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Books > Humanities > Archaeology > Archaeology by period / region > European archaeology > Classical Greek & Roman archaeology
While there have been many studies devoted to the major heroes and heroines of Homeric epic, among them Achilles, Odysseus, and Helen, the figure of Menelaus has remained notably overlooked in this strand of scholarship. Menelaus in the Archaic Period is the first book-length study of the Homeric character, taking a multidisciplinary approach to his depiction in archaic Greek poetry, art, and cult through detailed analysis of ancient literary, visual, and material evidence. The volume is divided into two parts, the first of which examines the portrayal of Menelaus in the Homeric poems as a unique 'personality' with an integral role to play in each narrative, as depicted through typical patterns of speech and action and through intertextual allusion. The second part explores his representation both in other poetry of the archaic period - including lyric poetry and Simonides' 'Plataea elegy ' - and also archaic art and local Sparta cult, drawing on the literary, archaeological, and inscriptional evidence for the cult of Menelaus with Helen at Therapne. The depiction of Menelaus in archaic art is a particular focal point: Chapter 4 provides a methodology for the interpretation of heroic narrative on archaic Greek vases through iconography and inscriptions and establishes his conventional visual 'identity' on black figure Athenian vases, while an annotated catalogue of images details those that fall outside the 'norm'. Menelaus emerges from this comprehensive study as a unique and likeable character whose relationship with Helen was a popular theme in both epic poetry and vase painting, but one whose portrayal evinced a significant narrative range, with an array of continuities and differences in how he was represented by the Greeks, not only within the archaic period but also in comparison to classical Athens.
For a century following the end of the Lamian War in 322 B.C., Athens' harbour at Pireus was almost constantly occupied by a Macedonian garrison. The Macedonian presence dealt a crucial blow to Athenian independence and Athenian democracy, initiating the first in a long and intermittent series of foreign occupations. The twenty-eight papers in this volume are based on an international conference hosted by the University of Athens in May 2001, and focus on various aspects of Athenian art, archaeology and history in the century of Macedonian domination. They consider Athens' new role as a political stepping stone for potential Successors to the throne of Macedon - Cassander, Demetrios Poliorketes and Antigonos Gonatas were each able to secure Macedonia by using Athens as a power base - and the ways in which Athenian culture was affected by the Macedonian presence. They contribute to the ongoing debate about the reasons for the Macedonian ascendancy, the degree of independence accorded Athens by their Macedonian overlords, the third-century archon list, and changes in Athenian art and architecture.
Germania was one of the most important and complex zones of cultural interaction and conflict between Rome and neighbouring societies. A vast region, it became divided into urbanised provinces with elaborate military frontiers and the northern part of the continental 'Barbaricum'. Recent decades have seen a major effort by German archaeologists, ancient historians, epigraphers, numismatists, and other specialists to explore the Roman era in their own territory, with rich and often surprising new knowledge. This Handbook aims to make the results of this great effort of modern German and overwhelmingly German-language scholarship more widely available to Anglophone scholarship on the empire. Archaeology and ancient history are international enterprises characterised by specific national scholarly traditions; this is notably true of the study of Roman-era Germania. This volume compromises a collection of essays in English by leading scholars working in Germany, presenting the latest developments in current research as well as situating their work within wider international scholarship through a series of critical responses from other, very different, national perspectives. In doing so, this book aims to reveal the riches of the archaeology of Roman Germany, promote the achievements of German scholars in the area, and help facilitate continued English and German language discourses on the Roman era.
Imagery and iconography served specific functions in public, private, and ritual spheres in the Roman world. State-sanctioned imagery communicated politically charged ideas through an often-complex pictorial language, composed of emblems and attributes that signaled aspects of policy. In the private sphere, imagery communicated ethnic, social, and religious identities through specific signs, symbols, and forms, and through the emulation of state-sanctioned art. This volume focuses primarily on visual imagery in the Roman world, examined by context and period, and the evolving scholarly traditions of iconographic analysis and visual semiotics that have framed the modern study of these images. Among other subjects, essays touch on iconography and style in republican and early imperial art, public sculpture and social practice in the Roman Empire, coin iconography, funerary imagery, imagery in ritual use, and images and interpretation of Africans in Roman art. The Oxford Handbook of Roman Imagery and Iconography is an important reference work for both the communicative value of images in the Roman world and the tradition of iconographical analysis.
The frontiers of the Roman empire together form the largest monument of one of the world's greatest states. They stretch for some 7,500km through 20 countries which encircle the Mediterranean Sea. The remains of these frontiers have been studied by visitors and later by archaeologists for several centuries. Many of the inscriptions and sculpture, weapons, pottery and artefacts created and used by the soldiers and civilians who lived on the frontier can be seen in museums. Equally evocative of the lost might of Rome are the physical remains of the frontiers themselves. The aim of this series of books is not only to inform the interested visitor about the history of the frontiers but to act as a guidebook as well. The province of Dacia had a relatively short life being abandoned due to economic and strategic reasons in the 260s. It was heavily militarized and therefore the role of the army was crucial in Its development and life. The Roman frontier In Dacia combined several elements, each relating to the landscape: there were riverain and mountain borders, some supplemented by linear barriers, and all connected by roads. Everywhere, the complex system of the border consisted primarily of a network of watchtowers, smaller or larger forts and artificial earthen ramparts or stone walls.
The Life and Works of Robert Wood (1717-1771) commemorates the Irish classicist and traveller on the 250th anniversary of his death and provides the general reader with a study that can be regarded as a source book for the fascinating life and career of a much-neglected figure in the realm of Irish eighteenth-century travels and antiquarianism. The book starts by setting the context of eighteenth-century travels to the east and then examines the primary sources emanating from Wood's own eastern voyages, as well as the relevant literary sources available to him before, during, and after his travels. It then provides an extensive and much-needed biographical account of Robert Wood, with particular reference to his Irish and English patrons, before examining the main results of the second tour (1750-1751), namely his three pioneering books: Ruins of Palmyra (1753), Ruins of Balbec (1757), and The Original Genius of Homer (1775). It ends by considering the enormous legacy of Robert Wood, in terms of the popularity of his books; the variety and quality of portraits commissioned by his friends and associates; his contribution to the study of classical literature; his influence on architectural drawing in late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe; and the cultural significance of his work on building design. The text also reflects on the somewhat questionable nature of his works, in terms of the fact that his second voyage of the east, and the entire production of the first two books, were financed by his friend Dawkins, whose wealth derived from a slave plantation in Jamaica.
Wroxeter: Ashes under Uricon offers a perspective on how people over time have viewed the abandoned Roman city of Wroxeter in Shropshire. It responds to three main artistic outputs relating to the site: poetry, images and texts. The poets include Wilfred Owen, A.E. Housman and Mary Webb. The writers cover a range of interests relating to the site but include Darwin, Dickens, Rosemary Sutcliff and John Buchan. The artists are perhaps less well-known but include watercolours by Thomas Girtin, archaeological reconstructions by Alan Sorrell and Amedee Forrestier, and paintings by Wroxeter's own resident artist, Thomas Prytherch. Photographs are represented by the work of Francis Bedford and others more closely associated with aerial archaeology such as J.K. St Joseph and Arnold Baker. While the famous names have their value, The book also investigates what locals and visitors thought of the site over time - how they perceived it and have responded to it. It reflects in particular upon how the public and locals responded to the archaeological discoveries on the site and perceived the narratives that were created by the archaeologists working on it. It contends that archaeologists are just as much story-tellers as the writers, poets or artists, although their work is more filtered or controlled, and through these narratives, they inspire others. A further strand to the book is to explore the increasing focus over the past century on the democratisation of access to and understanding of the site, alongside increasing state intervention in its running. This too has had its impact on who visits and what is understood about the site. A short concluding section offers a vision of how the site might develop in the near-future, and how its cultural side might flourish once again.
The festivals of the Athenian sacred calendar constitute a vital key to classical Greek culture and religion. Erika Simon sets out here to explicate those complex and often obscure festivals. By careful marshalling of a variety of proofs from literary, historical, and archaeological sources, she is able to justify some startling conclusions and achieve a comprehensive and truly original synthesis that clarifies, as never before, the probable origins and meanings of the Attic cults.
Kommos, located on the south coast of Crete, is widely known for its important sanctuary of the Greek period for its earlier role as a major Minoan harbortown. Volumes II and III in this series, dealing with the Minoan pottery, have already been published. Volume I, Part I (1995), offered a general introduction to the site, followed by chapters on the archaeological exploration of the area, its geology, fauna and flora, land use, as well as on the Minoan implements and indsutries. Now Volume I, Part II introduces the Kommos town (Joseph W. Shaw), and analyzes and interprets the houses on the hilltop (Maria C. Shaw and Lucia F. Nixon) and hillside (James C. Wright and John McEnroe). There is a catalog of miscellaneous finds from the houses (Mary K. Dabney, Katherine A. Schwab, Maria C. Shaw, John Bennet, Helene Whittaker, David Reese, and Olga Kryszowska), followed by synthetic chapters on town planning and domesetic architecture (Maria C. Shaw) and site development (Joseph W. Shaw). Combined, the interrelated Kommos volumes present an unusually thorough, interdisciplinary interpretation of a prehistoric site in Greece. An excavation by the University of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. Originally published in 1996. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
The frontiers of the Roman empire together form the largest monument of one of the world's greatest states. They stretch for some 7,500km through 20 countries which encircle the Mediterranean Sea. The remains of these frontiers have been studied by visitors and later by archaeologists for several centuries. Many of the inscriptions and sculpture, weapons, pottery and artefacts created and used by the soldiers and civilians who lived on the frontier can be seen in museums. Equally evocative of the lost might of Rome are the physical remains of the frontiers themselves. The aim of this series of books is not only to inform the interested visitor about the history of the frontiers but to act as a guidebook as well. The aim of this publication is not only to inform about historical and archaeological facts on the Limes in Serbia but also to act as a guidebook as well through the Danubian Limes.
Before the creation of the Agora as a civic center in the 7th century B.C., the region northwest of the Acropolis was a vast cemetery. Over 150 ancient burial places have been found by excavators, and a few of the more remarkable are described here. These range from a wealthy Mycenaean chamber tomb, filled with the vases and jewelry of a rich noblewoman, to the poignant pithos burial of an infant from around 725 B.C., accompanied by eight tiny vases. As well as describing the assemblages found, the author discusses the symbolism of funeral rites and the information about social status and identity that burials reveal.
Walking served as an occasion for the display of power and status in ancient Rome, where great men paraded with their entourages through city streets and elite villa owners strolled with friends in private colonnades and gardens. In this book-length treatment of the culture of walking in ancient Rome, Timothy O'Sullivan explores the careful attention which Romans paid to the way they moved through their society. He employs a wide range of literary, artistic and architectural evidence to reveal the crucial role that walking played in the performance of social status, the discourse of the body and the representation of space. By examining how Roman authors depict walking, this book sheds new light on the Romans themselves - not only how they perceived themselves and their experience of the world, but also how they drew distinctions between work and play, mind and body, and Republic and Empire.
Ancient Sikyon, in the northeastern Peloponnese, was a major player on the Mediterranean stage, especially in the Archaic and Hellenistic periods. This important topographical study combines substantial background information with original research from many years of archaeological fieldwork. After discussing the physical environment and resources of the region, the author traces the history of Sikyon from the Mycenaean to the early modern period. The book then expands to discuss the place of the city in its surrounding landscape, especially in the creation of fortifications to protect property and control the flow of trade. A series of elegant maps plot the position of many previously unknown settlements and sanctuaries.
The fully revised second edition of this successful volume includes updates on the latest archaeological research in all chapters, and two new essays on Greek and Roman art. It retains its unique, paired essay format, as well as key contributions from leading archaeologists and historians of the classical world. * Second edition is updated and revised throughout, showcasing the latest research and fresh theoretical approaches in classical archaeology * Includes brand new essays on ancient Greek and Roman art in a modern context * Designed to encourage critical thinking about the interpretation of ancient material culture and the role of modern perceptions in shaping the study of art and archaeology * Features paired essays one covering the Greek world, the other, the Roman to stimulate a dialogue not only between the two ancient cultures, but between scholars from different historiographic and methodological traditions * Includes maps, chronologies, diagrams, photographs, and short editorial introductions to each chapter
Longlisted for the RUNCIMAN AWARD, 2021 Medicine is one of the great fields of achievement of the Ancient Greeks. Hippocrates is celebrated worldwide as the father of medicine and the Hippocratic Oath is admired throughout the medical profession as a founding statement of ethics and ideals. In the fifth century BC, Greeks even wrote of medicine as a newly discovered craft they had invented. Robin Lane Fox's remarkable book puts their invention of medicine in a wider context, from the epic poems of Homer to the first doctors known to have been active in the Greek world. He examines what we do and do not know about Hippocrates and his Oath and the many writings that survive under his name. He then focuses on seven core texts which give the case histories of named individuals, showing that books 1 and 3 belong far earlier than previously recognised. Their re-dating has important consequences for the medical awareness of the great Greek dramatists and the historians Herodotus and Thucydides. Robin Lane Fox pieces together the doctor's thinking from his terse observations and relates it in a new way to the history of Greek prose and ideas. This original and compelling book opens windows onto many other aspects of the classical world, from women's medicine to street-life, empire, art, sport, sex and even botany. It fills a dark decade in a new way and carries readers along an extraordinary journey form Homer's epics to the grateful heirs of the Greek case histories, first in the Islamic world and then in early modern Europe.
The Traffic Systems of Pompeii is the first sustained examination of the development of road infrastructure in Pompeii-from the archaic age to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE-and its implications for urbanism in the Roman empire. Eric E. Poehler, an authority on Pompeii's uniquely preserved urban structure, distills over five hundred instances of street-level "wear and tear" to reveal for the first time the rules of the ancient road. From his analysis of curbstones, cobbled surfaces, and ruts emerge the intricacies of the Pompeian traffic system and the changes to its operation over time. Though archaeological expertise forms the backbone of this book, its findings have equally important historical and architectural implications. Later chapters probe the impact of design and infrastructure on social roles and hierarchies among property owners in Pompeii, illuminating the economic forces that push and pull upon the shape of urban space. The final chapters set the road system into its broader context as one major infrastructural and administrative artifact of the Roman empire's deeply urban culture. Where does Pompeii's system fit within the history of Roman traffic control? Is it unique for its innovation, or only for the preservation that permitted its discovery? Poehler marshals evidence from across the Roman world to examine these questions. His measured and thoroughly researched answers make this study a critical step forward in our understanding of infrastructure in the ancient world.
In Destinations in Mind, Kimberly Cassibry asks how objects depicting different sites helped Romans understand their vast empire. At a time when many cities were written about but only a few were represented in art, four distinct sets of artifacts circulated new information. Engraved silver cups list all the stops from Spanish Cadiz to Rome, while resembling the milestones that helped travelers track their progress. Vivid glass cups represent famous charioteers and gladiators competing in circuses and amphitheaters, and offered virtual experiences of spectacles that were new to many regions. Bronze bowls commemorate forts along Hadrian's Wall with colorful enameling typical of Celtic craftsmanship. Glass bottles display labeled cityscapes of Baiae, a notorious resort, and Puteoli, a busy port, both in the Bay of Naples. These artifacts and their journeys reveal an empire divided not into center and periphery, but connected by roads that did not all lead to Rome. They bear witness to a shared visual culture that was divided not into high and low art, but united by extraordinary craftsmanship. New aspects of globalization are apparent in the multi-lingual placenames that the vessels bear, in the transformed places that they visualize, and in the enriched understanding of the empire's landmarks that they impart. With in-depth case studies, Cassibry argues that the best way to comprehend the Roman Empire is to look closely at objects depicting its fascinating places.
A desire to recreate Minoan palaces, villas, and houses of the Late Bronze Age inspired the author of this book to undertake an eight year research program that has radically modified our conception of the appearance of Cretan dwellings. He not only interprets the use of the rooms that partially survive but reconstructs the guest suites and banquet halls of the vanished upper storeys. Written both as a preparation for a visit to Crete and as an actual guide to the sites," the book is prefaced with an account of the island's geography, history, and culture in antiquity, and packed with illustrations including photographs, plans, reconstructions, and a map of the island showing the sites. Originally published in 1987. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. Originally published in 1987. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
This volume, featuring sixteen contributions from leading Roman historians and archaeologists, sheds new light on approaches to the economic history of urban craftsmen and traders in the Roman world, with a particular emphasis on the imperial period. Combining a wide range of research traditions from all over Europe and utilizing evidence from Italy, the western provinces, and the Greek-speaking east, this edited collection is divided into four parts. It first considers the scholarly history of Roman crafts and trade in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, focusing on Germany and the Anglo-Saxon world, and on Italy and France. Chapters discuss how scholarly thinking about Roman craftsmen and traders was influenced by historical and intellectual developments in the modern world, and how different (national) research traditions followed different trajectories throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The second part highlights the economic strategies of craftsmen and traders, examining strategies of long-distance traders and the phenomenon of specialization, and presenting case studies of leather-working and bread-baking. In the third part, the human factor in urban crafts and trade-including the role of apprenticeship, gender, freedmen, and professional associations-is analysed, and the volume ends by exploring the position of crafts in urban space, considering the evidence for artisanal clustering in the archaeological and papyrological record, and providing case studies of the development of commercial landscapes at Aquincum on the Danube and at Sagalassos in Pisidia.
The Roman Town at Silchester, Calleva Atrebatum, was a working archaeological dig - the University of Reading Field School - which took place every summer for eighteen years. Taking advantage of the last opportunity to record 'life on the dig' in 2014, artist Jenny Halstead spent the summer creating and collating material for a beautiful and historic book. Jenny's superior draughtsmanship, her eye for colour and her wide variety of techniques produce evocative, lively images. The resulting book is a fitting and enduring record of this historic episode in the life of an ancient city.
This volume contains the proceedings of two international meetings held by the Minerva Center for the Relations between Israel and Aram in Biblical Times (RIAB) in Ramat-Gan/Jerusalem (March 2017) and Leipzig (May 2018). Most of the papers relate to various aspects of the Aramaic epigraphy in different contexts with a second part of the volume dealing with Idumean ostraca. The papers will be of interest to ancient historians, archaeologists of the ancient Near East, scholars of Semitic and Biblical studies and the ancient Near East.
Despite what history has taught us about imperialism's destructive effects on colonial societies, many classicists continue to emphasize disproportionately the civilizing and assimilative nature of the Roman Empire and to hold a generally favorable view of Rome's impact on its subject peoples. "Imperialism, Power, and Identity" boldly challenges this view using insights from postcolonial studies of modern empires to offer a more nuanced understanding of Roman imperialism. Rejecting outdated notions about Romanization, David Mattingly focuses instead on the concept of identity to reveal a Roman society made up of far-flung populations whose experience of empire varied enormously. He examines the nature of power in Rome and the means by which the Roman state exploited the natural, mercantile, and human resources within its frontiers. Mattingly draws on his own archaeological work in Britain, Jordan, and North Africa and covers a broad range of topics, including sexual relations and violence; census-taking and taxation; mining and pollution; land and labor; and art and iconography. He shows how the lives of those under Rome's dominion were challenged, enhanced, or destroyed by the empire's power, and in doing so he redefines the meaning and significance of Rome in today's debates about globalization, power, and empire. "Imperialism, Power, and Identity" advances a new agenda for classical studies, one that views Roman rule from the perspective of the ruled and not just the rulers. In a new preface, Mattingly reflects on some of the reactions prompted by the initial publication of the book.
The Afterlives of Greek Sculpture is the first comprehensive, historical account of the afterlives of ancient Greek monumental sculptures. Whereas scholars have traditionally focused on the creation of these works, Rachel Kousser instead draws on archaeological and textual sources to analyze the later histories of these sculptures, reconstructing the processes of damage and reparation that characterized the lives of Greek images. Using an approach informed by anthropology and iconoclasm studies, Kousser describes how damage to sculptures took place within a broader cultural context. She also tracks the development of an anti-iconoclastic discourse in Hellenic society from the Persian wars to the death of Cleopatra. Her study offers a fresh perspective on the role of the image in ancient Greece. It also sheds new light on the creation of Hellenic cultural identity and the formation of collective memory in the Classical and Hellenistic eras.
The three centuries which followed the conquests of Alexander are perhaps the most thrilling of all periods of ancient history. This was an age of cultural globalization: in the third century BC, a single language carried you from the Rhone to the Indus. A Celt from the lower Danube could serve in the mercenary army of a Macedonian king ruling in Egypt, and a Greek philosopher from Cyprus could compare the religions of the Brahmins and the Jews on the basis of first-hand knowledge of both. Kings from Sicily to Tajikistan struggled to meet the challenges of ruling multi-ethnic states, and Greek city-states came together under the earliest federal governments known to history. The scientists of Ptolemaic Alexandria measured the circumference of the earth, while pioneering Greek argonauts explored the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic coast of Africa. Drawing on inscriptions, papyri, coinage, poetry, art, and archaeology, in this Very Short Introduction Peter Thonemann opens up the history and culture of the vast Hellenistic world, from the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) to the Roman conquest of the Ptolemaic kingdom (30 BC). ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
The life cycle of a coin is long. One might even argue that its existence as a coin is only a minor part of the recycling of metal. In the field of archaeology, coin finds are evidence of connections between human beings. Coins were brought from one place to another by someone, with a reason to do so. Any object acquires new properties when moved from one cultural context to another, and the meaning of the Roman coin in the Danish Iron Age context no doubt differed greatly from its original significance. The Roman denarius was meant to be used as a coin in a monetary economy. Having left the area where the denarius was recognized as coin, it assumed new meanings. But, what were those new meanings? How was the denarius perceived in non-Roman communities? Which purposes did the coin serve? This book covers the later part of the Roman coin's existence - its arrival in Bornholm, its use there, and its deposition in and recovery from the soil. |
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