AEVUM

This paper analyses the content of the so-called ‘Coinage Decree’ of Athens with some thoughts on the economic and financial purposes of the prescriptions addressed to the poleis of the Delian-Attic League. The interpretation of the text reduces the imperialist character usually attributed to the decree and highlights the chance that the implementation of Attic coins, measures, and weights in the whole Athenian arche was promoted in a moment of financial recovery following the Peace of Nicias.

The hypotheseis to some ancient dramas contain valuable information concerning the year of performance, as well as the authors and plays competing in the same contest. Similar information is also found in five fragments from the Διδασκαλίαι by Aristotle, in ten fragments from an anonymous work entitled Διδασκαλίαι (and attributed to Aristotle by the most important editors of Aristotle’s fragments, Rose and Gigon), and in a group of inscriptions found in  Athens and edited by Millis and Olson. Although it has been widely assumed that all pieces of didascalic information contained in the hypotheseis and in the inscriptions ultimately go back to Aristotle, it can be argued that some data  require Eratosthenes’ chronological studies and, therefore, could not have been contained in Aristotle’s Διδασκαλίαι. Furthermore, Aristotle’s Διδασκαλίαι and the anonymous Διδασκαλίαι need not be strictly identified.

This paper examines the famous episode of the so-called legio Campana, the Roman garrison of Campanian troops, which, at the time of the Tarentine/Pyrrhic War, killed or exiled a major part of the male population of Rhegium and  arbitrarily seized the power over the city. My aim is not to provide a new reconstruction of each step of the affair. Rather, I will focus on some secure (or at least plausible) historical elements so as to establish how the embarrassing  conduct of the Campanian garrison may have impacted the ideological debate in the period following the Tarentine/Pyrrhic War and coinciding with the Punic Wars. A detailed analysis of the ancient sources will show that the Greeks  exploited the Rhegium affair for purposes of kinship diplomacy/propaganda. They did so in order to demonstrate that the Romans were barbaroi, namely that they had nothing to do with Greekness and/or civilization. Interestingly enough, the Romans accepted the tenets on which that propaganda was based and tried to turn it into their favor.

This paper explores the religious discourses used in Hispania’s front lines during the Second Punic World and immediately afterwards, highlighting the significance of Herakles- Melkart as an ideological middle ground for Romans,  Carthaginians and Iberian communities. We will pay attention to the ideological agendas of Romans and Carthaginians, both of whom resorted to gods in order to legitimise their political decisions. Besides, we will focus on the way  Iberians reinterpreted those Carthaginian and Roman agendas, resorting to them as political negotiation tools both in times of war and in the construction of their political schemas and community identity during the troublesome 2nd B.C.

The evidence of the Rhetorica ad Herennium, whose authorship is unknown, offers relevant information regarding the political dynamic of Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, especially in its passage I.21. As it is well known, the information  in relation to these historical figures is often directed towards partiality. Indeed, most of the preserved primary sources interpret the context through the use of negativized narratives. However, from the mentioned  passage, it seems to show a different perspective. This article aims to analyze it from a micro-level approach, so as to continue clarifying the study of the period, showing a Republican system in which there was a preponderance of the potestas tribunicia over the senatus auctoritas.

Our sources have maintained a deformed interpretation of the relationship between Tiberius and Germanicus, due to the fact that they insisted to attack the emperor on a moral and behavioural basis. Perhaps Augustus hoped for Germanicus to become emperor, but it was Tiberius who realized Augustus’ aspiration: Tiberius, even if he had a son of his own (Drusus the younger), chose Germanicus as his heir for political reasons (although he did not succeed  in fully consecrating himself), discarding for the second time one of his direct descendants (Tiberius Gemellus). Tiberius followed Augustus’ desire about the succession line: the leader of the empire had to be a member of the domus  belonging to the gens Iulia.

Coin set jewellery was particularly popular in the Roman world during the 3rd century AD, but it continued to be appreciated in late antiquity when new types were introduced and artefacts were created that combined exceptional  sumptuousness, extraordinary artistic quality and considerable economic value. A further characteristic element is represented by the increasingly wide acceptance of the transformation of gold coins into ornaments by the populations settled beyond the limes. They created jewels with their own peculiarities, which continued to be adopted in the Roman-Barbarian kingdoms after their settlement in the imperial territory. The essay presents and  discusses some little-known jewels set with gold coins or multiples from the Theodosian age, particularly significant in terms of their appearance and their monetary element. They are a pendant and a brooch from the American  Ferrell Collection, a fragment of a necklace from the Leu Numismatik auction 71 (1997), and a necklace found around Lodi in the 19th century and now kept in the Musei Civici in Pavia.

In order to define and disseminate the public image of the emperor, it was common to emphasize he had certain qualities, among others, magnanimity and generosity. In this sense he could be usually described as affable, and the  kingdom of Constantine was especially signified for that. In his time, it was used a diversity of terms, several commonly utilized by the traditional imperial channels of promotion, but also others of extraordinary use that were useful  as complement of the main virtues. From this point of view lenitas is confirmed in different means of his official communication, such as it is possible to verify in imperial constitutions, panegyrici and inscriptions.

While describing the descent of Jesus to the netherworld in the virgilian-Christian cento De Ecclesia, the anonymous author establishes a clear intertextual connection with Aeneas’ catabasis in the sixth book of the Aeneid. As a  result, Jesus is seen in a heroic light, related to the iter durum motif. However, when narrating his return (in the form of his resurrection), the centonist moves away from Aeneas and into a new intertextual model: Apollo, whose  more mature traits help define the parameters of an exemplar figure, superior to the heroes of the pagan heritage.

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