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Abstract Tyrant Pericles. Approach to the management of the health crisis during the plague of Athens (430-426 BC) The aim of this paper is to analyse the political and religious consequences of the Athenian plague of 430 BC. Regarding the political aspects, the work is focused on the popular judgement on the epidemic’s management and the consequent Pericles’ loss of political prestige. Moreover, the paper concludes that this popular response leads to the adoption of religious measures such as the introduction in Athens of Asclepius’ cult (421 BC). The facts mentioned above provide an alternative point of view of Thucydides’ epidemic main account.

The aim of this paper is to consider the ways in which political exiles acted in their relations with other states during the first phase of Spartan hegemony and up to the stipulation of the Peace of Antalcidas. It analyses as a case study the actions of those Rhodians who became exiles during the revolts that shook the island in the first decade of the 4th century BC. After a brief introduction, the paper focuses on the contexts that led to the proliferation of exiles in the period under consideration dwelling on the special relationship of mutual support between the Spartan king Agesilaus and the exiles. Then it analyses the case of the Rhodian exiles as an example of the general activism of the political exiles. They presented themselves as groups opposed to the governments in power or to precise policies that these governments supported and resorted to the traditional means of political struggle. By so doing, they broadened the area of political action outside the polis, politicising their exile with strategies that recall, at least embryonically, forms of modern political transnationalism.

This paper presents an unusual blue bunch of grapes-shaped ampulla from ancient Bergomum. The aim is the analysis of the types of glasses of bunch grapesshaped. According to the spread of these glasses and the find of a sample in Bergamo, this paper offers a possible case study of trade channels between the Levant, first area of production of these samples, and northern Italy.

Abstract Neither ἰατρίνη nor μαῖα: the «special» knowledge of the iatromaea/ἰατρόμαια Especially in the last thirty years both the ἰατρίναι/medicae and the μαῖαι/obstetrices have received particular attention from scholars both for a more precise framing of these female «professions» within activities that are not exclusively manual but also intellectual, and in order to reconstruct the legal status, the possibilities of social affirmation and the opportunities of economic income of these two specific professional profiles. The subject of analysis here is a figure in its own right, that of the iatromaea/ἰατρόμαια, a term attested by very rare epigraphic mentions in Latin and Greek, absent from the databases of papyrus texts and a veritable hapax in literary testimonies. After reviewing the inscriptions that certify the existence of this word and the hypotheses formulated by moderns regarding its possible meaning, the paper attempts to trace the professional profile of this specialist, identifying, through a comparison with the sources, similarities and differences with the other types of therapists and making an interpretative proposal in conclusion regarding the specific knowledge and skills of the iatromaea/ἰατρόμαια.

Abstract Democracy, or what everyone is worth (Thuc. II 37, 1) The paper addresses two exegetical problems in a passage from the speech of Pericles (Thuc. II 37, 1). It is argued that the word μέρος probably means «rotation» rather than «class-affiliation», since in this way three successive phrases, instead of being tautological, form an elegant system of affirmations, each of which is precising the previous one. The words ἀξίωσις and ἀξίωμα are opposed as signifying the process of acknowledgment of ἀρετή and the result of it (be it gaining authority, recognition of merits, appointment to a post, or simply approval of a proposal in an assembly). If ἀξιώματος depends from κεκώλυται and not from ἀφανείᾳ, ἀφάνεια need not have the meaning «absence», which seems not characteristic of it.

This paper addresses the guardianship of orphans in Plato’s Laws. The aim is to state whether the philosopher, through his theoretic model, wanted to correct the critical issues of the Athenian legal system that he perceived as most problematic. The paper is divided in two parts. The first one deals with the analysis of passages from Plato’s works in which the issue of the orphans’ guardianship had been addressed, in order to identify which related matters, in his opinion, deserved a corrective intervention. The second part of the paper is itself divided in two parts and deals with the analysis of the legislation on the orphans’ guardianship of Magnesia. The comparison with the Athenian and other institutions from the Greek world allows us to focus on the innovative features of this new legislation: they come out both from a personal revision by the philosopher and from the inspiration to non-Athenian models. In this way, Plato seems to try to fill the gaps of Athenian practice, even in theory.

This paper argues that, contrary to what has recently been proposed, exsequiis is at home in Aeneid 7.5 as an elegiac and Gallan term which footnotes the elegiac ethos and Gallan language of Caieta’s preceding epitaph (1-4). The paper also suggests that, in addition to its other recognised liminal aspects, the Gallan epitaph may show Virgil reflecting on his move from the Gallus-sponsored Eclogues via the Georgics to the Aeneid, sponsored by Augustus, and thus pay a discreet tribute to his former patron.

Winckelmann’s thought and writing are routinely acknowledged to have had a profound influence on the artistic practices of the half-century after his death, known under the label ‘Neoclassicism’. Standard accounts of modernism in the arts, however, assume that this influence came to an abrupt end around 1815. According to such accounts, the anti-classical reaction that followed the Battle of Waterloo and the demise of Neoclassicism was itself a motive force in the generation of modern art and modernism. This paper argues, on the contrary, that Winckelmann’s ideas not only remained relevant, but gained in power through the generations after the fall of Napoleon. Mediated by critics and artists among whom Walter Pater and Frederic Leighton serve as the principal examples, Winckelmann’s thought made a decisive contribution to twentieth-century modernism. In particular, the articulation in both criticism and artistic practice of ideas about classical form, indebted to Winckelmann, had a subtler and more complex impact on the modernist doctrine of ‘formalism’ than literary or art historians have acknowledged. A renewed attention to classical form will help future scholars to write a more nuanced account of modernism in the visual arts. More importantly, it will call attention to artistic projects that have been excluded from histories of modern art due to reductive assumptions that classicism and modernism are inherently contradictory. The paper concentrates on Frederic Leighton as a case study of an artist whose historical importance and aesthetic merit have been occluded by reductive thinking of this kind.

This paper examines a fifth-century B.C. obscure ceremony: the libations to Dionysus poured by the ten generals during the Athenian Dionysia in the theatre – a practice attested only by Plutarch’s Life of Cimon. The investigation here conducted firstly contextualises the libations as a religious ritual and, secondly, analyses its performers from a historico-political perspective. While highlighting the problematics for assessing and interpreting the libations as an unambiguous event, the paper investigates: (a) what the performers did during a libation; (b) who were the ordinary officers of the libations; and (c) to what extent democratic ideology was involved during the ritual.

This paper covers three separate topics. All three concern Cicero and his first-century AD commentator Q. Asconius Pedianus. The chief contribution of parts one and two is to identify sources consulted by Asconius that have previously not been revealed or suspected. Part one will show that the multiple errors committed by Asconius in recounting the circumstances of the death of Cicero’s daughter Tullia in 45 BC are to be attributed to a source that misunderstood a letter of Cicero. Prior to publication, the letters to Atticus appear to have been accessible in a private archive, and on at least one, and probably two occasions, Asconius reveals that the historian Fenestella was misled by identifiable letters of Cicero to Atticus. Therefore, it is plausible that Fenestella was the conduit by which the content of yet another letter left its imprint on Asconius. In part two, it will be demonstrated that Asconius is likely to have relied upon, and been misled by, the invective against Cicero that has come down to us under the name of Sallust. This borrowing provides an earlier terminus post quem non for the circulation of that pseud-epigraphic work. At the same time, it demonstrates that Asconius, like Quintilian after him, almost certainly accepted the invective as a genuine work by Sallust. Lastly, part three challenges the communis opinio that a hostile reaction of a theatre crowd to the praetor L. Roscius Otho in 63 was caused by their resentment of his law of 67 which conferred on knights the privilege of occupying the first fourteen rows of seats. According to the prevailing view, Cicero’s no longer extant oration De Othone persuaded the throng to set aside their anger over being barred from the front rows. This paper argues that the angry outburst was triggered instead by the role Otho played as urban praetor in overseeing cases involving the repayment of debts, which in 63 had become a politically charged issue.

Si presenta qui l’editio princeps di una defixio inedita dalla necropoli meridionale di Messana, rinvenuta in un contesto archeologico non disturbato. La laminetta plumbea si trovava ripiegata e inchiodata sotto il piede sinistro del defunto della tomba nr. 410, databile intorno alla metà del III sec. a.C. Il documento registra una lista di nove antroponimi greci, in gran parte di uso comune in Sicilia in epoca ellenistica, almeno due dei quali avevano funzione di patronimici. Tale dato lascia presumibilmente classificare il documento con una defixio giudiziaria, una tipologia comune dalla metà del V sec. a.C., mentre il testo è più conservativo rispetto a quelli, più articolati, noti in Sicilia nello stesso periodo. La giacitura della laminetta mostra che essa fu deposta contestualmente al seppellimento del defunto e la possibile identificazione del defingens con un familiare del defunto, forse scelto per il suo malvagio incarico, perché ritenuto un “restless dead”. Il documento testimonia ora una vicenda interna alla componente ellenica di Messana, sinora rimasta silente nella documentazione epigrafica durante l’akme della dominazione mamertina, mostra la vitalità della grecità cittadina intorno alla metà del III sec. a.C. e arricchisce l’esigua prosopografia greca di Messana in epoca ellenistica. This paper offers the editio princeps of one late hellenistic defixio from the Southern necropolis of Messana, which was rescued in an undisturbed archaeological context. The lead sheet was folded and nailed under the left foot of the deceased of tomb no. 410, datable around the middle of the III sec. B. C. The document records a list of nine Greek anthroponyms, largely of common use in Sicily in the Hellenistic era, at least two of which were patronymics. This presumably classify the document with a judicial defixio, a typology common in the V sec. B.C., whereas the text is more conservative than those, more articulated, known in Sicily in the same period. The deposition of the sheet shows that it was laid at the same time as the burial of the deceased and the possible identification of the defingens with a family member of the deceased, which was perhaps chosen for his evil office, because it was considered a “restless dead”. The document now testifies to a story internal to the Hellenic component of Messana, so far remained silent in the epigraphic documentation during the akme of the Mamertine domination, shows the vitality of the city greekness around the middle of the III cent. B.C. and enriches the small Greek prosopography of Messana in the Hellenistic era.

Abstract The advances that have taken place in recent decades in the investigation of the ritual and topographical structure of the Sanctuary of Delphi have brought to light strong correspondences with the narrative structure of the Proem of Parmenides. These correspondences, of a ritual, topographical and narrative nature, could be a sign that Parmenides’ hymn was composed to be performed in a civic and religious festival of ancient Elea that followed the model of the Theophania of Delphi. In this paper I present the signs and evidence in favour of this thesis, which implies not only a revision of the traditional interpretations of the Proem, but also the possibility of using it as historical evidence to improve our knowledge of the religious festivals held at Delphi. According to this interpretation, the Proem would not describe a katabasis or an anabasis, but the epidemia or arrival of Apollo at Delphi from the land of the Hyperboreans. The narrator would be Apollo (and not Parmenides), and the itinerary of his journey, that of the places and stations of the Theophania procession. This reading also offers a consistent interpretation of the sculptures and inscriptions found in the Insula II of Velia. It is quite likely that the pholarchoi were priests of Apollo, whose ritual consecration took place at the festival for which Parmenides’ hymn was composed.

Abstract Agrippina Minor and the ager Clusinus: a new inscription A funerary inscription, mentioning a slave of Agrippina Augusta, from the north-western part of the ancient ager Clusinus, could be evidence of an imperial property in this area of ancient Roman Etruria. This paper, with an accurate review of the probable archaeological context of the find, aims to provide new perspectives for the study of imperial properties and estates in the Julio-Claudian age in this portion of the regio VII and, more generally, of the history of the territory before 714 AD, the date in which the site (loc. Romitorio - San Quirico d’Orcia) is first documented.

Abstract Nicopolis foundation betwenn ideology and politics The paper aims at analyzing the multiple meanings that the foundation of Nicopolis by Octavianus implied. Whereas the modern scholarship commonly focuses on the ideological function of the foundation – namely the celebration of Octavianus’ victory over Antonius in the battle of Actium– it will be shown that Octavianus, by means of the foundation of the city, also aimed at conveying precise political messages both to those that supported him against Antonius and to the allies of the latter. The analysis of literary sources and epigraphic documents will also permit to explore some examples of responses among Greek communities to Octavianus’ victory at Actium and to the subsequent foundation of Nicopolis.

The paper examines how Giovanni Pascoli portrays Cicero as both poet and critic in his school-room anthologies Lyra and Epos, published between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. In the foreword to both textbooks, Cicero emerges as an accomplished orator but a poor poet, a versifier who clings to tradition and whose verses show little sensitivity to the innovations of the so called Neoterics. The paper argues that Pascoli’s opinion is to be understood within the context of the ongoing debate in Italy about approaches to classical studies. Such debate took shape in opposition to the stance taken by German scholars of the Altertumswissenschaft, in particular by Theodor Mommsen who, in his Römische Geschichte, harshly criticises Cicero’s political and literary career. As part of the analysis, the paper studies the criteria underpinning Pascoli’s edition, translation and commentary of epichistorical fragments collected in Epos, with a focus on excerpts from De consulato suo (fr. II S = 10 Court).

The paper examines the way Terence's comedy was received and exploited by the dramas of Hrotswitha of Gandersheim. The discussion focuses on a particular comic motif: rape. After the examination of the way Hrotswitha transforms Terentian rapes and incorporates them into her dramatic composition, the paper focuses on a very important spectrum of Terence's survival: education. Specifically, it explores how rape was read and interpreted by the most important treatise of Terence's exegesis: the commentary of Donatus. All in all, the paper aims at identifying possible common approaches between the educational and literary sources under examination, while, at the same time, investigates the extent to which the educational context of Terence's reception affected the literary products that used Terence as their prototype.

This paper explores the Aeneid’s geopoetics and travel thematics in relation to Vergil’s inclusion of the Eridanus-Po river in his description of Elysium (Aen. 6.558-9). The paper proposes that the reference to the Eridanus evokes an aboveground journey from Cumae to the Po region that symbolically corresponds to Aeneas’ Underworld journey in Aeneid 6. To support this supposition, the paper surveys references to travel in Aeneid 6; reviews previous interpretations of 6.558-9 as well as mythical and literary traditions relating to the Eridanus; and demonstrates the fundamental role of rivers for Greco-Roman conceptualizations of geographical space. The final section of the paper speculates about how a journey from Cumae to the Po resonates with travel that Vergil himself undertook during his lifetime, and considers ways in which linking Elysium to the Po region recalls Vergil’s earlier poetic representations of his patria and imbues his Underworld with a Padane tint.

Riassunto L’articolo prende spunto dal “mito” di Cicerone, le opere, gli insegnamenti, finanche la sua vita, per dimostrare la straordinaria importanza della cultura romana classica nel diritto processuale civile moderno, in tutto il mondo occidentale. In particolare, se da un lato la migliore dottrina, ma anche la giurisprudenza, richiamano spesso l’esperienza giuridica del mondo antico, dall’altro l’articolo sottolinea l’estrema utilità, ancora oggi, della retorica ciceroniana nell’attività forense, sia scritta sia orale. In questo contesto, si affrontano temi fondamentali come la ricerca della verità nel giusto processo e la tensione che esiste tra “fare presto” e “fare bene”, anche in applicazione del principio costituzionale della ragionevole durata previsto dall’art. 111. Da ultimo, in una prospettiva de iure condendo, si auspica un ritorno agli antichi fasti del processo orale, concentrato ed immediato, magari con l’aiuto delle più moderne tecnologie informatiche. Abstract The paper draws inspiration from Cicero’s “legend” (treatises, advices, even his life), to demonstrate the extraordinary importance of classical Roman culture in the modern legal practice of civil procedure, everywhere in the Western world. In particular, the paper argues that the best doctrine, and also jurisprudence, often recall the juridical experience of the ancient Roman world, and it also underlines the tremendous usefulness, even today, of Ciceronian rhetoric in a lawyer’s actions, both written and oral. In this context, this paper deals with fundamental issues such as the uncovering of truth in a fair trial and the tension that exists between “doing quickly” and “doing well”, even in application of the Italian constitutional principle of reasonable delay provided by clause 111. Finally, in a de iure condendo perspective, it hopes for a return to the ancient glories of the condensed, immediate and oral trial, perhaps with the help of the most modern technologies.

This paper reexamines the grove of Orpheus in Ovid, Metamorphoses 10, arguing that it is a space of complex ambiguity as activated and determined by the dual meaning of umbra. It conceptualizes the space as an atmospheric doublet of the Underworld, designed to give Orpheus imaginative access to his lost wife Eurydice by providing a second set of shade(s) as an audience for his song. By calling attention to the ways in which Orpheus’ summoning of the grove casts it as a neo-Underworld, this paper seeks to unsettle the grove’s persistent designation as the originary locus amoenus. Altogether, across the levels of narrative, Orpheus and Ovid engage in a receptive repurposing and manipulation of both the idea of literary shade (as inherited and adapted from Virgil) and the trope of the tree catalogue (as familiarised in epic) to create a landscape of profound liminality.

Is grief for the death of a loved one a universal, trans-historical emotion? What role does the historical, political and socio-cultural context play in how grief is understood, processed, performed, written about and represented in art? This special issue of thersites seeks to address these questions with reference to the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. Drawing on a wide range of both textual and material culture evidence, the six papers that make up this issue investigate how the ancient Greeks and Romans reacted to the death of relatives, friends and members of their wider community, and how it affected their lives, societies and sense of identity. The first half of the issue is devoted to the portrayal of grief in the Homeric epics and Greek tragedy, while the second examines a rich variety of Roman evidence from inscriptions to art, literature and philosophy. Our work intersects with wider debates in the cross-disciplinary field of the History of Emotions, but some of the papers also reference recent scholarship on the senses in antiquity.

Electra is Greek tragedy’s mourner par excellence. In Sophocles’ dramatic version she is portrayed as stuck in a state of never-ending grief that fuels her desire for vengeance. On the modern stage she captures audiences’ imagination with her powerful, multi-sensory spectacle of mourning. Electra is a transgressive character precisely because she mourns too intensely and for too long. She is trapped in a liminal space where both her mind and body are adversely affected by her excessive mourning. But so enthralling is the portrayal of her grief that it has become the most prominent strand of the tragic heroine’s reception. This paper investigates two examples of Sophocles’ Electra in performance at the end of the last millennium, as a means of unpicking two very different approaches to the portrayal of ‘tragic’ grief on the modern Greek stage. At the end of the 1990s, the country’s premier theatrical company, The National Theatre of Greece, staged Sophocles’ Electra twice; in 1996 Lydia Koniordou highlighted female ritual, while Dimitris Maurikios’ 1998 production featured an Electra that was labelled ‘hysterical’ by theatre critics. This paper examines how modern Greece’s claim to a ‘special relationship’ with classical Greece has affected the performance of Electra’s grief.

The paper is the first part of S. Barbantani’s contribution Lyric for the Rulers, Lyric for the People: The Transformation of Some Lyric Subgenres in Hellenistic Poetry, in E. Sistakou (ed.), Hellenistic Lyricism: Traditions and Transformations of a Literary Mode (Trends in Classics 9, 2), Berlin - Boston 2017, 339-399 (which discusses encomiastic lyric, epinikion in Callimachus, Posidippus and inscriptional epigram, literary epithalamia, threnoi and epikedeia, poems in stichic lyric meters, Carmina popularia, anthologies for symposiastic use and mimes). This contribution analyses how some of the main lyric genres, developed in archaic and classical Greek poetry, underwent transformation in the Hellenistic period, following social, political and cultural changes. The paper specifically explores lyric poetry produced ‘for the gods’ (hymns, esp. paeans, preserved on stone and on papyrus).

Il contributo si concentra sul racconto tacitiano del discorso tenuto da Claudio nel 48 d.C. a favore dell’ammissione in senato dei primores della Gallia Comata, esaminando le argomentazioni usate dallo storico per chiarire le reazioni suscitate dalla loro richiesta e la linea argomentativa adottata dall’imperatore per convincere i senatori ad accettarla. Oltre ad esprimere la consapevolezza dell’efficacia dei criteri usati dai romani per istituire un ordinamento imperiale a carattere sopranazionale, il passo mostra l’abilità di Tacito nel sottolineare la pregnanza politica dell’intervento di Claudio e nel renderlo un modello meritevole di sopravvivere ed essere menzionato molti secoli più tardi nella cultura moderna. In questa prospettiva, la seconda parte del lavoro analizza alcuni riferimenti al discorso dell’imperatore nel corso del Cinquecento e del Seicento da parte di autori come Justus Lipsius, Scipione Ammirato, Jean Bodin, Traiano Boccalini, Hugo Grotius. Nel contesto delle loro opere, talvolta dedicate anche all’esame di temi come la nascita, lo sviluppo e il declino degli stati, si nota che oltre a richiamare l’episodio occorso molti secoli prima, alcuni intellettuali di spicco usarono il resoconto ricavandone un esempio utile per promuovere un modello di governo efficace nel favorire l’integrazione quale mezzo di consolidamento degli stati moderni. The paper focuses on Tacitus’ account of the speech made by Claudius in 48 CE in favour of the admission of the primores of ‘long-haired’ Gaul to the senate, examining arguments used by the historian to clarify the reactions to their request and the reasoning adopted by the emperor to convince the senators to accept it. Besides expressing awareness of the efficacy of the criteria used by Romans to create a supranational imperial order, the passage shows Tacitus’ ability to highlight the political meaningfulness of Claudius’ intervention, making it a model worthy of surviving and being mentioned many centuries later in modern culture. In this vein, the second part of the paper analyzes some 16th and early 17th century references to the emperor’s speech in authors such as Justus Lipsius, Scipione Ammirato, Jean Bodin, Traiano Boccalini, Hugo Grotius. Within their works, also dedicated to examining the birth, development and decline of States, we see that besides recalling an episode occurring many centuries before, some key-intellectuals made utilized the story into a valid exemplum to promote a model of efficacious government favouring integration as a means of consolidating modern states.

L’articolo propone una nuova interpretazione delle norme contenute nella Lex Coloniae Genetivae Iuliae relative all’elezione degli auguri e dei pontefici locali. Tramite l’analisi della legge Ursonense alla luce delle norme vigenti a Roma per l’elezione dei sacerdoti, si vuole dimostrare che a livello locale due erano le vie per essere eletti sacerdoti: una (regolare) prevedeva un’elezione comiziale; l’altra, da applicare solo in determinati casi, che prevedeva una nomina diretta, che poteva appuntarsi anche su individui non domiciliati nella colonia. The paper aims at providing a new interpretation of the rules prescribed by the Lex Coloniae Genetivae Iuliae as to the election of the local pontiffs and augurs. Thanks to a comparative analysis between the Lex Ursonensis and analogue norms in force in Rome as to the election of the major priests, the paper shows that the law of Urso prescribed two ways to become priest: either through an election, or through a nomination; the latter, unlike the former, was only applied in specific cases and could also concern persons not belonging to the civic body of Urso.

The paper questions the assumption that the woman referred to as regina in Cicero’s letters to Atticus of 44 BC is Cleopatra VII. The paper argues that there are historical grounds for doubting that Cleopatra and her son were in Rome in 44 BC, and it suggests that the term regina is more likely to be a pseudonym than a title. By consideration of other nicknames used by Cicero, the paper posits Clodia Metelli as the regina. The paper then analyses Cicero’s comments about the regina in the light of this new identification and concludes that Cicero, having struggled in 45 BC to find a suitable property near Rome to serve as a personal retreat and to house a shrine to his recently deceased daughter Tullia, engaged in negotiations to buy Clodia’s Transtiberine horti in early 44, but withdrew his offer after a personal disagreement with Clodia. In addition, Cicero’s reference to Caesar ille (Att. 14, 20, 2), previously identified as Cleopatra’s son, should be understood as mocking Octavius’ recent adoption of Caesar’s name. L’article remet en question l’hypothèse selon laquelle la femme appelée regina dans les lettres de Cicéron à Atticus de 44 av. J.-C. serait Cléopâtre VII. L’article revendique qu’il y a des raisons historiques de douter de la présence de Cléopâtre et de son fils à Rome en 44 av. J.-C., et suggère que le terme regina a plus de chances d’être un pseudonyme qu’un titre. En prenant en considération d’autres surnoms utilisés par Cicéron, l’article propose Clodia Metelli comme étant la regina. L’article analyse ensuite les commentaires de Cicéron au sujet de la regina à la lumière de cette nouvelle identification et conclut que Cicéron, ayant lutté en 45 avant J.-C. pour trouver une propriété convenable près de Rome pouvant servir de lieu de retraite personnel et abriter un sanctuaire pour sa fille Tullia récemment décédée, s’engagea dans des négociations en vue d’acheter les horti de Clodia dans la région Transtibérine au début de 44, mais retira son offre après un différend personnel avec elle. De plus, la référence de Cicéron à Caesar ille (Att. 14, 20, 2), précédemment identifié comme le fils de Cléopâtre, doit être comprise comme se moquant de l’adoption récente du nom de César par Octave.

Jews in the Severan oecumene. Some aspects of Septimius Severus’ policy towards the Iudaei – This paper aims at exploring some aspects concerning the condition of the Jewish community during the Severan period, especially focussing on the political and administrative reorganisation carried out by Septimius Severus in the first years of his principate. Our main goal is to find out whether and to what extent a correlation can be detected between the administrative arrangement given by Septimius Severus (beginning with the defeat of Pescennius Niger in 194/195 AD) to the Egyptian, African and Syriac territories of the Empire, where many Jewish were then living, and the socio-economic conditions of these groups, dwelling particularly on a passage from Ulpian (Dig. L 2, 3, 3) concerning the municipal career of the Jews.

The sanction against the insolvent debtor in Etruscan law – In Etruscan society, according to a historiographical trend that begins with Aristotle, there was a law that punished the insolvent debtor with public redicule exposure. This punishment, apparently not incisive, to be understood needs to be correlated with the Etruscan legislation on perjury, preserved by Maurus Servius Honoratus, and with many other Roman, Greek and the laws of other ancient peoples. I will highlight the Dionysian aspect of the norm and the link with the poena cullei of archaic Roman law. So, the aim of this paper is to reconstruct the Etruscan legislation in debt matters, to the limited extent possible due to the gaps in the sources.

In his Letter 79 (probably written in c. AD 64) Seneca asks his addressee, Lucilius, who was then serving as procurator of Sicily, to send him a report on his travels around the island, including information specifically on Charybdis and Lucilius’ climb up Mount Etna. In addition to this “scientific tourism”, Seneca encourages Lucilius to attempt a new poem on Etna, “the venerated theme of every poet” (Ep. 79.5) and not to be deterred from doing so by the fact that there are already prominent literary works that offer remarkable descriptions of Etna. In my paper, I will first briefly discuss the implications of Seneca’s choice to single out Vergil’s and Ovid’s works as the specific volcanic intertexts against which not only Lucilius, but also he himself will initiate the process of literary emulation. In this connection, I will also explore the significance for Seneca of the fact that Lucretius’ volcanic passages -to which Seneca does not refer overtly- are the dominant intertexts for both Vergil and Ovid. I will then discuss the principle of multiple explanations and the notion of the sublime, two prevailing thematic themes that the Epistle 79 shares with the Natural Questions (in particular Books 3 and 4a) and which are conditioned by Seneca’s intertextual reception of Lucretius and Ovid.

This paper argues that Ovid was familiar with the philosophy of the Hellenistic dialectician Diodorus Cronus, in particular, his views on fate, which he probably knew from Cicero’s De Fato, and the so-called “horned” and “veiled” arguments associated with him. Ovid draws on these aspects of Diodorus’ philosophy to tell the story of Cipus in Metamorphoses 15 ; he uses them to portray Cipus’ attempt to avoid kingship as a highly ambiguous and unnecessarily risky, if not self-defeating, exercise in forestalling fate and thus leaves open the question of whether Cipus, in the end, succeeds in his attempt. This reading complements others that have argued that the inescapability of kingship, not Cipus’ moral choice, is the central point of the story. It also adds to our appreciation of Ovid’s use of philosophical material in his epic, an area of growing interest in Ovidian studies, which has thus far paid no attention to Diodorus Cronus and only a little to the influence of Cicero’s philosophical works.

The paper explores the argumentation from probability in Cicero’s speech Pro Roscio comoedo, concerning the financial litigation between a famous Roman actor Quintus Roscius and an unknown businessman Fannius Chaerea. The Roman rhetorician had analysed the question of probability in his earlier dissertation De inventione, which influenced his art of persuasion. Because of lack of the strong proofs the arguments from probability played a great role in the defence of Roscius. Cicero used different types of likelihood arguments: syllogistic argument from probability, credibilia, incredibilia, verisimilia, as well as the arguments from ethos and kedros. He seems to be here aware of the Greek theory of argumentation present in the writings of Aristotle and Rhetorica ad Alexandrum. The Roman orator recalled often the truth and juxtaposed it with the probability. Cicero employed likelihood proofs in his speech, both in argumentation and in refutation.

This paper analyses the relation between the authorial and textual subject of Ode I 9, Vides ut alta, and Ode II 19, Bacchum in remotis, as a means of transition from a figurative represented world to an author’s experience of the creative process, understood as Horace’s attempt to capture the creator’s natural need to transform this key experience into an act of poetic communication. As a starting point for analysis, the construction of the subject-bard (vates) and the topics of poetic frenzy (ingenium, insania, mania) shaping the poet’s image as a medium between the divine sphere of inspiration and the poetic communication turned towards the sender were adopted.

Few debates in modern academia are as heated as the one among scholars who consider the arrival of bubonic plague in Constantinople in the spring of 542 as a demographic and social disaster and those who argue for less tumultuous outcomes. Whatever side one stands on in the current discussion, the pandemic’s immediate impact on the administration, economy, politics, society and religious culture within Constantinople and the wider empire seems clear. In this article I will suggest that increased competition amongst Constantinople’s elites for a shrunken pool of suitable brides and grooms for their sons and daughters was one hitherto underappreciated result of the pandemic. The sixth-century eastern Roman historian, Procopius of Caesarea, offers ample evidence not only about the devastation wrought by the bubonic plague but also its impact on the political alliances in Constantinople. His digressions in Secret History concerning marital politicking amongst Constantinople’s elites provide evidence of this impact. Capitalizing on advances in our knowledge about Procopius both as an author and historical figure, I will analyze his writings on three levels: as history, literature and propaganda. By pondering what motivated Procopius to focus on these marital alliances and, moreover, pondering links between them, the paper offers some revisionist takes on these digressions, both as literary devices and as actual events.

Modern understanding of the emperor Justinian’s protracted war against the Gothic regime in Italy and Sicily is based almost entirely on the account of Procopius of Caesarea from 535 to 552. The chronology of the war therefore depends on the interpretation of Procopius’s narrative in the fundamental books by J.B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire (1923) and E. Stein, Histoire du Bas-Empire (1949), which underpin all modern accounts. Both Bury and Stein presumed that Procopius’ Gothic war year ran uniformly from the end of June of one year to the end of June of the next. This paper aims to demonstrate that the Procopian Gothic war year did not run at a fixed time from June to June each year, but from the beginning of the annual campaign season (normally March) to the end of the following winter, in clear imitation of his model Thucydides. Also explored are the implications for redating key episodes of the Gothic War

Written between 1321 and 1328 by one of the outstanding figures of the early Palaeologan Age, the Σημειώσεις γνωμικαί of Theodorus Metochita are a collection of 120 essays, dealing with various topics of history, philosophy, literature, which are considered to have no close parallels neither in Greek nor in Byzantine literature. This paper presents the critical edition, with Italian translation and notes, of essay 80: here, Metochita asserts that the ancient Greek philosophers wrote down models of the ideal state which had in fact been impracticable and compares them to some figures, taken from ancient history, whose laws had been successfully applied in real life. The paper focuses on defining the sources of Metochita’s statements and aims to point out that he reveals no hesitation in making intentional omissions, as well as quoting almost literal passages from the works of authors like Plutarchus and Dio Chrysostomus, in order to confirm his conclusions.

This paper investigates the use of Ancient Greek imagery in the marketing of male grooming products. Based on a case study of the cosmetics brand HOMMER, the paper analyses how elements such as scent and product ingredients combined with a visual profile and storytelling, provide consumers with elements for an experientially based identity creation. Based on psychological and archaeological theory, the athour argues that the intersection between product, advertising and consumer constitutes a play with identity and the potential for multisensory "time travel." By identifying the elements of a product poster, the visual narrative of a single product, a beard wipe, is shown to contain all the elements of the dominant Modern Greek national narrative and more, tying Greek notions of ancient and modern history to anglo-saxon sailor symbolism and the Neo-hipster phenomenon.

Anche dopo l’intenso dibattito che, a partire dagli anni '80 del secolo scorso, ha mirato a dar conto dell’impatto della diffusione della scrittura e della «literacy» sulla cultura tradizionalmente orale del mondo greco, lo statuto e il significato dei documenti epigrafici rimangono ancora non sempre ben chiariti. Gli studiosi hanno analizzato le dinamiche dell’«abitudine epigrafica» ateniese ma la questione fondamentale del perché i testi venissero iscritti su materiale durevole, se con valore funzionale oppure con significato simbolico, ideologico e religioso, è tuttora dibattuta. L’articolo si propone di contribuire alla discussione su questi aspetti collocando il fenomeno epigrafico nel quadro più ampio della produzione di documenti su materiale deperibile per l’affissione pubblica, che dobbiamo immaginare come un regolare strumento di comunicazione e di diffusione delle informazioni ufficiali, e per la conservazione in archivio – pratiche scrittorie rispetto alle quali già un passo delle Supplici di Eschilo (942-949) rivela la familiarità del pubblico ateniese. Si insiste sul carattere selettivo della pubblicazione epigrafica, su come la conservazione dei documenti in archivio sia anteriore alla creazione del Metroon alla fine del V sec. e appaia anzi presupposta dalla procedura della graphe paranomon e dai processi dell’iter legislativo e giudiziario, e sull’importanza, come strumento euristico, dello studio dei dossier e dei titoli epigrafici. Nell’ultima parte della relazione si confrontano i risultati di tale indagine con il contemporaneo uso dei documenti nell’opera di Tucidide. A titolo esemplificativo vengono considerati il trattato tra Argo e Sparta (5,41), il dossier di testi relativo alla tregua di un anno stipulata da Sparta e Atene nel 423 (4,118-119) e i decreti ateniesi sulla spedizione in Sicilia del VI libro. Following the past decades when scholars have attempted to come to terms with the emergence and impact of literacy and literate culture in Greek society, and, in particular, with the ways orality and literacy interacted in the different political, cultural and religious contexts, the status and meaning of epigraphic documents still remains difficult to pin down. Recent investigations have focused on the «epigraphic habit» and examined the somewhat anomalous case of classical Athens so as to highlight, and account for, the differences from other epigraphically productive centres. However, the question why inscriptions were produced at all, whether with functional value to make information available to the public or with symbolic and ideological significance still remains highly controversial. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the discussion by placing the epigraphic habit within the larger context of the production of documents both for posting and temporary display, which must have played a significant role in the dissemination of public information, and for storing as archival records. Familiarity with such literate practices appears to be already reflected by Aeschylus in a locus of the Suppliants, most probably produced in the late 460s (942-949). It is stressed that publication on stone was selective, that archival texts were already kept in the Bouleuterion before the Metroon was established (and e.g. is taken for granted by the procedure of the graphe paranomon), and that so-called «dossiers» and «epigraphic titles» can be useful heuristic tools to shed light on archival practices. The last section of the paper compares the results of the first part with the use of documents in Thucydides. By way of example, the text of the aborted treaty between Argos and Sparta (5,41), the dossier of texts concerning the one-year truce between the Spartans (and their allies) and the Athenians of 423 (4,118-119) and the Athenian decrees for the Sicilian expedition in book 6 are briefly considered.

Il dossier sulla conflittualità tessalo-focidese comprende tradizionalmente oltre ad alcune fonti letterarie due epigrafi delfiche alquanto lacunose: Syll.3 202B e Syll.3 203A. I primi editori non hanno esitato a connetterle alle battaglie arcaiche descritte da Erodoto (VIII 27-28), Pausania (X 1, 3-11) e Plutarco (mul.virt. 2). Di recente è prevalso un atteggiamento di cautela suggerito soprattutto dalle pesanti integrazioni con le quali in passato si è intervenuto talora con disinvoltura eccessiva. D’altro canto questa cautela sconfina in certi casi in una deriva ipercritica che va di pari passo con una rigida separazione tra considerazioni epigrafiche da un lato e considerazioni storiche dall’altro, a discapito delle seconde. Questo studio si propone in primo luogo di riesaminare le due iscrizioni da un punto di vista epigrafico, comparandole con iscrizioni rinvenute a Delfi, Kalapodi, Elatea e Panopeo; in secondo luogo di riconsiderarle in un quadro complessivo cercando un equilibrio tra la suggestiva ma meccanica connessione di testimonianze epigrafiche e letterarie da un lato e l’ipercriticismo dall’altro. La combinazione di considerazioni di ordine epigrafico con un esame della storia delle Focide così come è riflessa nelle fonti letterarie di IV secolo e in quelle successive rende assai probabile l’ipotesi per cui le due epigrafi risalgano al IV secolo ma commemorino una vittoria arcaica sui Tessali. The dossier about the wars between Thessalians and Phokians also includes two very fragmentary inscriptions found in Delphi: Syll.3 202B and Syll.3 203A. The French and German epigraphists who edited them in the first half of referred to by Herodotus (8.27-28), Pausanias (10.1.3-11) and Plutarch (mul.virt. 2). In recent times, scholars have become more cautious because of the large amount of lacunae in the inscriptions that were rather freely restored in the past. On the other hand, this caution runs the risk of hypercriticism and goes hand in hand with a strict separation of historical remarks on the one side, and epigraphical ones, on the other side. This paper first tries to look for further clues by closely comparing Syll.3 202B and Syll.3 203A with other Phokian inscriptions found in Delphi, Kalapodi, Panopeus and Elateia. The paper then aims to combine the epigraphical approach with the historical one and to strike a balance between hypercriticism and positivistic inferences. A close consideration of the history of fourth-century Phokis confirms the results of a strict epigraphical analysis and provides further evidence supporting the restorations proposed by nineteenth-century epigraphists: Syll.3 202B and Syll.3 203A most probably date back to the fourth century but commemorate the archaic Thessalian-Phokian battles.

Due oracoli prodotti nel santuario di Klaros e datati al II sec. d.C. si articolano in sezioni di metro differente secondo una struttura polimetrica che, in mancanza di una analisi approfondita, potrebbe apparire inconsueta, o quantomeno singolare. Tuttavia, passando in rassegna le raccolte epigrafiche a nostra disposizione, si rinvengono epigrammi lunghi di età imperiale, composti sia in latino sia in greco, che presentano un’alternanza metrico-ritmica accostabile ai due oracoli clarii provenienti rispettivamente dai centri di Kaisareia Troketta, in Lidia, e Kallipolis, nel Chersoneso tracico. Nel presente articolo ci si propone di dimostrare che sia negli ‘oracoli polimetrici’ sia negli epigrammata longa di età imperiale l’alternanza metrica è funzionale all’articolazione semantica, prendendo brevemente in esame le più significative attestazioni della polimetria nella produzione poetica, letteraria ed epigrafica, dal IV sec. a.C. all’età imperiale; tale analisi conduce ad ipotizzare un legame tra i compositori di epigrammi polimetrici e i poeti che operarono nel santuario colofonio. Dopo una precisazione terminologica iniziale tra polimetria che si manifesta all’interno di un’opera organica, quale una silloge poetica, e quella che invece si riscontra all’interno di una composizione poetica di una certa lunghezza, viene presa in esame la struttura polimetrica dei due oracoli clarii, dimostrando come essa si lasci ricondurre al contesto letterario della Seconda Sofistica. Nella seconda parte dell’articolo vengono brevemente analizzati i più significativi epigrammi epigrafici, sia greci sia latini, che possono accostarsi, in virtù della loro struttura polimetrica, agli ‘oracoli polimetrici’, soffermandosi, in particolare, sulla funzionalità dell’alternanza metrica rispetto alla articolazione tematica del componimento. Two oracles from Klaros, produced in the second century A.D. and inscribed in the consulting cities, display an elaborate polymetric pattern which may seem, at least apparently, strange or unique. Nevertheless, a systematic survey of the available collections of inscribed epigrams shows that a number of Greek and Latin epigrams dated to Imperial age is polymetric, with multiple sections composed in different metres. The paper points out the intentional and functional use of polymetry in the Clarian oracles coming from Kaisareia Troketta, in Lydia, and Kallipolis, in the Thracian Chersonese as well as in the epigrammata longa of the Imperial age, taking into account the most relevant testimonies of polymetry in the literary and epigraphic poetry from the fourth century B.C. to the Imperial era; the analysis lead to suppose a connection between poets who operated in the Clarian sanctuary and composers of polymetric epigrams. After a preliminary distinction between a polymetry applied to an organic work, like a collection of poems, and a polymetry which can be recognised in a single poetic composition of a certain length, the polymetric patterns of Clarian oracles are examined in detail, showing that they are attributable to the literary context of the Second Sophistic. The second part of the paper focuses on the most relevant epigraphic parallels, both Greek and Latin, for the ‘polymetric oracles’, analysing the use of polymetric patterns in relation to the content of each epigram.

Schlüsselwörter: Cicero; patronus; orator; emotions. Zusammenfassung: Warum überzeugten Tränen vor Gericht, obwohl jeder wusste, dass es sich dabei um eine Strategie handelte? Der Beitrag nimmt Ciceros Pro Plancio als Ausgangspunkt, um dessen Habitus als patronus zu diskutieren. Cicero betonte immer wieder, wie eng er mit seinen Klienten und Freunden verbunden sei. Bei seinen Auftritten bekannte er sich zum allgemein geteilten Ethos, das bei Patron-Klient-Verhältnissen und Freundschaften wahre Hingabe verlangte. Da amicitia und Patronage auf geteilten Werten beruhten, die letztlich auf das Ethos der republikanischen Elite verwiesen, musste jeder, der sich diesen Werten verpflichtet fühlte, Ciceros Argumentation folgen. Zumindest war es das, was seine rhetorischen Fähigkeiten auf rationaler und emotionaler Ebene forderten. Aber wie verhält es sich mit der Annahme, dass Redner selbst emotional bewegt sein mussten, wenn sie ihr Publikum überzeugen wollten? Der Beitrag argumentiert, dass Ciceros lebenslanger Einsatz als patronus ihn letztlich selbst glauben ließ, dass er der emotional aufgewühlte, hingebungsvolle patronus war, der er zu sein vorgab und der er wirklich war, wenn er vor Gericht trat. Abstract: Why did tears in Roman courts convince though everybody knew them to be a strategy? By departing from the case of Pro Plancio, the paper discusses Cicero’s habits as a patronus. Cicero continued stressing his close personal links to his clients and friends. In his performances, he subscribed to the shared ethos of patronage and friendship demanding true dedication. As amicitia, and patronage, were rooted in shared values that ultimately referred to the ethos of the republican elite, everybody addicted to these values also had to follow Cicero’s argumentation. At least this is what his rhetorical skills demanded on a rational, and an emotional, level. But what about the assumption that orators had to be emotionally moved themselves when wanting to convince their audience? The paper argues that Cicero s lifelong acting as a patronus ultimately made himself believe that he indeed was the emotionally moved, truly dedicated patronus he pretended to be, and he really was when performing in court.

With a view to exploring the concept and practice of friendship in Cicero’s work, the paper conducts a systematic review of the epistolary corpus with a focus on the portrayal of social relations, namely Cicero’s relationship with his friends, with political figures, and the more intimate connection with Atticus. One of the paper’s claims is that affectivity is not only a constitutive element of friendship but that it is present across representations of all social relations, albeit to different degree in different specific relations. Cicero is personally invested and deploys emotive language even in relationships with individuals who exist outside of his private sphere. Dictating Cicero’s behaviour across these engagements is his concern with a general code of ethical conduct, the specific parameters of amicitia established in the Laelius, or the responsibility Cicero feels towards the res publica. Allo scopo di definire il significato dell’amicizia in Cicerone si esaminano, attraverso un’indagine sistematica dell’epistolario, le sue varie relazioni sociali: il rapporto con i familiari, quello intimo con Attico, i rapporti politici. L’affettività, che deve essere considerata elemento essenziale nell’amicizia, risulta presente, in gradi molto diversi, nei diversi casi. Anche quando le persone qualificate con la terminologia dell’amicizia siano le più esterne al suo mondo privato, nel rapporto con esse Cicerone impegna la propria personalità e la propria affettività, confrontandosi ogni volta sia con un codice di comportamento morale di valore generale sia con lo specifico codice etico dell’amicizia quale viene descritto nel Laelius, sia ancora, costantemente, con le responsabilità che egli sente di avere nei confronti della res publica. Afin de définir le sens de l amitié chez Cicéron, à travers un examen systématique de ses lettres, on examine ses différentes relations sociales : le rapport à la famille, l intimité avec Attique, les relations politiques. L affectivité, qui doit être considérée comme un élément essentiel de l amitié, est présente à des degrés très différents dans les différents cas. Même lorsque les personnes qualifiées avec la terminologie de l amitié sont les plus extérieures à son monde privé, dans sa relation avec eux, Cicéron s engage sur sa personnalité et son affection, confrontant constamment à la fois un code de comportement moral de valeur générale, le code d éthique spécifique à l amitié décrit dans le Laelius, et enfin les responsabilités qu il estime avoir vis-à-vis de la res publica.

This paper focuses on the reception of antiquity within a medium previously not held worthy of a detailed scientific analysis in classical scholarship, i.e. computer and video games. After narrowing the field of investigation to the relatively small genre of ‘city simulations’ (and, of course, particularly those proclaiming to simulate an ancient city, namely the Caesar game series [Sierra Entertainment, 1992–2006]), it becomes evident that questions of game mechanics and game design were of critical importance in developing these games and, when in conflict with questions of historical accuracy, were invariably given priority. But rather than focusing exclusively on whether or not the depiction of, e.g., Roman buildings are archaeologically accurate, this paper, taking its inspiration from the emerging field of Game Studies, uncovers the underlying principles of play. It becomes evident that much of the game dynamics of Caesar are the result not of historical research, but of public policy debates held in the late 80s and early 90s on the nature and future of US cities. The same debates had previously informed the development of the SimCity game series developed by Will Wright (Maxis, 1989–2013), which was a primary inspiration for Caesar. Thus, political notions and sociological theorems of Reagan-/Bush-era Northern America inform the design and playability of video games ostensibly portraying – even ‘simulating’ – city life in ancient Rome.

The paper focuses on the proposal of integration and a different chronology for a Latin inscription of Histonium (regio IV Italiae), relating to an anonymous beneficiary of vexilla argentea. The paper contains also an analysis of the rare examples of this kind of donum militare as reward for military valor in Roman imperial army.

In this paper we analyse the way the Manes, spirits of the death, are represented in the roman funerary inscriptions. We take into consideration some examples in which they are referred to not only as a community but also as single spirits. In the second part of this paper, we review the epigraphical attestations of the word Manes as a feminine and we explain the reasons why we think they have to be considered as linguistic deviations rather than as gender characterizations.

The aim of the paper is to offer a reconstruction of the career of Charidemos, outstanding Euboian mercenary of the fourth century B.C., who received Athenian citizenship and became an important strategos; unfortunately the main source about him is the demosthenic speech Against Aristocrates (XXIII), which gives a negative, exaggerated and probably false portrait. So in this paper other sources are highlighted in order to offer another picture of this important figure.

In this paper, I explore the iconographical relationship between the letters and the support on fol. 157r of the Morgan Gospels, written and illuminated in Westphalia, Germany during the mid-tenth century. On the basis of its formal properties and the iconographic meaning it takes, I will give particular attention to the materiality of the Latin text and its cultural and symbolic significance. The folio under study develops a form of ‘agency’. With this perspective, I hope not only to contribute to the important line of argument Joshua O’Driscoll develops in his iconic article, but also to explore the meaning of Latin as an iconological statement and hence to contribute with new methodological developments in the field of art history.

Allegorical Interpretation and Place of Myth in Plato The paper raises the issue of allegorical interpretation, and its role and place in Plato’s philosophy. The first part of the paper shows the theoretical findings and explains the use of terms aίnigma, sýmbolon, hypónoia in Plato’s philosophy. The next part explores Plato’s attitude toward allegorical interpretation and the function of myth (mūthos) in his philosophy. Two important points are presented here regarding Plato’s critique. They serve as the criterion for the validation of myth in the ideal state: the role of myth in paideia and its relation to philosophical discourse.

Daydreams and visions are much used in fiction; filmmaking is perhaps the best way to represent them, thanks to its most powerful tool: editing. This paper focuses on a particular category of daydreams: violent phantasies. As a consequence of a public humiliation, often involving an erotic frustration, a character visualizes himself killing or harming his opponent, while in the real world such an action would be inappropriate. Taking cinema and visual rhetoric as a useful reference and with the aid of narratology, the paper analyses some scenes in Homer wherein the representation of violent phantasies is particularly interesting from this point of view. Sogni ad occhi aperti e visioni sono molto usati nelle opere narrative, e il cinema trova nel montaggio uno dei mezzi più efficaci di rappresentare tali fenomeni. L’articolo prende in esame la particolare categoria delle fantasie violente: a seguito di un’umiliazione pubblica, che spesso ricopre una frustrazione erotica, un personaggio visualizza se stesso nell’atto di uccidere o ferire un avversario, mentre nella realtà un’iniziativa del genere risulterebbe inappropriata. L’articolo prende come riferimento cinema e retorica dell’immagine per analizzare, col supporto della narratologia, alcune scene omeriche dove la rappresentazione di fantasie violente è particolarmente interessante da questo punto di vista.

This paper deals with the aesthetic and sensory representation of ancient war and war-related violence in modern video games. Focusing on the well-known video game series “Total War” and those games set in ancient times (“Rome: Total War”, “Total War: Rome II”, “Total War: Attila”), the paper analyses the strategies employed by game developers to produce a sense of historicity in the player. By combining factual accuracy in the graphical representation of archeological minutiae, incorporating well-known narrative, visual and contextual tropes of antiquity, utilizing visually resplendent and almost photorealistic graphics and incorporating acoustic clues such as spoken Latin and a soundtrack reminiscent of film classics, the game developers are successful at achieving ‘affective historicity’ (Winnerling 2014) – an acceptance on the player’s part of the game setting’s historic authenticity based on a combination of sensory impulses rather than a strict adherence to historical fact by game developers.

This paper questions the widespread view associating the Apollo’s epithet ἀρχηγέτης/ἀρχηγός with the Seleucid city foundations in the Greek East. Special attention is paid to the epigraphic and numismatic evidence coming from the poleis of Apameia in Syria and Hierapolis of Phrygia, where Apollo was honoured as divine ἀρχηγέτης in imperial times. A reassessment of the available sources does not substantiate the claim that the mention of Apollo Ἀρχηγέτης in the inscriptions from Apameia, Hierapolis and other cities of the Greek East automatically points to cults going back to the Seleucid period.