BC Greek Research Articles

The Roofing System of the Tholos of Athena Pronaia in Delphi: Archaeological Hypotheses and Structural Suggestions

ABSTRACT This study aims to provide an integrated understanding of archaeological findings by evaluating reconstruction hypotheses from a technological and structural perspective, focusing on the Tholos of Athena Pronaia in Delphi, a prime example of 4th and 3rd-century BC Greek architecture. Archaeological research primarily focuses on proportional rules and decorative aspects. The original roof configuration remains uncertain despite its architectural significance and characteristic interlocking marble tiles. The investigation of structural problems is crucial for selecting the most feasible reconstructions and formulating hypotheses on materials, dimensions of structural elements, and how connections between elements were constructed. Due to the many reconstruction uncertainties, a reverse design approach was employed, utilizing schematic technological sections based on the known structural and technical knowledge of the time to ensure consistency between archaeological images and potential underlying structural diagrams. Variables were considered for uncertain dimensions, and the structure’s safety was analysed in terms of material strength and stability. This highlighted not only unsafe solutions but also potential novelties in structural conceptions. This contribution serves as a starting point for research, placing structural mechanics at the service of archaeology with a focus on the tholos roof system.

No, the World is not Destined for War

War is not a destiny; it is a human creation, a failure of politics, economics, diplomacy, and security policy. International Relations (IR) is the study of great power relations and how they affect the world. Understanding and conduct of contemporary IR based on old assumptions can be as erroneous and risky as concluding the inevitability of war between two 21st Century great powers based on what a scholar reminds us of the "Thucydides' Trap", history of two warring Greek city-states because they could not accommodate each other's national interests. What is Graham Ellison of Harvard's Kennedy School, arguably one of the greatest global institutions of higher learning and powerhouses of ideas, trying to convey by characterizing 21st Century America-China relations by 5th Century BC Greek city-states? Do scholars and practitioners of IR realize the irony?

No, America and China are not “Destined For War.”

War is not a destiny, it is a human choice, failure of politics, economics, diplomacy, andsecurity policy. International Relations (IR) is the study of great power relations and how they affectthe world. Understanding and conduct of contemporary IR based on old assumptions can be aserroneous and risky as concluding the inevitability of war between two 21st Century great powersbased on what scholar Graham Allison reminds us of the "Thucydides' Trap" , history of two Greekcity states which went to war because they could not accommodate each other's national interests.What is Allison of Harvard's Kennedy School, arguably one of the greatest global institutionsof higher learning and powerhouses of ideas, trying to convey by characterizing 21st CenturyAmerica-China relations by 5th Century BC Greek city states?

La nascita e lo sviluppo del nesso tryphé-decadenza nella storiografia ellenistica

In the 4th century BC Greek historiography abandons the monographic genre to propose a general interpretation of history: a possible interpretative key is that of tryphé, excessive luxury that corrupts and leads to an unstoppable decadence cities, peoples and states. The first theoretical elaboration of the tryphé-decadence nexus occurs in the historiographical work of Ephorus of Cyme and Timaeus of Tauromenium. In later Greek historiography, however, the concept of tryphé remains in most cases connected to a moral judgment, without becoming a true criterion of historical interpretation. And if in this sense it has been too often interpreted by the moderns, this is probably due to the influence on them exerted by the Roman historiography. In it the equivalent of tryphé can be considered the luxuria, understood as corrupting luxury, which since the 2nd century BC would lead to a progressive weakening of Rome and that in the historiographic production sees an insistent connection between the social ethics, precisely corrupt, and the political decadence.

Sigmund Freud, 19 Berggasse, Vienna. André Breton, 42 Rue Fontaine, Paris

Sigmund Freud, 19 Berggasse, Vienna. André Breton, 42 Rue Fontaine, Paris

Under the Mediterranean I: Studies in Maritime Archaeology

Under the Mediterranean I: Studies in Maritime Archaeology

The display of wealth, status and power: two recently discovered mid-fourth-century BC pebble-mosaic floors from Sinope

AbstractIn 2019, excavation in the Yalnızlar neighbourhood of Sinop, Turkey, revealed a small number of architectural remains, two stone-paved floors and two lavishly decorated pebble-mosaic floors. Both the architectural remains and the pebble-mosaic floors are rare finds in Sinop, even more so given that the floors were found largely intact within their architectural settings. These elements appear to have constituted a portion of a once-grand house of the mid-fourth century BC. This article focuses on the pebble-mosaic floors, which will be analysed in two parts. The first introduces the floors and considers their construction techniques and decorative programmes. Analogies form an essential part of the analysis in order to contextualise both pavements within the corpus of Greek pebble-mosaic floors. A holistic evaluation of the architectural remains and the mosaics follows, in order to consider the setting and use of the floors. In the second part of the article, the sociocultural context of the mosaics is addressed. The analysis considers the meaning and symbolism of their decorations, as well as the place they once occupied within the lives of their owners. Ultimately, the position of the examples from Sinope within the wider sphere of mid-fourth-century BC Greek pebble-mosaic floors will be considered, along with the significance of such lavishly decorated floors in Sinope at this time.

Perils, Potential and Perspectives of Bioarchaeological Analyses in the Study of Mediterranean Mobility

The resolution of bioarchaeological analyses has improved dramatically in recent years, and bioarchaeology is increasingly employed in areas of the world where preservation issues and disciplinary traditions had previously hindered its application. One such area is the Mediterranean region. Bioarchaeological analyses arguably are the most direct indicator of human behavior in the past, and as a result the full integration of bioarchaeology and archaeology into Mediterranean research shows much promise. However, several methodological, theoretical and practical challenges have emerged: (1) discrepancies between cultural and biological variability; (2) discrepancies in the dating of skeletal samples and of migration events in the two subdisciplines; (3) diverging interpretations of (collective) identities; and (4) the fostering of effective cross-disciplinary communication and collaboration. While the first two points are especially salient for Mediterranean research, the third and fourth are relevant for the archaeological discipline more generally. In this paper, we discuss each challenge in turn, focusing on the first millennium bc Greek diaspora in the Mediterranean. We believe that both disciplines would benefit from open discussion of these issues, which we hope might spur more collaborative efforts towards their resolution.

An Elite Tomb from Soloi: New Evidence for the Funerary Archaeology of Cyprus

This article focuses on a 4th century BC tomb from the necropolis of Soloi, an important ancient city in northwestern Cyprus. The tomb, together with five others, were revealed during a rescue excavation between 2005-2006. They supply us with evidence related to the Cypro-Classical period of Soloi. The specific tomb that will be evaluated is distinguished from its contemporaries, especially by its rich inventory of gold and silver jewelry and metal vessels. The tomb is characterized by three separate burial chambers that open to a rock-cut central courtyard (prodomos). It supplies us with valuable information related to the sociocultural structure, internal and external relations of Cypro-Classical Soloi as well as funerary beliefs and customs of its elite. The article firstly gives a detailed structural and comparative analysis conducted to reveal both the spatial and architectural characteristics of the tomb. This will be followed by a superficial, yet still informative, analysis of all the burials and their rich inventories. Last but not least, the burials and their inventories will be contextualized within the setting of the 4th century BC Cypriot and Greek burial customs.

Learning Trend Methodologies from BC Greek Sophists to 2000s’ Blended Open Source Schooling: A Comparative Analytic Study

The period of recorded history extends to 5,000 years BC, where Sumerian-Akkadian script confirmed the fact of being the oldest discovered record of coherent writing from the preliterate period around the 3000 BC (SE Alcock, 2001; Woods, 2010). Since that date of early basic literacy of human history, B.C pioneers, philosophers, leaderships and professionals exerted every efforts to advance their local environments in politics, state identity, public administration, urban centers, culture and faith, education, innovative thoughts and arts, and civic daily life. Consequently, B.C significant ancient states and civilizations arose and flourished into world sovereign empires, exceeding in several fields their contemporary counterparts the so-called “Big Powers” in the 21st century A.C. Even these “Big Powers” proved helpless in resisting the invisible virus “Corona”, which caused the death of hundreds of thousands of persons, and is threatening millions of others in facing health problems or termination later. The status of world states (powerful or marginal) is determined by the quality of its educational systems. Further, the future of civic and productive students as adults is dependent upon the rigor of schooling methodologies, which encompass: learners who are dedicated to learn; teachers who guide and teach; peers who are collaborative learning partners; curricula, which are served by textbooks and material in the classrooms; methods, techniques and technologies as communicative tools of education and management messages; and school environments, which physically host most education factors, processes and services. Hence, this research article examined the educational methodologies cumulative from BC Sophists to the ICTs revolution at 2000+ A.C. a Comparative analytic review was conducted to specify the advances and setbacks accrued during the extended 500B.C-2000+A.C years in the lives of generations as future crucial professional, leaderships and pioneer assets of society.

Raffaele D’Amato and Andrea Salimbeti. Early Iron Age Greek Warrior 1100–700 BC.

This is the third booklet in this format concerned with ‘warriors’ of Greece by the same authors, the others being Early Aegean Warrior 5000–1450 BC (2013) and Bronze Age Greek Warrior 1600–1100 BC (2011). All include among their illustrations many colourful reconstructions by Giuseppe Rava, which considerably enhance the quality of these booklets by their imaginative if often over-enthusiastic liveliness.

Monte Finocchito and Heloros Pottery Production: New Evidence through Technological Studies and Material Analysis

AbstractThis paper discusses the use of non-destructive portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) to distinguish sources of variation in 8th Century BC Greek and Sicilian ceramics. The project comprises an element of my PhD study through La Trobe University, concerning Hellenic colonies established from the eighth century BC in the south of Italy, and on Sicily in particular. This specific case study looks at the relationships established between the indigenous site of Monte Finocchito and the Greek settlement of Heloros, both located in south-eastern Sicily. The results demonstrate the usefulness of the pXRF technique for detecting material variations which are not readily apparent using traditional visual analysis during fieldwork.

On The Liar Sentence: A Fregean Analysis

The liar paradox, attributed to Eubulides, a fifth century BC Greek philosopher, has been debated over two millennia. In the history of philosophy, various attempts have been made to resolve and dissolve the paradox. Nevertheless, the paradox remains as a live area of exploration in logic and philosophy. The present paper is an analytical exploration into the validity of the strengthened liar sentence, which is considered as an acid test for all versions of liar paradoxes. The main method used in this analysis is the Fregean distinction between sign, sense and reference. The Fregean approach towards attributing the truth value as the predicate of the sentence is also used in this analysis. The analysis shows that the liar sentence is essentially meaningless and in a strict sense, it does not qualify as a sentence at all. Considering the liar sentence as meaningful, further analysis of the formal representation of liar sentence again proves it to be necessarily an inconsistent one. The formal analysis brings out the implicit contradiction within the liar sentence.

COLD COMFORT: WINGED PSYCHAI ON FIFTH-CENTURY BC GREEK FUNERARY LEKYTHOI

Abstract Some fifth-century BC Greek funerary lekythoi depict the dead as diminutive, winged figures. These often overlooked figures are the culmination of a tradition stretching back to the winged epic dead of the sixth century, whose depiction centred on motifs of recognition, remembrance, and comfort. This article argues that these motifs were adopted and adapted in the fifth century to fulfil the particular needs of the vase dedicators: the winged figures offered comfort and reassurance to the living that the dead were cared for and their own piety noted, and suggested remembrance and honour for the dead.

Diogenes or Havisham syndrome and the mortuary

Diogenes syndrome was described by Macmillan and Shawin 1966 [1], and had the name coined by Clark et al. in1975 [2] to describe a group of 30 elderly socially with-drawn individuals who presented to hospital acutely illwith extreme self-neglect, dirty homes, and rubbishhoarding (syllogomania). These features differentiated thesyndrome from individuals who were merely social iso-lated [3]. Only half had psychiatric conditions, with manyhaving above average intelligence and previously suc-cessful professional or business lives [2]. Although the useof the name Diogenes has been criticized (as Diogenes, afourth century BC Greek philosopher did not live in iso-lated squalor or hoard rubbish) [4], over the years morecases of the syndrome have been reported in the literature.Subsequent studies have shown associations with a widerange of neurocognitive disorders including dementia,psychosis, frontal lobe damage, intellectual disability,personality disorders, substance abuse, autism, and affec-tive disorders [5, 6]. Alternative names that have beenproposed include disposophobia, or messy house, Havi-sham, and senile squallor syndromes. Miss Havisham inDicken’s novel ‘‘Great Expectations’’ was, in fact, proba-bly a better example of an individual suffering from thiscondition [6, 7].A clue to the diagnosis may be the identification ofabnormal collecting habits or ‘‘collectionism’’ during lifewhere an individual amasses a large range of items andstores them in a disorganized manner [8]. It has beenestimated that problems with hoarding may affect as manyas 1 in 20–40 individuals at some time in their lives, andthat this behavior is now being facilitated by the ease of on-line buying [7]. The hoarding of rubbish in a home is not aninsignificant problem as it can interfere with activities suchas sleeping, showering, cooking, and cleaning [7], all ofwhich contribute to a less-than-healthy life style. It mayalso foster the proliferation of rodents and insects. Hoard-ing behavior may involve the compulsive collection ofanimals which contribute to the overall level of squalor andfilth. Post mortem feeding on bodies by animals may createcertain forensic problems in a variety of circumstances, notjust Diogenes syndrome [9–11].An ongoing problem with medicolegal cases in manyjurisdictions is the lack of detailed death scene descriptionsby attending police officers if a case is considered to be notsuspicious. For this reason it is likely that the number ofcases that are identified as Diogenes syndrome afterautopsy is an underestimation. Since reviewing the forensicissues that occur in Diogenes syndrome [11], it has becomeclear that the syndrome may be involved in a wide range ofdeaths. Examples include a hypothermic death in a sociallyisolated elderly woman who fractured her hip following afall [12], and the case of fatal exsanguination from anundiagnosed rectal carcinoma in a reclusive male that hasbeen reported in this issue of the journal [13].Does it matter whether a case is identified as Diogenessyndrome or not? The answer to this question is ‘‘yes,’’ asthe syndrome has a number of characteristic and sometimesbizarre features which can potentially confuse investiga-tors. Individuals who suffer from the syndrome are isolatedand shun medical attention. For this reason they may not befound for some time after death with changes of decom-position, such as purging of fluids, raising suspicions ofinflicted injury. The lack of recent medical attendance andunusual features at the scene increase the chances of cases

The first scientist: Anaximander and his legacy

Carlo Rovelli, a leading theoretical physicist, uses the figure of Anaximander as the starting point for an examination of scientific thinking itself: its limits, its strengths, its benefits to humankind, and its controversial relationship with religion. Anaximander, the sixth-century BC Greek philosopher, is often called the first scientist because he was the first to explain that order in the world was due to natural forces, not supernatural ones. He is the first person known to rnunderstand that the Earth floats in space; to believe that the sun, the moon, and the stars rotate around it--seven centuries before Ptolemy; to argue that all animals came from the sea and evolved; and to posit that universal laws rncontrol all change in the world. Anaximander taught Pythagoras, who would build on Anaximander's scientific theories by applying mathematical laws to natural phenomena. rnrnIn the award-winning Anaximander and the Birth of Scientific Thought, Rovelli restores Anaximander to his place in the history of science by carefully reconstructing his theories from what is known to us and examining them in rntheir historical and philosophical contexts. Rovelli demonstrates that Anaximander's discoveries and theories were decisive influences, putting Western culture on its path toward a scientific revolution. Developing this connection, rnRovelli redefines science as a continuous redrawing of our conceptual image of the world. He concludes that scientific thinking--the legacy of Anaximander--is only reliable when it constantly tests the limits of our current rnknowledge.

Archaeomagnetic investigation of bricks from the VIIIth–VIIth century BC Greek–indigenous site of Incoronata (Metaponto, Italy)

An archaeomagnetic investigation of two sets of brick fragments (in total 39) along with a radiocarbon date from one of the most important Greco–indigenous archaeological sites in the Central Mediterranean, the VIIIth–VIIth Century BC site of Incoronata (Metaponto, Italy) has been carried out in order to aid archaeological understanding of the site as well as to produce high quality archaeomagnetic data. A full suite of rock magnetic experiments have been carried out in addition to the classical Thellier method experiments with correction for anisotropy of TRM and cooling rate. The results indicate that the two sets of bricks are magnetically identical and have the same heating history and thus it is inferred the same origin. It seems that the bricks had been reused in two different contexts: (1) mixed with stone and ceramics in deposit pits and (2) used to consolidate an artificial plateau. The brick samples all contain a single component of remanence and thus, importantly, this study has shown that the hypothesis of destruction by fire is no longer tenable to explain the deposit pits previously interpreted as being storage houses or dwellings ( oikoi), but is consistent with the suggestion that the pits are ritual deposits. Whilst it did not prove possible to obtain an estimate of the inclination of the geomagnetic field (since the bricks did not gain their remanence whilst on one of their flat surfaces), the archaeointensity experiments (with anisotropy of TRM and cooling rate correction) give a mean intensity of 85 ± 5 μT for the field at Incoronata during the VIIIth–VIIth century BC. This is almost twice the present day field strength and thus provides further evidence that the field was strong over at least a 30° longitude area of the globe during this time.

Socrates on Management: An Analysis of Xenophon's Oeconomicus

Socrates is said to have brought philosophy down from the heavens to the earth and is thereby recognized as the founder of Western moral and political philosophy. But in launching this subject, did the 5th century BC Greek philosopher also inaugurate the study of management and business ethics? Our answer is yes. Socrates' inquiry into management, featured in Xenophon's Oeconomicus, contains valuable insights still relevant to the contemporary world. In that foundational work of Western economic thought, Socrates is portrayed attempting to expound the science and art of management to an eager student. He develops this topic, in no small part, by actively seeking out a successful practitioner, engaging him in conversation and probing him with questions. The Socratic perspective brought to light holds that business cannot be separated from social responsibility and ought to be oriented around a conception of profit that goes beyond monetary figures and embraces the satisfaction of rationally grounded human wants. Socrates also insists that management is a respectable calling which both men and women can legitimately pursue. A good manager, too, is defined by a functionally relevant set of virtues with a view to personal flourishing and moral excellence. Ethical conduct comes to sight as a core component of management.

Confirmation of the pivotal role of Gsα in renin release

aristotle, in the 4th century BC, deduced that the earth was round from the circular shadow on the moon during a lunar eclipse. Using simple trigonometry, Eratosthenes, a 3rd century BC Greek mathematician, calculated the diameter of the earth, and in 1522 the Magellan expedition completed a

Lapis Lazuli in an Enigmatic ‘Purple7rsquo; Pigment from a Thirteenth-Century BC Greek Wall Painting

This paper presents the first evidence of lapis lazuli or lazurite that was detected unexpectedly using micro-Raman spectroscopy during research to identify an enigmatic purple hue on the thirteenth-century BC Greek Bronze Age wall paintings from Gla. The lapis lazuli material was found as part of a mixture including a red iron oxide and an as yet unidentified purple staining material. Existing purple mixtures of that period are also discussed. The identification of lapis lazuli at Gla may prove to be the earliest known use of this pigment in buon fresco, in both Eastern and Western painting traditions. Furthermore, this precedes the next known use of the material as a pigment by 1800 years. The existence of this blue pigment is also discussed within the context of the blue pigment palette of the Bronze Age Aegean and eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age (3300–1100 BC), to show its use in relation to other blue materials and to demonstrate the technology and knowledge mastered by the artists who used this lazurite.