scholarly journals Economic resilience of Carthage during the Punic Wars: Insights from sediments of the Medjerda delta around Utica (Tunisia)

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (20) ◽  
pp. 9764-9769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Delile ◽  
Elisa Pleuger ◽  
Janne Blichert-Toft ◽  
Jean-Philippe Goiran ◽  
Nathalie Fagel ◽  
...  

While the Punic Wars (264–146 BC) have been the subject of numerous studies, generally focused on their most sensational aspects (major battles, techniques of warfare, geopolitical strategies, etc.), curiously, the exceptional economic resilience of the Carthaginians in the face of successive defeats, loss of mining territory, and the imposition of war reparations has attracted hardly any attention. Here, we address this issue using a newly developed powerful tracer in geoarchaeology, that of Pb isotopes applied to paleopollution. We measured the Pb isotopic compositions of a well-dated suite of eight deep cores taken in the Medjerda delta around the city of Utica. The data provide robust evidence of ancient lead–silver mining in Tunisia and lay out a chronology for its exploitation, which appears to follow the main periods of geopolitical instability at the time: the Greco-Punic Wars (480–307 BC) and the Punic Wars (264–146 BC). During the last conflict, the data further suggest that Carthage was still able to pay indemnities and fund armies despite the loss of its traditional silver sources in the Mediterranean. This work shows that the mining of Tunisian metalliferous ores between the second half of the fourth and the beginning of the third century BC contributed to the emergence of Punic coinage and the development of the Carthaginian economy.

Transfers ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Bell ◽  
Kathy Davis

Translocation – Transformation is an ambitious contribution to the subject of mobility. Materially, it interlinks seemingly disparate objects into a surprisingly unified exhibition on mobile histories and heritages: twelve bronze zodiac heads, silk and bamboo creatures, worn life vests, pressed Pu-erh tea, thousands of broken antique teapot spouts, and an ancestral wooden temple from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) used by a tea-trading family. Historically and politically, the exhibition engages Chinese stories from the third century BCE, empires in eighteenth-century Austria and China, the Second Opium War in the nineteenth century, the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the mid-twentieth century, and today’s global refugee crisis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 206-209
Author(s):  
Philippe Charlier

The problem I am interested in is above all that of the biomedical management of human remains in archaeology, these ancient artifacts “unlike any other”, these “atypical patients”. In the following text, I will examine, with an interdisciplinary perspective (anthropological, philosophical and medical), how it is possible to work on human remains in archaeology, but also how to manage their storage after study. Working in archaeology is already a political problem (in the Greek sense of the word, i.e., it literally involves the city), and one could refer directly to Laurent Olivier’s work on the politics of archaeological excavations during the Third Reich and the spread of Nazi ideology based on excavation products and anthropological studies. But in addition, working on human remains can also pose political problems, and we paid the price in my team when we worked on Robespierre’s death mask (the reconstruction of the face having created a real scandal on the part of the French far left) but also when we worked on Henri IV’s head (its identification having considerably revived the historical clan quarrel between Orléans and Bourbon). Working on human remains is therefore anything but insignificant.


Author(s):  
Roger Broetto Rocha ◽  
Lucio Martins Fassini Da Silva ◽  
Cleiton Kenup Piumbini ◽  
Luiz Otavio Buffon ◽  
Marconi Frank Barros

Resumo: Este trabalho tem por objetivo relatar uma atividade didática, realizada no Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação à Docência (PIBID), envolvendo o ensino de Astronomia numa turma do primeiro ano do ensino médio de uma escola do município de Vitória, ES. A atividade foi planejada e executada pelo subprojeto do Curso de Licenciatura em Física do IFES – Campus Cariacica. A metodologia foi baseada na Gamificação aplicada ao ensino-aprendizagem. A intervenção ocorreu em três etapas, sendo a primeira realizada em dois encontros, através de apresentações dialogadas sobre Astronomia usando slides e gifs, a segunda consistiu na aplicação da Gamificação através de um jogo e finalizando com a terceira etapa, foi aplicado um pequeno questionário. Ao final houve um momento de avaliação e as análises constataram que o ensino de Astronomia através da atividade gamificada do jogo conseguiu motivar os alunos, despertar o interesse pelo assunto e produzir indícios de aprendizagem.Palavras-chave: Gamificação em sala de aula; Ensino de Astronomia; PIBID. Gamification in astronomy teachingAbstract: This work aims to report on a didactic activity, carried out in the Institutional Program for Teaching Initiation Scholarships (PIBID), involving the teaching of Astronomy in a class of the first year of high school at a school in the city of Vitória, ES. The activity was carried out by the subproject of the Physics Degree Course at IFES - Campus Cariacica. The intervention took place in three stages, the first being in two meetings, through dialogued presentations on Astronomy using slides and gifs, the second consisted of the application of Gamification through a game and ending with the third stage, a small questionnaire was applied. At the end there was a moment of evaluation and the analyzes found that the teaching of Astronomy through the gamified activity of the game managed to motivate students, arouse interest in the subject and produce evidence of learning.Keywords: Gamification activity in the classroom; Astronomy teaching; PIBID. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (40) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Proscurcin Junior

Particularly in Creon’s debate with Haemon, and from then on, Sophocles shows distinct aspects of how anger acts on the tyrant’s ability to judge and how this can be related to inextricable familial and political ties. As every modern reading of the play applies a philosophical conceptualization to understand emotions and thus suffer the consequences of a historical gap between interpretative and original vocabularies, this paper argues that the Aristotelian conceptualization of emotions is a relevant philosophical tool to better contextualize Creon’s anger in Sophocles’ Antigone. The essay discusses Creon’s thymetic responses in the face of Haemon’s admonition and Antigone’s oligoria, and offers two examples of Aristotelian readings of Creon’s thymetic akrasia. One of the possible readings considers the specific role of phantasia in Creon’s understanding of reality. This philosophical explanation of a revengeful tyrant reveals important connections between psychology and politics in the government of the city.


Author(s):  
Dora P. Crouch

A brief reprise of the geological aspects, organization, physical constraints, and appearance of each city will remind us of their common and unique features. Then we can compare them by groups linked by research questions. Agrigento is built on two ridges of 120 and 320–390 m, setting generous limits not yet filled by the modern city. A plain extends from the lower ridge south to the sea. Vistas were provided along contours and across elevations. Grouping the public buildings on stony ridges, with temples above and below and government structures along the west side, made economic and aesthetic sense. Landslides provide important clues to the nature of the hill the city is built on, and they correlate with occupation of various parts of the site. Additionally, the water system shows unexpected correlation with the families of discontinuities in the stone rather than the surface grid of the streets (Ercoli and Crouch 1998; Crouch 1989). Morgantina stretches along a ridge about 600 m in elevation. The agora most clearly reveals the interface of urban design and geology. Sanctuaries and fountains were the focus during the fifth century B. C. E. In the third century, modest but elegant new architecture (theater, great steps, flanking stoas, fountains, sanctuary) combined with pragmatic engineering as framework and connector between points of observation. Morgantina had one aqueduct, from the springs that later supplied Aidone. The site has numerous springs although some are now dry or give less than 1 l/s. Yet, during the third century B. C. E. when the population was at its maximum, the aquifer was also at maximum, and higher springs were fed from it more amply than at present. Improper management of water resources likely hastened the demise of the town after the Roman conquest. At the turn of the era, the shift from small rural towns to great landed estates as centers of population affected Morgantina strongly. Deforestation of the hills and mountains for fuel and building materials could have resulted in desiccation, with climate change a related factor. Occupation by the Hispanii (Spanish veterans) who replaced the Hellenized Sicilians after 211 B. C. E. coincided with a negative water balance.


Britannia ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 427-430
Author(s):  
François Baratte

Over recent years the question of ancient hoards, in particular of precious metal, coins, plate or jewellery, has been the subject of numerous considerations (notably S. Gelichi and C. La Rocca (eds), Tesori. Forme di accumulazione della richezza nell'alto medioevo (secoli V–XI) (Rome, 2004)) in order to try to grasp the characteristics of a complex phenomenon that relates to multiple aspects of society in whatever period is under consideration: the economy, social organisation, the possible role of the images … The difficulties encountered by researchers when addressing these problems are illustrated by the ambivalence, indeed the ambiguity in many languages of the term ‘trésor/hoard’. Richard Hobbs has thus chosen, very judiciously, to take as his subject here ‘deposits of precious metal’, which defines the topic perfectly. On the other hand, one could question the descriptor ‘late Roman’ when applied to the period covered here, five centuries, from a.d. 200 to 700. There could be discussion over whether the third century should be included in Late Antiquity; others will challenge whether the sixth century still belongs to that same world. But from the first page H. effectively corrects his title by stating that it also covers the early Byzantine period, something I would feel is a better definition. It may certainly be felt that these are just questions of nomenclature, but they do have their importance for the topic of this study. All the same, the important thing is that H. wanted to study an extended period, as stated by the book's sub-title. One cannot but approve of his choice.


1935 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 77-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick H. Wilson

The building with which this study is concerned occupies the eastern half of Region ii, 2, just inside the city gate at Ostia. Two specific statements have been made concerning it, that it commenced as magazzini or horrea in the republican era, and that it was converted into baths in the late third century A.D.; these were the suggestions of the excavators, and have never yet been questioned. They are points of considerable importance, because this building would thus be the only example of republican horrea yet discovered in Ostia, and the conversion of horrea into baths or shops, which the theory implies, would be important for the economic history of Ostia, whether the reason for the change was the concentration of horrea elsewhere or merely the decline of the city. The second statement, too, would point to building activity in Ostia at a time when no other big building was being put up. This paper is an attempt to prove that at no time was the building used as horrea, and that the conversion to baths is to be placed not in the third, but in the late first, or very early second century A.D. Five main periods will be distinguished, of which the appended table gives a summary.


Author(s):  
Paul F. Bradshaw

The limited evidence for Christian initiation practices in Syria and North Africa in the third century suggests ritual patterns that differed from each other in some ways but followed the three-stage structure of rites of passage outlined by Arnold van Gennep, even if the first and third of the stages were relatively undeveloped at that time. The fourth century saw the elaboration of these together with the temporal contraction of the middle or liminal phase in the rites of Syria and Milan, as well as in the variant practice of the city of Jerusalem.


2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
City of Melbourne

About 15 years ago the City of Melbourne came up with a scheme that would transform completely the face and the fortunes of the city. At the time the city, like thousands of others around the globe, emptied at night as tens of thousands of commuters decamped in their cars for the suburbs. The Council's Postcode 3000 scheme, launched in 1992, outlined plans to entice residential development back into the city, through financial and technical incentives, technical advice, a review of technical requirements, research and statistical data, promotional events and publicity.It is hard now to believe -walking through the bustling streets lined with converted apartments and thriving businesses -that anyone was ever sceptical about the potential for city living Melbourne-style. The success of Postcode 3000 far exceeded even the most ambitious targets and the City of Melbourne became one of the fastest growing municipalities in the land.With its visionary new Council House 2 (CH2) building , the City of Melbourne is once again planning a lifestyle revolution. This time the subject is sustainability and the target is the construction industry. Using the CH2 office building as a living , breathing example, the Council intends to demonstrate the potential for sustainable technologies to transform the way we approach the design, construction and indeed entire philosophy of our built environment. Just as Postcode 3000 reinvented the city, the City of Melbourne wants to see the CH2 example copied , improved upon and enthusiastically taken up throughout Melbourne and far, far beyond.As before, there are a great many sceptics. The City's approach to this has been to patiently press ahead with construction of its best source of proof -CH2 itself -while actively and energetically encouraging lively debate -from the greatest enthusiasts to the harshest critics alike.


Augustinianum ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-374
Author(s):  
Clementina Mazzucco ◽  

The article deals with the views of the Fathers of the Church on relations between husband and wife between the end of the first century and the end of the third century, an age that is less studied in this respect, even though it offers good documentation concerning the subject (particularly in the case of Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria). Four themes are considered: 1. adultery and separation; 2. the conjugal debt; 3. the division of tasks between husband and wife; 4. the faith life of the couple. Different opinions and often original points of view are presented in regard to the lawfulness of the second marriage, the culpability of adultery, the value of sexuality in the marriage and the wife’s subordination to her husband.


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