Jennifer Finn, The Ship of Aeneas

Keywords: Aeneas; Augustus; Aeneid; naval narrative; Persian Wars; Procopius

Abstract: The ship of Aeneas, the subject of a single literary attestation in Procopius, has received little serious attention from scholars. In a 1997 article, Pier Luigi Tucci made a plausible case for locating the shipshed for the vessel on the banks of the Tiber in the so-called navalia; he went further to propose that Augustus was the architect behind the ship’s placement there. Here I will expand upon Tucci’s argument by suggesting that Augustus dedicated the ship in 2 BC, simultaneous with the performance of his famous naumachia and the dedication of the Augustan Forum. As the culmination of a “naval narrative” surrounding his defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium in 31 BC, the ship of Aeneas can be viewed as consistent with the first emperor’s ideological program; it carried allusions not just to the Trojan foundation of the city of Rome, but also to a subversive attempt to apply a revisionist narrative to Greek—and particularly Athenian—history. Augustus’ preoccupation with positioning his reign in the longue durée of global conflicts between East and West was so pervasive that it was still recognizable to Procopius in the sixth century CE.

S.G. Caneva, Back to Rhodes: Pausanias, Rhodian inscriptions, and Ptolemy’s civic acclamation as Soter

Keywords: Ptolemy I, Soter, Rhodes, civic acclamation, Lindian Chronicle

Abstract: This paper deals with the vexed question of the historicity of Pausanias’ statement that Ptolemy I owed his epithet to the Rhodians. Three arguments are made in this contribution. 1) Contrary to old and new criticisms against Pausanias’ report, Rhodian inscriptions do not provide any evidence against the use of Soter as the epiclesis of Ptolemy I on the island; on the contrary, a generally overlooked passage of the Lindian Chronicle concerning the epiphany of Athena during Demetrios’ siege strengthens the hypothesis that Ptolemy was perceived by the Rhodians as the savior of their city, in a way comparable to Zeus. 2) Pausanias may have misunderstood the actual significance of the bestowal of the epiclesis Soter upon Ptolemy, if indeed he thought that his acclamation in Rhodes after the end of the siege established Soter as his official title in all regions under Ptolemaic control. While this acclamation should be interpreted within the local framework of Rhodian cults for Ptolemy, a comparative analysis of Pausanias’ words and of Hellenistic royal titularies suggests that Pausanias relied on Rhodian historiographic sources, which may have magnified the importance of the Rhodian episode for the general scenario of the Diadochi wars. 3) The most plausible context for the acclamation of Ptolemy as Soter in Rhodes is the aftermath of the siege in 305/4. This acclamation, together with the news reaching the court about the end of the Antigonid offensive, triggered the crowning of Ptolemy and his assumption of the royal title in Alexandria.

Emma Nicholson, Hellenic Romans and Barbaric Macedonians: Polybius on Hellenism and Changing Hegemonic Powers

Keywords: Hellenism, barbarism, Polybius, Philip V of Macedon, Rome, cultural politics

Abstract: This article explores the relationship between the Greeks, Macedonians and Romans through the prism of Polybius of Megalopolis and his Histories in the second century BC. It throws light on how a Greek might control and construct the image of larger powers to explain political change and assert or deny them political and cultural legitimacy, while at the same time proclaiming the continued importance of Hellenic culture. It investigates Polybius’ construction and use of Hellenism in his Histories and demonstrates how he deliberately interchanged the trajectories of Macedon and Rome to offer an ideological explanation for Rome’s rise and Macedon’s fall, to assert that the preservation of the Greeks lay with Rome not Macedon, to protect the standing of the Achaean League, and to emphasise the importance of Hellenic virtues for success on the domestic and international scenes.

Melina Tamiolaki, Herodotus, Cretan neutrality and the Peloponnesian War. Revisiting Hdt. 7.169-171

Keywords: Herodotus; Persian Wars; Cretan neutrality; Peloponnesian War; publication date of Herodotus’ Histories

Abstract: This article discusses the section on Cretan neutrality in Herodotus’ Histories (7.169-171). After highlighting some distinctive features of this account regarding its structure, the themes treated and Herodotus’ methodology, it proposes an interpretation based on the context of the Peloponnesian War: it suggests, more specifically, that the Cretan account contains hints of the events of the beginning of the Peloponnesian War (431-427 BCE), such as the plague, the opposition between islanders and mainlanders and the first attempts of the Athenians to conquer Sicily.