Political and institutional factors in regime change in the ERM: An application of duration analysis

This paper analyses the functioning of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). To that end, we apply duration models to estimate an augmented target-zone model, explicitly incorporating political and institutional factors into the explanation of European exchange rate policies. The estimations are based on quarterly data of eight currencies participating in the ERM, covering the complete history of the European Monetary System. Our results suggest that both economic and political factors are important determinants of the ERM currency policies. Concerning economic factors, the money supply, the real exchange rate, the interest in Germany and the central parity deviation would have negatively affected the duration of a given central parity, while credibility and the price level in Germany would have positively influenced such duration. Regarding political variables, elections, central bank independence and left-wing administrations would have increased the probability of maintaining the current regime, while unstable governments would have been associated with more frequent regime changes. Moreover, we show how the political augmented model outperforms, both in terms of explanatory power and goodness of fit, the model which just incorporates pure economic determinants.Duration analysis, political variables, exchange rates, European Monetary System

Priests of the groves (re)creating ancient rites in the Augustan culture

The past was reinvented in the Augustan culture through true or fictitious archaic cults, and this paper deals with some priesthoods related to sacred groves, or with the iconography of sacred luci appearing in some coins. Some examples are considered, such as an inscription from Peñaflor/Celti (Seville) mentioning a pontufex nemoris, a reference to the eques P. Aelius Marcellus, who appears in an epigraph from Umbria not only as Laurens Lavinas but also as flamen lucularis, or some images that document the reception of ancient notions of the sacred groves in the Roman provinces, as some recurrent types in the coins of Juba II of Mauritania depicting trees with an altar between them and the legend Lucus Augusti show. The question of whether these manifestations are merely expression of loyalism to the Emperor or whether they might imply some kind of local tradition is also posed

Dos iglesias subterráneas : descubrimientos arqueológicos en la catedral de Palencia

Publicado en el Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones, año XIV n. 158, abril 1906Copia digital. Valladolid : Junta de Castilla y León. Consejería de Cultura y Turismo, 2009-201

A los electores del Distrito del Hospital

Copia digital. Valladolid : Junta de Castilla y León. Consejería de Cultura y Turismo, 2009-201

Ambigüedad y persuasión en el dinero de los dioses : el caso de Juliano

Las monedas acuñadas por Juliano que representan en el reverso un toro estante con dos estrellas entre los cuernos documentan una iconografía original y ambigua, por cuanto contienen un mensaje adaptable a la mirada de diversos receptores. Por un lado, se induce a la vuelta a los sacrificios tradicionales (con los que se relaciona la leyenda Securitas Reipu(blicae)) que tienen al toro como víctima característica (taurobolium). Por otro, se transmite un nivel de lectura más elitista, en referencia al ascenso y descenso de las almas contenido en el discurso del emperador "A la Madre de los dioses" o en el tratado salustiano "Sobre los dioses y el Mundo".__________________________________The reverse of a bronze follis issued by the emperor Julian, representing a standing bull with two stars between its horns, contains an ambiguous message, in relation with the different viewers who this message is directed. In a broad sense, the iconography implies the return to the traditional sacrifice of the taurobolium (seen as garantee of the Securitas Reipublicae before the Persian campaign). But in a secondary sense, as it is directed to pagan intellectuals or priests, it involves a message on the descent and ascent of the soul, in accord with the own emperor's writings

Religion and Religious Practices of the Ancient Celts of the Iberian Peninsula

The aim of this article is to provide an account of the main features of the religious systems documented in Celtic Hispania, focusing on the following: 1) the effects of Romanization on the indigenous religions, with an evaluation of the continuities, ruptures and transformations of traditional religious practices; 2) a geography of the cults of the diverse deities, with particular attention paid to the different sources available, regional variations and relations with the rest of the Romano-Celtic world and the areas of Mediterranean Iberia; 3) a review of the typology of sanctuaries, rituals (particularly sacrifice) and the priesthood; 4) an analysis of the system of values of Hispano-Celtic peoples with respect to hospitality, the war-and-banquet ethos and funeral ideology, including the cosmological elements implied by the available sources of information

El pasado presente : la actualización de los "sacra principiorum" en una ciudad de la Bética en el s. id.e.

El presente articulo propone una reinterpretación de la inscripción (CIL II 2126) encontrada en la ciudad romana de Obulco (Porcuna, Jaén). Frente a las consideraciones tradicionales suscitadas por el epígrafe, el autor propone una nueva lectura a la luz de testimonios literarios, iconográficos y arqueológicos, integrándola en un contexto histórico-religioso más global.________________________________In this article, the author suggests a reinterpretation of the inscription (CIL II 2126) found in the Roman city of Obulco (Porcuna, Jaen). In spite of the traditional considerations of this epigraphic evidence, it is proposed a new examination on the basis of literary, iconographic and archaeological testimonies to emphasize the relation between the inscription and a more global socio- historical context

Concordia y Libertas como polos de referencia religiosa en la lucha política de la República tardía

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