Seminar Program for 2017 - Session 1
Convenors: Dr Gil Davis & A/Prof Boyo Ockinga
The Macquarie University Department of Ancient History in conjunction with the Macquarie
Ancient History Association is proud to present the seminar program for S.1, 2017. All
seminars will be held in the Seminar Room, Museum of Ancient Cultures, Building X5B,
level 3, on Fridays commencing at 4.00pm sharp (unless otherwise stated). The convenors
appreciate the support given by the ACRC to this program, and the contribution of MAHA to
ancient history at Macquarie.
Week
Date
Seminar
1
3/3
Dr Ania Kotarba-Morley (University of Wollongong): Harbour
Geoarchaeology of the Greco-Roman port town of Berenike Troglodytica
on the Red Sea
Dr David Phillips (MQ): The Missing Garrisons of the Athenian Empire
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10/3
Prof. Hrvoje Potrebica (University of Zagreb): Princes of the Homeric
Age
Lyndelle Webster (MQ PhD Candidate): Dating the Late Bronze Age
Shephelah: Initial radiocarbon results from Tel Azekah
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17/3
Dr Mark Hebblewaithe (UNSW): Who Guarded the usurper Magnus
Maximus? Politics and the imperial guard in the 4th Century AD.
Alex MacDonald (MQ PhD Candidate): Covenant and Contradiction:
Mark 12, Hebrews 11, and Jewish Resurrection
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24/3
Amy Wood (MQ PhD Candidate): The Balkans at the End of Antiquity:
Imagined Empire and Regional Realities
A/Prof Tom Hillard & Dr Lea Beness: Still Searching for the Harbour of
Torone: Taking a Scythe to the Swamp and the Mapping the Marsh
5
31/3
Teachers’ Conference reception at the Powerhouse Museum – no talks
6
7/4
Nicolle Leary (MQ PhD Candidate): Animal Figures and the Canon of
Proportion in Old and Middle Kingdom Wall Scenes at Meir
Nitsan Shalom (Tel Aviv University PhD Candidate): TBC
7
14/4
Good Friday – no talks
Mid-semester break (10/4 – 28/4)
8
5/5
Dr Geoff Dunn (ACU): The Children of Constantius III and Galla
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Placidia
Prof John Lee: 'The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek (2015): A
Replacement for LSJ?'
9
12/5
Dr Kyle Keimer (MQ): Expressions of Power in the Ancient Near East
Prof Alison Betts (Sydney University): New Perspectives on Early
Zoroastrian Practice: the Akchakhan-kala Wall Paintings
10
19/5
A/Prof Trevor Evans (MQ): – Greek koine colloquium – 4-5 speakers;
start earlier
11
26/5
Olivier Rochecouste (MQ PhD Candidate): Evaluating the Elite Concept
Associated with the Identification of Early Dynastic tombs.
12
2/6
A/Prof Malcolm Choat and Dr Rachel Yuen-Collingridge (MQ):
Forging Antiquity: An overview of the ‘Authenticity’ project [both slots]
13
9/6
A/Prof Julia Kindt (Sydney University): Oracles and Authenticity (exact
title TDB) [both slots] – part of the Authenticity Series
18/7
Prof David Scourfield (Maynooth University, Kildare) and Prof
Monica Gale
Abstracts:
Prof Alison Betts (Sydney University): New Perspectives on Early Zoroastrian
Practice: the Akchakhan-kala Wall Paintings
A/Prof Malcolm Choat and Dr Rachel Yuen-Collingridge (MQ): Forging
Antiquity: An overview of the project
Dr Geoff Dunn (ACU): The Children of Constantius III and Galla Placidia
Flavius Constantius married Galla Placidia, half-sister to Emperor Honorius (395–
423) at the beginning of 417, the year in which he celebrated his second consulship.
About a year later a daughter was born to them and then in July 419 a son, who would
soon succeed as Valentinian III (425–455), under the regency of his mother until 437.
Constantius would become emperor in 421 for several months until his death. In her
recent volume Meaghan McEvoy ascribes Constantius’ success to his own ambition
(p. 214). However, in his biography of Galla Placidia, Stewart Oost pointed to the fact
that Placidia was equally ambitious. We know from Olympiodorus (frag. 33.1) that
Placidia was behind the bestowing of the title of nobilissimus (a ceremony described
in the tenth-century De ceremoniis 1.44[53]) by Honorius (and not Theodosius II, as
claimed by Eileen Rubery) on the infant Valentinian (depicted in the Romulus
intaglio in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg). This paper explores not only this
event but the names given to these children to argue that, since they highlight both
Placidia’s paternal and maternal ancestry (and reflect nothing of Constantius), she
was making a strong claim not only for Valentinian to be the childless Honorius’ heir,
but about her own eminence as the scion of two imperial dynasties.
A/Prof Trevor Evans (MQ): – Greek koine colloquium – 4 -5 speakers
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Dr Mark Hebblewaithe ( ): Who Guarded the Usurper Magnus Maximus? Politics
and the Imperial Guard in the 4th Century AD.
In the tumultuous 4th Century who the emperor chose as his bodyguard was one of the most
important decisions he could make. Using the case of Magnus Maximus this talk will show
that there was no static 'bodyguard establishment' in the 4th Century and that individual
emperors prized political allegiance and not tradition in the choices they made about their
bodyguards.
A/Prof Tom Hillard & Dr Lea Beness: Still Searching for the Harbour of Torone:
Taking a Scythe to the Swamp and Mapping the Marsh
Dr Kyle Keimer (MQ): Expressions of Power in the Ancient Near East
A/Prof Julia Kindt (Sydney University): Oracles and Authenticity (exact title TDB)
Dr Ania Kotarba-Morley (University of Wollongong): Harbour Geoarchaeology of
the Greco-Roman Port Town of Berenike Troglodytica on the Red Sea
The Red Sea region is hostile to long-shore nautical activity as it lacks natural topographic
features that could be used as harbours; only a few suitable bays for landing, where the wadi
mouths allow the break in the reef, are located on its coasts. However, experiencing
seasonally variable winds and currents parts of the Red Sea constituted favourable ground for
maritime voyaging, contact and trade for millennia. Berenike Troglodytica was one of the
most important harbours on the Egyptian Red Sea during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods –
a major hub connecting trade between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. Its
geographical position was chosen due to its extraordinarily propitious characteristics owing
partly to its natural harbours, protected against the prevailing northern winds, as well as its
location in the vicinity of an ancient viewshed – the large peninsula of Ras Benas. This
seminar will collate different strands of evidence and compare the geoarchaeological history
of Berenike with other key ports of trade on the Red Sea and around the Indian Ocean rims.
Nicolle Leary (MQ PhD Candidate): Animal Figures and the Canon of Proportion in
Old and Middle Kingdom Wall Scenes at Meir
Animal figures are an abundant feature of ancient Egyptian wall scenes, however they have
been left in the shadows of their human counterparts when it comes to artistic analysis. The
presented research aimed to shed new light on methods used by Egyptian artisans to represent
animals during the Old and Middle Kingdom by investigating an artistic convention known as
the ‘canon of proportion’, which, thus far, has only been examined in relation to human
figures. In order to investigate the existence of a proportional guide for the rendering of
animal figures in wall scenes, the study focused on elite tombs from the Upper Egyptian site
of Meir, where existing grid systems survive. Hypothetical grids were developed based on
those associated with three animal types at the site, and then used to analyse a corpus of fiftyeight examples comprised of standing cattle, standing and swimming ducks and standing oryx
dating from the 6th to 12th Dynasties. Results of the examination revealed consistent body
measurements across the entire test group, indicating that a proportional guide was used in
rendering of all three figure types at Meir. Investigating the existence of a proportional guide
for representing animal figures at Meir has generated new information regarding practices
used by Egyptian artisans when rendering subjects in two-dimensional form. The
methodology employed for the current study will subsequently provide a platform for testing
further sites in the Nile Valley in order to determine whether the same phenomena occurred
uniformly across Egypt or if regional diversity existed.
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Prof. John Lee: The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek (2015): A Replacement for
LSJ?
Alex MacDonald (MQ PhD Candidate): Covenant and Contradiction: Mark 12,
Hebrews 11, and Jewish Resurrection
Dr David Phillips: The Missing Garrisons of the Athenian Empire
There has been a widely supported assumption, indeed assertion, that Athenian garrisons in
allied states were a major instrument of Athenian imperial control. It is present in numerous
articles, monographs and textbooks. For a recent example see Samons (2016; cf. Rhodes, 2 nd
ed. 2010). Based on his earlier papers and the work of the authors of ATL Vol. III (1950)
Meiggs (1972) established the 'orthodox' position, viz. that there were numerous Athenian
garrisons in place throughout the history of the Delian League/Athenian Empire (478-404/3
BC). Meiggs did not review the evidence but accepted the study and conclusions of Nease
(1949). Nease remains the only specific study of the topic. However a close re-examination of
the evidence, both literary (Thucydides, Xenophon, Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch) and
epigraphical, establishes a list of garrisons most of which were in place during the
Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). These garrisons have been cross-referenced to the
inventory of poleis to be found in Hansen & Nielsen's CPCInv. 2004. My paper argues that
there was a limited use of garrisons until the Peloponnesian War when they became a
strategic necessity. Gomme appears to have been correct when in 1945 (HCT, I.38) he wrote:
'For the Pentekontaetia there is no certain evidence for universal or systematic garrisoning
…'. I will also comment briefly on the implications of my analysis for the history of the
Athenian Empire.
Prof. Hrvoje Potrebica (University of Zagreb): Princes of the Homeric Age
Elites of the Iron Age communities demonstrate high level of resemblance across vast
communication network which during the Bronze and Iron Age spread across Europe. The
only source of information for that period in the Central Europe are figural representations on
different items of material culture and burial record. This paper will compare well-known
historical and mythological structures of Greeks and Etruscans and their material culture to
contemporary Iron Age communities from Central Europe. It will also show to what extent
ideology of these “barbarian” elites correspond to the elite ideology of the Mediterranean
cultures.
Olivier Rochecouste (MQ PhD Candidate): Evaluating the Elite Concept Associated
with the Identification of Early Dynastic Tombs.
Prof. Jörg Rüpke (University of Erfurt):
Prof David Scourfield and Prof Monica Gale
Nitsan Shalom (Tel Aviv University PhD Candidate): TBC
Lyndelle Webster (MQ PhD Candidate): Dating the Late Bronze Age Shephelah:
Initial radiocarbon results from Tel Azekah
The Shephelah region (Judean Lowlands) of south-central Israel was of substantial
geopolitical importance through history. During the Late Bronze Age it felt strongly the
waxing and waning of Egyptian control. The absolute chronology of this region and period
has long been strongly dependent upon connections with Egyptian chronology, and local
radiocarbon sequences (based on short-lived materials) are greatly needed to develop a robust
independent chronology. I will present the first radiocarbon results from an excellent Late
Bronze Age occupation sequence at Tel Azekah, in the heart of the Shephelah. The site has
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been excavated since 2012 by the Lautenschläger Expedition, including a strong contingent
from Macquarie University. The new radiocarbon results testify to the long and prosperous
occupation of Tel Azekah during this period: commencing in LB IIA or earlier, and persisting
throughout the “Crisis Years” of the late 13th and early 12th centuries BCE. The results show
consistency with previously published data for northern Israel but are at odds with recent
results published for nearby Tel es-Safi, thus entering the chronological debate over the first
appearance of Philistine material culture.
Amy Wood (MQ): The Balkans at the end of Antiquity: Imagined Empire and
Regional Realities
Recent research has greatly bolstered slightly older efforts to establish that the Balkans really
matter to the imperial Roman government in any number of real ways (economically,
militarily, theologically) in Late Antiquity. This was certainly the case during the reigns of
Anastasius I, Justinian I and Maurice which framed the sixth century. But there are points of
tension: the available evidence gives the impression that the Balkans of the sixth century was
a discrete region of the Empire with its own geography, populations and problems, and was in
fact very slowly becoming detached from the Empire and the Empire’s imagined conception
of itself.
Imperial responses to challenges within the Balkans in the sixth century address pragmatic
concerns as well as imagined realities which were a reflection and projection of the
designated role of the Balkans in the imperial enterprise at a conceptual level. Written,
juridical and archaeological evidence allow some insight into the contrasts and connections
between this imagined Empire and the regional realities. The Justinianic Code, for example,
deals with contemporary problems in Balkan provinces (and in fact with territories which had
already passed outside of imperial control), but in some instances couches itself in the
language of remembrance of better times gone by, a legal panegyric aimed at creating an
imagined landscape of Roman power beyond the Empire’s actual reach. Imperial responses to
barbarian actions followed established Late Antique policy but failed, to Rome’s lasting
detriment, to deal with groups who did not fit into imperial concepts of empire, frontiers, and
the Roman oekumene and the ways in which Rome had always used these things to its
benefit. At the same time, the emperors of the sixth century were largely from provincial
Balkan families, common soldier stock who likely had a genuine personal interest in the
region.
This paper shall therefore examine some of the key aspects evident in the continued effort
(and sometimes failure) to maintain the Balkans within the superstructure of imperial
administration and the Roman oekumene in the sixth century, a time when the region was,
despite the capital at Constantinople being located within it, increasingly moving further
away from the central government’s notions of Empire.
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