In 2.14 Propertius promises rich donations to Venus, to be attached to a „columna“ (v. 25). This column is often thought to be part of a temple, but such an interpretation raises problems. One reading is that columna means a single votive column, well-known in Roman (and Greek) religious praxis and in visual arts. With such a reading „columna“ gains in sacral importance. Then again, single columns have been used as Roman victory monuments: With that in mind the „columna“ can equally be understood in the semantics of a military success, which is essential for the whole elegy. Propertius’ „columna“ is much more than only a place to attach „magna dona“ (v. 25).

During the imperial and late antique period, various systems of lot divination spread in various regions of the Roman Empire. Notably, this custom appears to be particularly widespread in (Southern) Gaul, as revealed, among other things, by three lot books that are very likely to originate from this area, namely the Sortes Sangallenses, the Sortes Sanctorum and the Sortes Monacenses. The present paper focusses on the Sortes Sanctorum, a short divinatory text that includes 56 lots, all entirely preserved, dating from the 5th/6th century. The first three sections, aiming at introducing the lots, dwell on the textual transmission, the form and structure of the oracle, and its relationship with the Greek models. The fourth and longest one investigates their language, focussing on the non-standard features and the relation between the type of language adopted and the social status of the clients.

The setting of Plato’s Phaedrus at a locus amoenus has elicited numerous interpretations, and has been seen both as a positive and as a negative symbol. Building on those interpretations, this paper argues that Plato drew on the literary tradition of the dangerous locus amoenus, represented especially by Homer, in order to convey the danger coming from rhetoric. The paper suggests that the danger inherent to the locus amoenus traditionally exhibited two facets: the presence of an aggressive entity eager to detain or otherwise harm the visitors of the locus; and the presence of such charms that tempt the visitor never to leave the locus. It further argues that both of those traditional aspects of the dangerous locus amoenus have been weaved into the fabric of the Phaedrus.

Literary texts – namely Horace, Quintilian, Seneca, Martial, Juvenal and the younger Pliny – reflect an intensive discourse about time and an orderly structuring of the day from dawn to dusk. They describe a binding daily routine that synchronized and coordinated individual activities. This led to a standardization of activities so that a continuous face-to-face interaction is formed through a constant flow of common social action. All participants in these synchronized activities must be aware, where they are expected to be at any time of day. The aim of this contribution is to highlight the culture-specific characteristics of dealing with time. The focus will also be on the deliberate deviations from the collective time scheme. The author interprets these transgressions as a meaningful strategy of social distinction.

In fragment 168B (Voigt) the two pieces of information that it is midnight and that the right moment has passed are in contradiction; Love certainly doesn’t comply with time least of all with midnight. In a new interpretation, the attempt is undertaken to show that Sappho connects two opposed facts on purpose. When the Pleiades are setting, the right time of the year for the peasant’s work does specifically not come to an end and when the (full) moon is setting, it is specifically not midnight. But this is only the prelude for another ambiguity that is dealt with here: “I am alone“ and “I sleep“. Likewise, these sentences do exclude one another: To sleep alone is as absurd for Sappho as the setting of the moon before midnight or the passing of Kairos on the setting of the Pleiades. Thus Sappho makes use of three oxymora to express that in her loneliness not only the universal rules of nature are suspended but also the laws in heaven and earth seem to have been annulled: An ironic exaggeration expressing her grief as well as her outrage attaching a humorous wink to it at the same time.

A garment called βύνητος has survived from the Greek, for which the current research opinion is based on an Egyptian etymology. The aim of this paper is to offer a suggestion for identifying this Egyptian loan word.

With his victories over Carthage (146 BC) and Numantia (133 BC), Scipio Aemilianus contributed significantly to the establishment of Rome’s unchallenged rule in the Mediterranean. The article analyses and compares Scipio’s military action in the conquest of the two cities under the aspect of temporality and places the results in a temporal-structural framework. Due to the requirements of the cursus honorum, Roman commanders in the Middle Republic had a narrow window of opportunity to generate military glory. The violent actions of Roman commanders were less subject to tactical considerations related to the opponent, but were rather guided by a Rome-related calculation that was oriented towards the politically constructed time constraints of the Republic. With the help of a temporal approach, a new view of the dynamics of Roman expansion can be gained.

This article discusses three rather neglected issues concerning Varro’s Hebdomades: 1. The basis of Varro’s fascination with the number seven, leading him to his eventual concept of such an exceptional work; 2. An attempt to find out as much as possible about the nature of the work, described by Pliny as the first illustrated book in Rome, and 3. A discussion of its reception and impact in Rome.

In the fasti of almost all praetorian provinces there seems to be a lacuna in the years 54 to 51 BC. In fact, there is not a single praetor from the colleges 55, 54 and 53 BC for whom a province ex praetura is known. It is argued here that anarchy and obstruction made the allocation of provinces impossible from 55 BC onwards. This was probably the main reason for the senateʼs decision in 53 BC to send privati to the provinces.

In this paper, I discuss the text and the authenticity of Lucius Cincius Alimentus FRHist F11 dub. The generally accepted reading exultauit should be replaced by the reading insultauit, not mentioned in any of the collections of fragments of the Roman historians. Most of the evidence points to attributing the fragment to the antiquarian Lucius Cincius. However, the possibility that it belongs to the historian Lucius Cincius Alimentus, who originally wrote in Greek, cannot be completely ruled out, even though the fragment is transmitted in Latin and contains a Latin etymology.