At the crossroads of different traditions. Social and cultural dynamics in Roman Thrace through the epigraphic practice

Il presente articolo studia i processi di integrazione della Tracia nel mondo romano attraverso l'analisi di tre fenomeni tra loro correlati: diffusione della lingua latina; diffusione della cittadinanza romana; diffusione dei nomi romani. Per illustrare questi fenomeni il contributo prende in considerazione la produzione epigrafica di tre centri urbani della 'provincia Thracia': Maroneia, Perinthos e Philippolis. Data la loro posizione geografica (rispettivamente nella Tracia egea, nel Chersoneso tracico e nell'entroterra), questi tre centri possono fornire un quadro indicativo delle dinamiche socio-culturali indotte dalla presenza romana nel territorio trace.This paper deals with the integration of Thrace into the Roman world through the analysis of three interrelated phenomena: the diffusion of the Latin language; the diffusion of Roman citizenship; the diffusion of Roman names. To highlight these phenomena the present contribution analyses the epigraphic production of three urban centres of the 'provincia Thracia': Maroneia, Perinthos, and Philippolis. Due to their geographical position (in Aegean Thrace, Thracian Chersonesos, and mainland Thrace respectively), these three cities can provide an indicative picture of the social and cultural dynamics induced by the Roman presence in the Thracian territory

Imperial priests in second century Greece. A socio-political analysis

The priesthood of the Roman emperors was a very prestigious office and its holders were usually members of families belonging to the civic (and provincial) elite. The Athenian imperial high-priests and the Achaean league ones – wealthy and socially influential individuals – provide a clear example of this situation in second century Greece. The imperial priesthood certainly had an important role in expressing a privileged relationship between Greek elite and Roman power, and it could also contribute to advancing the career of the Greek notables, some of whom succeeded in entering the Roman equestrian and senatorial orders. On the other hand, the evidence analysed does not permit to conclude, at least in second century Greece, that the imperial priesthood was the fundamental factor in fostering a Roman career

¿Cuál era la relación entre dioses griegos y emperadores romanos? Implicaciones cultuales de la “asimilación” de emperadores a dioses en la Grecia Continental

In the Greek world Roman emperors were often linked with traditional gods. Verbal and iconographical assimilations on inscriptions, coins and statues, integra­tion into pre-existing sacred structures and festivals, and joint priesthoods were three different means of establishing a relation­ship between the old gods of the Greek pantheon and the new divinized masters of the Empire. The ideological valency of this proceeding was strong, as it permitted the Greek elites both to establish a subtle hie­rarchy between emperors and gods and to cope with the new imperial power through traditional tools (and according to Greeks’ cultural horizon). As is generally the case with the “imperial cult” as a whole, howe­ver, the assimilation of emperors to the traditional Greek gods had also significant cultic implications, since ritual ceremonies were performed for the emperors. In this context priests of the imperial cult played an important role. The present paper deals with these aspects in the cities of mainland Greece.En el mundo griego, a los emperadores romanos se les relacionaban con los dioses tradicionales. Las asimilaciones verbales e iconográficas en inscripciones, monedas y estatuas, la integración en estructuras y fes­tivales sagrados preexistentes y los sacerdo­cios conjuntos eran tres medidas diferentes para establecer una relación entre los dioses antiguos del panteón griego y los nuevos gobernantes divinizados del Imperio. El as­pecto ideológico de este procedimiento era fuerte, ya que permitió a las élites griegas es­tablecer una jerarquía sutil entre emperado­res y dioses, y gestionar al nuevo poder im­perial a través de herramientas tradicionales (según el horizonte cultural de los griegos). Sin embargo, como en general es el caso del “culto imperial” en su conjunto, la asimila­ción de los emperadores a los dioses griegos tradicionales también tenía importantes im­plicaciones cultuales, ya que las ceremonias rituales eran celebradas para los emperado­res. En este contexto los sacerdotes del culto imperial jugaban un papel importante. El presente capítulo trata sobre estos aspectos en las ciudades de la Grecia continental

Dedica in onore di Attalo I

L’epigrafe è una dedica su altare a Zeus e Atena posta da ufficiali e soldati di una guarnigione dell’esercito pergameno di stanza a Egina in onore di Attalo I di Pergamo. La dedica si data tra il 210/9 a.C., quando l’isola, conquistata dai Romani durante la Prima Guerra Macedonica e ceduta ai loro alleati Etoli, fu venduta da questi ultimi al regno di Pergamo, e la morte di Attalo I (197 a.C.). La dedica fornisce un esempio di imposizione di truppe in una città controllata da Pergamo: nel caso specifico, l’isola di Egina doveva funzionare come base navale. Atena e Zeus, divinità protettrici della dinastia e dello stato pergameno, assunsero il ruolo di ‘patrone’ delle imprese belliche dei sovrani pergameni. La dedica mostra che il loro culto, che doveva godere di grande favore tra le fila dell’esercito pergameno, era presente anche nella guarnigione di stanza a Egina

A Note on the Athenian Hiereus of Drusus Hypatos

A cult for Drusus the Elder was instituted in Athens following Drusus’ death in 9 BC. In inscriptions the priest of this cult is referred to as “hiereus of Drusus hypatos”. This priestly office was associated with the charge of eponymous archon, as shown by the fact that all preserved Athenian laterculi archontum dated after 9/8 BC mention the priesthood of the consul Drusus next to the office of archon. Based on the analysis of the epigraphic references (around twenty) to the priesthood of the consul Drusus one can argue that the latter disappeared sometime between ca. AD 105 and 140. At the end of the 19th century Dittenberger had stated that the proliferation of honours for the emperor Hadrian following his first official visit to the city (AD 124/5) would have finally provoked the end of Drusus’ priesthood. Indeed, the cult of Drusus must not have survived beyond Hadrian’s reign, yet I hypothetically suggest that Hadrian’s visit as a privatus in 111/2 AD, when the fu­ture emperor was offered the eponymous archonship without apparently holding the office of priest of Drusus, may have been the first act of its disappearance. I suggest that for reasons of convenience in that year the office of hiereus of Drusus hypatos may have not been held, and this event could have brought about the end of this priesthood, either immediately or gradually over the following years

A Note on the Athenian Hiereus of Drusus Hypatos

A cult for Drusus the Elder was instituted in Athens following Drusus’ death in 9 BC. In inscriptions the priest of this cult is referred to as “hiereus of Drusus hypatos”. This priestly office was associated with the charge of eponymous archon, as shown by the fact that all preserved Athenian laterculi archontum dated after 9/8 BC mention the priesthood of the consul Drusus next to the office of archon. Based on the analysis of the epigraphic references (around twenty) to the priesthood of the consul Drusus one can argue that the latter disappeared sometime between ca. AD 105 and 140. At the end of the 19th century Dittenberger had stated that the proliferation of honours for the emperor Hadrian following his first official visit to the city (AD 124/5) would have finally provoked the end of Drusus’ priesthood. Indeed, the cult of Drusus must not have survived beyond Hadrian’s reign, yet I hypothetically suggest that Hadrian’s visit as a privatus in 111/2 AD, when the fu­ture emperor was offered the eponymous archonship without apparently holding the office of priest of Drusus, may have been the first act of its disappearance. I suggest that for reasons of convenience in that year the office of hiereus of Drusus hypatos may have not been held, and this event could have brought about the end of this priesthood, either immediately or gradually over the following years

La titolatura dei sacerdoti del culto imperiale in Grecia: terminologia ed evoluzione

La titolatura dei funzionari cultuali offre indicazioni sull’oggetto del culto oltre che sulle mansioni e sulla durata dell’incarico sacerdotale. Il presente articolo esamina il sacerdozio del culto imperiale in Grecia (provincia Achaia). L’analisi sistematica della documentazione epigrafica mostra che in ambito sopra-cittadino il titolo archiereus è pressoché esclusivo. In ambito municipale – cui si riferisce la maggior parte delle attestazioni epigrafiche – il titolo hiereus è gradualmente soppiantato, durante il primo secolo d.C., dal titolo archiereus, secondo una precisa evoluzione che riflette nello stesso tempo il passaggio nell’oggetto del culto da singole figure imperiali all’insieme dei Sebastoi (imperatore regnante, suoi predecessori, altri membri della domus Augusta).Priestly titles can offer insights on the cult object served by each priest as well as on the tenure and specific functions of a given priesthood. This paper examines the priesthood of the imperial cult in Greece (provincia Achaia). The systematic analysis of the epigraphic evidence shows that in the supra-civic realm the title archiereus is almost exclusive. As for civic priests, who are the most represented in the epigraphic evidence in Greece, the title hiereus is gradually replaced during the 1st c. AD by the title archiereus, this showing a precise evolution which also reflects a shift in the cult object from single imperial figures to the Sebastoi as a whole (including the reigning emperor, his predecessors, and other members of the domus Augusta)

Conformal loop ensembles and the stress-energy tensor

We give a construction of the stress-energy tensor of conformal field theory (CFT) as a local "object" in conformal loop ensembles CLE_\kappa, for all values of \kappa in the dilute regime 8/3 < \kappa <= 4 (corresponding to the central charges 0 < c <= 1, and including all CFT minimal models). We provide a quick introduction to CLE, a mathematical theory for random loops in simply connected domains with properties of conformal invariance, developed by Sheffield and Werner (2006). We consider its extension to more general regions of definition, and make various hypotheses that are needed for our construction and expected to hold for CLE in the dilute regime. Using this, we identify the stress-energy tensor in the context of CLE. This is done by deriving its associated conformal Ward identities for single insertions in CLE probability functions, along with the appropriate boundary conditions on simply connected domains; its properties under conformal maps, involving the Schwarzian derivative; and its one-point average in terms of the "relative partition function." Part of the construction is in the same spirit as, but widely generalizes, that found in the context of SLE_{8/3} by the author, Riva and Cardy (2006), which only dealt with the case of zero central charge in simply connected hyperbolic regions. We do not use the explicit construction of the CLE probability measure, but only its defining and expected general properties.Comment: 49 pages, 3 figures. This is a concatenated, reduced and simplified version of arXiv:0903.0372 and (especially) arXiv:0908.151

Forest Fires in Europe Middle East and North Africa 2013

This is the 14th “Forest Fires in Europe” report published by the European Commission. The report contains a summary of the 2013 fire season in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa with official statistics on the number of fires and burnt areas compiled by the contributing countries. In addition to country reports with a summary of the past fire season provided by the countries, the report Forest Fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa informs about the latest developments in terms of forest fire prevention and initiatives of the European Commission to support forest fires fire protection activities in the European Union. Furthermore it provides the results of the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) operating during the fire season, with special emphasis on the EFFIS Danger Forecast, providing daily maps of meteorological fire danger forecast of EU, and the EFFIS Rapid Damage Assessment, performing the daily mapping and assessment of main land cover and Natura2000 areas affected by fires of at least 40 ha during the fire season.JRC.H.3-Forest Resources and Climat