Egypt & Syria 1 : Royal images in Ptolemaic Alexandria  
After the death of Alexander, the new rulers of Egypt faced a legitimation problem: what would the Ptolemaic dynasty look like? One would expect to find their vision on this problem expressed in their own portraits. A recent monograph has put all Portraits of the Ptolemies together. Study this monograph (and its critical reviews) and present the case against the background of the uses of style in Ptolemaic Alexandria.

Literature:
S.A. Ashton, Ptolemaic royal sculpture from Egypt: the interaction between Greek and Egyptian traditions (2001)
P.C. Bol, G. Kaminski & C. Maderna (eds.), Fremdheit – Eigenheit. Ägypten, Griechenland und Rom. Austausch und Verständnis (Akten des Symposion des Liebieghauses, Frankfurt a/M 2002/2003) (Frankfurt a/M 2004)
P. Stanwick, Portraits of the Ptolemies (2002)
S.A. Stephens, Seeing double: intercultural poetics in Ptolemaic Alexandria (2003)

Egypt & Syria 2: The double style and its meaning in Roman Alexandria
The so called Persephone tombs from the Kom el-Shoqafa burial complex demonstrate one of the most sophisticated and complex uses of the so called double style in Alexandria: depictions in superimposed registers show a ‘Greek’ and an ‘Egyptian’ version of the same myth, each in a style appropriate to the subject. Study the double style phenomenon and its meaning against the background of multicultural Roman Alexandria.

Egypt & Syria 3: Burial customs in Roman Egypt
The burial customs from Roman Egypt are probably best known through the famous Fayum portraits. In a ‘Greco-Roman’, lifelike style these portraits grace mummies, probably portraying the deceased. Introduce the burial customs of Roman Egypt and (the research into) the Fayum portraits. Are these so-called Fayum portraits really portraits? How did they function? What does their use tell us about the cultural character of Roman Egypt?

Egypt & Syria 4: the temple of Isis at Ras el Soda
A so-called Roman temple – stylistically speaking –, probably dedicated to Isis or to Isis and other Egyptian gods in Hellenized guise, situated near Alexandria: what can it be? To what audience did it cater? What can it possibly tell us about the culture contacts coming together in the cosmopolitan, but nevertheless very Egyptian world of Roman Egypt.

Anatolia 1: Nemrud Dağ and late Hellenistic Commagene
Anatolia is often hailed as a bridge between East and West: a region where all kinds of influences (Occidental, Oriental, local) come together. Nemrud Dağ seems to be the most extreme example of this syncretism, as here ‘Greek’ and ‘Eastern’ elements seem to be combined in a unique, single style. R.R.R. Smith characterised this as follows: “Antiochos’ images, then, are a hybrid art designed to express his particular hybrid dynastic ideas. (…) The result is a rather hollow, synthetic Greek version of Oriental dynastic art, which perhaps accurately expresses Antiochos’ dynastic vision – though, of course, he would not have seen it like that.” Present examples, in texts and artefacts, of Antiochos’ Kulturpolitik. What exactly do you think is happening in late Hellenistic Commagene?

Anatolia 2: Four Lycian heroa
Anatolia is often hailed as a bridge between East and West: a region where all kinds of influences (Occidental, Oriental, local) come together. As far as ancient south-western Anatolia is concerned, J. Borchardt has charasterised the outcome of this as epichoric. Already in the fourth century B.C. we see here an amalgam of styles that is usually called characteristic for the later Hellenistic period. Four Lycian heroa (in Xanthos, Limura, Fellos and Trusa) are remarkable in this respect. Present these four archaeological monuments and try to explain the meaning of the different ‘styles’ that are used.

Anatolia 3: King Mausollos of Halikarnassos and his tomb: perfection and hubris?
Anatolia is often hailed as a bridge between East and West: a region where all kinds of influences (Occidental, Oriental, local) come together. The tomb built for Mausollos around 350 B.C. clearly shows Greek and ‘Oriental’ elements. Present this archaeological monument and the history of its research and try to explain the meaning of the different ‘styles’ that are used. In your interpretation try to go beyond imperiale Selbstdarstellung.

Anatolia 4: Pergamon, or the Greek style as Kulturpolitik
The Attalid dynasty of Pergamon established itself in the third century B.C. To legitimate its existence and power an intensive program of cultural politics was established. Victory monuments that were on display inside and outside the city-state have been preserved. Characterize and illustrate the Attalid Kulturpolitik. Did it look Greek, and, if so, why?

Anatolia 5: Sagalassos and Pisidia in longue durée perspective
Through intensive Belgian research in the last decennia, Sagalassos (in Pisidia) is nowadays a well researched archaeological site. In the same period parts of Pisidia were intensively surveyed. It is now possible therefore to study the ‘Romanisation’ of Pisidia from the perspective of the city as well as the countryside. Introduce both archaeological projects and try to draw some general conclusions on the ‘Romanisation’ of Pisidia. Do ‘city’ and ‘countryside’ give different perspectives?

Greece and Italy 1: Hadrian & Athens
The emperor Hadrian undertook an overhaul of Athens: not just any place. Maybe old and ramshackle and lacking many amenities that the Roman urban elite had come to expect of a town worthy of that name, but still Athens, heart of the “glory that was Greece”. Roman philhellenism and Roman imperialism intriguingly come together here. Try to disentangle some of the ingredients in this heady brew.

Greece and Italy 2: Greece under Roman rule: changing the sacred landscape
In a fundamental study Susan Alcock has examined the impact of the Roman conquest of Greece from the point of view of the majority of the Greek provincials. Give an overview of her argument and focuss on the changes in the sacred landscape. In what way the Romans showed that they were in charge? And is it really true that Greek religious identity was cherised as a resistance to the realities of Roman rule?

Greece and Italy 3: the sanctuary of Isis on the Campus Martius in Rome
The Iseum Campense is depicted on the Forma Urbis Romae and mentioned by Juvenal in his ridiculisation of the followers of the Isis cult. Scarce remains of the architecture of the complex confirm the place of the ancient sanctuary, on the spot of the present S. Maria sopra Minerva/Via del Pie di Marmo/S. Stefano del Cacco. Much richer are the many finds in and around this area, brought to light from the 15th century onwards: of the decoration of the sanctuary much more has been preserved, varying from a number of obelisks to statues of Egyptian gods and animals. Obviously the sanctuary had a religious function, but there are clear indications that there was more going on. Give an interpretation of this monument against the background of the meaning of Egypian style monuments in imperial Rome.

Greece and Italy 4: The temple of Apollo Sosianus in Rome
The temple for Apollo Sosianus is named after consul C. Sosius who rebuilt the sanctuary in the early Augustan period. Originally the temple was dedicated in the fifth century B.C. In the Republican and Augustan period this Apollo sanctuary also functioned as a kind of museum where all kinds of Greek statues and paintings were on display, amongst them twelve statues made by Philiskos from Rhodes, a fourth-century Greek painting, and a wooden (cult) satue of Apollo originating from Seleukia. Describe the building history of the temple and its decorations. Try to come to a reconstruction of  (the character of) this cult place in the first century B.C. Describe the different meanings that were applied to the foreign (Greek) elements in this Roman context.

Greece and Italy 5: Roman landscape paintings
Roman mural paintings have mainly been preserved from Pompeii and surroundings but were a form of standard (semi-)elite decoration all over the Empire. Amongst the subjects depicted landscape scenes were prominent. In mythological content these scenes could be said to be fundamentally Greek. Briefly describe the content and chronology of these scenes. Try to map the different meanings that have been applied to them. In some recent publications B. Bergmann has largely expanded the prior range of interpretations: what about her new ways of looking? Is it feasible to talk about ‘Hellenisation’ in this respect?

Greece and Italy 6: Camels in Puteoli: Arab presence in and around the bay of Naples
The designation ‘Arab/Arabian’ remains problematical as there are several contexts for the use of the word in the Roman world. It was not so much an ethnic or linguistic description but often seems to have been used to mean “nomad”.  The Nabateans wrote in Aramaic, but are thought to have spoken Arabic. In the second century A.D. the kingdom of the Nabateans became the Roman province of Arabia, perhaps because of the lifestyle of many of its people, perhaps because the inhabitants identified with the term. In the bay of Naples at Puteoli there have been found several objects and inscriptions that make the existence of a temple for Dusares (or Dushara, meaning “the one from the Shara” = the mountains around Petra) likely. Outside his homeland this Dusares is also attested in Miletos, Kos and Delos. Present the evidence. Was there a temple and how did it look? Should we view these Nabateans at the bay of Naples as an ethnic group with a distinct identity? And was Dusares worshipped by Italians?

Greece and Italy 7: The Villa Hadriana: acculturation within Imperial control?
In its decorations, Hadrians villa at Tivoli seems to offer an overview of the different styles of the Roman Empire. Every ’Other’ seems to be incorporated, be it with that ever occuring focus on Greece. Introduce this archaeological site and provide an interpretation of the decorative programme, beginning with the opinions on that matter from the ancient sources. Do we witness acculturation within imperial control here?

The western world 1: Deconstructing Tacitus’ Germania
The Germania, written in A.D. 98, was in the nineteenth century regarded as an example par excellence of Roman ethnography. It was assumed that the treatise offered a reasonably faithful description of the Germani, who were supposed to be a recognizable ethnic entity. At the beginning of the twentieth century, however, one became aware of the fact that the treatise showed great similarities with Greek and Roman predecessors and therefore was heavily embedded in the Roman world view. These observations were only recently taken seriously enough and have led to an image of Tacitus as a literator instead of an ethnographer. Offer an overview of the debate and explain whether it is still possible (and if so, how?) for historians and archaeologists to use Tacitus as a source when studying ‘Germanic’ territory.

The western world 2: Cosmopolitism in Brittania
Every Roman province, even a far-off place beyond the Okeanos as Britannia, experiences an influx of foreigners from elsewhere in the Empire or even from beyond its confines. That is one of the defining factors of  Roman rule. From artefacts and above all inscriptions we can gain an impression of the soldiers, traders and so on, arriving on British shores and their movement across the province. How multicultural was the empire? How much mobility was there in general, one of the prerequisites for culture contacts? 

The western world 3: Romanising the Gallic pantheon
In Gaul (as elsewhere) several local deities were assimilated to gods of the Greco-Roman pantheon. What is in a name? But there are other processes going on at the same time: religion is expressed in inscriptions and in imagery, in ways which seem largely inspired by Mediterranean examples. Buildings dedicated to religious ritual are put up which are different from what went before. But what does it mean when local religious beliefs are given a new setting and a new image?