AEVUM

The present joint contribution focuses on the karmadhāraya compound puruṣavyāghra, whose distinctive feature according to Aṣṭādhyāyī 2.1.56 is the fact that the syntactic head (i.e. vyāghra-) is the qualifier and the other constituent (i.e. puruṣa-) is the qualificand. By resorting to Moro’s Dynamic Antisymmetry Principle in a micro-comparative dimension (Sanskrit, Latin, English), while sticking to Pāṇini’s account of the way in which a compound is generated (included the operative criterion to individuate the non-head), we have advanced a new source-phrase for puruṣavyāghra, where this correspondence between non-head and qualificand is ensured.

During his speech Against Leocrates, the Athenian orator Lykourgus mentions the name of Amintas, a brother-in-law of Leocrates. This dark character has not attracted so much attention by the researchers. Nevertheless, we know by the Attic prosopography that this is the first person we know in Athens with this name. Amintas is also a usual name among the Macedonians. As far as a lot of elements linked Leocrates and the trial against him with Macedonian politics and the struggle against Athens, we must observe the information about person named Amintas in the context of this conflict in the aftermath of Chaeroneia.

The paper investigates the creation of the historical tradition on the legendary rescue of Vesta’s temple cult objects by the pontifex maximus L. Caecilius Metellus during the fire of 241 B.C. While modern studies focused on the reasons behind L. Metellus’s blindness, this paper emphasizes the importance of the different views between the family tradition of the Caecilii Metelli, recorded in the laudatio funebris of 221, and the Roman annalistic and antiquarian tradition: the first does not mention the episode; the second, on the contrary, emphasizes it and preserves historically reliable information based on a civic memory.

The conflict in 119 B.C. between Marius and a Caecilius Metellus, who had secured his election to the tribunate of the plebs and then supported the consul L. Aurelius Cotta in the senatorial opposition to the tribune, has been generally interpreted as a turning point in Marius’career. This paper aims to reconsider the episode as a turning point also in the history of the Caecilii Metelli at the time of the “Metellan supremacy”. Three aspects seem to be relevant: 1) the lex Maria intended to strengthen the leges tabellariae supported by Scipio Aemilianus, who was a political enemy of both Q. Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus and L. Aurelius Cotta’s father; 2) Marius may have been looking for a support from his patrons, who had paid tribute to Scipio after his death; besides, the rise of a new generation of the Caecilii Metelli created favourable conditions for a new political leadership in the wake of the Cornelii Scipiones; 3) Marius’ failure in gaining Metellan approval in senate testify to the political influence of the elder Metellus Macedonicus who had supported the Aurelii Cottae. Therefore, in 119 the Caecilii Metelli pursued a senatorial consensus more than a reworking of their policy.

This paper explores the different meanings of the term popularitas from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. Originally linked with the idea of “citizenship” (Plautus), it indicates an actio, i.e. the pursuit of popular support by prominent republican politicians (adfectatores regni like Spurius Maelius and Manlius Capitolinus, “subversive demagogues” like the Gracchi, but also Cicero and Pompey) or by the emperors (Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and Titus). Its connotation can be positive or negative, depending on the context. Only from the 4th century the term usually refers to a status, i.e. the popularity. The disdain of the popular favour has become one of the main qualities of the good emperor.

This article proposes an approach to the processes of settlement, social integration and rootedness of the Rhomaioi who were established in the Anatolian communities, especially in Asia, in the 1st century BC. The evidence provided by some of the most important poleis of western Anatolia will be taken into consideration, especially by Ephesus and Cyzicus, which have documented the largest number of non-imperial nomina of the Anatolian west.

There has long been debate about the fate of Magnesia on the Maeander and Magnesia near Sipylus at the hands of Sulla after the First Mithridatic War. It is here demonstrated that Magnesia near Sipylus received its freedom and a sketch of its role in the war is given. In the case of Magnesia on the Maeander it is shown that the nature of the evidence is such that it can be interpreted as a falsification in the records or as a reward of freedom for saving its resident Roman population and that scholarly caution dictates we should not privilege one interpretation over the other.

The Cinnanum Tempus (87-84 B.C.) and the regime behind it (87-81 B.C.) are part of an atypical period, known thanks to our textual evidences, such as Appian of Alexandria’s relate, one of the most significant. This article seeks to reflect on his interpretation, defending the hypothesis that he collects a hostile vision regarding the system, of which he detects a strong transgression, perpetuating a decline-narrative and considering Sulla’s attack an understandable step to achieve the end of the στάσις.

The article addresses the question of the role of Carthago Nova during the turbulent years of the war in Hispania in 46-44 B.C.E. The traditional view holds that the city was captured twice during this time by the sons of Pompeius Magnus: firstly by Gnaeus Pompeius in 46 B.C.E. and secondly by Sextus Pompeius in 44 B.C.E. It is argued in this article that there is no compelling evidence to support this thesis, and that the city was captured by neither Gnaeus nor by Sextus, and that it did not play a significant role during the war in Hispania in the years 46-44 B.C.E.

The IXth century prosodic florilegium Exempla diversorum auctorum transmits the ovidian verse Fast. I 310 (ponemusque suos ad vaga signa dies) in a very corrupted form. By the analysis of the corruptions we can retrace the original form of the text, which probably had the lesson stata signa instead of the accepted vaga signa. A study of the context of the verse allows us to re-evaluate the variant, which seemed so far to be transmitted exclusively by recent witnesses of the Fasti.

In Paul’s speech before the Areopagus two points, viz. the altar of the unknown God and the concealed reference to a verse before the quotation from Aratus, are connected with Epimenides, one of the seven sages, and his poems. A third occurrence of the Cretan wise is at the beginning of the Epistle to Titus. The source of this knowledge is questionable (an Athenian friend of the apostle?). The elsewhere unattested name Damaris is probably a misunderstanding of the dignified common noun damar the Areopagites used for their wives.

This paper focuses on the so-called Roman-African temples, an architectural typology well represented in Africa Proconsularis moreover during 2nd and 3th century A.D. Despite they have been considered for long time as a form of “resistance” to Roman penetration in Africa, recently some Authors have noted that this interpretation is based on a cultural prejudice. In the following pages some cases of study are illustrated with particular attention to the pre-Roman phases (when presents), in order to point out the relationship between the earlier structures of worship and the construction of Roman temples.

The paper discusses the identification of Ambrose’s father with the person named Uranius quoted in Codex Theodosianus XI 1, 5. A closer examination of the passage, however, seems indicate that its author, Constantius, referred to  the pars Orientis of the Empire, which was ruled by him. Therefore, Uranius cannot be identified with Ambrose’s father, who instead was active in the pars Occidentis as praefectus, attested in Trier in 339. So, the proposed identification of Ambrose’s father with Marcellinus (argued in «Aevum», 88, 137-66, by Pizzolato) remains unaffected.

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