Volume 13, Issue 1

The Arcadians were a people allegedly older than the moon, with strong claims to primordiality as an autochthonous group on the Peloponnesian peninsula. They claimed their heritage from Lycaon, the son of Pelasgus, providing them with a myth-history reaching into time immemorial. This article examines the development of the Arcadian regional ethnic group in the Archaic period of Greek history and proposes that the identity group originated in the eastern part of Arcadia. It will be argued that the regional Arcadian ethnic group formed through merging with two other groups, namely the Parrhasians and the Azanians. Based on these three groups, this article argues for a tripartite distribution of identity groups that came to form the Arcadians in the Archaic period. The article will be divided into three main sections, focusing on the three groups, beginning with the eastern Arcadians and then discussing the Azanians and the Parrhasians. The argument will be constructed by analysing genealogical connections, mythical stories, and cultural elements within these regions. The conclusion suggests why these groups merged in the Archaic period by referring to developments in Sparta, Elis, and Argos.

This article analyses Cypriot graffiti in Egypt engraved by tourists and mercenaries in the Archaic and Classical periods (sixth through fourth centuries BC). These graffiti were inscribed on walls of majestic monuments, e. g., the pyramids in Giza and the temples of Karnak and Abydos. They were written in different languages and scripts all employed on the island, such as Cypriot-syllabic Greek, Eteocypriot – an indigenous language still undeciphered – alphabetic Greek and Phoenician, spread throughout the city-kingdoms into which Cyprus was subdivided. The examination is conducted through a socio-cognitive approach, moving beyond previous scholarship which exclusively focused on the graffiti’s concise texts – often limited to the names and provenance of the writers . By comparing Cypriot Egyptian graffiti with contemporary graffiti and twenty-first-century graffiti written in Cypriot-syllabic script, the analysis will shed light on the role of socio-political environment and landscapes in triggering individuals’ – in this case Cypriots’ – cognitive-behavioral responses which lead them to write these texts. This pioneering approach will allow a better understanding of the underlying reasons why these graffiti were engraved and in which locations. The investigation will provide a better knowledge of the origins of the Cypriot writers, level of literacy, and of their role in society (e. g., insiders vs. outsiders), shedding light on communities that would otherwise be unknown. Furthermore, this study lays the foundations for developing an innovative methodology applicable to epigraphic studies, based on integrating landscape interactions and visual impacts to more traditional examination strategies.

This paper outlines a new framework for the historical study of Roman imperialism in the East as a dialogue between the empire and local elites. It is argued that Pompey created in his representation a persona of himself that Near Eastern nobles considered legitimate. This representation ultimately helped him to stabilise Roman hegemony over Armenia, which had already developed into a contested borderland with the Parthians. From the fragments aligned with the lost account of Theophanes, there is a strong indication that Alexander was the dominating feature in Pompey’s representation in the East. This applies in particular to Pompey’s presentation of the so-called ‘Transcaucasian campaign’. In the course of this campaign, the Romans approached the northern limits of the world, which allowed Pompey to claim universalism by using the myths that were woven around Alexander. Universalism had been at the heart of the discourse on empire that prevailed in the Near East during the first millennium BCE and, therefore, was crucial to any imperial formation in the Near East that preceded the Romans, especially to Alexander, his successors, and Rome’s eastern enemies.

This article analyses the legacy of the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla from the earliest relevant evidence (81 BC) to the fifth century AD. It was dominated by four strands of memory concerning his power, the proscriptions, the stability he provided, and his personal stature. These strands collectively formed an ambivalent legacy that has been obscured by the schematism of previous work. In particular, Umberto Laffi’s influential ‘myth of Sulla’, according to which the dictator was remembered as a straightforwardly negative example under the Principate, misrepresents the evidence. By restoring the ambivalence of Sulla’s memory, this article opens up the potential for a new discussion about how and why Sulla’s extraordinary power and harrowing violence could be rationalised by the Romans.

This article examines the development of road networks in Roman and early Chinese imperial contexts, analyzing the role of political ideology and cultural frameworks in shaping infrastructure. It argues that Roman roadbuilding, deeply intertwined with notions of public participation and republicanism, developed into a system where roads symbolized power and facilitated state control. Early Imperial China saw similar approaches to roads with a few stark contrasts. These included a greater restriction of access and usage, and a more equivocal stance on the ethics of road construction, with roadbuilding becoming less emphasized in favor of waterways and hydraulic engineering in the Han period, reflecting a different mode of territorial management and imperial ideology. This study highlights key structural and ideological divergences in the two civilizations' approaches to infrastructure. The Roman 'hodological' worldview contrasts with the broader territorial understanding evident in early Chinese cartographical and hydraulic initiatives. By offering a comparative analysis, this paper provides a foundation for further inquiry into the political and cultural dynamics of imperial roadbuilding.

In 82/3 CE the peacock was introduced on Roman imperial coins. It appeared on the reverse of precious-metal coins struck for Domitia Longina, and reappeared in 88/9 for the same empress and for Julia Titi. This article contextualizes these coins in both the iconographic tradition and the contemporary politics of Domitian’s Rome. It shows that the appearance of the peacock served a twofold purpose: on the one hand, it was part of a programmatic depiction of the imperial couple as Jupiter and Juno; on the other hand, it belonged to a new way of visualizing the divine triad worshipped in the Capitolium as restored by Domitian. The article illustrates how the peacock was embedded in a concerted program that simultaneously highlighted the Flavian dynasty, the apotheosis of its deceased members (both men and women), the divine association of those alive, and the dynasty’s care for the cityscape. In doing so, the coins stood at the beginning of an imperial tradition in which all of these elements became part of imperial (self-)display.

The focus of the article is the resemblance between the writings of Ammianus Marcellinus and Sulpicius Alexander, demonstrated by the selection and focus on the same kind of information, one that stems from an affinity of perspectives, shaped by similar professional experiences and social backgrounds, as well as intended audiences. The article explores the potential similarities between these two authors and another historian with a military background – Magnus of Carrhae. Inspecting these hypotheses facilitates in turn a reconsideration of the existing identification of Sulpicius Alexander proposed by Seeck and reiterated by Zecchini. In the conclusion it is postulated that examined cases are signs of a socio-cultural phenomenon of the soldier historians, which emerged in the Roman Empire of the fourth century CE, but ultimately died out due to political and societal changes, such as for example the disappearance of the professional military in the western part of the Roman Empire, which took place in the following century.