Κτίστας θεωρεῖς. Wer ist der zivile Würdenträger auf dem Stiftermosaik in der Demetrios-Kirche in Thessaloniki?

WHO IS THE CIVIL DIGNITARY ON THE MOSAIC OF THE DONORS IN THE CHURCH OF ST DEMETRIOS IN THESSALONIKI? This paper focuses on the analysis of the insignia, the portrait and the so-called square nimbus in order to clarify the identity of the anonymous civil dignitary depicted in the famous 7th century mosaic of the donors in the church of St Demetrios in Thessaloniki. It is argued that he is not (as often supposed) the founder of the church, the praetorian prefect of Illyricum Leontios, but rather a contemporary donor of the mid-7th century who contributed to the rebuilding of the church after a fire damaged the building about 620/30. His garment and his insignia do not fit to those of a praetorian prefect but most likely represent the highest senatorial dignity in the 7th century, namely that of an honorary consul (ἀπὸ ὑπάτων or ὕπατος). This does not exclude the possibility that he did hold the office of the prefect of eastern Illyricum (respectively of Thessaloniki) as well. The mentioning of the name Leo in the mosaic inscription pertaining to the rebuilding after the fire follows a common epigraphic habit in building inscriptions that refers to the authority responsible to approve the execution of the project. This Leo is often assumed to be the same person as the civil dignitary. Although this conclusion is generally possible it has to remain hypothetical.WHO IS THE CIVIL DIGNITARY ON THE MOSAIC OF THE DONORS IN THE CHURCH OF ST DEMETRIOS IN THESSALONIKI? This paper focuses on the analysis of the insignia, the portrait and the so-called square nimbus in order to clarify the identity of the anonymous civil dignitary depicted in the famous 7th century mosaic of the donors in the church of St Demetrios in Thessaloniki. It is argued that he is not (as often supposed) the founder of the church, the praetorian prefect of Illyricum Leontios, but rather a contemporary donor of the mid-7th century who contributed to the rebuilding of the church after a fire damaged the building about 620/30. His garment and his insignia do not fit to those of a praetorian prefect but most likely represent the highest senatorial dignity in the 7th century, namely that of an honorary consul (ἀπὸ ὑπάτων or ὕπατος). This does not exclude the possibility that he did hold the office of the prefect of eastern Illyricum (respectively of Thessaloniki) as well. The mentioning of the name Leo in the mosaic inscription pertaining to the rebuilding after the fire follows a common epigraphic habit in building inscriptions that refers to the authority responsible to approve the execution of the project. This Leo is often assumed to be the same person as the civil dignitary. Although this conclusion is generally possible it has to remain hypothetical

Besprechung: Ch. Bakirtzis (Hrsg.), Mosaics of Thessaloniki. 4th-14th century, Athens 2012.

Ch. Bakirtzis (Hrsg.), Mosaics of Thessaloniki. 4th-14th century, Athens 2012, 359 S. + 395 Abb. ISBN 978-960-6878-36-7Ch. Bakirtzis (Hrsg.), Mosaics of Thessaloniki. 4th-14th century, Athens 2012, 359 S. + 395 Abb. ISBN 978-960-6878-36-

Online sports betting in Greece : an empirical investigation

Although international interest on e-gambling commerce is steadily increasing, studies about the online sports betting sector in Greece are very rare. Based on a web survey the present study, attempts to address this gap, by shedding light on the active sports bettors characteristics, preferences and patterns in Greece. A thorough analysis of 325 internet sport bettors reveals contingent relations between significant variables, while conclusions are drawn about the size of stakes placed and the punters motivations.peer-reviewe

Die Mosaiken der Acheiropoietos-Basilika in Thessaloniki

The volume examinesfurther questions on the early Byzantine mosaics in the metropolis, and in particular their problematic chronology. A number of mosaics from the entire Mediterranean, which have to date received little attention, are also taken into account

Konsuln, Statthalter und venationes: Imperiale Feste im Bild

Eine markante Gruppe von Bildern auf Gefäßen aus dem Töpfereirevier von Sidi Marzouk Tounsi imitiert Motive spätantiker Elfenbeindiptychen. Vom späten 4. bis zur Mitte des 6. Jhs. wurden Elfenbeindiptychen gemeinsam mit einem Silbergefäß zu bestimmten Anlässen von Vertretern der Aristokratie als Ehrengeschenke an ausgewählte Personen gegeben. Die Imitationen auf den Terra-Sigillata-Gefäßen zeigen Konsuln, Senatoren, Statthalter und Kaiserpriester, die allerdings anders als bei den Elfenbeindiptychen bis auf wenige Beispiele anonym bleiben. Die Bilder und zugehörigen Inschriften können überwiegend mit wichtigen im gesamten Reich gefeierten Festen in Verbindung gebracht werden (Neujahr, kaiserliche Gedenktage), was eine Zweckbestimmung als besonderes Festtagsgeschirr nahelegt. Die Motive werden primär als Symbolbilder für diese wiederkehrenden Festereignisse interpretiert, die in allen Provinzen des Reiches verstanden werden konnten.A special group of images on vessels from the pottery production centre of Sidi Marzouk Tounsi imitate motifs from Late Antique ivory diptychs. From the late 4th to the middle of the 6th centuries, ivory diptychs together with a silver vessel were on certain occasions given as presents of honour to selected persons by representatives of the aristocracy. The imitations on terra sigillata vessels show consuls, senators, governors, and imperial priests, who, unlike in the ivory diptych motifs, however, remain anonymous except for a few examples. The images and the associated inscriptions can predominantly be associated with important festivals celebrated throughout the empire (New Year, imperial commemorative days), which suggests that the vessels had a purpose as special festive tableware. The motifs are interpreted primarily as symbolic images for these recurring festivals, which could be understood in all provinces of the empire

Besprechung: Ch. Bakirtzis (Hrsg.), Mosaics of Thessaloniki. 4th-14th century, Athens 2012.

Ch. Bakirtzis (Hrsg.), Mosaics of Thessaloniki. 4th-14th century, Athens 2012, 359 S. + 395 Abb. ISBN 978-960-6878-36-7Ch. Bakirtzis (Hrsg.), Mosaics of Thessaloniki. 4th-14th century, Athens 2012, 359 S. + 395 Abb. ISBN 978-960-6878-36-

“Bringing new life in”: Hope as a know-how of not knowing

We offer a theoretical and empirical exploration of parental or guardian hope through an enactive, ecological, and reflective lifeworld research framework. We examine hoping as a practice, or know-how, by exploring the shape of interviewees’ lives as they prepare for lives to come. We pursue hoping as a necessarily shared practice–a social agency–rather than an individual emotion. One main argument is that hoping operates as a kind of languaging. An enactive-ecological approach shifts scholarly conversations around hope, in part by including voices of non-scholars and considering lifeworld factors like class privilege. We aim to identify particular impediments to or facilitators of hope, which may be thought of as classes of restrictive and generative thought-shapers, respectively. Results from our qualitative study indicate that uncertainty is deeply salient to hoping, not only because hope as a concept entails epistemic limits, but more vitally because not knowing, when done skillfully and when supported through education and some degree of socio-economic security, leaves room for others to reframe utterances, and so for the family or community to resist linguistic enclosure

Archimedes Interdisciplinary Research Programme Forges a Broad Spectrum of Academic Innovations

The basic goal of Archimedes III is to support research teams in Greek Technological Educational Institutes (TEI) and enhance their research capabilities by funding interdisciplinary and inter-institutional research. The programme aims also at attracting talented researchers and developing high quality research personnel. The TEIs, prior to their advancement to the tertiary sector in 2000, focused only on educational activities. Since then, development of research became part of their mission. In order for the Ministry of Education to support TEIsto develop their research capabilities, it designed research programmes targeting exclusively these organisations. Archimedes I and II were designed and ran in the previous programming period (2000-2006) while Archimedes III has been designed in the framework of the Operational Programme "Education and lifelong learning” of the current programming period, 2007-2013. The programme supports research projects in all research fields. However, particular emphasis is given to the fields of engineering and ICT where the main strengths of Greek Technological Educational Institutes are concentrated. The specific project of the TEI of Central Greece, described herewith, comprises 8 research subprojects in fields such as health, environment, energy and ICT with one additional subproject dedicated to management and dissemination. This paper is a comprehensive account of the research objectives and accomplishments of the research project as a whole. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p