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
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
Cultural defences against slavery and trafficking. This project aims to study an African slave, Josefa, whose story could inform a debate about slave cultures and understanding of the legacies of slavery. Captured and shipped to Cuba for sale in the 1840s, Josefa kept alive her Sierra Leonean initiation rites. This project will use archival research and filmed oral interviews to discover how and why she managed to do this. Since the same society existed in Sierra Leone until the 1990s and its gi ....Cultural defences against slavery and trafficking. This project aims to study an African slave, Josefa, whose story could inform a debate about slave cultures and understanding of the legacies of slavery. Captured and shipped to Cuba for sale in the 1840s, Josefa kept alive her Sierra Leonean initiation rites. This project will use archival research and filmed oral interviews to discover how and why she managed to do this. Since the same society existed in Sierra Leone until the 1990s and its girls were enslaved in the civil war, this project could offer insight into defences against slavery, and the slave trade’s legacies. This could inform the fight against human trafficking today and Australia’s response to trafficking.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 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
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
Scripts without a stage: Roman comedy in the Early Italian Renaissance. In the early Italian Renaissance at a time when theatrical infrastructure was still lacking, rapid advances in learning and technology helped scholars to show how the Latin plays, which had only survived as teaching texts, were in fact works to be performed, eventually leading to stage revivals. This project proposes to build on the successes of an Australian team working on the Roman playwright Terence, and demonstrate the ....Scripts without a stage: Roman comedy in the Early Italian Renaissance. In the early Italian Renaissance at a time when theatrical infrastructure was still lacking, rapid advances in learning and technology helped scholars to show how the Latin plays, which had only survived as teaching texts, were in fact works to be performed, eventually leading to stage revivals. This project proposes to build on the successes of an Australian team working on the Roman playwright Terence, and demonstrate the importance of humanist scholars to intellectual history. It intends to utilise a range of historical resources, many only available in recent years through digitisation.Read moreRead less
Communication and Media in the Development of the Post-Roman/Early Medieval and Byzantine World (fifth to eighth centuries). This project investigates an apparent contradiction: though the Roman empire fragmented into multiple states, its successors developed parallel, not diverse, cultural and political practices. I approach this issue by exploring the role and conduct of communication throughout these states. Applying new methodologies to unused sources, the study will examine the practicali ....Communication and Media in the Development of the Post-Roman/Early Medieval and Byzantine World (fifth to eighth centuries). This project investigates an apparent contradiction: though the Roman empire fragmented into multiple states, its successors developed parallel, not diverse, cultural and political practices. I approach this issue by exploring the role and conduct of communication throughout these states. Applying new methodologies to unused sources, the study will examine the practicalities of face-to-face and textual exchanges and their conceptual contexts, to track pathways of communication. This new conceptualisation of the post-imperial period will produce a book; translations with commentary of main sources; and an international symposium with proceedings (publishers are already involved in the latter two).Read moreRead less
The Vandal Renaissance: Latin Literature in Post-Roman Africa (435-534CE). The project aims to investigate the Latin literature of the Vandal kingdom of North Africa. It expects to identify a vibrant literary culture that celebrated multicultural diversity, embraced the Classical tradition, and contributed to Christian theology, while helping form a distinct Vandal identity. Expected outcomes include a more detailed understanding of the intellectual influences on Vandal African authors, the mech ....The Vandal Renaissance: Latin Literature in Post-Roman Africa (435-534CE). The project aims to investigate the Latin literature of the Vandal kingdom of North Africa. It expects to identify a vibrant literary culture that celebrated multicultural diversity, embraced the Classical tradition, and contributed to Christian theology, while helping form a distinct Vandal identity. Expected outcomes include a more detailed understanding of the intellectual influences on Vandal African authors, the mechanics of Vandal court patronage, and the breadth of these authors' contribution to the history of Latin literature. The project will benefit Australian culture by providing a detailed historical example of the benefits and challenges of a multicultural society.Read moreRead less