Interesting findings are continuously coming to light on the archaeological site of the former Roman fortress of Sucidava that is located on Danube in the West of today Romania. The Romans were present there between the first and the sixth centuries AD – that includes the early Byzantine period. Objects dating to the above-mentioned time exist within the museum belonging to this archaeological site and are recorded all the time. Many of these are introduced and described – along with their images –in my article; among the most recently unearthed items are the pieces of ceramic from July 2024, Figure 15 (An interpretation of the incidence of these discoveries in Sucidava is attempted).

This is a historian's view of how modern astronomy data can be used to discuss the shifting historical worldview of Late Antiquity. In this article an attempt is made to construct an approximate model of how the cycles of astronomical bodies' visible rotation affected the writing of history and self-representation of the Roman Empire’s powerful people. It is argued that while rare outstanding events like solar eclipses might have caused a short stir in the minds of the rulers and their environment, long-term cycles based on the synchronization of the Moon's phases with the solar calendar and the cycles of the planets lining up in the same disposition (in relationship to the Moon or without this relationship) were the foundation of astronomy-based Christian chronological system. The emergence of the Christian historical worldview in the 5th century was marked by appearance of a significant eschatological strain in it. Historians paid attention not only to the theology-defined signs of the end of the world, but also, as it has been suggested in modern studies, to the some outstanding celestial phenomena. In this paper I would like to address several criteria which may help understand what in the celestial motions interested the astronomers and historians of the 5th century. This paper uses the first approximation of astronomical data for solving the problem of how relevant the skies were for historians, although all numeric parameters are taken from the up-to-date astronomy reference publications. It is an attempt to understand whether the very basic approximations can be related to what historians know from the array of sources available to them. The analysis suggests that there is a whole array of occasions when the dates of astronomical events, received with the help of these basic approximations, coincide with the data from historical sources.

In the Greco-Roman world, doctors held significant authority in the areas of infant care, childcare and paediatric diseases. In the second book of his Gynaecia, the Greek physician Soranus discusses everything from the recommended method of feeding an infant to their emotional well-being. The physicians Galen, Rufus of Ephesus (cited by the Byzantine author Oribasius) and Cornelius Celsus provide further expertise about childrearing through case studies and descriptions of paediatric diseases. This paper will discuss how the mothering expertise of male doctors was privileged by both parents and other male doctors in Greco Roman antiquity and how doctors were often essential members of elite children’s circles of care. It will examine Galen’s parenting expertise through his case studies involving Cyrillus, the son of the consul Boethus, and the emperor’s son Commodus. Comparisons will then be drawn to the privilege that Soranus places on his own expertise of maternal and infant care, the authority that Rufus gives to himself in the area of childrearing and that Celsus places on his knowledge of pediatric disease.

Transformed into a Japanese protectorate in 1905 after the victory in the war against Russia (1904-1905), Korea was annexed to Japan in 1910. The period of the protectorate (1905-1910) was central in setting the framework for the investigations and work that took place in colonial Korea until the end of the 1930s. Among these, archaeology came to the fore, just as everywhere in a colonial context, in the Mediterranean territories or in East Asia. Indeed, archaeology is a fundamental source of knowledge about conquered territories; moreover, the stakes involved in controlling the past were increased in the case of countries such as Korea or Cambodia, which were former ancient States. This paper will provide an overview of the genesis and organs of Japanese archaeology and colonial museums in Korea during the first half of the 20th century, based on primary sources as well as Japanese and South Korean historiography. We will first discuss an initial period - dating back to pre-colonial times - of intellectual construction of the Japanese gaze upon the peninsula, a period that also saw the emergence of a Japanese fascination with the peninsula’s past, as well as the formation of a discourse legitimizing the annexation of Korea in the name of the past. Secondly, we will describe the elaboration of colonial institutions: the Museum of the Japanese Government-General of Korea and the regional museums, the Commission for the Study of the Ancient Remains of Korea, which was the equivalent in colonial Korea of EFEO in French Indochina. Then, we will describe the realization of major five-year excavation programs and their focus on the two sites of Lelang (near Pyŏngyang) in the north, and Kyŏngju in the south. Finally, we’ll look at some of the best-known publications, both in books and scientific journals, and question their legacy after decolonization in 1945 and the foundation of North and South Korea in 1948.

Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean and the ancient point of contact between Africa, Italy, Greece and the Eastern world, witnessed two massive slave uprisings in the 2nd century BC. Together with the later revolt of Spartacus in Italy in the 1st century BC, the movements of Eunus-Antiochus of ca. 140/135-132 BC, and that of Salvius-Tryphon and Athenion of ca. 104-100 BC form the triad of great slave wars such as were never seen in antiquity, before or since. Twice in the same century, during a period of several years, former slaves-built states of their own, states that controlled large portions of the island and exchanged blows with the Roman armies, with surprising success. Our main source, Diodorus of Sicily (books 34/5 and 36, preserved in excerpts and fragments), describes these new political structures as recreations of the Hellenistic kingdoms. This tendency is especially remarkable in the case of the First Slave War when rebel leadership brought about, at least outwardly, a Western replica of the Seleucid monarchy of Syria. Historians of the older generation took notice of these developments, though attempts at deeper analysis were rare. With one significant exception, the newer historiography has either ignored Hellenistic connections of the Sicilian slave revolts, or dismissed them as marginal. This paper argues that Hellenistic elements in the structure of the two ancient slave revolts are both substantial and historically significant. It was partly the case of simple ethnocultural affinity (the core of the rebels, including most of the leadership came from Syria and Asia Minor), but also of great practical necessity that political entities created by the former slaves took on the form of the military monarchy of the kind prevalent in the Hellenistic East.

A qualitative method is presented to explain anthropogenic impact on the environment in the southern Levant regarding ancient land-use. Three major monocultural periods between the 4th-c. BCE and 20th-c. CE (Hellenistic, Byzantine, and Ottoman) are examined as a case study. Hellenistic olive oil presses, Byzantine winepresses, and Ottoman animal pens are extracted from archaeological survey data. The high concentration of “same type” agricultural installations per period, compared to the total, attests to the monoculture which reflects agricultural intensification and industrialization. Analysis in geographic information systems (GIS) indicates that areas of cumulatively more intense monocultural land-use caused natural vegetation-cover today with a form of land-degradation called plagioclimax. A qualitative narrative is established through the pagus, a metaphor for environmental “other” and place of extending civilization, to explain. This metaphorical pagus also corresponds to that real space which is heavily impacted by the monocultural activity. Ontological independence, which challenged divine causality, is examined through Hellenistic divination texts, Byzantine church mosaics, and Ottoman Sufi texts. These expressions reflect the geopiety, or connection between people and land, and help link the monoculture, intensification, industrialization, capitalism, and plagioclimax. The pagus, as sacrificial other, concurrently enabled conservation of additional areas that even today represent nature reserves.

Hephaestion was the most loyal friend of Alexander the Great. He was the supporter of Alexander’s policy and participated in building Alexander’s image so by creating parallels with the Homeric figures. It already started at the beginning of the Macedonian expedition when they visited Achilles and Patroclus tombs. Mourning after Hephaestion death allowed Alexander expressed deep grief in a truly Homeric way. Mourning time was the last opportunity to refer to the created by them Homeric image of friendship. Alexander wished to be remembered by his contemporaries and subsequent generations just as his ancestors did. Therefore, sometimes undertook actions that were of an image-related nature. Extraordinary way of express feelings and lavish character of funeral ceremony, number of people involved the in preparations raise the question of Alexander’s purposefulness. Important for this consideration is fact that commemorating Hephaestion also became an opportunity to aspire to divinity once again. The study aims are to analyze of actions taken by Alexander the Great after the death of his friend and consider how it influenced to Alexander’s image.

This study aims to question the reasons and consequences of the code on behalf of the empire. The article supports the idea that the code was one of the most important reform codes that helped the empire to postpone its decay in the 19th century. The study suggests that the code played a crucial role for the empire in controlling illegal settlements, increasing tax incomes and registering the people who were already living in the region by preserving their status. The study claims that the code contributed to preserving the wealth of the people living within the empire by enabling authorities to track the construction and land purchasing activities in the region. By that the study suggests that the empire achieved to learn more about desolate areas in the region by constructing new building sites, administration offices, and farming areas in order to develop the region economically and enhance Ottoman authority in the region. The threat to the demographic structure of the territory, especially after the defeat of the Crimean War, negatively affected the economy and social cohesion of the empire. Therefore, France and Britain, dwelling on the support they had provided to the empire against Russia after the Crimean War interfered with the internal and external policies of the empire, which were regarded to be threatening the sovereignty of the empire. Therefore, the study supports the idea that the code serves as a reaction to regain the Ottoman sovereignty both in and out of its boundaries after Paris Treaty (1856). As the study suggests, by the code the Ottoman authorities had a chance to keep the demographic structure of the region by preventing new incoming immigrants and settlers to the empire. The code in its basic form is supported to preserve the boundaries of the empire by preserving the wealth of people, tribes, and their demographic status where they were living in. By keeping track of the people and their land purchasing and settlement activities within the empire, the code also increased the revenues the empire collected contributed to Ottoman treasury. The study supports the idea that the code played a critical role in prolonging the lifespan of the empire beside guaranteeing the demographic structure of the region. The study employs qualitative research method by using document analysis technique.