Ancient Rome Research Articles

Ancient Greek and Roman Crip Lit

Abstract: The study of disability in the ancient world is a burgeoning field and is rapidly garnering interest outside of academia, as well. This brief article argues that we can expand our engagement with the topic—and with ancient literature broadly—by acknowledging the disabled status of some Greek and Roman authors, many of whom are mainstays of our traditional literary canon. Disability-informed approaches to themes like embodiment and phenomenology can contribute to a more complex and grounded under-standing of ancient life and experience, as well as deepen our understanding of topics like Stoic philosophy, ancient temporalities, Greek tragedy and the discourse of disability in the ancient world.

Hydrogeological and historical aspects of the water supply of Benevento town since Roman times

The research analyses the historical evolution of the water supply systems of the city of Benevento (southern Italy) during centuries. We focused on three main historical periods, namely the Roman, Lombard and Papal times, and the recent-present times. During this long historical time, the water supply amount and quality have changed many times, and this has probably affected the well-being and growth of the city. The best water quality characterized the Roman times, when large karst springs were tapped, feeding the town for centuries. In this period, the town experienced the largest population expansion. On the other hand, the most depressed period was the Papal times, coinciding with the isolation of the city, as it was an enclave of the Pontifical State. During this period, the water supply from external sources was not guaranteed and therefore it primarily derived from the local, low-quality water resources. Only after the unification of Italy, and also after the Second World War, the water supply systems have been improved, and new aqueducts have brought again high-quality waters to Benevento coming from karst aquifers. Nowadays, the drinking water management of Benevento is still a matter of debate. In the near future, the water from a dam-reservoir (Campolattaro dam, Tammaro River) will be exploited to guarantee the water needs of the city, and water-supply systems will undergo further changes . The knowledge about the historical evolution of the water supply of Benevento represents an essential requirement for consciously analyzing the future planning and management of water resources.

The Role of Incubation in Ancient Greek Asklepieions

The sanctuaries of Asklepios served a healing function in the Greek world throughout antiquity. In modern historiography, it is believed that the sick were treated there by incubation, i.e., sleeping in the temple to obtain a divinatory dream. However, the sources are not clear on this matter. In this article, I analyse four sources that, in my opinion, are the most representative of the issue of treatment methods in the Asklepieions. From the classical period, inscriptions describing healings from Epidauros and the comedy "Wealth" by Aristophanes are extremely important, while from Roman times they include "The Sacred Tales" by Aelius Aristides and the Apellas’ inscription from Epidauros. It is significant that none of these sources describes the incubation ritual, and the treatment methods presented in them are rational from the viewpoint of contemporary medicine. Incubation was practiced in the Asklepieions, but its role, in my opinion, was much smaller than commonly believed.

High resolution paleo-hydrological record from carbonate deposits in the Roman aqueduct of Traconnade (Aix-en-Provence, SE France)

Carbonate deposits in aqueducts are potential valuable archives of the paleo-hydrological record for the Roman period. Here we present a new high-resolution record from carbonate deposits in the aqueduct of Traconnade built for Aix-en-Provence, the Roman city of Aquae Sextiae. As its name indicates, Aquae Sextiae was built around an abundant source of water but its development, like other ancient cities, required good management of this resource. Through a combination of micromilling and in situ analysis (LA–MC–ICPMS) on thin sections, we measured geochemical variations (stable isotopes and trace elements) and performed sampling for absolute UTh dating. Geochronological results based on classical correction and isochron along with archaeological observations confirm that the carbonate concretion was deposited in Roman times on the walls of the Traconnade aqueduct, built no later than 140 CE. Carbonate δ18O records document the presence of clear geochemical cycles that were mainly controlled by seasonal variations in temperature and δ18O from water circulating in the aqueduct. Minima and maxima in δ18O values were attributed to summer and winter conditions, respectively in agreement with the modern spring’s stable isotope values. The other tracers (Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca and δ13C) also show marked cyclicities with maximum values occurring in summer. The enrichment in trace elements and δ13C were linked to processes occurring during dry periods (1) prior precipitation of calcite in the epikarst, and/or (2) a greater degree of CO2 degassing. The geochemical variations in Ba/Ca, U/Ca and Rb/Ca behave differently and their co-variations may reflect the water-rock interactions in the karst system. We highlight that these tracers can be used as a proxy for intense precipitation events, occurring frequently during autumn. The Traconnade aqueduct carbonate provides sufficient temporal resolution to explore environmental variations on a seasonal scale. These results suggest the occurrence of a double rainy season (spring and autumn) in the Aix-en-Provence region, similar to present-day climatic conditions. Our study confirms the high potential of aqueduct concretions for paleohydrological studies.

The germs of environmental protection in Roman law

AbstractMost legal institutions of modern civil law have their origins, at least in principle, in Roman law. This can also be seen in cases and legal reasoning related to the environment since certain rudiments or precursors of modern environmental law can be found in the writings of classical Roman jurists. Nevertheless, it would be an overstatement to speak of Roman environmental law. The focus of Roman classical jurists was on the protection of concrete property rights, mainly in neighborhood contexts. Only a few cases show that the underlying motive of legal argument was the protection of public interest, which brings these cases closer to the idea of modern environmental law.

Revisiting the Issue of Attribution of Some Catacomb Monuments Groups from the South of Eastern Europe in the Late 3rd – early 5th Centuries

The catacomb funerary ritual had a widespread occurrence among the southern Eastern European population in late Roman times and at the beginning of the Great Migration Period. The Alan culture monuments of the 2nd – 4th centuries AD from the North Caucasus and the “Alans-Tanaites” nomadic culture of the late 3rd – 4th centuries AD feature the burial ritual most widely and vividly. Evidently, the migration occurred in a westerly direction from the “Alan-Tanaitian” culture area in the late 3rd century, resulting in the appearance of a group of under-kurgan burials in the steppe zone of the Dniester-Danube interfluve. It is possible that the people who left these kurgans in the 4th century were assimilated by the Chernyakhov culture bearers and switched to a sedentary lifestyle, having lost the kurgan funeral ritual (Belen’koe burial ground) but retained the catacomb burial structure of almost predominantly type II. The catacomb burials under the kurgans graphically feature the Alans-Tanaites fate after the encounter with the Huns, who defeated and subjugated the Alans-Tanaites, partly incorporating the vanquished population into their military and political union. The Alans-Tanaites took part in the campaign in Transcaucasia and Western Asia as part of the Hunnic army (395–398), as evidenced by the specific forms of the catacombs in the kurgans of the Palasa-Syrt burial ground from the Western Caspian region. A group of kurgan catacombs in the Middle Don and the Left Bank of the Dnieper features the partial outflow of the Alans-Tanaites from the Volga-Don steppes under the pressure of the Huns in the course of their expansion. A part of the Alans-Tanaites participated in the movement of the Huns to the west, as evidenced by the catacombs in the Budzhak steppe dating back to the last quarter of the 4th century.

Надання безоплатної правової допомоги населенню у процесі здійснювання навчальної діяльності: аспекти міжнародного та українського історичного досвіду

The article highlights the issues of international and Ukrainian historical experience of providing legal aid in general, and frees legal aid in the course of educational activities in particular. The author traces the peculiarities of this process from its origins to the present day. The author argues that the provision of free legal aid in the context of educational activities is a multifaceted process which, both in the world and in Ukraine, has been taking place for centuries in various forms and under the influence of various factors. It is emphasized that its undoubted prerequisite was the legalization of the legal profession and the establishment of an extensive system of legal education. The author emphasizes that these facts were the result of the growing importance of law in the process of regulation of social relations. The author analyzes the main stages and features of the European historical experience of legal aid in the period of Antiquity, theMiddle Ages and theModern era. The author also considers some historical experience of providing free legal aid in the context of educational activities which took place in Ukraine. The author proves that Ancient Rome was a pioneer in creating an extensive system of legal education and developing various forms of legal aid. The author establishes that the real establishment of the system of free legal aid, in particular, in the course of educational activities, took place only in the 1920s, and at first it was localized and limited mainly to the United States. It is argued that its implementation became possible as a result of a long scientific discussion in previous years, during which a new approach to legal training with a priority on practice was developed, and a form of such training – “legal clinic” – was found. The author shows that legal clinical education is considered to be one of the most effective today. The nature and peculiarities of the spread of legal clinical education, as well as the development of the relevant legal framework in Ukraine are traced.

Stoic Economics: A Theoretical Examination of a Shift in Consumer Philosophy towards Stoicism

Since the advent of modern economic thought, particularly within Behavioral Economics, consumer behavior has primarily been driven by psychological and utilitarian beliefs that prioritize self-interest and material accumulation. Now, as consumer mindfulness becomes a prevalent issue, we look to philosophy — rather than psychology — as a framework for consumer behavior. Stoicism, originating in Ancient Greece and Rome, has always been applied to individual well-being but has never been considered in the context of collective economic behavior, despite its basis aligning well with the basic economic problem of scarcity. We examine whether and to what extent virtue-based principles of Stoicism can shift economic activity, both for consumers and the economy at large. Through understanding of key tenets of stoicism, and translating these philosophical ideals to economic assumptions, we find that the stoic focus on long-term stability, rational decision-making, and the use of wealth for public good leads to deviations from the status quo of market activity.

A mathematical perspective on Romanisation: Modelling the Roman road activation process in ancient Tunisia.

Romanisation is a multi-faceted historical phenomenon with profound and lasting cultural impact on the ancient world. In the modern-day territory of Tunisia, this is particularly manifest during the first four centuries AD, under the reign of the Roman Empire. We derive a reduced, operational concept of Romanisation as a cultural diffusion process that is observable in the archaeological remains of the Roman era settlement system. We then introduce a novel mathematical model that computes spatio-temporal approximations for the Romanisation of the settlement system. The model is based on the concept of temporal road activation and makes minimal assumptions regarding input data quality. The results of our study contribute to the understanding of the time dynamics of the region's road network, under the influence of Romanisation. Our model can be applied in similar archaeological research scenarios, to generate spatio-temporal backbones for the analysis of otherwise intractably complex social processes.

Harnessing geothermal energy in Hungary

This paper provides a summary of the current status of geothermal energy utilisation in Hungary, with a brief reference to geothermal potential. Approximately 1,000 thermal wells are in operation, producing from two principal aquifers: carbonate aquifers (predominantly Mesozoic) and Upper Miocene siliciclastic aquifers. The utilisation of geothermal energy in Hungary commenced with balneological exploitation, with documented evidence dating back to the Roman era. Of particular note is the city of Budapest, which has the distinction of being home to 16 thermal spas, a fact that has led to its designation as the spa capital of Europe. In the Hungarian portion of the Pannonian Superbasin, 26 municipalities have implemented geothermal district heating systems. Furthermore, geothermal energy plays a significant role in the agricultural sector, with approximately 300 thermal wells currently in operation. Nevertheless, the generation of geothermal electricity is still in its infancy, with only one operational geothermal power plant. However, based on the exploration permits submitted, there are significant prospects for further development. The same is true for ground source heat pumps, where there is considerable potential for growth, particularly in comparison to our neighbouring country's utilisation. Recent research directions are promising, ranging from the use of geothermal energy from abandoned hydrocarbon wells as deep borehole heat exchangers, to the potential for extracting critical materials from thermal water, to exploring the possibility of underground heat storage. The favourable geothermal conditions in Hungary offer the potential to achieve up to 15-20 times the current production of 6.5 PJ, assuming the application of existing technologies. This presents a significant opportunity for the transition to a more sustainable energy source, particularly in the context of heating.

Transformation processes in the osteoarchaeological record between the Iron Age and the Roman times with reference to the civitas Treverorum

AbstractThis paper discusses transformations in human behavior between the Iron Age and the Roman times in the tribal territory of the Treveri, later civitas Treverorum, located between the Rhine and the Ardennes. This aspect has been examined from two perspectives: first, from an anthropological point of view vis‐a‐vis the historical inhabitants, and second, from an archaeozoological perspective regarding domestic animals. Due to small sample sizes and/or difficulty in dating, both regarding humans and domestic animals, transformations in living conditions and animal‐keeping could mostly be outlined only for the La Tène and Roman times. Only the Celtic‐Roman cemetery of Wederath‐Belginum with continued use from middle La Tène to late antiquity offers a more complex insight into human mortality and animal offerings. People lived longer in the Roman times but had more pathologies compared with the previous La Tène period. Body height remained similar in the La Tène and Roman times. However, differences existed within specific human groups (for example, warriors and craftsmen), compared to the normal population. Sex differences in mortality persisted from La Tène to Roman times. The faunal composition in the burials, settlements, and sanctuaries also shows changes. Since the middle La Tène period, chickens have been present. The first oysters can be found in Augustean times, whereas exotic birds such as crested fowls and peacocks are found only in later Roman times and are quite rare. A new direction in animal‐keeping is demonstrated via an increasing logarithmic size index (LSI) in cattle and sheep. The multivariate methods applied in this study offer further insights into the domain and can serve as helpful tools for osteoarchaeological data analysis.

Reception of Roman Private Law in Ukrainian Civil Law as Confirmation of Belonging to the European Legal Family

The article is devoted to current issues of civil law, as well as Roman private law in Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to trace the influence of Roman private law on the development of civil law. In the course of the research, a number of general scientific and special methods of cognition were used, including: historical, dialectical, comparative-legal, logical analysis, formal-legal and other methods. Our legal culture has received Roman law, which became the basis for civil law and is still reflected in modern Ukrainian legislation. In the course of the study, it was established that the Civil Code of Ukraine contains articles that are evidence of both direct and indirect reception. Direct reception occurs when the ideas and provisions of Roman private law are transmitted directly from the primary sources of Ancient Roman law. Indirect (derivative) reception occurred when Roman legal ideas and legal solutions were borrowed not directly from primary sources, but through those legal systems where reception had occurred earlier. That is, indirect reception is the perception of the law of other states where this process has already taken place, and not directly through the primary source. We can affirm the successful reception of Roman law in Ukraine through the basic principles of law, moral and social values, which became the basis of the legal provisions of Roman law and the achievements of human social culture. Therefore, the achievements of Roman law are not only in the formation of civil law in Ukraine, but also in the ability to expand legal thinking and respect for law as a value and the main achievement of society. It can be unequivocally stated that civil law, being part of the Romano-Germanic legal system, is a reproduction of Roman private law, which on the one hand, through centuries-old transformation, has acquired a corresponding theoretical content and remains unchanged and relevant to this day. The conclusions obtained during the study of the influence of Roman private law on the development of civil law as a whole develop both the theory of civil law and the philosophy of law and serve as a subject for further research on the genesis of civil law institutions, the origin and essence of most legal norms in Ukrainian civil law.

PIRANESI'S CIRCUSES AND CARCERES: THE NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST STATE OF THE CAMPUS MARTIUS PLAN AND ITS ANTIQUARIAN CONTEXT

This essay takes as its starting point the newly discovered first state print of the large topographical plan of the Campus Martius of ancient Rome made by Giovanni Battista Piranesi in the years around 1760. There are significant differences between the first and the more common second state (which was bound into the Campus Martius volume published in 1762) and they concern the form of the circuses, six of which are included by Piranesi in his plan. This essay will investigate those changes and propose a hypothesis regarding the motivations for them by looking at the antiquarian context with which Piranesi was familiar and taking into consideration his enthusiasm for on-site examination of ancient remains. Particularly relevant are the ruins of the circus of Maxentius on the via Appia just outside the city, a site which preoccupied Piranesi at various times throughout his career in Rome. The antiquarian material examined includes earlier writings on circuses, which had a marked effect on the way that Piranesi drew his circuses in the first state of the plan and on the changes he made, clearly visible in the copper plates from which the prints were made. The circus Maximus and circus of Maxentius as described by Pirro Ligorio, Onofrio Panvinio and Raffaele Fabretti are key to the genesis and development of the Campus plan.

Strategies for Improving Irrigation Systems Based on Lamasba Regulation: A 2024 Field Study in Hoba Farms, Southeastern Algeria

In the Algerian province of El Oued, south-eastern Algeria, the irrigation system plays a vital role in supporting agricultural production, particularly in oil palm plantations, which have experienced significant expansion in recent decades. The development of irrigation techniques in the region dates back to antiquity, with the Lamasba system, discovered by Émile Masqueray in 1877 in the Belzma plain, being one of the most prominent examples of efficient water resource management. This ancient Roman system, which used precise schedules to distribute water from permanent sources, meticulously determined the quantities and times of water flow, reflecting a high level of social and economic organization at that time. During the French colonial period between 1957 and 1959, the Hoba area in the Righiba commune of El Oued province experienced a remarkable growth in oil palm plantations, with the implementation of advanced irrigation techniques, inspired by the ancient Roman system but modified to suit local conditions. As the project expanded, new challenges arose related to water distribution, particularly in fields far from water sources, leading to the construction of small, taller water towers to improve distribution efficiency. This study analyzes the current irrigation system in the Hoba region, focusing on the technical challenges these systems face, such as obsolete valves and the presence of weeds in the irrigation channels, which slow down the water flow and prolong the irrigation time. The study also examines the use of a new 5-meter-high tower that partially solved the problem of low water flow, while providing additional improvement suggestions to ensure the sustainability of agricultural production in these desert areas. The objective of this study is to offer a comprehensive vision on how to improve irrigation systems to meet the needs of modern agriculture and increase productivity in arid environments.

For Memoria Aeterna: Approaches to Immortality in Memory in Ancient Roman Funerary Monuments

When facing death, Ancient Romans attempted to achieve immortality through eternal memory. While the elites sought great achievements as invisible monuments, the non-elite Roman population depended on their tombs to preserve their identity and memory. By analyzing funerary monuments of the non-elite from the Late Republic to the first two centuries of the Roman Empire, this essay explores how their textual and visual components construct images that define and idealize the memory of individuals. The essay also investigates how these elements interact with the living to preserve and strengthen the memories of the dead: by connecting with family and friends from the private sphere in their regular visits as well as luring and informing strangers passing by from the public world. Finally, the essay sheds light on how the most important Roman festival for the dead, Parentalia, provided opportunities to appeal to both types of audiences in the preservation of memory.

The Roman villa at the Castle of Baia (Naples, Italy): investigations on the polychromy of frescoed surfaces by using non-destructive spectroscopic techniques

During the Roman age, the southern promontory of the gulf of Baia was the perfect location for the construction of villae maritimae for the Roman élite that decided to spend their summer residences by the sea.One of these residences is now located in the military fortress of the Castello Aragonese di Baia, built in 1495 CE during the Aragonese period (15th century). Here, during restoration works, the ruins of the residential sector of the villa, which historical sources ascribe to Caesar, were unearthed. The most representative evidence of this is the outstanding in situ remain of mosaics, decorated plasters and finely frescoed surfaces decorated according to the repertoire of the II style. This research aims to investigate the polychromy of a wall decoration representing a perspective depiction of architectural scenes en trompe l'oeil analysed by means of a multi-analytical, non-destructive approach performed in situ. The combined use of spectroscopic techniques (portable X-ray fluorescence, Raman and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) points out the use of a characteristic Roman palette, quantitatively assessed by colorimetric measurements. It consists of red and yellow ochre, calcite, hematite, organic black pigments, precious materials such as cinnabar and Egyptian blue, green copper compounds. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy also revealed the presence of synthetic resins, likely used for the conservation of mural paintings. These are, however, damaged by atmospheric humidity, as detected by Infrared Thermography. Gypsum has been identified as the main weathering product.

NOMINA OF MARRIED WOMEN IN CUM MANU MARRIAGES IN THE ROMAN REPUBLIC AND PRINCIPATE ERAS

Generally, a daughter in parental power in Roman family in the Republic and the Principate did not have personal name, but bore her father’s name in the feminine. A woman kept her father’s family name in marriage, but if she came under her husband’s lawful authority and became a member of his clan, her father’s family name became her personal name and her husband’s family name was added in the nominative or genitive case. In modern historical and legal science is traditionally considered that this custom was strictly observed in Republican Rome. But in the 2nd – 1st centuries BC this custom disappeared with the gradual withering away of cum manu marriage (confarreatio, coemptio, usus). The author, basing on the position of Theodor Mommsen about the family name of married women, analyses the sources of classical Roman law of the 1st – 3rd centuries AD and concludes that the marriages confarreatio and coemtio and the husband’s power over the wife continued throughout the Principate. In addition, the author hypotheses that the tradition of attaching the husband’s name to the father’s family name of the married woman also continued throughout the classical period of Roman law.

Problematika nepomenovaných zmlúv v občianskom práve a ich uzatváranie s pohľadom de lege ferenda

One of the key branches of private law is the law of contractual obligations. In addition to innominate contracts, which are most often used in practice, a category of innominate contracts and a special category was created, the category of so-called mixed contracts. In practice, innominate contracts are a tool frequently used to anchor contractual relationships in all spheres of life. The institution of innominate contracts is not a new one; it is based on the principle of dispositional autonomy, which is known to have already existed in ancient Roman law. In the Slovak Republic, there are two codes, one specifically regulating civil law and the other regulating commercial law. Civil law in the Slovak Republic is regulated in the Civil Code, which regulates the natural persons’ mutual rights and obligations. In contrast, commercial law, which is regulated separately in the Commercial Code, regulates the mutual rights and obligations of legal persons, and the rights and obligations that exist between natural persons and legal persons. This means that the institution of innominate contracts is found in the Slovak Republic not only in civil law but also in commercial law, i.e., in two legal codes, when the subjects of obligation-law relations are dependent on the use of analogy-based legal reasoning due to the absence of contractual types when regulating the rights and obligations of the various subjects of their obligations.

Collection of Roman Time and the Great Migration Period Artefacts from the Eastern Crimea

Collection of Roman Time and the Great Migration Period Artefacts from the Eastern Crimea

Handmade Pottery of Roman Time from the Kartal Hillfort Excavations

Handmade Pottery of Roman Time from the Kartal Hillfort Excavations