Practical Just War: St. Augustine & His Framing of Just War Theory 

Practical Just War: St. Augustine & His Framing of Just War Theory 
By Benjamin Elkins

Today, the application of moral terms to warfare may seem quite ordinary. Discussions about which military general is or is not a criminal, which states are just or unjust, or who should or should not be held accountable for war crimes are commonplace within modern discourse. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, scholars were quick to call it an unjust war of aggression. As a result, thousands of people bought flags and posters that read “Slava Ukraini” — glory to Ukraine. Throughout the 2023 Hamas-Israel war, numerous opinion pieces have been published evaluating the morality behind either side…

Homeric Poetry and the Construction of Humane Understanding

Homeric Poetry and the Construction of Humane Understanding
By Eden Riebling

In recent years, an interdisciplinary subfield sometimes called Empathy Studies has become central to the literature on diversity, equity and inclusion. Yet empathy remains an elusive concept, more easily praised than implemented or understood. The Oxford English Dictionary defines empathy as “the ability to understand and appreciate another person’s feelings, experience, etc.

Indigenous and Megarian Relations in Megara Hyblaea

Indigenous and Megarian Relations in Megara Hyblaea
Genevieve Meyers
Megara Hyblaea is often hailed as the Greek colonial archetype of the ideal relationship with indigenous populations. In many ways, this is true. Megara Hyblaea is one of the first examples of a Greek colony founded by invitation of the local people rather than established by force. There can be no doubt that colonists interacted peacefully with the indigenous Sicles. However, to champion Megara Hyblaea as one of the few prime examples of “good relations” with native people is misleading.

Seismic Activity in Campania Throughout 62-79 C.E. and the Archaeological Implications

Seismic Activity in Campania Throughout 62-79 C.E. and the Archaeological Implications
By Everett Meckler

The city of Pompeii and the surrounding region, while best known for the 79 C.E. eruption of Vesuvius and being “preserved” for posterity, was also subjected to an often concomitant natural disaster: earthquakes. While the site provides a wealth of knowledge and a window into the Roman world, the extraordinary circumstances that color modern scholarship must be fully understood. In this regard, the major earthquake the region suffered in 62/63 C.E. has long been incorporated into the scholarly inquiry of Pompeii, owing largely to its record throughout Book 6 of Seneca’s Natural Questions and a brief mention in Tacitus’ Annals (15.22.2). However, a growing number of scholars have concluded that Pompeii experienced a series of earthquakes from the 62/63 C.E. earthquake until the eruption of Vesuvius.1 This essay will synthesize and assess a diverse array of evidence with a particular focus on the water network of the city for this subsequent seismic activity and clarify the implications of such activity on interpreting the archaeological evidence at the site of Pompeii…

Trans Achilles Among the Maenads: Queer Movement on Skyros

Trans Achilles Among the Maenads: Queer Movement on Skyros
By Katherine O’Neal

Within Statius’ Achilleid, Achilles reveals his true gender twice. Both times come after an expression of gendered movement, which in the text are called “Bacchic rituals.” Gender expression is thus tied to movement in the Achilleid, but this movement is paradoxical, something that Kelly Nguyen identifies, wherein “mobility [is] both a preserver and a disruptor of heteronormative, patriarchal structures.”1 Nguyen is drawing from queer diasporic theory (the queer nature of movement across boundaries, especially borders, e.g., through immigration), but the basis of her analysis, her focus on the act of movement, reflects Statius’ treatment of Skyronian dance…

The Anatomy of a Misunderstood Woman: An Examination of Helen of Sparta

The Anatomy of a Misunderstood Woman
By Lily Burkin

Greco-Roman depictions of religious and mythological women provide a unique lens through which femininity can be seen wielding influence over humanity, while also remaining subject to limitations compared to male counterparts and villainization when they threaten the social order. An infamous example of a woman shamed for her unusual actions is Helen of Troy, the countless narratives about whom—when synchronized—paint a complex and contradictory picture of her motivations within the Trojan War. Despite the influence Helen exerts over powerful male figures, narratives of the Trojan War attempt to strip her of autonomy and reduce her to the “most beautiful woman in the world,” even as she displays shocking levels of emotional and intellectual depth in her struggle for control over her personage…

Magic, Religion, and Social Stigma

Magic, Religion, and Social Stigma
By Fiona Green

James Frazer, a visionary classicist and anthropologist, reshaped the academic landscape with his profound insights in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (Segal, 1). In his book The Golden Bough, Frazer proposed a conception of the distinction between magic and religion. Magic, he argued, was akin to science because it trusted in fundamental laws which governed the world and could be used to one’s advantage if one knew how to manipulate them. A magician uses these laws to compel gods and supernatural beings, whereas religion consists of  “a belief in powers higher than man and an attempt to propitiate or please them” (Frazer, 50). Thus, for Frazer, religion consists of submitting to and persuading supernatural beings…

Roman Ghost Stories and Superstitions on Societal Behavior

Roman Ghost Stories and Superstitions on Societal Behavior: Analyzing Pliny the Younger’s Letter 7.27, Petronius’ The Satyricon, and Mostellaria
By Aidan Jones

Ancient Roman literature has commonly portrayed ghosts in a satirical sense with the use of plays and short stories; however, it is clear that ghost stories have greater effects on Roman culture and society. By analyzing Pliny the Younger’s “Letter to Sura,” Petronius’ “Dinner at Trimalchio’s” in The Satyricon, and Plautus’ Mostellaria, we can determine how these texts reflect beliefs of the supernatural and hauntings, helping us understand the societal fear associated with ghost stories…

The Reception of Minoritized Translators of Classical Epic Poetry

The Reception of Minoritized Translators of Classical Epic Poetry
By Imaan Ansari

Translating without interpreting is nearly impossible. The primary factors affecting a translator’s decisions are the original work’s author, the author’s intended audience, and the audience receiving the translation upon publication. No translator is impartial; otherwise, all translations would be the same. For ancient literature, the progression by which translations are differently received throughout time can be understood through the prism of “Classical reception,” a phenomenon that also crafts the archetype of the accepted or ideal translator…

Romanus Graecisans: How The Emergence of Rome Impacted The Greeks

Romanus Graecisans: How The Emergence of Rome Impacted The Greeks
By Frederick Frostwick

The expansion of the Roman empire into the east under Augustus both represents the largest growth of the city’s power up to that point and reveals the issue of integrating the Greek-speaking colonies freshly under Roman rule. How the newly conquered Greeks identified their sense of ‘self’ and how their Roman overlords maintained rule of law in the region through a new language of diplomacy…