Classical Archaeology

(Prof. Dr. Heide Frielinghaus)


Mirror of Victory: The Wounded, the Dead and the Captured

The representation of the victoriousness of an emperor or his generals in martial scenes (and elsewhere) repeatedly involved the depiction of the defeated, the wounded, the dying or the dead, and captured prisoners, as well as warriors and non-combatants. This PhD thesis will deal with how captured prisoners – in comparison to the wounded, the dying and the dead – are characterised and used, and to what extent they are specifically connected to or distanced from the person of the emperor.

 

Martial Masculinity in State Monuments

The depiction of martial prowess was not reserved for state monuments only, but also found itself in various forms and, for different reasons, in “private” contexts, e.g., in grave furnishings or in the domestic sphere. This PhD thesis will approach the subject diachronically and geographically differentiated, focusing on the question of how Roman warriors in the imperial period were characterised in appearance and activity, differentiated and staged, and in what contexts this happened and to what purpose. This also includes, for example, the question to what extent the totality of their equipment was reproduced, how far it deviated from contemporary conditions and which aspects of martial representation known from state monuments also played a role in the “private sphere”.

 

Fortifications in Imperial Greece, Thrace and Western Asia Minor

Numerous fortifications existed in pre-Roman Greece in a variety of forms (e.g., city walls, forts, fortified homesteads, towers) and execution (e.g., technology, strength, standard). A whole range of these buildings survived into the Roman period integrated into everyday life, strengthened and/or changed. In addition, there were those that only emerged in the imperial era. This thesis will provide an overview of the visible and utilised “pre-Roman” fortifications, as well as constructions newly made in the course of the imperial era and will examines their type, design, integration into the environment and their (further) use.