Idealized and Barbarous Rome: Militarism in Tacitus’ Germania 1 Introduction 1.a¶ Tacitus emulates German stereotypes by discussing the Roman conception of the Germans in his ethnographical work, Germania. The Germanic Tribes were considered by the Romans a primitive and savage people, like many of the other peoples Rome has thrust its conquering might at, yet … Read moreAllison Thorsen
The Clemency and Cruelty of Tiberius in Tacitus’ Annals 1¶ Prior to Augustus’ reign, sovereignty and influence were largely distributed throughout the offices of the cursus honorum, Senate, and the Curiate, Centuriate, Plebeian, and Tribal Assemblies. This served as a system of checks and balances and kept power from accumulating under one man’s auspices. The … Read moreDominick Vandenberge
The Writing on the Walls: Reading the Sexual Passivity of Herculaneum Women* 1¶ Ancient graffiti– drawings and text inscribed onto the face of a wall– are increasingly acknowledged as valuable sources for studying the daily lives of the ancients. Unlike monumental inscriptions or political programmata, graffiti are imbued with immediacy and do not require an intermediary … Read moreBrittany Hardy
Dead Dramatists Society – The Epigram as Literary History in Dioscorides 1¶ The poetry of the Hellenistic era is characterized by an intense, uniquely diachronic preoccupation with the literature of the past. Far from the few specialized instances of discussion of poetics during the classical and archaic periods, the Hellenistic poets were constantly engaged in … Read moreSherry Lee
Pliny II the Hero 1¶ In Epistula 6.20, Pliny the Younger recounts his escape from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius at the age of 17. He also writes about his uncle, Piny the Elder’s mission to rescue the people of Pompeii, and how he met his tragic end in Epistula 6.16. Nicholas Jones (2001) makes … Read moreMario Williams
Heavenly Haircuts & Missing Bodies:An Examination of Berenice’s Absence from within Callimachus’ “Coma Berenices” 1¶ Even today, the narrative, fantasy, and representation of Berenice II remain a source of mystery and intrigue. In the third century BCE, Callimachus forever repositioned representations of the queen with his poem Lock of Berenice. In the fragments of the original … Read moreMadeline Ezell