Roman history

The purpose of this thesis is to identify the causes of the Punic Wars. It will identify the issues faced by both parties involved, as well as why the war was decided in the matter in which it was. The issue one faces when recreating ancient history is figuring out which sources…

The centrality of aretē and virtus in the value systems of the Greeks and Romans has been examined by many scholars, yet the lack of a comprehensive study directly comparing the semantic development of each term within their individual historical and cultural contexts represents…

The fullest and most comprehensive unpacking of the term finis has yet to be achieved. Studies have narrowly focussed on the idea of border, boundary or frontier, without even entertaining the prospect of interpreting the study from the ancient point of view. This investigation …

In this doctoral dissertation I seek to reassess the innovativeness of the young Corduban poet Lucan’s masterpiece, the Civil War. Faced with the abrupt closure of Lucan’s poem 546 lines into Book 10, I adopt the view propounded by Haffter, Masters and Tracy, that what most have…