait of the subject; rather it was to praise his character, glorify his achievements and, on the other hand, to anticipate or defend against any potential detractors. Omission, exaggeration and bending of the truth were not only allowed but, indeed, expected. Its purpose, therefore, was far different from that of a modern biography; nor, despite the idealization of the subject’s character, did it attempt primarily to uplift and instruct, as did Plutarch’s later moralizing biographies, by presenting positive and negative models to emulate or avoid. It was designed to praise, to put the best possible face on the subject’s life, career, background and character. It is not, then, strictly speaking, a work of history, and thus scholars must exercise caution when using it as an historical source.

GARY FARNEY, The Trojan Genealogy of the Iulii before Caesar the Dictator, (49-54).

Abstract: In one of his last publications, the late Ernst Badian detailed the history of the patrician Iulii from its beginnings to the time of Caesar the Dictator. There he discussed what others have also long noticed: that the Dictator was not the first Iulius or the only Iulius in his own time to claim a Trojan ancestry. This paper proposes to add to Badian’s insightful remarks and examine in more detail the Julian claims that Caesar and Augustus inherited— rather than invented—that are visible in the surviving literary, epigraphic and numismatic sources.

BENJAMIN HICKS, The Prosecution of M. Plautius Silvanus (pr. 24), (55-64).

Abstract: The trial of M. Plautius Silvanus, as recorded by Tacitus at Ann. 4.22, has long been a point of confusion within our understanding of Roman legal procedure. While there can be no absolute certainty in a case where there are so few relevant ancient sources extant, the hypothesis that M. Plautius Silvanus committed a double crime of both murder and incest makes for a compelling explanation of Tacitus’ account. It conforms to what we know of senatorial procedure and criminal jurisprudence under Tiberius, as well as the functioning of the quaestiones during the early Principate, including the not infrequent use of the quaestio de adulteriis during Tiberius’ reign. Likewise, Tacitus—perhaps out of sympathy for a fellow member of the senatorial class—attempted to brush over the event in his account of the year 24. Although this argument can be made too strongly—certainly Tacitus was willing to acknowledge every charge against the senator Piso except the death of Germanicus, such a tendency might nevertheless have been at work in the case of PlautiusSilvanus. A downplaying of the situation would therefore have produced the confusion over process at Ann. 4.22. It also provides some backing for Maggiulli’s philological work on the identification of the Saevius Plautus mentioned in the Chronicon. This explanation requires us to posit no novel use of senatorial commissions under Tiberius and provides a coherent narrative for the trial of M. Plautius Silvanus that fits the best available evidence.

KORNEEL VAN LOMMEL, The Terminology of Medical Discharge and an Identity Shift among the Roman Disabled Veterans, (64-74).

Abstract: According to the Digest, a part of the Roman civil law issued under Justinianus I, there were three types of military discharges. The honorable discharge (honesta missio) was granted after the completion of one’s military service or as a special imperial gift (ante ab imperatore indulgetur), which is a sign of gratitude for a soldier’s commitment. Soldiers who became unfit for service due to a mental or physical defect were entitled to a missio causaria or a medical discharge. Finally, the dishonorable discharge (ignominiosa missio) was issued to soldiers who did not comply to the military discipline and law. These persons would lose their reputation (inter infames efficit) and they did not receive any of the veteran privileges (a piece of land or a donation of money, citizenship and the right to marry). The introduction of both the honorable and dishonorable discharge can be dated to the end of the republic or the beginning of the imperial era. The period when the medical discharge took effect, however, is uncertain and modern scholars have not reached a consensus up until now. The key issue in the debate is the seemingly contradictory combination of causarius or ex cause (terms that are associated with an early medical discharge) and missio honesta (terms that are associated with the completion of one’s service) in the documents of causarii of the first and second centuries AD. The Roman legislators, however, made a clear distinction between the status of a causarius and the status of a honorably discharged soldier. The question then arises as to why the same distinction was not consistently made for the use of terminology in documents of causarii. First, we will glance through the different opinions and explanations for the peculiar choice of words in the current modern research. Then we will, with the help of new and neglected source material, point to some inaccuracies in previous argumentations and propose another suggestion. The main argument of this article is based upon a possible identity shift among the disabled veterans (causarii), who no longer associated themselves with the honorable discharged soldiers (emeriti) from the early third century AD onwards.

FEDERICO RUSSO, The Oscans in the Greek and Roman Tradition: Some Notes, (75-82).

Abstract: This paper will show that the term ̓Οπικόϛ and its Latin equivalent Opicus have a double meaning in the ancient tradition: on the one hand it refers to a specific ethnic group, on the other hand it becomes a way of indicating a person or, more generally, a people incapable of speaking Greek correctly, with a meaning similar to that of βάρβαροϛ.

JEREMY LABUFF, Who(’)s(e) Karian? Language, Names, and Identity (86-107).

Abstract: This paper suggests that ethnic identity was not a primary, or at least a highly infrequent, category of self-identification among those whom we identify as ancient Greeks and Karians. Even if, and precisely because, these were not at play in most of the exchanges between those whom we would identify as Greek and Karian, we can better understand and articulate the processes of assimilation that occurred, for it is the lack of expression of an ethnic self-consciousness in most contexts that have traditionally been described as Hellenizing moments which enabled the negotiation of difference in terms other than a Greek/non-Greek dichotomy.

GABRIEL BAKER, Sallust, Marius, and the Alleged Violation of the Ius Belli (108-129).

Abstract: In the Bellum Iugurthinum Sallust portrays Marius’ treatment of Capsa as unlawful by calling it contra ius belli. Other comments in the narrative suggest that Capsa’s destruction was perhaps strategically unwise, and that it may have been accomplished for the sake of fame and to reward the soldiery with plunder. This paper suggests that the assertion that Marius acted unlawfully should be viewed as part of a larger effort to depict Marius as a general with imperfect virtus: bold and competent but also driven by ambitio, a lax disciplinarian whose desire for personal glory and overreliance on fortune could lead to ill-advised decisions in war.

ANDREW W. COLLINS, Alexander the Great and the Kingship of Babylon (130-148).

Abstract: In this paper I intend to analyze Alexander’s relations with the Babylonian elite and his immersion in Babylonian traditions of kingship, by examining (1) the native form of kingship in Babylon, (2) Alexander’s actions at Babylon in 331 BC, and (3) Alexander’s return to Babylon in 323 BC.

NIKOS KARKAVELIAS, Phrynichus Stratonidou Deiradiotes and the Ionia Campaign in 412 BC: Thuc. 8.25-27 (148-161).

Abstract: The figure of Phrynichus, the son of Stratonides from the deme Deiradiotai, became one of the most controversial ones in late fifth century Athens. Through his wholehearted involvement in the oligarchic revolution of 411 B.C. the oligarch might have emerged as one of the most prominent figures in the Athenian political scene during the oligarchic revolution, but this engagement precipitated his violent death as well. The next generations of Athenians remembered him as an arch-traitor, a hated symbol of a tyrannical regime, which in its short life did everything it could to weaken the strength of the Empire, and reduce Athens to a mere compliant follower of its enemy, Sparta. Yet, despite the almost unanimous agreement in other sources Phrynichus is presented in Thucydides (the present case under examination included) in an objective, neutral, if not outright positive light. The historian draws a picture of a man with outstanding intellectual capabilities, sound judgement, great logical faculty, rhetoric dexterity, and leadership talent. Accordingly, in this paper I shall undertake to examine Phrynichus’ capabilities as a military commander in the Ionia campaign. I hope to demonstrate that, despite criticism levelled at the Athenian commander by modern scholars, Thucydides’ judgement of his performance during that campaign, and in particular Phrynichus’ decision to decline battle at sea, against a Peloponnesian fleet that unexpectedly arrived in the vicinity of Miletus, and withdraw instead to Samos in safety, was sound and correct.

VINCENT ROSIVACH, Funding Jury Pay in Athens c. 461 BC (162-167).

Abstract: In the Athēnaiōn Politeia Perikles, unable to match Kimon’s private generosity to the citizenry and the political benefit it bought, instead uses public funds to the same end, “giv[ing] to the many what was already theirs” (διδόναι τοῖς πολλοῖς τὰ αὑτῶν, AthPol 27.4) by sponsoring the legislation which provided pay for jurymen. In time misthos – state pay for civic service – became the practical and (at least in the eyes of its enemies) the ideological cornerstone of Athenian democracy. This paper examines the sources of Athenian jury pay throughout the latter 5^th century.

THOMAS A. J. MCGINN, Hire-Lease in Roman Law and Beyond (168-189).

Abstract: A review essay of Paul J. du Plessis. Letting and Hiring in Roman Legal Thought: 27 BCE – 284 CE (Leiden: Brill, 2012)

Volume 28

HUGH LINDSAY, Strabo and the shape of his Historika Hypomnemata, 1-19

Abstract: Strabo’s best known work is his Geography in 17 books, and 19th century critics, who despaired of his amateurism in the areas of maths and astronomy, pointed out that even in the Geography, his most obvious strengths seem to lie rather in the field of history. But Strabo did start with an earlier historical work, which owed conspicuous debts to Polybius, including conceptualising the work as a continuation of his famous predecessor. This paper aims to examine the fragments of the earlier work, and try to isolate some prominent characteristics, in so far as this is possible. Limitations include the small number of surviving citations from the work, and the motives of the restricted number of authors employing it. Strabo’s historical work appears most frequently in Josephus, generally in the Antiquities, but these references do not always clarify the shape of the original. Some investigation of how and why Josephus cites Strabo may help to comprehend this.

PAUL MCKECHNIE, W.W. Tarn and the philosophers, 20-36

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to show that W.W. Tarn’s principal hope as a historian across the first half of the twentieth century was to identify a philosopher king and to expound his history for the edification of his readers. In a narrative long enough to encompass some decades, I will propose that this agenda crystallized in the context of Tarn’s response to his own education. Therefore the philosophers considered will be, first, the philosopher and university reformer whose abiding influence on Tarn is demonstrated by their extant correspondence, and afterwards the ancient philosophers who were listened to by Tarn’s two successive candidates for the philosopher-king accolade.

MONICA D’AGOSTINI, The Shade of Andromache: Laodike of Sardis between Homer and Polybios, 37-60

Abstract: When reading the long fragment of Polybios 8.15.1-21.11, about Antiochos III’s siege of Sardis, it is impossible not to be amazed by the favourable attitude of the historian towards Laodike, the wife of the Seleukid usurper Achaios. Contrary to what might be expected from an historian who tends to be markedly indifferent towards women, Polybios gives us more information about Laodike than about any other Seleukid woman. Achaios’ Laodike is an exemplar of the loyal and brave wife and her portrait has clear epic echoes. As Polybios was no newcomer to associating Homeric topoi with unexpected situations and portrayals, it is indeed possible to detect in the words of Polybios on Achaios and Laodike a clear reference to the well-known Homeric couple, Hektor and Andromache.

JOHN SHANNAHAN, Two Notes on the Battle of Cunaxa, 61-81

Abstract: In Xenophon’s account of the battle of Cunaxa, fought between Artaxerxes II and Cyrus the Younger in 401BC, a succinct description of the soldiers facing the Greeks is provided: there were Egyptians present, carrying wooden shields reaching to the feet. No other source mentions the presence of Egyptians. Nonetheless, they warrant attention. The following establishes the trustworthiness of Xenophon, his shield vocabulary, and the relation of his description to other evidence. The second note challenges Ehrhardt’s thesis of the intentional retreat of Artaxerxes’ left wing at the battle, published in this journal in 1994.

LARA O’SULLIVAN, Fighting with the Gods: Divine Narratives and the Siege of Rhodes (82-98)

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to explore the ways in which narratives of warfare in the Hellenistic period employed “the divine realm.” Focusing on Demetrius’ siege of Rhodes, I will explore the ways in which the Rhodians insinuated that their survival in their tussle with one of the Hellenistic world’s new mortal divinities, Poliorcetes, owed much to the lineage of the island and to the favour of its old and traditional Olympian gods.

MICHAEL CHAMPION, The Siege of Rhodes and the Ethics of War (99-111)

Abstract: There is certainly a sense in which war’s formless, violent chaos, the lust for domination so often at its core or its sheer unexplainable evil, breaks through all cultural attempts to moderate or contain it. Yet culturally constructed moral norms and expectations about how war should be waged can and do have an effect on decisions about going to war and how to fight once a conflict has begun. This article is an attempt to listen to ethical discourses about war that emerged from the particular and rapidly changing political and social events of the early Hellenistic period, focusing on the Siege of Rhodes (305/4 BCE).

ALEXANDER K. NEFEDKIN, Once More on the Origin of the Scythed Chariot (112-118)

Abstract: In the present article I point out that Jeffrey Rop’s arguments for the Assyrian origin of the scythed chariot are not based on the historical evidence. The only note of Ctesias on Assyrian scythed chariots is questionable. The Assyrian hypothesis is not supported either by Mesopotamian cuneiform or the abundant Assyrian iconography. The Persian origin hypothesis remains more probable and widespread among modern scholars. It is based on more reliable ancient sources (Xenophon, Arrian) and should be supported.

DAVID LUNT, The Thrill of Victory and the Avoidance of Defeat: Alexander as a Sponsor of Athletic Contests (119-134)

Abstract: In ancient Greece, founding and presiding over athletic festivals augmented an individual’s prestige and position. This paper explores roles founding and sponsoring of athletic festivals maintained Alexander the Great’s important role as a military and political leader throughout his campaign against Persia. In addition to the benefits that games offered to the soldiers in his army, Alexander sponsored athletics in order to associate himself with victory without risking defeat.

Volume 29

JOHN WALSH, Antipater and the Lamian War: A Study in 4th Century Macedonian Counterinsurgency Doctrine (1-27)

Abstract: In this paper, I draw attention to the ancient world’s experience with insurgency warfare specifically through an analysis of the Lamian War, which swept the Greek mainland after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, when the Macedonian general Antipater faced a revolt of the Greek city states. Antipater’s decision to fall back on Lamia was a calculated tactic to hold a fortified position and accumulate resources, and this was consistent with modern counterinsurgency strategy. The skillful use of the Exiles’ Decree allowed Antipater to divide and isolate his opponents. Antipater also showed mastery of asymmetric strategy, and was capable of managing crises and holding positions with minimal cost. His overall victory was achieved by methods familiar to modern counterinsurgency strategists.

NIKOS KARKAVELIAS, The End of the Four Hundred Regime (28-56)

Abstract: Widely accepted modern reconstructions of the post Four Hundred era take as point of departure Michael H. Jameson’s ingenious proposal, that the collapse of the oligarchic regime did not come about suddenly, as Thucydides suggests, but gradually through a series of political trials, the outcome of which determined the political orientation of the regime of the Five Thousand, which superseded that of the oligarchy of the Four Hundred. This reconstruction, however, despite offering a neat and plausible picture of the political situation in Athens at the time, cannot stand close scrutiny. It does not tally with what we know about constitutional and juridical procedures in classical Athens, nor does it do justice to our main and most important source Thucydides. An attempt therefore to critically re-examine the relevant sources and to assess anew the military and political situation in Athens in the autumn of 411 is badly needed.

ELOISA PAGANONI, Bithynia in Memnon’s Perì Herakleias: A Case Study for a Reappraisal of Old and New Proposals (57-79)

Abstract: In this paper it will be shown that Memnon deals with the history of the Heraclea but places it in a broader context, which allows us to understand many aspects of general history. In addition, it will be demonstrated, through an analysis of Memnon’s Perì Herakleias, that local histories dealt primarily with historical events, and that if surviving, they would have given an inconceivable contribution to our understanding of the ancient history. While we might greatly regret the loss of the local histories, at the same time it is important to highlight the importance of Memnon, not only for the history of Heraclea, but also for the study of local histories.

THOMAS SCANLON, Satan’s Business or the People’s Choice: The Decline of Athletics in Late Antiquity (80-90)

Abstract: A review essay of Sofie Remijsen, The End of Greek Athletics in Late Antiquity (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015).

BENJAMIN SCOLNIC, The Villages of the Carians in Diodorus Siculus and Seleucus I’s Route to Babylon in the Winter of 312/311 B.C.E. (91-114)

Abstract: The text of Diodorus renders the Greek name of the location as Κάραις in both 17.110 and 19.91 and Καρῶν κώμαις (Karôn Kômai) in 19.12: “the villages of the Carians” and not Karrha. In this paper I suggest that these references to Κάραις (Carae) should be linked to long-established settlements already utilized by Alexander in his army’s route from Susa to Opis during his campaign in Persia and Babylonia in 324 (Diod. 17.110), and by Eumenes as a winter quarters in 317 during the Second War of the Successors (Diod. 19.12.1). Since the existence of these settlements bears on the historical question of the placement of Carians in Babylonia before and after Alexander, I will bring several chronological and geographical arguments to support this theory. In particular, I will examine the sequence of events in 312/311 in the context of the Third Diadoch War and in so doing explore the nature of Diodorus’s account of Seleucus’ march to Babylon and how the general raised an army on the way. In the end, I hope to offer deeper context for the term “Mesopotamia” and its relation to the villages of the Carians in Diodorus.

ANDREW G. SCOTT, Leadership, Valor, and Spartan Death in Battle in Xenophon’s Hellenica (115-133)

Abstract: This paper examines the application of a specific phrase, namely μαχόμενον ἀποθανεῖν (to die fighting), throughout the works of Xenophon. As the majority of applications occur in the Hellenica, and specifically in a Spartan context, I assess the import of its usage, arguing that Xenophon applies the phrase when he wishes judgments, primarily negative, of both Spartan valor and leadership to be made. This finding has implications for Xenophon’s view of Spartan hegemony more broadly.

GUGLIELMO BAGELLA, Il Metodo Compositivo di Plutarco per la Vita di Crasso (134-156)

Abstract: This article aims to give a new reading to the concluding events in Plutarch’s Crassus by employing a broader comparison between the Nicias and the Crassus in order to distinguish the historical facts from the literary artifices adopted by Plutarch, which, according to the author, help illuminate the nature of their his characters. Through a combination of Plutarch studies, neo-parthiká and ars militaris, I will attempt to expand the discourse identified by Braund (i.e., the link between Plutarch and Dionysus, Crassus and Bacchus) and develop the method put forth by Zadirojniy (on the “symmetry of polarities” use of Euripides in the Crassus and Nicias).

ALEXANDER YAKOBSON, Cicero, the Constitution and the Roman People (157-177)

Abstract: This paper suggests that the idea of imposing essentially new and untraditional limits on the legislative competence of the assemblies with an avowed aim of restricting the power of the Roman People to “will and command” as it pleases would have been beyond the realm of political feasibility. The people were prepared to hear that their fundamental rights as Roman citizens and free men could not be taken away from any them even by a decree of the People as a whole; but political realities did not allow the Roman elite to use this potentially promising notion in order to further limit the people’s power of legislation. As long as the Republic lasted, the Roman people—with all the necessary qualifications that the use of this term requires, and without forgetting that we are not speaking about anything remotely resembling a modern democratic electorate—were, for the Roman ruling class, a force to reckon with.

Volume 30

ERIC ADLER, Effectiveness and Empire in Tacitus’ Agricola (1-14)

Abstract: Many scholars contend that Tacitus’ praise for Nerva and Trajan in the Agricola was heartfelt: only as his literary career developed did Tacitus prove condemning of the Roman Empire as a system. This article, in keeping with Bartsch’s notion of imperial doublespeak, argues against this claim, stressing that in the Agricola Tacitus can also be read as subtly undercutting the praise he included for the current emperors. It maintains that a key to Tacitus’ implicit criticism of imperial authoritarianism in the Agricola rests on the matter of effectiveness. Unlike all other categories of Roman leaders in the work, “good” emperors lack the ability to be effective agents of change. The Agricola thus carries important hints that Tacitus, far from disdaining Domitian alone, can also be interpreted as deeming the monarchical control of Rome problematic under any circumstances.

JENS JAKOBSSON, Dating of Timarchus, the Median Usurper. A Critical Review (15-26)

Abstract: In this article, a later dating (c. late 161– 160/159 BC) is discussed for the rebellion of Timarchus in Media and Babylonia against the Seleucid king Demetrius I. This later dating is supported by Diodorus Siculus and Appian, while cuneiform evidence shows that Demetrius I was recognised as king in Babylonia as early as 161 BC, and Demetrius’ first Babylonian coins celebrate the defeat of Timarchus. The previous Seleucid king, Antiochus V, however, was acknowledged in cuneiform documents but issued very few coins in the Seleucid east. With this parallel, the author suggests that Demetrius may have been recognised as king in Babylonia before Timarchus’ brief invasion but only issued coins there after Timarchus’ defeat.

SALVATORE VACANTE, Wetlands and Environment in Hellenistic Sicily: Historical and Ecological Remarks (27-42)

Abstract: The achievement of a comprehensive and satisfying environmental picture of ancient Sicily has so far eluded modern historians. The absence of convincing conclusions on the role effectively played by wetlands in the Greek period is particularly striking. In the early first millennium BCE, Sicily was an ecologically multi-faceted island. However, some relevant ecological modifications rapidly took place in the island. The evidence shows that in most of the Central-Eastern Mediterranean Basin indiscriminate deforestation and agriculture rapidly caused soil erosion, alluvial deposition, and formation of extensive marshes in the late Classical – early Hellenistic period. There is no reason to assume that Sicily made exception to this general process. However, although serious environmental imbalances likely assumed significant proportions here, an overall understanding of local phenomena is far from being achieved. The aim of the present contribution is therefore to provide new information and suggest possible interpretative models for local ecological processes in the proposed historical framework.

ANDRZEJ DUDZIŃSKI, Diodorus’ use of Timaeus (43-76)

Abstract: It is quite widely accepted that the main source for at least most of the Sicilian parts of Diodorus Siculus’ Bibliotheke Historike was the lost work of Timaeus of Tauromenion.1 Although this attribution has become a basis of some bold historical interpretations,2 it also raises an important question—is Diodorus’ dependence on Timaeus established firmly enough for historical hypotheses to be build on this basis? In this article I will try to answer this question by careful examination of the positive evidence for Diodorus’ use of Timaeus’ work. I shall, however, limit myself to the evidence firmly based in the Timaean fragments as collected by Felix Jacoby in his Fragmente der griechischen Historiker. The aim of this article is neither a wide and complete study of Diodorus’ use of Timaeus, nor a disproving of Diodorus’ use of the earlier historian’s work altogether—it is merely to examine the positive and reliable evidence of Diodorus’ use of Timaeus’ work in order to create a sound basis for any further inquiry.

STANLEY M. BURSTEIN, Ptolemy III and the Dream of Reuniting Alexander’s Empire (77-86)

Abstract: In this article it will be argued that Ptolemy III’s Asian campaign was subsequently reinterpreted in Egypt to minimize the extent of the king’s ultimate failure. In contrast to the Alexandria decree of 243 BC with its triumphal account of Ptolemy’s march to Susa, where he recovered divine statues looted by the Persians, the Canopus Decree of 238 BC treats the repatriation of the statues as the highlight of the campaign while limiting reference to its military aspects to a vague allusion to Ptolemy “fighting on behalf of Egypt against many peoples and their rulers.” Nevertheless, the fact remains that when Ptolemy III saw an opportunity to reunite much of Alexander’s empire, he took advantage of it; and that suggests that the seemingly more prudent foreign policies followed by Ptolemy III’s successors did not result from their adherence to an abstract doctrine of defensive imperialism as Polybius and his modern followers maintain, but from the practical reality that such policies were the wisest, and often, the only course available to them in the difficult political circumstances they faced.

PAUL KEEN, Political Power and the Decline of Epichoric Languages and Writing Systems in Hellenistic Cyprus (87-102)

Abstract: The goal of this paper is to explore the ways in which power relations and issues of cultural and group identity interacted to form the epigraphic record in Hellenistic Cyprus. In eliminating the institution of Cypriot kingship, the Ptolemies also changed the relational aspects of power as epigraphically commemorated on the island. Deprived of the driving force behind the public epigraphy of the fourth century (i.e., the city- kings), and under control of the multi-ethnic Ptolemaic military-administration, Cypriots appear in many ways to have adopted the manner of commemorating power relationships employed by the imperial agents, and abandoned local writing systems in favor of a more communicable script and language to do so. Long used to autocratic rule, Cypriot cities and elites sought not to replicate the forms of expression used in their past, but instead adapted themselves to the new imperial situation brought on by the court culture and relational power dynamics of Hellenistic Kingship.

FRANÇOIS GAUTHIER, The Changing Composition of the Roman Army in the Late Republic and the So-Called “Marian-Reforms” (103-120)

Abstract: This paper will examine the Marian Reforms, with particular focus on the alleged transformation of recruiting, equipment, and training. It will argue that the Marian Reforms are a myth created by modern historiography. What Marius did was neither new nor permanent—there is little convincing evidence for such “Marian” reforms, nor is there good evidence for the presence of large numbers of proletarii in the army after Marius. Thus, speaking of a “post-Marian army” is misleading as this entails that the Roman military was quickly and profoundly transformed by a single individual.

CHRISTOPHER TUPLIN, Fragmented Historiography: Sniffing out Literature in a Sharp-nosed Historian (121-130)

Abstract: A review essay on E. Occhipinti’s The Hellenica Oxyrhyncia and Historiography (Leiden: Brill. 2016)

Volume 31

PAUL JOHSTONO, “Rumor, Rage, and Reversal: Tragic Patterns in Polybius’ Account of Agathocles at Alexandria” (1-20)

Abstract: Polybius’ Histories include numerous digressions devoted to condemning writers who penned sensationalized, or tragic, history. According to Polybius, tragic history tended toward invention rather than strict truth, because its purpose was to entertain rather than educate. Polybius’ harsh words for popular historians did not stop him from occasionally indulging a sensational edge. His account of the regency and overthrow of Agathocles at Alexandria merits special attention in a consideration of Polybian historiography, for not only did Polybius compose a dramatic, sensational narrative, he also ended the account with a sharp rebuke to any historian who would use the fall of Agathocles to spin a grand yarn. The story is rife with corruption, unrest, and violence, but in the final tally Polybius drew no moral lesson from it. These factors invite consideration of the historian’s undivulged purposes in crafting an account that showed, rather than told, a historical lesson.

FRANCES POWNALL, “Dionysius I and the Creation of a New-Style Macedonian Monarchy” (21-38)

Abstract: The influence of the royal ideology of the Achaemenid Persians on Philip and (especially) Alexander of Macedon has increasingly been recognized, but the role of Dionysius I of Syracuse in their creation of a new-style Macedonian monarchy has received less attention. I examine some aspects of the royal ideology of both Philip and Alexander that appear to be modelled upon precedents inaugurated by Dionysius: self-fashioning as the god Dionysus, the wearing of purple (which conveyed both elite status and magnificent display), the adoption of the diadem, the donning of ornate festal clothing previously reserved for athletic victors and performers on the stage, and the desire to engage in theatrical performances themselves. The biased portrayal of the Macedonian court by the Greek sources and the apologetic tradition on Alexander have given rise to the popular misconception that he gave little thought to his ruling ideology until his ‘orientalism’ following his conquest of Persia, denying any influence in its development either to Philip or to Dionysius, who as the ruler of a large multi-ethnic empire was his only real predecessor in the Greek world.

CHRISTOPHER KEGERREIS, “Setting a Royal Pace: Achaemenid Kingship and the Origin of Alexander the Great’s Bematistai” (39-64)

Abstract: Alexander the Great’s campaign significantly expanded Greek knowledge of Central Asia. While several experts assisted in this geographical collection process, none were as important as the bematistai, Alexander’s distance-measurers. The data collected by these specialists served as the foundation of Hellenistic mapping for the newly conquered regions. This paper is a reevaluation of the bematistai, notably their origin and the manner in which they collected their measurements. While the limited scholarly discussion concerning them has generally assumed that the specialty developed prior to the start of Alexander’s Asian campaign, this study suggests instead that Alexander borrowed from Achaemenid Persian collection practices and initiated this specialty unit mid-campaign. This late origination date demands a reconsideration of the methods the bematistai used to acquire measurements. While it has been suggested that they utilized measuring lines or even a primitive odometer to arrive at their measurements, a mid-campaign development suggests instead that these calculations were the product of pace counting.

WALDEMAR HECKEL, “Dareios III’s Military Reforms Before Gaugamela and the Alexander Mosaic: A Note,” (65-69)

Abstract: Nylander contends that the Persian infantry adopted the Makedonian sarissa before the battle of Gaugamela, having experienced the effectiveness of Makedonian weaponry at Issos. In support of this view he cites a passage from Diodorus, who says that the Persians were armed with longer spears. Hence, he argues that the sarissas depicted on the Alexander Mosaic, which point in the direction of Alexander, are those of the Persian infantry. Unfortunately, the term used by Diodorus for the lengthened spears is xysta. The xyston was a thrusting spear employed by cavalrymen, not infantry. In fact, the parallel passage in Curtius shows that the military reforms pertained to the cavalry and not the infantry. Badian cites Nylander’s work with approval, adding that the sarissa-bearers on the right side of the Alexander Mosaic are in fact Persians. A close look at the Mosaic shows that this is not the case. Neither the literary nor the artistic evidence supports the use of the sarissa by the Persian infantry. Nor can it be argued on these grounds that the Alexander Mosaic depicts the battle of Gaugamela.

TIMOTHY DORAN, Nabis of Sparta: Heir to Agis IV and Kleomenes III? (70-91)

Abstract: Sparta’s tyrant Nabis (r. 207 – 192 BC) has been pilloried by ancient commentators for his activities. Modern scholars have largely accepted these ancient views. Yet Nabis’ efforts are best seen as attempts to counteract Sparta’s population crisis that had started in the fifth century BC, just as Agis IV and Kleomenes III had done. His difference from their program was that he radically broke both from traditional Greek notions of the importance of descent- groups, and from the Spartans’ previous cultural policy of preserving the putatively pure eugenic bloodlines of the families comprising its body of full citizens, the Spartiates. This divergence is a significant, if under-examined, reason why Nabis’ contemporaries portrayed his reform efforts negatively, contributing to his downfall. It also caused later writers to view Nabis’ efforts harshly, resulting in a contemptuous neglect of this fascinating if chequered individual and his efforts.

CHRISTOPHER TUPLIN, The Great King, his god(s) and intimations of divinity. The Achaemenid hinterland of ruler cult? (92-111)

Abstract: Intimations of living royal divinity in Persian sources are indirect and fall short of a plain king-god equation. At best the king’s divine election enabled hints that there was a more- than-human flavour about him. But these are visual or verbal rhetorical tropes, and major uncertainties (e.g. about the winged disk figure) have a troubling impact. Classical Greek assertions of Persian royal divinity are rare: there is little sign Greeks thought Persians saw the living king as god, let alone worshipped him. Since Persian sources offer no unequivocal indications and since one expects Greeks to be wary about the idea of a divine Persian king (divinization of humans was supposed to reflect unusual excellence), the presence of any Greek assertions of Persian royal divinity is striking. But such assertions are not necessarily valid: for there remains a strong connection with misinterpretation of proskunēsis. These considerations accentuate three Greek ideas that deviate from simple king-god identification: the king as “image” of god, the king’s daimon, and Ahuramazda making the king’s light shine. These are not products of a Greek environment intemperately addicted to the idea of Persian royal divinity, so should perhaps be taken seriously. Individually all could be Greek tropes, but some have thought that daimōn and light evoke the royal khvarenah (a quasi-personal daimōn, evocative of sun-light). This evidence for a rhetoric of divine aura shadows that in Persian sources. The Persian situation was no disincentive to Alexander’s propensity to assign himself divine qualities; and promoting court proskunēsis among Greco-Macedonians invited a divine interpretation—and trouble.

MICHAEL KLEU, Philip V, the Selci-Hoard and the supposed building of a Macedonian fleet in Lissus (112-119)

Abstract: By concluding a treaty with Hannibal in 215 BC, Philip V of Macedon started the First Macedonian War (215-205 BC). After he had lost his fleet to the Romans in 214 BC, Philip conquered Lissus in 212 BC and thereby controlled an Adriatic port which could serve as basis for a new naval offensive against Rome. Although there is no direct evidence for such an approach, N.G.L. Hammond concluded that Philip had constructed a fleet of Illyrian lemboi in Lissus. This conclusion is based on bronze coins from Lissus and Scodra that seem to conform to the Macedonian coin series and on a report from Zonaras (9.6) regarding Macedonian operations near Corcyra in 211 BC. While the account of Zonaras has to be considered with caution, the bronze coins from Lissus and Scodra have, as primary sources, a high evidential value. Therefore, the article’s main focus will be put on these coins which belong to the Selci hoard and were published by Arthur Evans in 1880. Unfortunately, pictures of the Selci hoard’s coins have never been published since so that a mistake in Evans’s article has been copied in almost all later publications. The article will explain Evans’s mistake and offer a new discussion on the coins as evidence for Hammond’s conclusion regarding the supposed fleet of Illyrian lemboi that might have been built in Lissus. In the course of this discussion a new dating of the Selci hoard will be proposed.

DENVER GRANINGER, Late Argeads in Thrace: Religious Perspectives (120-144)

Abstract: This paper collects the principal ancient evidence documenting later Argeads (Philip II, Alexander III, and Philip III-Alexander IV) performing cult in Thrace; three divinities are prominent: Dionysos, the Megaloi Theoi of Samothrace, and Herakles. Three overarching observations are offered: 1) Argead cult activity in Thrace can be seen to resemble what is known of their cult activity in the Aegean and southern Greek world on one hand, and in the territories of the Persian Empire on the other; 2) While what may have inspired Philip II and Alexander III’s initial cult actions toward these divinities remains oblique, the preserved sources offer intriguing evidence for later cult actions conducted to these same divinities in Thrace by other elites from outside of the region, including some Argeads; and 3) Thracian sanctuaries and cult sites were a specific, physical environment where Argeads and local elites could have engaged one another and assisted in the development of the kind of Thraco-Macedonian cultural koine described by W. S. Greenwalt among others. The paper includes preliminary discussion of the historiography of: Argead kingship and religion; and cultural relationships between Macedonia and Thrace.

Volume 32

SEAN MANNING, A Prosopography of the Followers of Cyrus the Younger (1-24)
Abstract: The group of men who gathered around Cyrus the Younger (c. 424-401 BCE) and followed him in his unlucky attempt to become King are very well documented, but until now they have not been studied as a group. This is unfortunate, since prosopography is a powerful tool for learning about individuals and communities. This paper fills this gap, suggesting that in its reliance on personal relationships, favour-exchange, and closeness to the leader, Cyrus’ court resembled many others. Despite these similarites, however, the apparent absence of Lydian or Phrygian courtiers, and the continued careers of many of Cyrus’ followers after their revolt failed, may be specific to Cyrus’ court alone.

EYAL MEYER, Cimon’s Eurymedon Campaign Reconsidered? (25-43)
Abstract: In the present study I argue against the hypothesis that the impetus for Cimon’s Eurymedon campaign in the early-460s BC was a Persian design to launch an offensive against the Greeks. The Athenians, I maintain, sent Cimon to south-western Anatolia in order to justify the existence of the Delian League and by extension Athens’ demand for ships, men, and tribute. Furthermore, all indications point out that the Persian forces Cimon engaged at the Eurymedon did not constitute an invasion force but local contingents gathered by the satraps of Anatolia in order to ward off the Greek invaders.

JOSHUA P. NUDELL Alexander the Great and Didyma: A Reconsideration (44-60)
Abstract: Alexander the Great’s liberation of Miletus from Persia led to the rebirth of the oracle at Didyma, at least according to Callisthenes (Strabo 17.1.43). Modern scholars generally treat this account with healthy skepticism, but nevertheless accept the general outline of Callisthenes’ claim. This paper reexamines the ancient evidence, showing that no relationship existed between Alexander and Didyma. The association between the king and the restoration of the oracle at Didyma was part of a larger program designed to establish the oracle’s legitimacy that gained traction as a result of the relationships between Miletus and Seleucus I.

JENS JAKOBSSON AND SIMON GLENN, New research on the Bactrian Tax-Receipt (61-71)
Abstract: The so-called Bactrian tax-receipt is a small leather document written in Greek, from the early 2nd century BC. Found in 1994, it is a rare administrative document from the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom. It was uniquely dated in the reigns of three kings: Antimachos (I) Theos, and his joint-regents Eumenes and Antimachos. For this paper, further technical analyses, including an IR photograph, were made to analyse traces of damaged text. The correct reading of the last line is affirmed, and the name of a fourth king, Apollodotos, could possibly be reconstructed. The political framework for the dating formula is also studied; including its possible connection to the rare Attic tetradrachms of the Indo-Greek ruler Apollodotos I. Finally, a remarkable passage in the 1st Book of Maccabees claims that Eumenes II of Pergamon, in the treaty of Apamea in 188 BC, was awarded Seleucid lands in Media and India. An analysis is made about whether the treaty may have actually included a clause about (apparently only nominal) Pergamene influence over eastern Seleucid vassal-states, and whether there might possibly be a connection to the otherwise unattested ruler Eumenes in the tax-receipt.

FABRIZIO BIGLINO, Early Roman Overseas Colonization (72-94)
Abstract: It is traditionally believed that Rome started to establish overseas colonies by the late second century: first following C. Gracchus’ proposition of Colonia Iunonia on the site of Carthage, then with the establishment of Narbo Martius in Gallia Narbonensis. This narrative, however, raises several issues, primarily due to the nature of the sources themselves, as they are all influenced by late Republican and Augustan ideologies. The objective of this paper is to offer a different approach to Roman overseas colonization during the Republican period. Through a careful examination of different sources, it is possible, in fact, to consider overseas colonization in the early fourth century, in terms of mid-Republican economy and foreign policy. Furthermore, by examining the colonies established in the provinces between the third and second centuries, it is possible to highlight the essential role of the army within the whole colonization process. Finally, it will be possible to fully comprehend key elements behind the founding of colonies, such as the leadership behind it and how it evolved. Ultimately, this paper aims to highlight how overseas colonies allow us to see the whole colonization process as dynamic rather than rigid and monochromatic.

CATHERINE RUBINCAM, How were Battlefield Dead Counted in Greek Warfare? (95-105)
Abstract: A previous article (“Casualty figures in Thucydides’ descriptions of battle,” TAPA 121 [1991] 181-198) found patterns of rounding and clustering in Thucydides’ 49 human casualty figures sufficient to suggest that most of them were estimates rather than precise counts. This article takes up the obvious question left unanswered in that study, namely, how the apparent imprecision in these casualty figures can be explained in the light of the historian’s generally presumed access to good sources of information on these events. The answer suggested here is that the decentralization of the processes of recovering and identifying the dead, cremating them, and carrying back their names and ashes to Athens, which is required by Thucydides’ description of the 11 separate biers paraded for the official end-of-year ceremony, made it likely that no one compiled an accurate list of all the dead from each battle. Hence the imprecision in the answers the historian received to his questions about the casualty numbers.

KATHERINE HALL, Did Alexander the Great Die from Guillain-Barré Syndrome? (106-128)
Abstract: The most striking feature of Alexander the Great’s death is that, despite being extremely unwell, he was reported to have remained compos mentis until just before his death. Combined with evidence that he developed a progressive, symmetrical, ascending paralysis, it is argued that he died from a sub-type of the autoimmune disorder, Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), most likely induced from a Campylobacter pylori infection. GBS could also account for the reported lack of decay of his body, and his death may be the most famous case of pseudothanatos, or false diagnosis of death, ever recorded.

BENJAMIN KEIM, Communities of Honor in Herodotus’ Histories (128-147)
Abstract: Rather than emphasizing the “Otherness” of (non-)Greeks within the Histories, recent studies of Herodotean ethnography have focused on the complex ambiguities and nuances marking Herodotus’ presentation of his world. Here I contribute to this reassessment by examining the historian’s remarks on the fundamental roles of honor in constituting and differentiating communities across the Mediterranean. After surveying these roles of honor within Herodotean communities, I explore the workings of honor within the Scythian and Persian logoi and then consider the negotiations of honor carried out within four critical scenes of cross-cultural engagement. I conclude by briefly considering three fourth-century passages that similarly attest the fundamental roles played by honor within Greek and non-Greek communities.

Volume 33

Kathryn Waterfield, Penteconters and the Fleet of Polycrates

Keywords: Penteconter, Polycrates, Thalassocracy, Samaina, Trireme
Abstract: In his Samian logos Herodotus emphasizes the successful ambitions of the tyrant Polycrates in attaining control of the Aegean during his reign in the last half of the sixth century BCE. He achieved this extraordinary success with one hundred penteconters—fifty-oared ships—and is given credit for being the first Greek thalassocrat. This paper examines what resources were necessary, in general, to pull off such a feat. Using Polycrates’ Samos as a case study reveals that a penteconter fleet was a very expensive endeavor in terms of resources and manpower. But the fleet of Polycrates, probably composed, at least in part, of a special design called the samaina, is illustrative of the fact that the penteconter went through a number of innovations in the Archaic period to facilitate its usefulness as a ship-of-the-line and cemented its popularity to the extent that it continued in use, in various iterations, for centuries.

John Hyland, The Aftermath of Aigospotamoi and the Decline of Spartan Naval Power

Keywords: Sparta, Lysander, Peloponnesian War, Spartan-Persian War, trireme, coalition diplomacy
Abstract: Sparta’s naval victory in the Peloponnesian War depended on ship contributions from Peloponnesian and central Greek allies and funding from the Persian empire. At the end of the war, Lysander’s acquisition of captured enemy triremes allowed Sparta to break free from its reliance on allied warships, but not without long-term consequences. In the Persian War of the following decade, although Sparta was now able to launch a fleet without Corinthian or Theban participation, it lacked resources to maintain its aging ships’ seaworthiness, and its loss of Persian financial support doomed its efforts to recruit and pay adequate naval crews. The logistical and financial consequences of the breakdown of Sparta’s Peloponnesian War alliances brought about the collapse of its short-lived naval dominance.

W. P. Richardson, Dual Leadership in the League of Corinth and Antipater’s Phantom Hegemony

Keywords: Philip II of Macedon; Antipater; League of Corinth; Hegemon; Strategos Autokrator
Abstract: Philip II’s formation of the League of Corinth is a key aspect of his legacy. Upon his assassination, the structure and agreements surrounding the League allowed Alexander the Great to quickly establish control over the Greek states, and continue preparation of the campaign against the Persian Empire. This article presents two arguments regarding the positions of leadership within the League of Corinth as established by Philip. The first is that two distinct executive roles existed within the structure of the League. The current scholarly consensus is that the terms hegemon and strategos autokrator used in the sources refer to the same position. However, an examination of the ascensions of both Philip and Alexander demonstrates that both were confirmed to each role separately. The second is that during his absence from Greece, Alexander did not bestow upon Antipater the powers of a deputy hegemon of the League. While he acted as the regent of Macedon, examinations of the imposition of the Exiles Decree and the war with Agis III of Sparta show that Antipater never wielded the powers of the hegemon and, in the case of Agis III, that authority was still vested in Alexander.

Andrea F. Gatzke, Mithridates VI Eupator and Persian Kingship

Keywords: Pontus, Mithridates VI, Persianism, Kingship
Abstract: Mithridates VI Eupator is often regarded as a thoroughly Hellenized ruler, especially during his wars with Rome, when he made every effort to gain Greek supporters. While some scholars have discussed Persian aspects of the king’s ideology, there has been little attempt to understand the relationship between Mithridates’ Hellenism and his Persianism. This paper argues that Mithridates aimed to refashion Hellenistic kingship, which had thus far failed at curbing Rome’s eastward expansion, by openly incorporating elements of Persian kingship alongside more traditional Hellenistic methods of rule. Through this, he hoped to fashion himself as a new kind of dynast who would serve as the protector of all residents of the east – Greek and non-Greek – against the threat of Rome.

Julian Degen, Xenophon and the Light from Heaven

Keywords: Xenophon, Anabasis, Cyropaedia, light phenomenon, Cyr. 4.2.15, An. 3.1.11, melammu, ancient Near Eastern motifs, Persian décor, aura, halo.
Abstract: In the discussion about Xenophon’s view about Persia and Achaemenid kingship an ancient Near Eastern perspective, until now, was almost marginalized. This paper enhances the recent discussion about Xenophon’s view on the ancient Near East as a traveller and author, providing new insights on two passages out of the Xenophontic corpus. Specific occurrences in the Anabasis and Cyropaedia can be denoted as light phenomena which announce transmission in Xenophon’s narrative. These light phenomena share the same motif and contexts as the presentation of the divine good-will towards the ancient Near Eastern king. Hence, this article for the first time discusses the presence of ancient Near Eastern motifs within Xenophon’s works by concentrating on the question how Xenophon gained his information and how he used it for his narratives.

Kelly L. Wrenhaven, Laughing at Slaves: the Greek Comic Slave and the American Blackface Minstrel

Keywords: slavery, comedy, ancient Greece, United States, minstrelsy, blackface
Abstract: Ancient Greek and American slave representations might not have an obvious association, however, similar categories of imagery can arise out of two societies that are disparate in culture, location, and time. In ancient Greece and the antebellum United States, laughter was used as a mechanism to distinguish between slave and free, outsider and citizen. Both societies produced comic theatre that portrayed a subset of male slave characters in ways that often appear strikingly similar. This article examines the popular, entertaining, and derogatory representations of male slaves that appear in Greek comedy and American blackface minstrelsy. These were the types of characters that were the most likely to draw laughter and, perhaps, derision. They also illustrate the negative stereotypes (or “stock” characteristics) typically attributed to male slaves and demonstrate some of the ways in which ancient Greeks and nineteenth-century Americans attempted to justify slavery.

Hamish Cameron, Founder of Babylon and Master of Asia: Semiramis and the Parthians in Strabo’s Geography

Keywords: Semiramis, Strabo, Parthia, geography, historiography, borderlands, imperial ideology
Abstract: Strabo begins his description of “Assyria” at Geog. 16.1 with an unusual unusual historical excursus that centers the legendary Assyrian queen Semiramis as the most important ruler and builder in the region. Introduced into the Greek literary tradition by Herodotus and significantly developed by Ctesias, Semiramis became a well-known and traditional figure in the Greek imagination whose deeds and character could be expanded, alluded to, and deployed for various narrative purposes in later authors, including Diodorus Siculus, Pompeius Trogus, and Strabo. During the Augustan period, parts of the area formerly ruled by Semiramis were an inter-imperial borderland between Rome and the Parthian empire and most were under the rule of the Parthian Empire. In writing of this borderland, Roman authors were forced to negotiate between an ideology of limitless Roman power and a reality of a permanent, independent foreign power. Strabo was aware of the reality of Parthian control, but in his narrative treatment of Assyria he deployed the semi-mythological figure of Semiramis as a Roman ideological tool to minimise Parthian power and suggest that Rome was the dominant contemporary power in the region.

Mareile große Beilage, Four Observations on Mark Antony and the Triumviral Narrative

Keywords: Marcus Antonius, Second Triumvirate, Perusine War, Cleopatra, coinage, augur
Abstract: This short article adds some observations about the agenda of Mark Antony during the triumviral period. Matching numismatic and literary evidence, a strong case can be made for Antony actively supporting his family’s agitation against Octavian from 41-40 BCE. If the imagery on coins is taken seriously as a well-thought-out statement designed to express authority and ensure loyalty, it can further be argued that Antony’s close link to Cleopatra was not, per se problematic for a Roman audience but rather used to present Antony as a powerful, well-funded general. The prominence of Antony’s role as augur on the legionary denarii clarifies that Antony, contrary to the claims of his enemies, had remained well aware of Roman sentiments. In the decisive confrontation with a Roman rival (Octavian), the Antonian faction expected Antony’s priestly title to give him a type of authority that the mentioning of his victories as imperator would not have had.

Volume 34

Jennifer Finn, The Ship of Aeneas

Keywords: Aeneas; Augustus; Aeneid; naval narrative; Persian Wars; Procopius
Abstract: The ship of Aeneas, the subject of a single literary attestation in Procopius, has received little serious attention from scholars. In a 1997 article, Pier Luigi Tucci made a plausible case for locating the shipshed for the vessel on the banks of the Tiber in the so-called navalia; he went further to propose that Augustus was the architect behind the ship’s placement there. Here I will expand upon Tucci’s argument by suggesting that Augustus dedicated the ship in 2 BC, simultaneous with the performance of his famous naumachia and the dedication of the Augustan Forum. As the culmination of a “naval narrative” surrounding his defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium in 31 BC, the ship of Aeneas can be viewed as consistent with the first emperor’s ideological program; it carried allusions not just to the Trojan foundation of the city of Rome, but also to a subversive attempt to apply a revisionist narrative to Greek—and particularly Athenian—history. Augustus’ preoccupation with positioning his reign in the longue durée of global conflicts between East and West was so pervasive that it was still recognizable to Procopius in the sixth century CE.

S.G. Caneva, Back to Rhodes: Pausanias, Rhodian inscriptions, and Ptolemy’s civic acclamation as Soter

Keywords: Ptolemy I, Soter, Rhodes, civic acclamation, Lindian Chronicle
Abstract: This paper deals with the vexed question of the historicity of Pausanias’ statement that Ptolemy I owed his epithet to the Rhodians. Three arguments are made in this contribution. 1) Contrary to old and new criticisms against Pausanias’ report, Rhodian inscriptions do not provide any evidence against the use of Soter as the epiclesis of Ptolemy I on the island; on the contrary, a generally overlooked passage of the Lindian Chronicle concerning the epiphany of Athena during Demetrios’ siege strengthens the hypothesis that Ptolemy was perceived by the Rhodians as the savior of their city, in a way comparable to Zeus. 2) Pausanias may have misunderstood the actual significance of the bestowal of the epiclesis Soter upon Ptolemy, if indeed he thought that his acclamation in Rhodes after the end of the siege established Soter as his official title in all regions under Ptolemaic control. While this acclamation should be interpreted within the local framework of Rhodian cults for Ptolemy, a comparative analysis of Pausanias’ words and of Hellenistic royal titularies suggests that Pausanias relied on Rhodian historiographic sources, which may have magnified the importance of the Rhodian episode for the general scenario of the Diadochi wars. 3) The most plausible context for the acclamation of Ptolemy as Soter in Rhodes is the aftermath of the siege in 305/4. This acclamation, together with the news reaching the court about the end of the Antigonid offensive, triggered the crowning of Ptolemy and his assumption of the royal title in Alexandria.

Emma Nicholson, Hellenic Romans and Barbaric Macedonians: Polybius on Hellenism and Changing Hegemonic Powers

Keywords: Hellenism, barbarism, Polybius, Philip V of Macedon, Rome, cultural politics
Abstract: This article explores the relationship between the Greeks, Macedonians and Romans through the prism of Polybius of Megalopolis and his Histories in the second century BC. It throws light on how a Greek might control and construct the image of larger powers to explain political change and assert or deny them political and cultural legitimacy, while at the same time proclaiming the continued importance of Hellenic culture. It investigates Polybius’ construction and use of Hellenism in his Histories and demonstrates how he deliberately interchanged the trajectories of Macedon and Rome to offer an ideological explanation for Rome’s rise and Macedon’s fall, to assert that the preservation of the Greeks lay with Rome not Macedon, to protect the standing of the Achaean League, and to emphasise the importance of Hellenic virtues for success on the domestic and international scenes.

Melina Tamiolaki, Herodotus, Cretan neutrality and the Peloponnesian War. Revisiting Hdt. 7.169-171

Keywords: Herodotus; Persian Wars; Cretan neutrality; Peloponnesian War; publication date of Herodotus’ Histories
Abstract: This article discusses the section on Cretan neutrality in Herodotus’ Histories (7.169-171). After highlighting some distinctive features of this account regarding its structure, the themes treated and Herodotus’ methodology, it proposes an interpretation based on the context of the Peloponnesian War: it suggests, more specifically, that the Cretan account contains hints of the events of the beginning of the Peloponnesian War (431-427 BCE), such as the plague, the opposition between islanders and mainlanders and the first attempts of the Athenians to conquer Sicily.

Thomas C. Rose, The Life and Afterlife of a Hellenistic Flagship: The “Sixteen” of Demetrius Poliorcetes Revisited

Keywords: Demetrius Poliorcetes; Hellenistic kingship; Dedicated ships; neōrion; Lucius Aemilius Paullus
Abstract: This paper presents new evidence and new arguments in support of an old theory: the Macedonian “sixteen” Lucius Aemilius Paullus sailed up the Tiber in 167 BCE was built more than a century earlier by Demetrius Poliorcetes. Plutarch reports that Demetrius’ naval building program culminated in the early third century BCE with the construction of a flagship “sixteen,” the largest single-hulled warship constructed in antiquity, and there is no evidence that any of Demetrius’ Antigonid successors ever built or deployed ships approaching the size of this vessel. The Antigonid kings were participants in a larger Greek tradition of dedicating ships in sanctuaries, beginning with Demetrius’ construction of the Monument of the Bulls at Delos. Delian inscriptions refer to this elaborate structure as the Neōrion, since it featured a gallery for the display of a votive ship. The “sixteen” must have remained intact for so long because it, too, was housed in a neōrion. The most likely location would be the port city of Demetrias, Demetrius’ eponymous foundation and ﬁnal resting place. For his part, Paullus demonstrated a sustained interest in appropriating Antigonid commemorative practices for his own purposes, most famously at Delphi, where he repurposed Perseus’ dedicatory column to celebrate his own victories in Greece. After Pydna, Paullus made two visits to Demetrias separated by an interval of several months—more than enough time to have the old ﬂagship restored and reﬁtted for the journey to Rome. In a ﬁnal act of Antigonid emulation, Paullus installed the “sixteen” in a custom neōrion near the Tiber.

Marco Ferrario, Uno, nessuno, centomila. L’Asia centrale achemenide e le sue fonti: alcune note di merito e di metodo. Parte 1

Keywords: Achaemenids, Bactria, Ethnography, Graeco-Roman Sources
Abstract: The primary goal of the present contribution is to reflect on some aspects of the literary dossier of sources relating to Achaemenid Bactria-Sogdiana (a region of Central Asia corresponding roughly to south-eastern Turkmenistan, southern Uzbekistan, south-western Tajikistan and northern Afghanistan). Despite the fact that it has by now become common practice to claim otherwise, we have, as an even cursory examination can testify, a large amount of information from the historiographical tradition on this region of the Achaemenid (and later Seleukid) empire: such a vast amount, in fact, that to date a truly exhaustive catalogue has yet to be compiled. The real problem, therefore, is not so much the quantity, but the quality of the sources we have at our disposal, which in no small measure affects the type of questions that the historian is able to ask this documentation. In contrast to a lasting scholarly tradition, this article seeks to demonstrate how the attempt to distinguish Achaemenid administrative «realia», masked by a veil of misunderstandings and intentional distortions typical of the Graeco-Roman rendering of the Persian world, cannot take us much further beyond the results achieved by the – indeed masterful – analysis conducted years ago by Briant. For this reason, the contribution seeks to tease out some of the other questions that can be posed to the sources we have, and with what results, focusing in particular on the interactions between 1) the «imperial» level of Bactria-Sogdiana territorial organization, 2) the local population (not only the élite strata of it) and 3) the satrapy’s landscape, conceived here not as a static background, but as a social actor in itself, with which both the imperial power and the locals had to interact, each with different modalities and aims.

Egidia Occhipinti, The treaty of alliance between Athens and Carystus: Supplements for lines 2-3 and 4-6 and further historical considerations

Keywords: Carystus, Athens, treaty of alliance, Euboea, Second Athenian league, Demosthenes, Aeschines, Diodorus.
Abstract: This paper discusses the content and background of the treaty of alliance signed by Athens and Carystus in 357 BC, giving a new reading of the connections that were established between Athens and Euboea during the first half of the fourth century BC. It suggests new supplements for lines 2-3 and 4-6 of that treaty, a time frame to date Carystus’ admission to the Second Athenian league, as well as her re-admission in 357, after she had left the league in 371. Furthermore, this study hypothesises that in 357 bilateral treaties of alliance were signed between Athens and several Euboean cities, on the model of the alliance with Carystus.

Chris Eckerman, Review Article: Richard Neer and Leslie Kurke, Pindar, Song, and Space: Towards a Lyric Archaeology. Johns Hopkins, 2019

Volume 35

Marco Ferrario, Uno, nessuno, centomila. L’Asia centrale achemenide e le sue fonti: alcune note di merito e di metodo. Parte 2

Keywords: Achaemenids, Bactria, Ethnography, Graeco-Roman Sources, Uzbekistan

Abstract: The present article completes a previous work dedicated to the study of literary sources for the historical reconstruction of the dynamics within the «imperial space» (sensu Lauren Morris) of Achaemenid Bactria. It is divided into two main sections. The first starts by a brief but – hopefully – exhaustive review of the main advances in archaeological research and, above all, of the most recent studies on the Upper Satrapies as they were seen, and administered, through the «spectacles» of the Persepolis Fortification Archive. While recognizing and pointing out the fundamental progress that such a – significant – expansion of the available documentary dossier has meant not only for the scholarship on Bactria, but for a better understanding of Central Asia as a whole, this section also lists its most conspicuous limitations, in order to focus the attention of scholars (and especially of those less familiar with the evidence scrutinized here) on what 1. archaeology does not reveal and 2. archival material tends to overshadow. Against this background, the second section of the paper addresses a category of evidence (ethnography) that has so far been relatively neglected in studies on Achaemenid Bactria but, as it is attempted to demonstrate, is however capable not only of enriching the currently available documentary corpus, but even of casting a revealing light on precisely those blind spots that the first part of this contribution has tried to sort out. As it will become clear in the final pages of the present paper, this last remark is particularly valid with regard to what, in a recent collection of essays, Richard Payne and Rhyne King have called The Limits of the Empire in Ancient Afghanistan: i.e. the complex dialectic between the Persian administration and a wide spectrum of local actors (remarkably, not only members of the elite) in order to control the abundant resources of this strategic region of Eurasia.

Sheila Ager, Dynastic Images in the Early Hellenistic Age: Queen’s Power or King’s Will?

Keywords: Antigonids, Ptolemies, Seleukids; Representation of royal women; Ruler cult; Evolutionary psychology; Competitive mate display; Precarious manhood

Abstract: Evidence from the Hellenistic kingdoms, particularly Ptolemaic Egypt, suggests that in the early years of the Hellenistic age, queens (specifically, the wife of the king) were associated with a set of common characteristics, such as beauty, love, and fertility. This queenly representation – evident in art, literature, and royal cult – has been interpreted as a sign of the importance, even the power, of the royal female; this is especially the case with Arsinoë II, whose public image during her brief marriage to her brother and after her death was so tremendously dominant. This paper argues, not that these queens were unimportant or insignificant, but rather that the emphasis on the queen as an avatar of love and beauty may have been rooted in the king’s psychology rather than the queen’s influence. It is possible that the assimilation of the king’s mate to a goddess of beauty and sexual love, while intended to honour the queen, was intended even more to enhance the king’s masculine status in a form of competitive mate display.

Waldemar Heckel, Notes on Alexander in Central Asia

Keywords: Areia, Arsames, Arsakes, Artabazos, Baktria, Barsine, Boxos, Chorienes, Drangiana, Oxyartes, Rhoxane, Rock of Sogdiana, Sisimithres, Sogdiana. Mercenary revolt

Abstract: This paper examines the satrapal arrangements made by Alexander in Central Asia (particularly Baktria, Sogdiana, Areia and Drangiana) in the years leading up to his departure in 327 for India. In the process it examines the relationship of Artabazos’ family and adherents to both Alexander and the other nobles of the area. Of particular interest is the position of Artabazos and his daughter Barsine in relation to Oxyartes and Alexander’s wife Rhoxane, the discussion of which touches on chronological problems of the years 328 and 327. As a postscript, an attempt is made to make sense of the uprising in Baktria, which occurred after the false news of Alexander’s death in India.

Thomas E. Strunk, History by Analogy: Cato the Younger and Caesar in Livy’s Account of the Second Punic War

Keywords: Cato the Younger, Caesar, Livy, Hanno, Hannibal, Punic Wars

Abstract: Although Livy’s account of the late Republic has been lost to modern readers and with it Livy’s interpretation of events surrounding the lives of Cato the Younger and Julius Caesar, whom the Periochae confirm figured prominently in the books covering the late Republic. Yet Cato and Caesar are not wholly absent from Livy’s surviving works. The outlines of Cato’s character can be seen in Hanno, the Carthaginian senator who plays a prominent role in opposing Hannibal during the Second Punic War. There are also a number of interesting parallels between Hannibal and Caesar. When placed alongside one another the similarities between each pair of senator and general reveals an analogous paradigm. Livy’s construction of the relationship between Hanno and Hannibal closely resembles the contentious relationship between Cato and Caesar, suggesting that Livy used the analogous historical framework of Cato and Caesar to build his narrative of the discord between Hanno and Hannibal. Livy’s history by analogy reveals the policies and behaviors that put to ruin the power of Carthage and destroyed the Roman Republic.

Diego Romero Vera A la Búsqueda del Mons Marianus: Hipótesis y Datos Acerca de la Ubicación del Distrito Minero Imperial

Keywords: Mons Marianus, patrimonium Caesaris, Sextus Marius, Hispania, mining.

Abstract: One of the most important Imperial mining districts in the Roman West, Mons Marianus, was situated in southern Hispania. Its mines belonged to the rich Hispanic citizen Sextus Marius and they were seized by Tiberius. Despite their importance, it is not known yet where actually these mines were located. In this paper we analyze the different theories about the location of the Mons Marianus and the literary, epigraphical and toponymical sources from Roman times that mention it.

Andreas Morakis, Archias, the Heracleids, the Bakhiads and the Foundation of Syracuse

Keywords: Archias, Syracuse, Bakhiads, Heracleids, Greek colonization

Abstract: This paper tries to explore the origin of Archias, the founder of Syracuse. Archias according to the communis opinio, which was formulated already from the end of the 19^th century (by Freeman) descended from the aristocratic family/clan of the Bakhiads who ruled the city during the early Archaic period. Moreover, another view based on a reference of the Parian Marble supports the Argive origin of the oikistes of Syracuse. Both views are challenged. In particular, the first opinion is considered as the outcome of the false perception of the character of Syracuse’s foundation, as state guided, namely organized by the authorities of the city, the Bakhiads who chose one of their members (Archias) and put him in charge of the colonial expedition. As for the Argive origin, this is also rejected and is claimed to have been formulated during the early 4^th century when Argos and Corinth were briefly united under a single state. In the end, it is supported that Archias was a Corinthian of noble origin (a Heracleid) who left Corinth in order to find the political role denied in his country by the ruling family of the Bakhiads, and founded a colony (jointly probably with other nobles) mainly on his own initiative.

Dionysios Filias, Ho boulomenos in the legal procedure of the Hellenic League of 302 B.C. and Athenian influence on the prosecution systems of the Panhellenic Leagues

Keywords: Hellenic League, Athenian law, ho boulomenos, ancient Greek law, Athenian influence, Demetrius Poliorcetes, Panhellenic leagues, Athenian legal procedure

Abstract: This article examines the possibility that Athenian legal proceedings initiated by volunteers influenced the relevant procedures provided by the constitution of the Hellenic League of 302 B.C. Study of the epigraphic evidence shows that the dominant position of Athens in the Delian League led to the occasional prosecution of crimes denounced by volunteers before the Athenian law courts, and that the Athenian legal system also influenced the judicial proceedings of the Second Athenian League. Although it seems that the legal procedure of the Second Athenian League set a precedent for the procedural rules of the Hellenic League, the wording of the constitution of the Hellenic League indicates that its provisions on prosecution by ho boulomenos were inspired, rather, by features of the Athenian judicial system. The similarity between Athenian procedural rules and the judicial process in the charter of the Hellenic League can probably be put down to the close relationship that Demetrius Poliorcetes, one of the creators of the Hellenic League, had with Athens.

Mary Frances Williams, Some Thoughts on Alexander’s Battle at the Hydaspes, especially in relation to Xenophon, Cyropaedia 7.1

Keywords: Alexander the Great; ancient military history; Hydaspes; horse-archers; Xenophon, Cyropaedia; Thyambrara

Abstract: This paper addresses and resolves several connected problems in Arrian’s account of the Battle of the Hydaspes: the role of the horse-archers; what happened to the chariots; Alexander’s order to Coenus; and whether there was cavalry on the Macedonian left wing. In addition, it is argued that Arrian used Xenophon’s fictional Battle of Thyambrara (Cyropaedia 7.1) as a model for his account of the Battle of the Hydapses. Arrian shaped his narrative according to the Xenophontic model, and the parallel explains Arrian’s puzzling organization and clarifies his account of the battle.

Volume 36

José Miguel Gallego Cañamero, Virtus y strategemata en la conquista de Qart- Hadasht

Keywords: P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, Qart- Hadasht, Marching, Second Punic War, Experimental Archaeology, Via Scipionis

Abstract: Historiography has systematically discussed the references of Polybius and Tito Livio relative to the march carried out by Publius Cornelius Scipio “Africano” against Qart-Hadast (209 BC) considering it unacceptable. In the present work it is argued that they could be credible references and some traditionally accepted arguments in this regard are submitted for discussion. On the other hand, it is postulated that the march could have been planned based on episodes that had taken place in the Mediterranean environment and that Scipio would have known during his training. The possibility that the strategic relevance of the capture of the Punic city had been transmitted by its predecessors is suggested. Additionally, data related to Experimental Archaeology are provided that discuss its usefulness for the study of events of this magnitude.

Fabrizio Biglino, The Army and Movement of People during the Roman Republic

Keywords: Roman colonization, overseas settlement, military settlement, Roman Republic, movement of people

Abstract: With regards to colonization and the movement of people outside of peninsular Italy during the Roman Republic, the traditional narrative dates it not before the late second century BC and the final part of the Republican period. It is however possible to argue in favour of a different, more dynamic picture. Through this paper, it is my intention to suggest that Roman and Italian presence in the overseas provinces was more substantial than traditionally believed. This will be achieved by arguing that the army actually played a crucial role within this process as Roman expansion across the Mediterranean undoubtedly triggered a sustained and constant movement of people from Italy to the growing overseas empire. Through this pattern of expansion and settlement, this paper will suggest that Roman and Italian citizens actually settled on their own initiative throughout the Republican period without any relationship to state-sponsored colonization. In particular, I will offer a first attempt of framing a new, still rather unexplored category of settlers: soldiers who, at the end of their periods of service, decided to settle in the provinces where they had served rather than return to Italy. Through an examination of key provinces such as Spain and Africa, this paper will emphasize the crucial role played by the army within the overall process of movement and settlement of people, and how dynamic such a process proved to be.

Marian Helm, Between urbs and tribus, The expansion and organization of the ager Romanus in the Early Republic

Keywords: urbs, tribus, space, territorial organization, administration, central places, tributum, civitas Romana, comitia centuriata, Roman expansion in Italy

Abstract: The Roman conquest of Italy and the Mediterranean rested on the shoulders of its citizens. It is therefore surprising that Roman republican scholarship has paid little attention to the majority of the cives Romani living in the steadily expanding rural tribus, which reached their final number of 35 with the Quirina and Velina. Although the conditions and historical circumstances of new tribus varied greatly between 387 and 241, some remarkable general features can be discerned. In contrast to the coloniae Latinae, the tribus seem to have relied on a grass-roots organization for the levying of taxes and soldiers and lack large urban sites. This article argues that the central Roman authorities consciously avoided the creation of elaborate administrative structures in regard to the ager Romanus in the fourth and third century BC.

Pamina Fernández Camacho, The foundation legend of Gades: inventions interpretations and developments through the ages

Keywords: Gades (Cadiz), foundation legend, Strabo, Justin, Modern and early modern Spanish historians

Abstract: This paper contains a study of the tradition of foundation legends concerning the city of Gades (ancient Phoenician colony of Gadir and modern-day Cadiz), from the first ancient testimonies to its reception by historians of subsequent ages. The aim of this study is to show how both the elements established in the original tradition and the way they were understood, developed, or even changed, mirrors the historical and ideological context of each period. This active dialogue of every era with the tale of the origins of a city, which existed and kept a recognizable sense of identity for almost 3,000 years, gives us a privileged insight on how history is made.

Silvia Gazzoli, Marmore Ornare. Esempi di evergetismo nelle città dell’Italia Romana

Keywords: Roman marbles, epigraphy, Roman Italy, euergetism, ornaments/Marmi antichi, epigrafia, Italia romana, evergetismo, ornamenti

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to examine the epigraphic evidence concerning marble ornaments and decorations found in the roman cities of the Italian peninsula. This topic is strictly related to the social practice identified in modern scholarship as euergetism, that could be defined in this case as donations by private citizens of decorations or marble elements to adorn public buildings. In this paper the analysis of inscriptions will lead to considerations regarding the decorations, the social status of sponsors and personalities mentioned, and information provided by other sources as juridical texts or literature.

Martine Diepenbroek, Hiding Secrets in Greek Siegecraft: Why did Aeneas Tacticus Never Discuss the Spartan scytale?

Keywords: Aeneas Tacticus; Greek warfare; cryptography; Sparta; scytale

Abstract: Communication security – known as cryptography and steganography – is as important to modern states, as it is to ancient ones. The earliest known original source on ancient communication security is Aeneas Tacticus’ How to Survive Under Siege. It is in Aeneas Tacticus’ work that historians of cryptography insist that we would expect to find a discussion of the cryptographic device known as the Spartan scytale had its use as a cryptographic device been known to Aeneas Tacticus. However, in this article I will show that Aeneas Tacticus had other reasons for not discussing the scytale as a cryptograph – the main reason being that Aeneas was far more interested in steganographic practices to physically hide messages than cryptographic practices like the scytale, used to encipher secrets.

Thomas Rose and Shane Wallace, The Athenian Revolt from Demetrios Poliorketes: New Evidence from Rhamnous (I.Rhamnous 404)

Keywords: Aristeides of Lamptrai; Demetrios Poliorketes; Polyainos; Mouseion; Piraeus; Macedonian garrisons

Abstract: The recent publication of a decree from Rhamnous (I.Rhamnous 404) sheds new light on the Athenian revolt against the occupying forces of Demetrios Poliorketes and the expulsion of the king’s garrison from the Mouseion Hill, an action that is usually dated to 287. The decree honors Aristeides of Lamptrai for his distinguished record in the period between the capture of the Mouseion, when he held the office of general epi ten paraskeuen, and his generalship of the coast at Rhamnous in the year of Menekles (267/6) when the decree was passed. Since we know from another source that Aristeides held a generalship in the archonship of Telokles (280/79), the decree has been cited as evidence that the expulsion of Demetrios’ garrison should be downdated to Telokles’ year. But I.Rhamnous 404 also credits Aristeides’ brother Mnesidemos for his role in the capture of the Mouseion, and a richly detailed stratagem recorded by Polyainos demonstrates that Mnesidemos was killed in a botched attempt to evict another Macedonian garrison from Piraeus in 286. Thus, the decree for Aristeides confirms the traditional dating for the capture of the Mouseion and helps elucidate the other sources that document the Athenian revolt from Demetrios.

Jiaxin Liu, The social structure of the Spartan City-State: A game-theoretic explanation

Keywords: Sparta; Ancient Greece; Game Theory; Analytic Narratives; Social History; Class Conflict

Abstract: This paper seeks to explain Archaic and Classical Spartan society through game-theoretic measures. Namely, it argues that the strict hierarchy and relative stability of the Lacedaemon polis (Spartan city-state) is the result of a game equilibrium that both the elite (Spartiates) and the non-elite (Helots) of society—who are modeled as independent “game players”—are unwilling to deviate from. Yet, it is also emphasized how such an equilibrium could in fact be disrupted, and how the Spartiates and Helots were incentivized to not maintain or maintain the status quo under certain conditions. These disruptions were manifested through socio-economic inequalities among the Spartiates and Helot rebellions. Exogenous factors such as natural disasters and intervention by foreign city-states are also considered in the analysis since they influence the construction of Spartan society as well. Overall, this study highlights the possibility of a quantitative study of historical class tensions, and provides a unique perspective on one of the most distinct and well-known polities of antiquity.

Volume 37

Volume 37.1-2

Alyson Roy, Commodifying Privatizing Conquest Power in the Late Roman Republic: The Case of L. Licinius Lucullus

Keywords: consumerism; prestige; villas; banquets; cultural capital; conspicuous consumption

Abstract: The late Roman Republic witnessed the consolidation of power in the hands of individual aristocrats. Simultaneously, wealthy Roman elites increasingly conveyed social status through domestic spectacle – that is, the decoration, aesthetics, and entertainment functions within their homes and villas. These two developments were explicitly linked. As traditional paths to power became less accessible, Roman elites frequently enhanced their power through alternative means. Domestic spectacle offered potent opportunities both for solidifying electoral support and for forming, and maintaining, political relationships. Using L. Licinius Lucullus (cos. 74 BCE) as a case study, this paper traces how private display and conspicuous consumption became integral to elite identity, offering complementary paths to power that ultimately broadened access to political authority.

Jeremy LaBuff, Beyond “Greeks”: Toward More Inclusive Histories of the Ancient Mediterranean

Keywords: Greekness, modern historiography, identity, Athens, Hellenistic World

Abstract: This article argues that a commitment to the category of “Greeks” in framing the study of the ancient Mediterranean embeds us in the legacies of nationalism, colonialism, and racism, and rests on a problematic evidentiary basis. After reviewing the ways that scholarly narratives subtly endorse this legacy, I examine two case studies, Classical Athens and the world of the Hellenistic kingdoms, to argue that minimal impact of Greek identity discourse does not justify framing their histories through the category of Greekness. The paper closes with a consideration of how to reframe “Greek” history in more inclusive and coherent ways.

Paul Jarvis, Commodus’ Court: Conspiracy and Consequences

Keywords: Political culture, Antonine Rome, Commodus, conspiracies, prosopography

Abstract: Many scholarly and popular studies of the reign of Commodus (180-192 CE) focus on his crimes and character. In the present article it is my intention to argue that Commodus’ reign can instead be productively evaluated by using the concept of political culture. Using this concept, it is possible to reframe questions about Commodus’ ability and success as an emperor along sociological lines and, via analyses of his succession and the conspiracy against him early in his reign (180-3), describe the structural features of Roman imperial society that were inimical to him as a young emperor. To accomplish this, I first highlight the differing historiographical treatment of the reigns of Marcus and Commodus. I next examine Commodus’ succession and the conspiracy against him, using accounts of these inflection points to investigate the underlying Antonine political culture. Prosopography is used to nuance the literary evidence and demonstrate the real and lasting break by Commodus with his father’s networks of supporters and the aristocracy more generally. My intention throughout is to show, with reference to previous work on the concept of political culture in imperial Rome, how the relationship between the emperor and the aristocracy in the Antonine period was characterised by mutual obligations and expectations which Commodus’ youth left him unable to fulfil. The consequences for emperor and aristocracy alike was a violent conflict of interests with socio-political origins.

Stefanos Apostolou, When was Aeolis? The Fluctuating Boundaries of Aeolis, Mysia, and the Troad

Keywords: Aeolis, Ancient Geography, Mysia, Troad, Ancient Asia Minor, Strabo, Ilion, Roman Propaganda

Abstract: This paper discusses the fluctuating boundaries of Aeolis in the preserved geographical accounts from the Classical to the Roman periods. Instead of confusion and inaccuracy on the part of ancient authors, it argues that the changing size of Aeolis in our sources reflects political and conceptual changes of the times of authorship. Those changing circumstances caused an oscillation of the size of Aeolis: from a Herodotean Small Aeolis to a Larger Aeolis in the 1st century BCE, and back to the Herodotean rule after the 3rd century CE. The paper explains the oscillation on the basis of two significant changes in ancient Asia Minor. First, the consolidation of Ilion firmly at the northwest corner of Asia Minor created new possibilities for communities on the southern coast of the Troad, as they could combine claims of Trojan and Aeolian affiliation. Then, those opportunities were enhanced after the forging of a special relationship between Rome and Troy, exalted by Iulian and imperial propaganda. The growth of Aeolis left little room for Mysia, which disappeared from geographical accounts between the 1st century BCE and 1st CE. After the imperial propaganda subsided, Mysia resurfaced and the size of Aeolis returned to its classical boundaries.

Volume 37.3-4

Anna Accettola, IG XII Suppl. 307: Proxenia and Second-Century Nabataea

Keywords: Nabataea; Hellenistic Aegean; proxenos; Tenos

Abstract: Inter-state cooperation was a staple of Mediterranean life in the second century BC. However, second-century Nabataea has been seen as underdeveloped in such relationships and relegated to a peripheral sphere of influence. The Tenean inscription IG XII Suppl. 307 belies this small role and rather integrates Nabataea into the institutional norms of the Hellenistic Aegean. A Nabataean, Salamenes, was awarded a highly coveted proxenos position by the Tenean council and demos, granting him access to rights normally reserved for citizens. In addition, this honor bridged the cultural and physical divide between the two states, guaranteeing a facilitation of social and economic movement. Such a public honor may be read as additional evidence for early Nabataean state formation and its growing influence in the Aegean.

Tomasz Zieliński, Demetrius Poliorcetes’ nickname and the origins of the hostile tradition concerning his besieging skills

Keywords: Demetrius Poliorcetes, Diodorus Siculus, Poseidon, Plutarch, Rhodes, nicknames

Abstract: The article examines Demetrius Poliorcetes’ sobriquet and the origins of the hostile tradition towards this king and his besieging skills. The prevailing opinion is that Demetrius’ nickname derived from his unsuccessful siege of Rhodes (305/304 BC) and was applied to him in derision. Recently, however, we have observed a rise in interest in his military undertakings, especially sieges he laid. A re-examination of the ancient sources demonstrates that king’s sobriquet, emphasizing his poliorcetic talents, was well-deserved. This paper attempts to provide further arguments to support this claim. Moreover, they also shed some light on innovative aspects of Demetrius’ royal self-fashioning, one of the key elements of which were his talent for designing siege engines and engineering endeavors. Such conclusion might produce an essential change in our interpretations of the origins of the hostile tradition against the king.

Alessandra Coppola, The Return and “Purification” of Alcibiades

Keywords: Alcibiades, Return, Plynteria, Purification, Tragic models

Abstract: This paper describes some aspects of Alcibiades’ return to Athens in 407 B.C., focusing on some neglected aspects an especially on the coincidence between his repatriation and the first day of the Plynteria, which was considered an ominous day because of the goddess Athena being veiled and purified in the sea. The question arises whether this happened by chance or in a well-orchestrated plan which aimed at presenting an impure but repented Alcibiades searching for “purification” in connection with the goddess. Some similarities with Euripide’s Iphigeneia in Tauris are also taken into account.

Federico Santangelo, Caesarism in Ancient Rome?

Keywords: Caesarism; Julius Caesar; Augustus; Late Roman Republic; Roman Principate; Roman political culture; history of classical scholarship.

Abstract: This paper offers a reconsideration of the concept of ‘Caesarism’, charts its presence and development in the modern historiography on ancient Rome, and argues for its validity to the understanding of the history of the late Roman Republic and the early Principate.

Volume 38

Vol 38.1-2

Giustina Monti, Timaeus, Aristotle, and Polybius’ degrees of truth, 1-22

Keywords: Aristotle; autopsy; Lokroi Epizephyrioi; Polybius; Timaeus; truth

Abstract: Polybius uses the criticism of historians to prove his statements and his historical interpretation. It is, above all, his apodeictic method that requires it: by placing under investigation others’ mistakes, at the same time he has the opportunity to highlight what a historian must not do and enucleate the canons of the right historiographical method. This article will focus on Polybius’ historiography in relation to truth and the criticism of the historian Timaeus. It will also show that Polybius’ notion of truth appears to be multifaceted and it becomes a whole and unbroken essence only when a proper historian deals with it after taking all the required steps corresponding to the phases of historical science.

Lara O’Sullivan, The Athenian naval campaign and the failure of the Lamian War: a re-evaluation, 23-41

Keywords: Lamian War; Athenian navy; Amorgos; Cleitus; Athenian grain trade

Abstract: This paper seeks to question a number of long-standing suppositions about Athens’ performance in the Lamian War (323-322 bce). It has often been maintained that Athens suffered significant naval defeats (particularly at Amorgos), such as to destroy Athenian sea-power; it is further supposed that this failure by sea ultimately cost Athens the war itself. Close consideration of the literary traditions and inscriptional records suggest that these assumptions are ill-founded. It is posited here that aims of the naval sphere and its nexus with the land campaign can be understood differently, and that the explanation for Athens’ failure can be found in Diodorus Siculus, who provides our main literary treatment of the war. The absence of Athens’ key allies (notably the Aetolians) at a critical juncture in the land campaign, combined with the Greeks’ misapprehension of the Macedonian appetite for a truce, were the vital factors in Athens’ downfall.

Davide Morelli, Le relazioni diplomatiche fra i Romani e i popoli dell’Abruzzo antico fra IV e III sec. a.C., 42-59

Keywords: Pre-Roman Abruzzi, Marsi, Paeligni, Marrucini, Frentanians, Vestini, Roman diplomacy, Romano-Italic relationships

Abstract: The article examines the sources concerning the diplomatic relations between the Romans and the pre-Roman populations of Abruzzi at the turn of the 4^th and 3^rd centuries BC. From the alleged war between the Marsi and the Romans to the agreements of 304 with the Frentani, Marsi, Marrucini and Paeligni, from the Marsic revolt in the area of Carseoli to the treaty with the Vestini in 302, the attested diplomatic relations seem to indicate voluntary collaboration. This feeling is strengthened by other clues, such as the inscription of Caso Cantovios and the heroism of the Frentanian Oblacus in the Roman army at Heraclea. These agreements ultimately represented one of the greatest Roman diplomatic achievements and contributed to the formation of the inexhaustible army that led to the conquest of the Mediterranean.

Marcaline J. Boyd, Not Stratēgos Autokratōr (?) Some notes on Clearchus’ Rise to Power at Heraclea Pontica, 60-76

Keywords: tyranny, stratēgos autokratōr, summum imperium, arbiter, Justin, Black Sea

Abstract: It is generally believed that Clearchus I, tyrant of Heraclea Pontica (364/3–352 BCE) came to power as stratēgos autokratōr “general plenipotentiary.” This widely held view is based upon a statement in Justin’s epitome of Pompeius Trogus’ Historiae Philippicae that says Clearchus was granted summum imperium by the demos. This paper shows that the equivalence of Justin’s summum imperium with the Greek stratēgeia autokrateira is a modern construction. It will, furthermore, demonstrate that the ancient sources cannot support the certain correspondence between summum imperium and stratēgos autokratōr. Ancient literary testimony, however, describes Clearchus as an arbiter and paints a clear picture of stasiotic struggle preceding his tyranny suited to this role. Thus, while modern scholarship has tended to emphasize the military character of Clearchus’ coming to power, this paper examines Clearchus through a new lens to call attention to the tyrant as a mediating figure. In this respect, Clearchus from the Black Sea turns out to be in good company among other Greek tyrants who exploited internal stasis to achieve personal power.

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ANCIENT HISTORY BULLETIN

AHB promotes scholarly discussion in Ancient History and ancillary fields (such as epigraphy, papyrology, and numismatics) by publishing articles and notes on any aspect of the ancient world from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. Contributors are encouraged to submit articles in English, although submissions in French, German, Italian, and Spanish are welcome. AHB appears twice per year in double-issues (1-2 and 3-4).

Questions or concerns may be directed to the Senior Editor: Timothy Howe: howe@stolaf.edu