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La riche épigraphie de Cos permet de constituer un corpus de 1192 individus disposant de la citoyenneté romaine entre le ier s. av. n.è. et 212 de n.è. Cet article propose une première analyse de ce corpus prosopographique en se concentrant sur la chronologie de la présence romaine à Cos et sur l'étude des noms romains pour évaluer la diffusion de la citoyenneté romaine en Orient. Le nombre de citoyens romains est important dès le ier s. av. n.è., avant d'exploser au ier s. de. n.è., puis de diminuer au iie s. av. n.è. Le corpus de Cos présente une majorité de gentilice non-impériaux, ce qui laisse suggérer que c'est moins l'octroi de la citoyenneté romaine par les empereurs que l'installation de familles de negotiatores qui a diffusé la ciuitas Romana à Cos. Parmi les empereurs, si Claude a eu un rôle majeur dans l'octroi de la ciuitas Romana, il faut réévaluer à la hausse le rôle de César, Auguste et peut-être Tibère. Enfin, la citoyenneté romaine n'est pas restée au sein de l'élite, le corpus des inscriptions funéraires permettant de connaître un grand nombre de citoyens romains moins fortunés et éloignés des charges politiques. Summary: The rich epigraphy of Kos makes it possible to compile a corpus of 1192 roman citizens between the 1st century BC and AD 212. This article offers an initial analysis of this prosopographical corpus, focusing on the chronology of the Roman presence at Kos and on the spread of Roman citizenship in the Greek East. The number of Roman citizens was significant from the first century BC, before exploding in the first century AD and then declining in the second century BC. The Koan corpus contains a majority of non-imperial gentilices, which suggests that it was less the granting of Roman citizenship by the emperors than the settlement of families of negotiatores that spread the ciuitas Romana to CKs. Among the emperors, Claudius played a major role in the granting of ciuitas Romana, but the role of Caesar, Augustus and perhaps Tiberius needs to be reassessed. Finally, Roman citizenship was not confined to the elite: the corpus of funerary inscriptions reveals a large number of Roman citizens who were less fortunate and not holders of political offices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roman ruling ideology stressed imperial control of knowledge, as well as of material and people. A range of evidence from across the empire suggests that these knowledge claims were commonly accepted, and often mobilised, by ruled communities. In his First Apology, written in Rome in the 150s and addressed to the Roman emperor, Justin Martyr leverages these ideals for his own knowledge claims concerning the life of Jesus and his fulfilment of Hebrew Bible prophecies. It has already been recognised that Justin engages with the machinery of empire through packaging his Apology as a petition presented to the emperor. On the other hand, his citation of Roman documents at several points in the text has been neglected. A close examination reveals the importance of these citations to Justin's project, in which he utilises the supposed fidelity of Roman documents, and the idea of the emperor as a guarantor of collected knowledge, to authenticate his Christian claims. Finally, proceeding from suggestions about an internal audience for Christian apologetics, it is argued that these references should be seen as alleviating the concerns of an internal Christian readership, and not as overtures to non-Christian Graeco-Romans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Die Himmelfahrt ist ein Politikum – zumindest in der griechisch-römischen Umwelt der Apostelgeschichte, besonders, wenn man sie im Kontext der römischen Kaiserapotheose betrachtet. Der Beitrag richtet den Fokus auf die Funktion, die der Himmelfahrt im religionsgeschichtlichen Vergleich mit der Apotheose des Augustus – unter Berücksichtigung historiographischer, epigraphischer und numismatischer Zeugnisse – zukommt. Er verfolgt die These, dass Lukas eine medial verbreitete Apotheosevorstellung nutzt, um seinen griechisch-römischen Adressaten die universalisierte und fortdauernde Präsenz Jesu zu vermitteln. Ohne in eine direkte politische Opposition gegenüber der römischen Herrschaftsrepräsentation zu treten, entwirft er so ein theologisches Gegenbild. Indem Lukas nicht nur griechisch-römische, sondern auch jüdische Traditionen aufnimmt, bietet er unterschiedlichen Adressaten Verstehensmöglichkeiten und vermittelt zugleich die spezifische Neuheit und Eigenart der Präsenz Christi. The ascension is a political issue – at least in the Greco-Roman setting of Acts, especially when viewed in the context of the apotheosis of the Roman Emperors. Focusing on the function of the ascension in comparison with the apotheosis of Augustus – considering the historiographic, epigraphic, and numismatic evidence –, this article argues that Luke used the medially spread concept of apotheosis to communicate to his Greco-Roman addressees the notion of Jesus's continuing, universalized presence. Without intending to oppose Roman imperial ideology directly, he thus offered a theological counter-image. By taking up not only Greco-Roman, but also Jewish traditions, Luke made his account comprehensible for different addressees, while also transmitting the specific novelty and quality of Christ's presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Der Tod des Ptolemaios von Mauretanien im frühen 1. Jahrhundert n. Chr. erscheint auch heute noch rätselhaft. In dieser Untersuchung soll daher neues Licht auf ein vieldiskutiertes Thema geworfen werden. Dabei wird insbesondere eine Passage in Suetons Schrift über den römischen Kaiser Caligula in den Blick genommen, der für den Tod des Ptolomaios verantwortlich gewesen sein soll. Dort wird berichtet, dass Caligula den mauretanischen König habe ermorden lassen, da dieser in einer purpurnen abolla in Rom erschienen sein und somit den Kaiser öffentlich brüskiert haben soll. In der Analyse der schriftlichen Quellen wird deutlich, dass es sich bei der abolla um eine typische Tracht hellenistisch geprägter Herrscher handelte, die von der römischen Gesellschaft als fremd konnotiert wurde. Die prestigeträchtige Farbe des Purpurs stellte eine zusätzliche Komponente einer traditionellen monarchischen Selbstdarstellung dar, die von Ptolemaios als König von Mauretanien auch so zu erwarten gewesen sein muss. Doch zeigt es sich, dass das Auftreten des Ptolemaios von Caligula vor dem Hintergrund der Spannungen der Gaetulicus-Lepidus-Verschwörung und der selbst gewählten Herrschaftskonzeption des princeps – einer expressiven Repräsentation des eigenen Ranges – missverstanden wurde. Dies führte schließlich zur drastischen Reaktion des Kaisers. Summary: The death of Ptolemy of Mauretania in the early 1st century AD remains a mystery to this day. Therefore, this study aims to shed new light on a much-discussed topic. Intending to do so, a passage from Sueton's book on the Roman emperor Caligula will be taken into account, who is believed to be responsible for Ptolemy's death. In this book, it is reported that Caligula himself ordered his assassination, because of Ptolemy's appearance in Rome, allegedly wearing a purple abolla, which is said to have publicly affronted the emperor. The analysis of written sources illustrates that the abolla is a typical costume of Hellenistic-shaped rulers, which was connoted as alien by Roman society. The prestigious colour of purple displays another component of traditional monarchic self-staging, which Ptolemy, being the king of Mauretania, made use of, which must have been expected anyways. However, it shows that Ptolemy's appearance was misunderstood by Caligula, which may have occurred in the light of the conspiracy led by Gaetulicus and Lepidus and because of the princeps's chosen conception of rulership, manifesting as an expressive representation of his own rank. Eventually, this led to the emperor's drastic reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trajan's status as a model emperor is perhaps most famously expressed in Eutropius' catchphrase "More fortunate than Augustus, better than Trajan" (Eutr. Brev. 8.5.3). Modern scholarship has similarly stressed Trajan's exemplary status, assuming that Trajan's virtues were already a point of departure by which to measure second- and third-century emperors. This article challenges that notion; it argues that Trajan's status as a model emperor was a late-antique literary construct. Trajan only entered the repertoire of exemplary emperors during the course of the fourth century to become the model emperor in the very late-fourth- and early-fifth century. This development depended on the historical context and ideological demands, as well as on the availability of the then-existing material discussing and depicting the historical Trajan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The paper seeks to examine whether Roman emperors legitimized their political actions with a view towards the future achievement of social and political order. The heuristic point of departure is Koselleck's concept of ‚futures past' (vergangene Zukunft) which has been widely discussed in early modern and medieval research while its applicability to prechristian antiquity is still unexplored. The example of the so-called reforms of Augustus and Diocletian reveals that even in response to severe crises in the Roman Empire the emperors did not command any ideas of order in alternative to prevailing conditions. Neither did they have any ‚master plan' of coordinated reforms, but reacted in a situational manner with improvements of administrative practice which were mainly aimed at consolidating their power and authority. All ‚reforms' were pronounced retrotopically as a return to better days (restitutio) or as a preservation (conservatio) of ‚happier times' (felicitas temporum). Looking at the monarchical discourse of power and the messages exchanged in various media between the emperor and his subjects, it is evident that the dominant time regime of imperial chronopolitics lay in a ‚presentism' which extended the present, as ‚eutopia', into eternity and glorified it as a golden age, whereas the future was only envisaged in dynastic terms. The horizon of expectations of both the emperor and his subjects was restricted to present-day provision. Only Christians were able to imagine a worldly and transcendent horizon of the future. The political success and duration of the Roman Empire left no room for alternative horizons of possibilities, which also explains why the Roman Empire – in contrast to the Greek world – had no notion of utopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examines the traditional aspects of imperial legitimacy under Arcadius and Honorius, the heirs of Roman emperor Theodosius. The representation of ancestry, merit and divine blessing in the names of Arcadius and Honorius are investigated. According to the author, Arcadius and Honorius derived their authority directly from the blessing of God.

Fortunatianus, who was bishop of Aquileia in the middle of the 4th century, has not received much scholarly attention. His commentary on the Gospels, which was written under Constantius II (337-361) and used by later writers such as Jerome, was thought to be lost, apart from three short excerpts which were discovered only in the 20th century. However, a (nearly) complete copy of Fortunatianus' allegedly lost commentary on the Gospels was found in 2012. The present article takes this discovery as an occasion to collect and discuss all the extant sources which are relevant for reconstructing the biography and career of bishop Fortunatianus of Aquileia. Furthermore, it discusses Fortunatianus' theological positions in the dogmatic controversies of the 4th century on the basis of the full text of his Gospel commentary for the first time (which makes it possible to reject earlier conjectures about his supposed inclinations to 'Arianism'). Finally, this article addresses in an appendix the reliability of Jerome as witness to Fortunatianus' life and work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the religious characteristics of the imperial cult of the ancient Roman empire. It describes the worship and devotion to the Roman emperor, the influence of the imperial cult on other pagan cults and practices, and the effect of imperial cult practices on the development of Christianity in Europe in the early Middle Ages. Other subjects under discussion include the notion of the emperor as Son of God, the historiography of religious studies concerning Roman cult practices, and the diffusion of Roman religion through emigration. The work of historian Jörg Rüpke is discussed, along with the theories of historian Roland Robertson.

The article focuses on texts containing information related to emperor Heraclius. It states that Heraclius was a valiant emperor who retrieved the Cross of Christ from Persian king Chosroes. It further discusses influential works of the emperor in the Middle Ages. It also focuses on "Exaltatio Crucis," a text related to Emperor.

The article discusses joint efforts begun in 2005 by the German Archaeological Institute and Turkey's Archaeological Museum Alanya to examine the ruins of Şekerhane Köşkü in the ancient coastal town of Selinus, Turkey. A major object of the research is to determine if the building can be identified as a cenotaph for the Roman Emperor Trajan, who died in Selinus in August 117.

The article presents a discussion on the political and communicative aspects of Holy Roman Emperors' public displays of piety and humility. Reflections are given on the differences in church and state relations in England, France, and Germany during the Middle Ages. Special attention is paid to the rule of 14th century Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, with a focus on his religious activities during travels to Italy. Further comments are included regarding the Emperor's expression of piety through his choice of clothing.

Sunderland avoids a polity by polity approach, concentrating rather on the major ruling houses: the Capetians, the Plantagenets and the imperial rulers. In chapter 1 Sunderland challenges concepts of sovereignty which give primacy to "state sovereignty" and thus exclude much medieval government. Sunderland's monograph is an important contribution to our understanding of the I chanson de geste i . [Extracted from the article]