Welcome to AHB, a Green Open Access Journal.
AHB promotes scholarly discussion in Ancient Mediterranean studies by publishing articles and notes on the history and culture of the ancient world from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. Submissions in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish are welcome. Early career academics and scholars from under-represented groups are especially encouraged to apply.
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Volume 40.1-2
Francesca Della Guardia, The Role of Berenice II in the International Relations of the Ptolemaic Kingdom (1-30)
Keywords: Berenice II; Ptolemaic queens; Hellenistic queenship; Ptolemaic foreign policy; royal propaganda
Abstract: This paper examines the political role of Berenice II in the international relations of the Ptolemaic kingdom during the second half of the third century BCE. While scholarship has extensively analyzed her biography and public image, less attention has been paid to her concrete function in Ptolemaic foreign policy. Through an analysis of literary, documentary, and numismatic sources, the study argues that Berenice II played an active and strategically significant role in shaping and disseminating the dynastic image beyond Egypt’s borders. From the outset of her reign, especially during Ptolemy III’s absence from Egypt, she leveraged artistic patronage, coinage, and carefully constructed propagandistic representations to project Ptolemaic power across the Greek-Macedonian world. In mainland Greece and in the Argolid, her Panhellenic equestrian victories reinforced the dynasty’s Macedonian legitimacy; in the Aegean, her assimilation to Demeter, Agathe Tyche, and the Dioscuri positioned her as protector of maritime routes and guarantor of abundance; in Athens, her association with Athena Parthenos underscored her martial authority; and within the Aetolian League, she served as both symbol of dynastic stability and guarantor of political continuity. By weaving personal biography into dynastic propaganda, Berenice II redefined the political role of royal women in the Hellenistic age, emerging as both a symbol and an agent of Ptolemaic power, maritime authority, and cross-regional political influence.
Jason Linn, How drinking water affected Aegean Naval Operations from 480 to 404 B.C. (31-54)
Keywords: Triremes, drinking water, logistics, Pylos, Aegospotami, warfare
Abstract: Scholarship on ancient logistics usually explores the caloric demands of feeding an army. The drinking water demands of an ancient fleet, however, have received less attention even though hydrating thousands of men seems like a daunting undertaking. Mediterranean naval warfare operated exclusively in salt water, and triremes lacked space to store sufficient drinking water. Consequently, fleets had to rely on local water supplies. Sometimes drinking water came from the built environment of a city if the fleet docked in a harbor. If the fleet disembarked on a beach, however, crewmembers had to rely on living water sources, such as rivers, creeks, and springs. The article examines how the challenge of providing adequate drinking water to thousands of men affected naval operations. First, this article explores how much freshwater a single oarsmen needed, then extrapolates to how much water a trireme and a fleet required daily. Then, this paper explores the broad implications relying on local water sources had naval operations generally. To illustrate some of these general implications, the article then focuses on two case studies: the Blockade of Sphacteria and the Battle of Aegospotami. The paper concludes with a rumination on the history of technology and the body.
Carla Capizzi, The Role of Women’s Fear in the Roots of Misogyny and Female Legal Marginalization within the Greek Context (55-87)
Keywords: misogyny; Greek theater; gender gap; marginalization; women.
Abstract: The paper aims to investigate the roots of the cultural models underlying the contemporary gender gap, through an analysis of ancient Greek culture. Beginning with female representations in the Homeric poems, the study will focus primarily on the portrayal of women in Greek theater, in whose works women are often depicted as the primary cause of the tragic outcome. From this perspective, women appear often emerge as tragic anti-heroines rather than tragic heroines, in sharp contrast to the male heroic figure. Given the role of ancient theatre in disseminating the core values of the polis, this paper seeks to identify – albeit briefly – the role played by literary gynophobia. In particular, it examines whether fear of women functioned as a pretext for the adoption of laws that institutionalized female marginalization, such as those regulating divorce and sexual violence.
Stefano G. Caneva, The “Philetairos exedra” in the Pergamon gymnasium: A reappraisal of the epigraphic evidence (88-103)
Keywords: Pergamon, gymnasium, Attalid portraits, Philetairos, Diodoros Pasparos
Abstract: The paper offers a detailed reassessment of the epigraphic data concerning an exedra dedicated by Diodoros Pasparos in the Pergamon gymnasium, which hosted portraits of a selected number of Attalids and was subsequently enriched by a statue of Diorodos himself, donated by the gymnasium Neoi. The reappraisal of the written evidence offers some previously neglected information to reconstruct Diodoros’ sculptural programme, enabling us to reject the identification of the “Philetairos exedra” dedicated by Diodoros with the earlier group displayed in the Mittelsaal H of the gymnasium’s upper terrace. In the final section, this new interpretation is combined with the recent results of archaeological surveys in the gymnasium, suggesting that the group was likely erected by Diodoros in the southeastern area of the upper terrace.