Published by De Gruyter

Volume 9 Issue 1

Issue of Journal of Ancient History

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Publicly Available June 11, 2021

Frontmatter

Page range: I-IV

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June 11, 2021

Potent kings and antisocial heroes: lion symbolism and elite masculinity in ancient Mesopotamia and Greece

Micheál Geoghegan

Page range: 1-18

Abstract

In the great kingdoms of ancient Mesopotamia, the king’s power was often evoked by means of lion symbolism. This has led scholars to conclude that lion motifs, and especially that of the lion-slaying hero, in early Greek art and literature were cultural borrowings from the more populous and urbanised civilisations to the east. Yet it is also notable that the Greek tradition, at least from the time of the Homeric poems, tended to problematise the ethics of the leonine man. This article explores the function of lion imagery in narratives of elite masculinity in western Asia and early Greece respectively. It will argue that Greek myth and epic reflect on and problematise any potential equation between lions and kingly prestige, power and masculinity, instead drawing attention to the savagery and social isolation of the lion-like man-of-power, and his difficulty in conforming to the expectations of civilised society.

Open Access June 11, 2021

Time Is Running. Ancient Greek Chronography and the Ancient Near East

Angelika Kellner

Page range: 19-52

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Abstract

The article explores the question whether there was a possible dialogue between ancient Greek and Mesopotamian chronography. This is an interesting albeit challenging subject due to the fragmentary preservation of the Greek texts. The idea that cuneiform tablets might have influenced the development of the genre in Greece lingers in the background without having been the subject of detailed discussion. Notably the Neo-Assyrian limmu list has been suggested as a possible blueprint for the Athenian archon list. In order to examine this topic further, a thorough analysis of ancient Greek chronography starting in the second half of the fifth century BC, when eponymous dates in various literary compositions begin to appear, is required. A close examination of the fragmentary evidence shows how difficult it is to trace the supposed annalistic style in the local histories of Athens ( Atthides ). In the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the eponymous limmu officials served as the chronological backbone, but there remains a huge time gap between the seventh century cuneiform manuscripts and the Athenian archon list from the fifth century. A comparison of the Neo-Assyrian Eponymous Chronicles with the preserved Greek chronographic traditions in Eusebius’ chronicle (fourth century AD) shows that the similarity is mainly confined to an abbreviated style, as the entries clearly point to the different cultural and political settings. Apart from the Neo-Assyrian sources, the Neo- and Late-Babylonian chronicles deserve further attention in the present inquiry. Looking for a connection with ancient Greek chronography in the fifth century, the lack of wholly preserved texts on both sides in the corresponding time constitutes an unsurmountable obstacle. Presenting and scrutinising the textual evidence both for ancient Greek and for Mesopotamian chronography enables an improved understanding of similarities and differences alike. To exemplify this point, Greek and Akkadian temple histories serve as test cases.

June 11, 2021

“Bad News” in Herodotos and Thoukydides: misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda

Donald Lateiner

Page range: 53-99

Abstract

Herodotos and Thoukydides report on many occasions that kings, polis leaders, and other politicians speak and behave in ways that unintentionally announce or analyze situations incorrectly ( mis information). Elsewhere, they represent as facts knowingly false constructs or “fake news” ( dis information), or they slant data in ways that advance a cause personal or public (propaganda , true or false). Historians attempt to or claim to acquaint audiences with a truer fact situation and to identify subjects’ motives for distortion such as immediate personal advantage, community advantage, or to encourage posterity’s better (if mistaken) opinion. Such historiographical bifocalism enhances the historian’s authority with readers (as he sees through intentional or unintentional misrepresentations) as well as sets straight distorted historical records. This paper surveys two paradigmatic Hellenic historians’ texts, how they build their investigative and analytic authority, and how they encourage confidence in their truth-determining skills. The material collected confirms and assesses the frequency of persons and governments misleading their own citizens and subjects as well as rival persons and powers. Finally, it demonstrates that these two historians were aware of information loss, information control (dissemination and suppression), and information chaos.

June 11, 2021

Thucydides and Topography: the neglected prevalence and significance of elevated terrain in Classical Greek battles

George Harrold

Page range: 100-122

Abstract

This article uses Thucydides’ literary evidence to argue that elevated terrain was prevalent in the battles of the Peloponnesian War, contrary to the orthodox view of the Classical Greek battlefield. This argument has four parts. First, Thucydides’ battles are defined and listed. Second, the references to terrain in these battle accounts are catalogued. Third, this collated data is analysed to demonstrate that elevated terrain was indeed prevalent on the battlefields of the Peloponnesian War. And, fourth, some of the military effects of this elevated terrain are explored.

June 11, 2021

Ancient Roman Naval Rams as Objects of Phallic Power

Stephen DeCasien

Page range: 123-146

Abstract

Polyvalent meanings behind naval ram displays were prevalent and ingrained in the Roman world, especially at Octavian’s Campsite Memorial for the Actian War. Naval rams and their display alluded to gender and power discourses within Roman society. These discourses included Roman notions of sex, penetration, domination, phallus size, and ideas of achieved hierarchies of masculinity. Analyzing ram displays through Roman perceptions of gender and sexuality, specifically concerning ancient masculinity, reveals that rams functioned not only as weapons of war but also as metaphorical phalloi that embodied and projected immense power. Octavian’s ram display at Actium was used to effeminize Marc Antony through the successful defeat and figurative castration of his fleet, which was done by cutting off the rams from the bows of the warships. By exhibiting the rams as such, Octavian asserted his own impenetrability and masculine virtue, which simultaneously promoted Antony’s penetrability and lack of masculinity. In choosing the largest rams, Octavian implied that his masculine prowess was invincible. The ram display unveiled Octavian’s phallic dominion over all other Greeks and Romans. As Octavian’s naval ram display was the largest and most impressive of the ancient world, he effectively rendered all previous ram dedications subordinate to his own.

June 11, 2021

Overburdened Gauls: the case of Florus and Sacrovir’s revolt of 21 CE

Jared Kreiner

Page range: 147-184

Abstract

In 21 CE, a series of localized movements broke out in Gallia Comata due to heavy debts among provincials according to Tacitus. Modern scholars have long argued that the indebtedness occurred because of rising interest rates, resulting from dwindling currency in circulation after decades of free-spending following Augustus’ victory at Actium, and that Gallic communities were subjected to an additional tribute to support the wars of Germanicus (14–16 CE), which continued unabated after the wars and pushed Gauls beyond their means. These claims are misguided, however, in that there is no certain evidence of a special tax to support Germanicus’ wars and that the argument for a dwindling circulation of currency in Gaul falters under closer inspection. Rather, the pressing statal and military needs imposed on communities in Gallia Comata after 9 CE on top of routine exactions could significantly increase burden levels levied on provincial populations, thus contributing to rising debts. Through examining how Roman logistics and conscription operated in this period, it is possible to trace how populations were impacted by such demands and which communities were most heavily affected by them, too. Individually, the impact of each factor is unlikely to have been burdensome enough to have caused large-scale resistance, it is only the cumulative effect that these explanations had on top of routine Roman extraction schemes that could create the conditions for this revolt. This paper argues that in extraordinary circumstances, such as the period after the Varian Disaster for Gallia Comata, the costs of supporting military campaigns places real short-term strains on local economies, which creates the conditions for revolt. The benefit of this approach is that it may explain other episodes of anti-fiscal resistance that broke out during or within a decade of wars in neighboring regions.

June 11, 2021

“In Imitation of Hadrian:” memory and urban construction in the Late Antique Near East

Walter D. Ward

Page range: 185-202

Abstract

An inscription from Scythopolis (Beth Shean/Beisan) commemorates the actions of a late fourth-century governor who “in imitation of Hadrian ... rebuilt his own mother city.” This paper explores the memory of Hadrian in the Near East. It begins by examining Hadrian’s actions in the Near East, including the period prior to becoming emperor and his visit in 129/30 CE. It finishes with a discussion of Silvanus and Scythopolis and argues that Silvanus was responsible for repairing the odeum in the city which was damaged in the 363 CE earthquake. The inscription implies that there was strong memory of Hadrian as a builder in the late antique Near East.

June 11, 2021

Was There a Military Revolution at the End of Antiquity?

Conor Whately

Page range: 203-220

Abstract

In a book on Justinian’s wars of conquest, Peter Heather has argued that Rome’s ability to wage war in the sixth century CE was helped, to a large degree, by the military revolution that took place in Late Antiquity, which consisted of two principal parts: an increased deployment of Roman soldiers to the eastern frontier, and a shift towards Hunnic tactics. In this essay, however, I argue that these claims are misguided, and using five criteria set out by Lee Brice in an article on military revolution during the reigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great of Macedon, I show that the changes which Heather argues in favour of had begun long before Late Antiquity. Instead, what we see is the continued gradual evolution of Rome’s military, with the Roman state shifting troops to the east from the beginning of the imperial era, and the first documented implementation of steppe-inspired changes dating to the second century.

About this journal

Objective
The Journal of Ancient History aims to provide a forum for scholarship covering all aspects of ancient history and culture from the Archaic Period to Late Antiquity (roughly the ninth century BCE through the eighth century CE). The journal publishes peer-reviewed articles concerning the history and historiography (ancient and modern) of the ancient Mediterranean world and of neighboring civilizations in their relations with it. The journal is open to submissions in disciplines closely related to ancient history, including epigraphy, numismatics, religion and law. The journal does not currently publish book reviews.

Topics

Ancient history and culture
Mediterranean world
Epigraphy
Numismatics
Religion
Law

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Original research articles

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