An important debate has recently formed over the predominant language in the late Roman diocese of Oriens. Whereas Roman historians once looked hard for the eastern spread of Latin, the gradual recognition of the importance of Greek for imperial affairs has led to a rise in the study of official inscriptions in Greek from the region. Simultaneously, there has been a boom in the study of Syriac among scholars of Late Antiquity, many of whom now view Syriac (or Christian Aramaic) as the dominant cultural carrier of Christianity in the Levant.

The Cycladic island of Anafi is the site of a temple dedicated to Apollo Asgelatos (Aigletes), visited by (among others) Hiller von Gaertringen. It is now the shrine of the islanders' patron saint.  The island has also been used as a place of exile and is now visited by travellers and tourists in seach of  'an unspoilt Greek island.

This paper examines parallels and contrasts between the stories of Lucretia and Dido (in the versions of both the 'chaste' and 'unchaste' Dido) in a range of texts in the Virgilian tradition, and suggests that Lucretia may have been a significant model in the construction of the Virgilian Dido.

Roman emperors were special, but not in a good way: they were more often murdered than any other rulers in the history of Europe, and they were far less often succeeded by family members than rulers in any other major monarchy in the history of the world. How can we demonstrate and explain Roman exceptionalism? This lecture highlights the crucial importance of a global cross-cultural comparative perspective for our understanding of ancient (or any) history.