In this thesis, the role of the night in Early Christianity is examined from the first century to 250 CE. What nocturnal worship meant and how early Christians gave meaning to the role of the night...Show moreIn this thesis, the role of the night in Early Christianity is examined from the first century to 250 CE. What nocturnal worship meant and how early Christians gave meaning to the role of the night in their practice, as well as how this was seen and interpreted by their Romans neighbours, is combined in this study to make the case for the inherent nocturnality of the early church, and promote increased research into the topic.Show less
The horti, vast aristocratic and imperial estates directly bordering on the city of Rome, are taken as a case study on the appropriation of Hellenistic artistic and architectural styles by Roman...Show moreThe horti, vast aristocratic and imperial estates directly bordering on the city of Rome, are taken as a case study on the appropriation of Hellenistic artistic and architectural styles by Roman elites. Three types of material remains are analysed: architecture, surface art (e.g. mosaics, wall-paintings, veneering), and sculpture. The main conclusion is that many of the Hellenistic motifs and types of art that were imitated in the horti had a highly contextual (and often religious) significance in the Hellenistic world, but that the Roman owners of the horti treated these visual elements as mere decorative elements, while still making use of the intellectual and religious connotations that these had in their original settings. As such, concepts like code-switching and globalisation theory do not seem to adequately explain the Hellenistic elements that are seen in the horti, and we may instead speak of a thorough and far-reaching process of appropriation.Show less
Thinking of ‘crises’ in antique Christianity, one generally thinks of impactful and violent events like the East-West Schism at the beginning of the first millennium, the Donatist schism in the...Show moreThinking of ‘crises’ in antique Christianity, one generally thinks of impactful and violent events like the East-West Schism at the beginning of the first millennium, the Donatist schism in the fourth century, or the Diocletian persecutions from 303 to 313. However, ‘crisis’ did not start there, as historical crises can be traced back to the very beginning of Christianity. At the turn of the first century, a certain bishop in Asia Minor wrote letters revealing of this turbulent start of a new religion. When literally being escorted to his martyr’s death (how turbulent do you want it), Ignatius of Antioch wrote several letters to communities of Christ believers. He shows a surprisingly independent, stylistically quite idiosyncratic and rhetorically brilliant voice on central issues, concerning the ‘humanity’ of Christ and his believers, which renders him indispensable for any analysis of the early Christian crises of his time. Writing right after the first generation of believers, he is in dialogue with apostolic heritage. He explicitly refers to Paul, offering insight into the mechanics of historical development, which involves debate and, as you will, ‘crisis’. This thesis takes Ignatius’ testimony to give meaning to the historical crises of the time.Show less
Greek poets reflected upon the epiphany – the presence - of the Muses in their poems in Ancient Greece. This study aims to determine why poets reflected upon the epiphany of the Muses in their...Show moreGreek poets reflected upon the epiphany – the presence - of the Muses in their poems in Ancient Greece. This study aims to determine why poets reflected upon the epiphany of the Muses in their poems. Since Greek poetry was performed in front of a public, it focusses on the social demands to question the epiphany of the Muses in Ancient Greece. Specifically, it investigates how various political and military crises may have created social demands to reflect upon the Muses’ epiphanies. To test the hypothesis that crises created needs for poets to question the reliability and presence of the Muses, the circumstances of poets’ lives and careers are investigated. Biographical and autobiographical literary evidence, in combination with archaeological and iconological evidence, supports the idea that crises led to a demand to reflect upon the Muses’ epiphanies. This suggests that disruptive experiences such as war and diseases impacted the trustworthiness of divine inspiration and divine knowledge.Show less
In older scholarship, it was often claimed that Christian martyrdom contributed significantly to the conversion of the Roman Empire. This assertion, however, has been significantly criticized in...Show moreIn older scholarship, it was often claimed that Christian martyrdom contributed significantly to the conversion of the Roman Empire. This assertion, however, has been significantly criticized in recent decades, so that conversion in response to witnessing acts of Christian martyrdom now appears to have been relatively minor. In order to both elaborate on and critically evaluate these criticisms, the present thesis compares a number of Christian and ‘pagan’ texts from the second and third centuries CE that deal with martyrdom and/or ‘noble death’. While the thesis pays attention to issues surrounding the scale on which martyrdom occurred and the extent to which witnessing the torture and execution of Christians may have inspired conversion, its main focus is on the importance of martyr texts to the Christianization of the Roman Empire. ‘Christianization’ here is used in a more general sense, and includes not only conversion, but also the formation of Christian (group)identity and the catechesis of new members. With regards to the possibility of Christian texts being used to convert outsiders or instruct the newly-initiated, the thesis works from the assumption that these ‘pagan’ audiences would have been more likely to adopt a favourable view of Christian martyrdom – and perhaps concomitantly, Christianity – insofar as its (literary) representations presented it as similar to noble death. Simultaneously, the thesis argues that Christian martyr texts contain several unique elements, principally religious in character, that allowed them to out-live ‘pagan’ noble death traditions like that of the Acta Alexandrinorum. These shared and unique aspects are recovered through an in-depth analysis and comparison of a number of Christian and ‘pagan’ texts. All in all, the findings of the thesis generally agree with earlier revisionist publications, and suggest that conversion induced by martyrdom was rare, and that the importance of martyr texts to Early Christianity mostly lay in their ability to provide Christian groups with powerful communities identities and moral exemplars.Show less
Het werkstuk richt zich op de mens-dier relaties tussen mens en hond binnen de antieke Griekse en Romeinse samenlevingen. Hierbij wordt gekeken naar mogelijke functionele en symbolische relaties.
Rond 150 v.C. beschreef de Griekse historicus Polybius in zijn Historiën hoe Rome was uitgegroeid van bescheiden stadstaat tot een mediterrane supermacht. Polybius zag de gemengde constitutie van...Show moreRond 150 v.C. beschreef de Griekse historicus Polybius in zijn Historiën hoe Rome was uitgegroeid van bescheiden stadstaat tot een mediterrane supermacht. Polybius zag de gemengde constitutie van de Romeinse Republiek als belangrijke reden voor dit succes. Deze constitutie bestond uit democratische, oligarchische en monarchale elementen. In Rome waren dit respectievelijk de volksvergaderingen, de senaat en de magistraten. De rol van het volk was vooral formeel, maar kende ook de nodige praktische elementen. Een ruime eeuw later was er van dit systeem vrijwel niets meer over en was de republiek na burgeroorlogen vervangen door een monarchie. Over hoe het democratische aspect van de Romeinse Republiek te interpreteren in deze ontwikkeling, bestaat de nodige onenigheid.Show less
This Research Master Thesis focusses on the rich epigraphic corpus in the third- and fourth-century Aphrodisias. By examining the Aphrodisian corpus of inscriptions, this Thesis aims to explore how...Show moreThis Research Master Thesis focusses on the rich epigraphic corpus in the third- and fourth-century Aphrodisias. By examining the Aphrodisian corpus of inscriptions, this Thesis aims to explore how several elements, crucial to civic identity in the Principate, were used and adapted by different parties in Aphrodisias in the third- and fourth-century changing political and ideological landscape to position themselves within the city, within the surrounding area, and within the Empire. I attempt to consider external elements of inscriptions when offering interpretations. The Thesis shall present most of its studies in the form of case study. Chapter 1 focusses on the elements the Aphrodisian elite applied to represent their identity, and how they selected to represent themselves in such ways according to the context. It aims to show that the Aphrodisians inherited traditional ideas of the civic elite, but religious affiliations gradually became dominant. Chapter 2 offers a case study on the ‘Archival Wall’, one of the best examples of civic self-representation in the city. Regarding the Wall as consciously fabricated lieu de mémoire, the chapter argues that the city, as a whole, defined itself by the concept of liberty, the competition with the famous Asian cities, and the continuous friendship with Rome. The key question is why the Aphrodisians chose these documents in this specific time to set up a Wall. Chapter 3 examines how Aphrodisias and Aphrodisians found and expressed their new role when the city was provincialised.Show less
In this thesis, the main theme is the access to ancient Greek religion, specifically the access of women. Not everybody had access to every aspect of ancient Greek religion, and this thesis...Show moreIn this thesis, the main theme is the access to ancient Greek religion, specifically the access of women. Not everybody had access to every aspect of ancient Greek religion, and this thesis attempts to fill a historiographical gap by posing the question of why access was selective by examining women in the ancient Greek society. Important themes are impurity and fertility. Access was restricted because of the supposed impurity of women, while religious spaces and rituals should remain pure.Show less
This research studied the conceptualization of the functionality of power objects in the ancient world. With the help of emerging research fields on material agency and ancient emotions,...Show moreThis research studied the conceptualization of the functionality of power objects in the ancient world. With the help of emerging research fields on material agency and ancient emotions, instructions for making amulets have been studied to understand why ancient individuals put trust in certain objects that could, as they believed, influence their lives. This research has shown that the concept of protective circles can help to gain a better understanding of the believed functions of amulets and other power objects.Show less
Volgens sommigen was de Romeinse wereld een 'slave society' waarin slaven de spil van de economie waren. De Romeinse slaaf had zo een belangrijke rol en kon allerlei functies en rollen innemen. Dit...Show moreVolgens sommigen was de Romeinse wereld een 'slave society' waarin slaven de spil van de economie waren. De Romeinse slaaf had zo een belangrijke rol en kon allerlei functies en rollen innemen. Dit onderzoek richt zich op de slaven en vrijgelaten slaven in de periferie van het Romeinse Rijk en dan met name op de provincie Britannia. Wie waren de slaven en vrijgelatenen in Britannia en wat voor rol vervulden zij in de samenleving?Show less
This study searches for an answer to the question who the Palestinian leistes was and which role he played within early Roman Palestinian society. It starts with a re-examination of earlier models,...Show moreThis study searches for an answer to the question who the Palestinian leistes was and which role he played within early Roman Palestinian society. It starts with a re-examination of earlier models, mainly the Zealot model and the social banditry model. Due to dissatisfaction with both major models, it continues by seeing latrocinium as a means used by both regional strongmen and Palestinian peasant communities to fulfil economic, social, and political goals. Peasants entered into patronal relations with regional strongmen and performed latrocinium-like activities for the former in exchange for protection against subsistence crises and external enemies. The regional strongmen on the other hand, used their leistai to strengthen their own position in society. This study looks at how latrocinium worked in Early Roman Palestine and how it penetrated into all levels of society. Furthermore, making use of both the model developed in this study and the model of multi-polar network-centric insurgency, it proposes a new way of looking at the First Jewish War (66-74AD) and at the role of leistai within this event.Show less
