The End of the Histories: Land, Wealth, and Empire in Herodotus

K. Scarlett Kingsley | 25 September 2020

History Language/Literature

Xenophon on Liberality and Freedom: Ancient Aristocratic Values and Contemporary Inequalities

Abstract Xenophon’s use of slavery as an analogy for political unfreedom permeates his writings, including those revered by the country’s Founding Fathers, the Cyropaedia and the Memorabilia. Xenophon identifies the virtuous leading citizen and ruler through the absence of qualities described as andrapodes (‘of a man-footed beast’, perhaps ancient Greek’s most dehumanising term for the enslaved) and aneleutheron (‘unfree’). The restatement of the link between freedom and unfreedom as character… Read more

History Language/Literature

Portraits of a Pharaoh: The Sesostris Tradition in Ancient Literature and Culture

When Greeks and Romans thought about Pharaonic Egypt, they would have named Sesostris as the land’s most iconic ruler. From his first appearance in Herodotus’ Histories to his afterlife in Byzantine historians, the Sesostris character played the roles of world-conqueror and Egyptian culture hero in Greek and Roman texts. Yet, while the Sesostris character was a creation of legend, he was based on three pharaohs of the Egyptian 12th Dynasty… Read more

History

Watchdogs of the People: Demagogues and Popular Culture in Ancient Greece

Abstract I spent a wonderful (all things considered) Spring semester 2020 at the Center for Hellenic Studies, where I worked primarily on my second book project, Watchdogs of the People: Demagogues, Populism, and Popular Culture in Ancient Greece, but also related projects. My book, which will be the first history of the phenomenon of demagoguery (or the “(mis)leading of the people”) across Greek antiquity, aims both to explain the emergence… Read more

Art/Archaeology Epigraphy/Papyrology History

Silver Cups from Cyrene: Between Royal Gifts and Numismatic Implications

Citation with persistent identifier: Rosamilia, Emilio. “Silver Cups from Cyrene: Between Royal Gifts and Numismatic Implications.” CHS Research Bulletin 8 (2020). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:RosamiliaE.Silver_Cups_from_Cyrene.2020 Ancient Greek vessels made out of precious metals are one of the most striking products of ancient craftsmanship. With their lavish decoration and elegant lines, gold and silver vessels have long been considered symbols of the luxuries among which members of ancient elites spent their lives. As such, they have become… Read more

History

The Thucydidean Turn: (Re)interpreting Thucydides’ Political Thought Before, During, and After the Great War

Citation with persistent identifier: Earley, Ben. “The Thucydidean Turn: (Re)interpreting Thucydides’ Political Thought Before, During, and After the Great War.” CHS Research Bulletin 7 (2019). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:EarleyB.The_Thucydidean_Turn.2019 Introduction Today, Thucydides occupies a more prominent position in political discourse and debate than any other ancient, medieval, or even early modern text. The Athenian historian is taught across the US in political science and international relations courses, in military academies, he is quoted regularly in op-ed… Read more

Art/Archaeology History

Building Democracy in Late Archaic Athens

Citation with persistent identifier: Paga, Jessica. “Building Democracy in Late Archaic Athens.” CHS Research Bulletin 7 (2019). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:PagaJ.Building_Democracy_in_Late_Archaic_Athens.2019 Abstract Democracy emerged in a specific time and place: ancient Athens, at the end of the 6th century B.C.E.  Its unexpected appearance came at a time of uncertainty, making its robust success surprising and provoking scholars for generations to consider how this demotic form of government was able to succeed.  My current research centers on… Read more

Art/Archaeology Epigraphy/Papyrology History

A New Corpus of Greek and Latin Inscriptions from the Kaystros River Valley in Southern Lydia

Citation with persistent identifier: Ricl, Marijana. “A New Corpus of Greek and Latin Inscriptions from the Kaystros River Valley in Southern Lydia.” CHS Research Bulletin 7 (2019). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:RiclM.A_New_Corpus_of_Greek_and_Latin_Inscriptions_from_the_Kaystros_River_Valley.2019 Abstract The work on a corpus of new Greek and Latin inscriptions from the Kaystros River valley commenced prior to the arrival at the Center for Hellenic Studies. During the eight weeks awarded to the editor by the CHS, about two thirds of the… Read more

History

Dimensions of Staatlichkeit in the Early Greek World

Citation with persistent identifier: Lundgreen, Christoph. “Dimensions of Staatlichkeit in the Early Greek World.” CHS Research Bulletin 7 (2019). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:LundgreenC.Dimensions_of_Staatlichkeit.2019 Abstract Leaving behind the old and often fruitless question of whether or not the category ‘state’ is applicable at all for the „pre-Jean-Bodin-world“, my study instead pursues a novel analytical concept called Staatlichkeit. This comprises four dimensions: statehood, state-organization, state-capacity and stateness. Focusing primarily on the last, I seek to establish different… Read more

History

Epimenides the Cretan: A History of Athens (6th-5th c. BC)

Citation with persistent identifier: Duplouy, Alain. “Epimenides the Cretan: A History of Athens (6th-5th c. BC).” CHS Research Bulletin 7 (2019). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:DuplouyA.Epimenides_the_Cretan.2019 Abstract The story of the Cretan seer and poet Epimenides, supposed to have lived for more than 150 years between the seventh and sixth centuries, is full of fancy tales that are hard to make profit from a historical perspective. Instead of exploring the subject from a Cretan perspective of… Read more

Epigraphy/Papyrology History

The Eagle and the Owl: Athenian Legacies in Early Ptolemaic Alexandria

Citation with persistent identifier: Amendola, Davide. “The Eagle and the Owl: Athenian Legacies in Early Ptolemaic Alexandria.” CHS Research Bulletin 7 (2019). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:AmendolaD.The_Eagle_and_the_Owl.2019 Abstract The reception of the Athenian model and its impact throughout the Hellenistic world and beyond have increasingly become the focus of recent scholarship. My project proposes to carry out a thorough reconsideration of the history of Ptolemaic Egypt through a close examination of political and ideological reuses of… Read more

History Philosophy/Science Research Articles

The Social Network of Socrates

Persistent identifier with citation: Harris Cline, Diane. “The Social Network of Socrates.” CHS Research Bulletin 7 (2019). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:ClineD.The_Social_Network_of_Socrates.2019 To enlarge a figure, click directly on the image. The spreadsheet referred to below is available to download.[1] In recent years Social Network Analysis has become a tool for analyzing a remarkably wide range of social networks, not just inside Social Media (Facebook, Twitter) but in every imaginable setting.[2] There are several reasons for… Read more

History Philosophy/Science Research Articles

Abstract | The Social Network of Socrates

Abstract Social Network Analysis is a tool that can be applied when a data set has many relationships and one wants to see what is going on as a whole. It can be used for places (trade partnerships or theoroi and their voyages), things (distributions of pot sherds or stamped bricks, sculptors and their collaborations), or people. The sources can come from archaeology or epigraphy or texts, as in this experiment.  Using… Read more

Epigraphy/Papyrology History

Citizens and Foreigners in Archaic Greece: Access to Land, Justice and Cults

Persistent identifier: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:Pinol-VillanuevaA.Citizens_and_Foreigners_in_Archaic_Greece.2018 Abstract Escaping from the narrow Aristotelian definition of ‘citizenship’ based on the taking of political office, I investigate how throughout Greek Antiquity, and especially during the Archaic period, the threshold between the status of ‘citizen’ and that of ‘foreigner’ seems to have lain in the degree of recognition of certain rights in the economic, juridical and cultic fields, namely the right to own real estate, the right to… Read more

Art/Archaeology Epigraphy/Papyrology History

Inscribing Temples in Greece and Asia Minor: A Diachronic View

Persistent identifier: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:SitzA.Inscribing_Temples_in_Greece_and_Asia_Minor.2018 Abstract My research centers on new approaches to epigraphic material, highlighting their physical characteristics and architectural contexts in addition to the texts themselves. My current project focuses on inscriptions written on Greek and Roman temples in Turkey and Greece in order to analyze the spatial settings of these documents and the role that they played in defining ancient sanctuaries and religious experience more broadly. I also draw attention… Read more

Art/Archaeology History

A Measured Harvest: Grain, Tithes, and Territories in Hellenistic and Roman Sicily (276-31 BCE)

Persistent identifier: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:WalthallA.A_Measured_Harvest.2018 Abstract During the reign of the Syracusan monarch Hieron II (276-215 BCE), Sicily’s famed agricultural resources were, for the first time, comprehensively mobilized through an administrative system designed to collect an annual grain tithe from cities within his kingdom. Hieron’s administration was so effective that the Romans, eager to feed their growing population, retained the tithe and applied it to the whole of the island, thereby transforming the… Read more

Art/Archaeology History

Gift of Athena: Olive Oil and the Making of Athens

Persistent identifier: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:PrattC.Gift_of_Athena.2018 Abstract In this project, I take a long-term approach to the production, distribution, and consumption of Athenian olive oil. From the eighth to the beginning of the fifth century, Athens produced large, specialized ceramic transport containers (amphoras) to ship local liquid produce, such as olive oil and wine, abroad. Around 480 BCE, however, Athens stopped producing these containers and never again adopted a standardized amphora of their own.… Read more

Art/Archaeology History Research Symposium Papers

Archaeology Through Archives: The Early History of the Archaeological Research in Boeotia Through Original Historical Archives

Citation with persistent identifier: Fappas, Yannis. “Archaeology Through Archives: The Early History of the Archaeological Research in Boeotia Through Original Historical Archives.” CHS Research Bulletin 5, no. 2 (2017). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:FappasY.Archaeology_Through_Archives.2017 Ἡ βίβλος αὕτη τῇ φαεινῇ Καδμείᾳ κλέος προσάπτει, ἐπὶ προγόνων μνείᾳ. Thebes, September 14, 1894. The Ephor, Eukleides Vagiannes. 1§1 The above epigram comes from the very first page of the catalogue of the first organized collection of Boeotian antiquities, compiled by the… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

Scholarship and Leadership on the Black Sea: Clearchus of Heraclea as (Un)enlightened Tyrant[1]

Citation with persistent identifier: Harris, Jason. “Scholarship and Leadership on the Black Sea: Clearchus of Heraclea as (Un)enlightened Tyrant.” CHS Research Bulletin 5, no. 2 (2017). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:HarrisJ.Scholarship_and_Leadership_on_the_Black_Sea.2017 1§1 During the fourth century BCE, between the end of the Peloponnesian War and the beginning of the Hellenistic Period, a group of powerful tyrants appeared across the Greek world. Several of these rulers took advantage of developments within the literary and philosophical spheres by inviting… Read more

Art/Archaeology History Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | Συνοίκησις in Mycenaean Times? The Political and Cultural Geography of Attica in the 2nd Millennium BC

A number of scholars have expressed the view that the synoikismos (political unification) of Attica took place in Mycenaean times. This entails that the region evolved into an early state during the 13th c. BC. Drawing on this hypothesis, I will examine the available archaeological data from a wider (Bronze Age) socio-economic perspective, to explore whether the establishment of a Mycenaean state in Attica was historically feasible and, if yes,… Read more

History Philosophy/Science Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | Scholarship and Leadership on the Black Sea: Clearchus of Heraclea as (Un)Enlightened Tyrant

Clearchus of Heraclea Pontica, who ruled as tyrant from 364 to 352 BC, provides an interesting case-study in the intersection of politics and philosophy in the ancient Greek world. Although trained under Plato and Isocrates in Athens, upon his accession to power in Heraclea, he largely rejected their teachings by becoming cruel and by pandering to the demos. Although formerly a participant in their scholarly community, Clearchus was murdered in… Read more

History Philosophy/Science Research Symposium Papers

Herodotean Democracies

Citation with persistent identifier: Schlosser, Joel Alden. “Herodotean Democracies.” CHS Research Bulletin 5, no. 1 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:SchlosserJ.Herodotean_Democracies.2016 I. 1§1 To study the past, let alone antiquity, at a time when present challenges are both stupendously urgent and complex beyond understanding often feels quite dissonant. How can we possible turn our backs on what’s happening right now to think about ancient history? This feeling has been especially strong in 2016. After a summer… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

Improving the Public Image Through Athletics: Young Victors in Hellenistic Thebes

Citation with persistent identifier: Scharff, Sebastian. “Improving the Public Image Through Athletics: Young Victors in Hellenistic Thebes.” CHS Research Bulletin 5, no. 1 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:ScharffS.Improving_the_Public_Image_through_Athletics.2016 Introductory remarks 1§1 The Hellenistic history of Thebes begins with a tragedy: following the rumor that Alexander had died in Illyria, the Thebans rose against their Macedonian garrison, which had been installed on the Kadmeia after the battle of Chaironeia, and encouraged all the Greeks to join… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

The Cyclic Views of the Human Condition in Thucydides’ Archaeology and Sima Qian’s Preface to Historical Records

Citation with persistent identifier: BAI, Chun Xiao. “The Cyclic Views of the Human Condition in Thucydides’ Archaeology and Sima Qian’s Preface to Historical Records.” CHS Research Bulletin 5, no. 1 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:BaiX.The_Cyclic_Views_of_the_Human_Condition.2016 1§1 The commencement of historiography may be a coincidence. In ancient societies, there were many methods for people to preserve their memories: oral poetry, religious stories, funerary texts, instruction literature, king lists, chronicles of kingdoms, and so on. According to… Read more