Accounting for the Ancient Theatre: a new social and economic history of Classical Greek drama. This project will significantly advance our understanding of the Classical theatre, an institution at the fountainhead of the European tradition that continues to form a major element in Australia's cultural and historical heritage. The undertaking of such an ambitious project in this field on Australian soil will greatly enhance the international profile of Australian humanities research, and serve a ....Accounting for the Ancient Theatre: a new social and economic history of Classical Greek drama. This project will significantly advance our understanding of the Classical theatre, an institution at the fountainhead of the European tradition that continues to form a major element in Australia's cultural and historical heritage. The undertaking of such an ambitious project in this field on Australian soil will greatly enhance the international profile of Australian humanities research, and serve as a proud counterweight to the regrettable tendency that sees Australian-trained scholars conduct such research outside the country. It will have particular resonance for the prominent Italian and Greek communities in Australia in its exploration of a key element of their cultural heritage which has now also become a truly global phenomenon. Read moreRead less
Linguistic Structures and Identity in a Multicultural Society: Idiolect and Social Dialect in the Zenon Archive. This project offers a unique insight into the linguistic facet of multiculturalism in Hellenistic Egypt. It will be the first study to combine newly developed electronic tools with existing resources in order to interpret linguistic structures and identity. The distinctive language of individuals within the speech community (idiolects) and the distinctive language of social groups wit ....Linguistic Structures and Identity in a Multicultural Society: Idiolect and Social Dialect in the Zenon Archive. This project offers a unique insight into the linguistic facet of multiculturalism in Hellenistic Egypt. It will be the first study to combine newly developed electronic tools with existing resources in order to interpret linguistic structures and identity. The distinctive language of individuals within the speech community (idiolects) and the distinctive language of social groups within that speech community (social dialects) will be analysed. The anticipated outcome will be a powerful and transferable model for interpreting individual and group identity in Greek and other languages.Read moreRead less
Crisis management in late antiquity: the evidence of Episcopal letters. Appropriate responses to environmental and social crises, by individuals, communities, governments, religious and charitable organisations, are increasingly under focus in the twenty-first century. Understanding the failures of past leaders as well as their successes is crucial for values-driven policy making. This project reinforces the international reputation of quality Australian research in late-antiquity studies by anc ....Crisis management in late antiquity: the evidence of Episcopal letters. Appropriate responses to environmental and social crises, by individuals, communities, governments, religious and charitable organisations, are increasingly under focus in the twenty-first century. Understanding the failures of past leaders as well as their successes is crucial for values-driven policy making. This project reinforces the international reputation of quality Australian research in late-antiquity studies by anchoring contemporary responses to management of crises such as natural disasters, climate change, population displacement, poverty, religious disputes, violence, and social abuses in their historical antecedents. The project will develop and reinforce existing links with scholars in Japan, Korea, Belgium and South Africa.Read moreRead less
Banning ideas, burning books: the dynamics of censorship in classical antiquity. How to balance the right to free speech and dissent against other legitimate concerns is an issue that is always with us. This project explores neglected literary evidence from antiquity to study responses to controversial ideas in order to enhance the modern debate on the limits of freedom of speech.
Theatre and autocracy in Ancient Greece. This project aims to study the relations between theatre and autocratic power in antiquity. Theatre, from the start, appealed just as much to autocrats as to democrats and throve in autocratic states for half a millennium after the extinction of the Classical democracies. While many studies trace ancient Greek theatre’s links to democracy, none explore its links to specific tyrants, monarchs or emperors. This project will examine how autocrats moulded the ....Theatre and autocracy in Ancient Greece. This project aims to study the relations between theatre and autocratic power in antiquity. Theatre, from the start, appealed just as much to autocrats as to democrats and throve in autocratic states for half a millennium after the extinction of the Classical democracies. While many studies trace ancient Greek theatre’s links to democracy, none explore its links to specific tyrants, monarchs or emperors. This project will examine how autocrats moulded the world’s first mass medium of communication to consolidate their power, and how competing interests used the theatre to share, limit or challenge that power.Read moreRead less
Plato Comicus and Greek comedy: a study of his dramatic career. The experience of Greek comedy offers numerous points of contact with our own society. This project analyses an author and genre that flourished within a robustly democratic society, touching on perennial matters of social and political importance and raising pertinent questions about censorship, free speech, even good taste. Such a study can enlarge reflection on our own values, contributing cultural perspectives necessary for cons ....Plato Comicus and Greek comedy: a study of his dramatic career. The experience of Greek comedy offers numerous points of contact with our own society. This project analyses an author and genre that flourished within a robustly democratic society, touching on perennial matters of social and political importance and raising pertinent questions about censorship, free speech, even good taste. Such a study can enlarge reflection on our own values, contributing cultural perspectives necessary for constructive public debate and a healthy democracy. The project will also make a significant contribution to current trends in international classical scholarship. Its ambitious scope will contribute to research excellence within Australian Classics and further promote its reputation overseas.Read moreRead less
Knowledge transfer and administrative professionalism in a pre-typographic society: observing the scribe at work in Roman and early Islamic Egypt. This examination of documents on papyrus from first millennium CE Egypt concentrates not on scribes but the evidence for the activity of writing. It will illuminate ancient scribal practice while informing understandings of ancient education, administrations, and the way knowledge has been passed down from antiquity to the present.
The boundaries of Roman ethnicity: an examination of elite Roman ethno-cultural identity in the late-Republican and early-Imperial period (55 BCE - 120 CE). This project investigates what it meant to be 'Roman' during the vital period of transition from Republic to Empire (55BCE-120CE). It breaks new ground by focussing specifically on the Roman elite's own representation of their ethnic identity, and seeks t o establish whether a coherent ethno-cultural identity existed and how this identity va ....The boundaries of Roman ethnicity: an examination of elite Roman ethno-cultural identity in the late-Republican and early-Imperial period (55 BCE - 120 CE). This project investigates what it meant to be 'Roman' during the vital period of transition from Republic to Empire (55BCE-120CE). It breaks new ground by focussing specifically on the Roman elite's own representation of their ethnic identity, and seeks t o establish whether a coherent ethno-cultural identity existed and how this identity varied and/or changed over time. The outcome of the project will be a series of substantial publications, and the completion of two doctoral degrees, generating new insi ght into the formation and maintenance of ethno-cultural identities in a poly-ethnic society.Read moreRead less
The Theatrical Revolution: The Expansion of Theatre Outside Athens. The growth of the Greek theatre has valuable insights for contemporary Australian concerns. The world's first medium of mass communication rapidly shaped Greek national identity, but also contributed to Athenian cultural and political hegemony. For its power to transform political practices, business, personal relationships, and ideas, the spread of theatre has been illuminatingly compared to the growth of the internet. Understa ....The Theatrical Revolution: The Expansion of Theatre Outside Athens. The growth of the Greek theatre has valuable insights for contemporary Australian concerns. The world's first medium of mass communication rapidly shaped Greek national identity, but also contributed to Athenian cultural and political hegemony. For its power to transform political practices, business, personal relationships, and ideas, the spread of theatre has been illuminatingly compared to the growth of the internet. Understanding this process is of clear concern to small nations struggling to conserve their national interest while adapting to global culture. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101110
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$345,928.00
Summary
Popular Perceptions of Roman Emperors from Augustus to Theodosius I. This project aims to examine how Roman emperors were perceived by the inhabitants of their empire, from soldiers, slaves and freedmen to senatorial aristocrats. It has two main aims: to explain the different ways in which the emperors' military, judicial, religious and moral authority was conceived, interpreted and transmitted in the Roman world; and to analyse the continuities and changes in these aspects between the first and ....Popular Perceptions of Roman Emperors from Augustus to Theodosius I. This project aims to examine how Roman emperors were perceived by the inhabitants of their empire, from soldiers, slaves and freedmen to senatorial aristocrats. It has two main aims: to explain the different ways in which the emperors' military, judicial, religious and moral authority was conceived, interpreted and transmitted in the Roman world; and to analyse the continuities and changes in these aspects between the first and fourth centuries A.D. The significance of this study lies in its demonstration that the popular reception of imperial rule is crucial to understanding how and why the institution of emperorship endured in the Roman world. This outcome will enhance scholarly and public understanding of the Roman empire.Read moreRead less