In this book Dr Low explores the assumptions and principles which determined the conduct and representation of interstate politics in Greece during the fifth and fourth centuries BC. She employs a wide range of ancient evidence, both epigraphic and literary, as well as some contemporary theoretical approaches from the field of International Relations. Taking a thematic rather than a chronological approach, she addresses topics such as the nature of interstate society in the Greek world; the sources, scope and enforcement of 'international law'; the nature of interstate ethics and morality;...

The Rhetoric of Identity in Isocrates provides an interpretation of an important, but largely neglected and disregarded, fourth-century Athenian author to show how he uses writing to provide a model of political engagement that is distinct from his own contemporaries' (especially Plato's) and from our own notions of political involvement. It demonstrates that ancient rhetorical discourse raises issues of contemporary relevance, especially regarding the status of the written word and current debates on canon and curriculum in education.

Originally published in 1960, Dr Hodge's study deals with the construction of the wooden parts of the roofing of classical Greek temples of the era 600 400 BC in Greece, southern Italy and Sicily. There were no fragments remaining of these wooden members (rafters, ridge-beams and purlins), so Dr Hodge demonstrates the original position and function of the timbers from the way the stonework was cut to fit round them, and to a lesser extent from ancient documents. Dr Hodge is able to define a widely used type of roof (the Gaggera roof) and ceiling (the slot ceiling) not hitherto noticed, and...

This is a descriptive inventory of more than 3,500 stone vases from the Minoan civilisation.

This book is a study of one of the most famous poems of Roman literature, Virgil's Georgics. By close reading of selected passages in the poem it seeks to understand the work in terms of the cultural and political upheavals that were afflicting Rome at the time of its composition. The poem, it argues, constitutes an audacious attempt to explain and justify the violent civil wars that had recently brought Octavian (the future Augustus, with whom Virgil was closely associated) to power in Rome.

In this 1965 text, Dr Moore divides the extant manuscripts of Polybius, the Greek historian of Rome who lived in the second century BC, into their families, and demonstrates their relationship to each other. He considers the three traditions separately, and in each he describes the manuscripts briefly and discusses any part of their history which can help in establishing their relationship. He then establishes the tradition, discussing the manuscripts in their families and considering each one in its place in the establishment of the tradition. In his opening chapter he deals with previous...

Ammianus Marcellinus is usually regarded as our most important source for the history of the second half of the fourth century AD, while his literary qualities are neglected. This book demonstrates what a subtle and manipulative writer Ammianus is; attention is paid particularly to his rich and variegated intertextuality with earlier classical literature and history. Questioning the prevailing interest in the historian's life as the key to his work, Dr Kelly evaluates the historiographical function of the vivid and thrilling autobiographical passages. The range of Ammianus' allusions is...

Homeric Greek has a particularly rich system of moods which are analysed in this 2007 book in the light of theoretical interest in the semantic domain of modality. The domain is one of the most complex and interesting, since modal forms are used for the most 'subjective' of messages, expressing our beliefs, intentions, desires, abilities and wishes. Incorporating findings from the theory of grammaticalisation, this study considers the Homeric Greek modal system from a diachronic perspective and offers a radical revision of traditional accounts. Providing insights into both individual...

What was the impact of Romanisation on non-elite life in central Italy during the late third and second centuries BC? Focusing on the increasing spread of black-gloss pottery across the peninsula, this text demonstrates the importance of the study of such everyday artefacts as a way of approaching aspects of social history that are otherwise little documented. Placing its subject within the wider debate over cultural identity in the Roman world, the book argues that stylistic changes in such objects of everyday use document the development of new forms of social representation among non-elite...

What was distinctive about Christian biography in late antiquity? In this book, Dr Williams examines a range of biographies of prominent Christians written in the fourth and fifth centuries, and suggests that they share a purpose and function which sets them apart from their non-Christian equivalents. This was an age in which the lives of saints first emerged as a literary phenomenon, and a broad perspective on this developing genre is complemented by close readings of more problematic works such as Eusebius of Caesarea's Life of Constantine and the Confessions of Augustine of Hippo. In...