Ancient biomolecules have become an increasingly important part of archaeological investigations interested in understanding population movements and health. Despite their ability to elucidate ...historically-attested contexts of human mobility and interaction between different cultural groups, biomolecular techniques are still underutilized in certain historical and archaeological contexts. One such context is the Roman Imperial limes, or border zone, along the lower reaches of the Danube, which saw more than five hundred years of migration, conflict, and accommodation among a wide range of populations, from Mediterranean settlers to steppe pastoralists. In this region, more than a century of archaeological investigation has unearthed the remains of tens of thousands of Roman-era individuals. However, only a limited number of contexts have undergone biomolecular analyses. While these deceased humans may offer an untapped reservoir of biomolecular information, many were collected during a period when the standard precautions and protocols for ancient biomolecular research were not yet established. Because contamination is a major barrier for successfully recovering ancient DNA and proteins, conducting a pilot study to assess bimolecular preservation of a small representative dataset of human remains before embarking on a more extensive research program may prevent unnecessary sampling. This study applies ancient DNA and paleoproteomic techniques to human remains from a Roman-period cemetery at Histria, a site located just south of the Danube at the edge of the Roman province of Moesia Inferior. The individuals from whom we sampled dentin and dental calculus were excavated between the 1940s and 1980s and were housed at the Francisc J. Rainer Institute since. Our results suggest that both microbial and human ancient DNA is preserved in the dental calculus and dentin samples. We also successfully recovered sex-specific amelogenin peptides in tooth enamel from three individuals, including a juvenile. In conclusion, our results are encouraging, signifying the feasibility of future aDNA and paleoproteomic research for this skeletal collection. Our analyses also showcase how sex estimation with genomic and proteomic methods may contradict traditional osteological approaches. These findings not only offer deeper insights into the lives of these individuals but also show promise for the investigation of broader anthropological questions, such as the impact of Roman annexation in this region.
In ancient Rome, it was believed some humans were transformed into special, empowered beings after death. These deified dead, known as the manes, watched over and protected their surviving family ...members, possibly even extending those relatives’ lives. But unlike the Greek hero-cult, the worship of dead emperors, or the Christian saints, the manes were incredibly inclusive—enrolling even those without social clout, such as women and the poor, among Rome's deities. The Roman afterlife promised posthumous power in the world of the living. While the manes have often been glossed over in studies of Roman religion, this book brings their compelling story to the forefront, exploring their myriad forms and how their worship played out in the context of Roman religion’s daily practice. Exploring the place of the manes in Roman society, Charles King delves into Roman beliefs about their powers to sustain life and bring death to individuals or armies, examines the rituals the Romans performed to honor them, and reclaims the vital role the manes played in the ancient Roman afterlife.
U radu se donose nalazi otkriveni na predjelu Goveja u gradu Visu na istoimenom otoku, čiji karakter i opisani kontekst pronalaska upućuju na zaključak da je riječ o materijalnim ostatcima antičkog ...paljevinskog groba. Među njima se posebno ističe unikatna keramička posuda, u ovom kontekstu korištena kao urna, za koju se prema tipičnom morfološkom modelu skifa s barbottine ukrasom predlaže izradba u nekoj od radionica koje su grupirane unutar klase Pontske sigilate, odnosno u nekom od crnomorskih/istočnomediteranskih proizvodnih središta. Njezina posebnost ogleda se u dodanom elaboriranom reljefu, koji svojim prikazom uvelike podsjeća na ukrasne detalje s drugih uporabnih predmeta – aplike s fulkruma klina – a koji se interpretira kao prikaz Artemide/Dijane. Detaljna analiza i kontekstualizacija ovdje predstavljenih grobnih nalaza produbljuje naše spoznaje o izradi i potražnji stolnog posuđa kasnog 1. odnosno 2. stoljeća te otvara nova pitanja o izgledu i rasprostranjenosti
isejskih pogrebnih krajolika, kao i o specifičnim odlikama isejskog pogrebnog obreda.
Early in the twentieth century a new character type emerged in the crime novels of American writers such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler: the “hard-boiled” detective, most famously ...exemplified by Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon. Unlike the analytical detectives of nineteenth-century fiction, such as Edgar Allan Poe’s Inspector Dupin, the new detectives encountered cases not as intricate logical puzzles but as stark challenges of manhood. In the stories of these characters and their criminal opposites, John T. Irwin explores the tension within ideas of American masculinity between subordination and independence and, for the man who becomes “his own boss,” the conflict between professional codes and personal desires. He shows how, within different works of hard-boiled fiction, the professional either overcomes the personal or is overcome by it, ending in ruinous relationships or in solitary integrity, and how within the genre all notions of manly independence are ultimately revealed to be illusions subordinate to fate itself.
Tracing the stylistic development of the genre, Irwin demonstrates the particular influence of the novel of manners, especially the writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald. He goes on to argue that, from the time of World War II, when hard-boiled fiction began to appear on the screen in film noir just as women entered the workforce in large numbers, many of its themes came to extend to female empowerment. Finally, he discusses how these themes persist in contemporary dramatic series on television, representing the conflicted lives of Americans into the twenty-first century.
Colourless glass became prominent between the middle of the 1st century AD and the beginning of the 4th century. This text reflects the diversity of glass and is designed as a practical manual ...divided into three parts: assemblages, typological catalogue, chemical analyses.
This book provides a definitive account of the history of the Roman calendar, offering new reconstructions of its development that demand serious revisions to previous accounts. Examines the critical ...stages of the technical, political, and religious history of the Roman calendar Provides a comprehensive historical and social contextualization of ancient calendars and chronicles Highlights the unique characteristics which are still visible in the most dominant modern global calendar.
L’article se propose d’étudier la réappropriation et la fragmentation de la mémoire chez le personnage migrant d’origine africaine. L’objectif en est de décrire les ressorts identitaires à partir de ...l’écriture de la mémoire dans trois romans produits en contexte diasporique : "Black Bazar" d’Alain Mabanckou, "Le Ventre de l’Atlantique" de Fatou Diome et "Au pays" de Tahar Ben Jelloun. En prenant appui sur la méthode thématique, la réflexion autour de la réappropriation de la mémoire indique que ces trois romans procèdent à une écriture privilégiant la mémoire personnelle, la mémoire du pays d’origine et la place de l’Occident dans la mémoire du continent africain. La description du personnage postcolonial aux prises avec la survivance du fait historique révèle la réfutation du mythe du nègre sauvage et des stéréotypes racistes. Il en ressort que la vision du monde des auteurs se traduit par l’intention de reconstruire une nouvelle identité. En matérialisant par le biais de l’écriture le fait historique, Alain Mabanckou, Fatou Diome et Tahar Ben Jelloun relèvent le défi face à cette époque saturée d’images et hyper connectée où les faits instantanés tendent à supplanter la place de la mémoire dans le nouveau destin de l’Homme du XXIe siècle.
Résumé : La présente étude permet de déceler par les unités analytiques du paratexte, certains traits idiosyncrasiques des sociétés romanesques cibles. Ils précisent l’arrière fond d’espace et de ...temps, permettent ainsi d’atteindre la socialité. Partant de ces unités analytiques sociocritiques : iconographie et titrologie, nous y relèverons les facettes des idéaux poursuivis, à savoir celui des dirigeants et des dirigés derrière lesquels se rangent les romanciers. Ces deux structures externes précisent leur lutte pour l’instauration de la vie des valeurs socio-politico-économiques pour le progrès de tous.
Growing scientific evidence from modern climate science is loaded with implications for the environmental history of the Roman Empire and its successor societies. The written and archaeological ...evidence, although richer than commonly realized, is unevenly distributed over time and space. A first synthesis of what the written records and multiple natural archives (multi-proxy data) indicate about climate change and variability across western Eurasia from c. 100 B.C. to 800 A.D. confirms that the Roman Empire rose during a period of stable and favorable climatic conditions, which deteriorated during the Empire's thirdcentury crisis. A second, briefer period of favorable conditions coincided with the Empire's recovery in the fourth century; regional differences in climate conditions parallel the diverging fates of the eastern and western Empires in subsequent centuries. Climate conditions beyond the Empire's boundaries also played an important role by affecting food production in the Nile valley, and by encouraging two major migrations and invasions of pastoral peoples from Central Asia.
Izhodišče prispevka je domneva, da nad precejšnjim delom Salustijevega historiografskega opusa lebdi senca izkušnje dolge državljanske vojne v Rimu v času njegovega življenja. To je razvidno iz ...zgodovinarjevega prikaza surovega obračuna nobilitete z bratoma Grakh in iz njegove upodobitve Sule in njegove vladavine kot vira moralnega kaosa v desetletju po njegovem zavzetju Rima. Ko razmišlja o vzrokih krize rimske republike v šestdesetih letih pr. Kr. in v času nastanka svojih spisov, se Salustij sicer skuša predstaviti kot nepristranski opazovalec, ki občasno biča napake političnih voditeljev obeh sprtih taborov, aristokracije in ljudstva. Vendar zgodovinar gotovo ne deli Ciceronovega mnenja o slogi med osrednjima skupinama vladajočega sloja kot zadostnem zdravilu za rimske težave. Preveč resno je jemal družbene korenine krize. Pri tem je nedvomno pripisoval odgovornost za krizo vladajočemu sloju. Zato si po Salustijevem mnenju pozornost zaslužijo celo neverodostojni glasniki sprememb, kakršen je bil Katilina. Po eni strani se Salustij ni odmaknil od uničujočega Ciceronovega prikaza voditelja zarote in ga je še dodatno prikazal kot demagoga, ki se, kadar mu to koristi, predstavlja za tipičnega člana nobilitete. Toda po drugi strani slika njegov razmislek o položaju v Rimu kot verodostojen, zlasti ko gre za Katilinov goreč napad na vodilno elito.