This collection of essays by a leading authority on Suetonius, one of our most significant historical sources for the early Roman Empire, provides an in-depth examination of his works, whose literary value has in the past been overlooked. Although Suetonius is well known for his Lives of emperors such as Caligula and Nero, he is rarely studied in his own right, aside from grammatical or textual commentaries. This is the first volume by an expert on the author to make him accessible to a wider audience, looking at his biographies not only of emperors but also poets, and discovering new contemporary evidence for Jesus from one of Suetonius’ first-century sources. Other writers discussed include Homer, Sophocles, Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Curtius Rufus, Josephus, Plutarch, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus, Juvenal, and Cassius Dio. The book contains thirty-two papers in all, eleven of which are new, which examine Suetonius’ neglected historical value and literary skills, and offer textual conjectures on both the Illustrious Men and Lives of the Caesars. It also has a new introduction and represents over a dozen years of research on an essential Latin source for Roman history. Collected Papers on Suetonius provides an invaluable resource for students and researchers working on Suetonius. It also has broader significance for anyone studying Roman imperial history and culture, Latin literature, and classical historiography.

As a speechwriter, orator, and politician, Demosthenes captured, embodied, and shaped his time. This Handbook explores the many facets of his life, work, and time, giving particular weight to his social and historical context and thereby illustrating the interplay and mutual influence between his rhetoric and the environment from which it emerged.

This book brings together the main discussions that took place at an international conference on the iconology of war in the ancient Near East, a subject never addressed at an international meeting before.

Dedicated to the investigation of fortifications as important and integral elements of ancient built space, the present volume results from the activity of the German based international research network Fokus Fortifikation. Ancient Fortifications in the Eastern Mediterranean and is intended as a guide to research on ancient fortifications and a source of inspiration for new research. Ancient city walls and other fortification structures have long been underestimated. Since the early years of the 21st century, research on ancient fortifications has experienced an international boom, particularly amongst young researchers. They approached the study of fortifications with fresh ideas and new aims, and felt the need to discuss the problems and potentials of these monuments and to develop harmonized research methods and objectives. The outcome is the present bilingual (English and German) book, which offers a condensed view of the network’s extended conversations. The goal is not so much to offer an overview on the development of ancient fortifications, but rather to present versatile and diverse approaches to their research and interpretation and to serve as a kickoff for a new understanding of this category of ancient buildings. The book is divided into two parts: the first part includes 12 chapters on methods of interpretation, documentation, and field project organization; the systematic description and presentation of fortifications; the ‘building experience’; masonry forms and techniques; defensive, symbolic, and urbanistic functions and aspects; on fortifications in written sources, the visual arts, and as a historical source; and on regional and rural fortifications, and regionally confined phenomena. Part two is a catalogue that offers exemplary presentations of fortifications studied by network members; it is arranged in four sections: regions, sites, architectural elements and architectural details. The book is Volume 1 in the new series Fokus Fortifikation Studies. Volume 2 in the series, Focus on Fortification: New Research on Fortifications in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East (Oxbow Books), the proceedings of an international conference held in Athens in December 2012, will also appear in 2015.

Studies all four branches of the Athenian armed forces to show how they helped make democratic Athens a superpower.

Tacitus is universally recognised as ancient Rome's greatest writer of history, and his account of the Roman Empire in the first century AD has been fundamental in shaping the modern perception of Rome and its emperors. This Companion provides a new, up-to-date and authoritative assessment of his work and influence which will be invaluable for students and non-specialists as well as of interest to established scholars in the field. First situating Tacitus within the tradition of Roman historical writing and his own contemporary society, it goes on to analyse each of his individual works and then discuss key topics such as his distinctive authorial voice and his views of history and freedom. It ends by tracing Tacitus' reception, beginning with the transition from manuscript to printed editions, describing his influence on political thought in early modern Europe, and concluding with his significance in the twentieth century.