Abstract:Within the discipline of ancient history, diverse types of sources, such as coins, inscriptions, portraits and texts, are often combined to create a coherent image of a particular ruler. A good example of how such a process works is the way in which reconstructions by modern scholars of the emperor Nero tend to look for a clearly defined 'Neronian image', by bringing together various types of primary evidence without paying sufficient attention to these sources' medial contexts. This article argues that such a reconstruction does not do justice to the complex and multi-layered image of the last JulioClaudian. By focusing on one particular aspect of Neronian imagery, the propagation of this emperor's ancestry, we will argue that different types of sources, stemming from varying contexts and addressing different groups, cannot unproblematically be combined. Through an investigation of the ancestral messages spread by imperial and provincial coins, epigraphic evidence and portraiture, it becomes clear that systematic analysis of ancient media, their various contexts and inconsistencies is needed before combining them. Such an analysis reveals patterns within the different sources and shows that, in creating imperial images, rulers were constrained by both medial and local traditions. Modern studies of ancient images should therefore consider this medial and geographical variety in order to do justice to the multi-faceted phenomenon of imperial representation.

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This article aims at re-evaluating the Classical (Eutropius, Historia Augusta, Ammianus), Byzantine (Orosius, Zosimus, Zonaras) and Iranian (the trilingual Kaʿba-ye Zardošt inscription) sources on the death of the Roman emperor Gordian III during his campaign against the Sasanid king Shapur I in AD 244. In the current scholarly debate, two groups of scholars can be distinguished: the first group, following the Classical and Byzantine sources, argues that Gordian III was killed by his own peers, attributing a vicious role to his imperial successor Philip the Arab. Basing themselves on the Iranian sources, the second group believes that Shapur I claimed to have killed Gordian III in a military confrontation. The study will use historical and linguistic arguments, focussing on the trilingual Kaʿba-ye Zardošt inscription, to come to a new historical interpretation about the end of the life of Gordian III.

(p. 142); his comments reflect older scholarship, as opposed to the more recent work of U. Mor and M. Bar-Asher, respectively. Without justification, S. avers that the men interred at Bet She'arim who claimed the title 'rabbi' 'were probably just like the people the rabbis denounced as rich patriarchal lackeys' (p. 121). Finally, I must take issue with the Tendenz that surfaces throughout the book. Is the reference to Andreas Serrano's Piss Christ photograph (p. 1) really necessary to contextualise the study of ancient Jews? What purpose is there in the mention of Ramallah as the northern boundary of Yehud/Judaea (p. 19 n. 1; see also p. 93)? The city did not exist during the Graeco-Roman period, whereas nearby Tell en-Nasbeh (Mizpah), on the southern outskirts of Ramallah, includes strata from this time period (see also 1 Maccabees 3:46). What gain is there to call Yehezkel Kaufmann the 'Zionist Bible scholar' (p. 21 n. 4) or to refer to 'Zionist scholarship' generally (p. 44)? The expression 'fingers crossed' with reference to Jewish religious practice (p. 80) seems rather infelicitous. One can only imagine what agenda or ideology underlies the comment that Shu'afat, a village 5 km north of Jerusalem, to which many Jews apparently fled in the wake of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., 'is near the site of a modern Palestinian refugee camp' (p. 84). Lastly, this reader at least is puzzled by the use of artwork adorning a Christian basilica for the book cover, as opposed to a specimen of specifically Jewish art (e.g. from the aforementioned Dura Europus). The scholar already familiar with Jewish history in the Graeco-Roman period may gain some insights from this bookbut the intended audience of this monograph, appearing as it does in the 'Key Themes' series, may need to look elsewhere for initiation into the subject.