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Plumbata, mattiobarbula and μαρτζοβάρβουλον were the names of a javelin with a lead weight. It was a part of standard military equipment of Late Roman soldiers. Vegetius, Maurice and Anonymous Reformer describe the plumbata as a throwing weapon with a range of throw superior to the javelin. Archaeological remains of plumbata looks like small barbed head on the iron stem and barrel shaped lead weight. Their length could vary from 98 mm to 275 mm long and weight from 130 gm to 350 gm.

The Roman legionary’s arms changed very much in the epoch of the Later Empire in comparison with the ones existing in the time of the Republic and the Principate. The radical changes came about as well in the military methods used by the Romans in battlefield: the phalanx defensive tactics replaced the traditional legion tactics of combined action when pilum volley anticipated hand-to-hand fighting.

New family conception making was a topical task during the period of Christian society formation. Tertullian rather consequently protested the trends which denied a family but considered the saving of marriage as a temporary concession to human weakness. The family model which he proposed did not imply any social responsibilities beyond church activity. Neither common housekeeping, nor children birth could be a reasonable ground for creating a family. Paradoxically, only inability to continence was admitted by him as a good cause to get married.

Material from Pompeii allows to restore the picture of economic life of nobility in the city, who joined, quite actively, the commercial life of the community, starting from II B. C. There they joined activities of free craftspeople, who worked in small workshops. Domus, usually belonging to one family, becomes the center of families’ economic life. The number of small shops and workshops around was growing; and they were given, as peculia, to individuals, who were under the power of a houseowner.

Modern works on history, devoted to propaganda war of 34—32 B. C., tend to oppose the dictator’s son (Caesarion) to his adopted son (Octavian). The theory is that Antony connected Caesarion’s origin to his right to be a political successor of the dictator. However, acknowledgement of consanguinity did not entitle Caesarion to inherit his father’s property and clientele, that does not allow to talk about Caesarion’s (and Antony behind him) «political» claims. Antony’s public speeches regarding Caesarion’s status, can be explained by events of 34 B. C.

By the end of Sulla’s dictatorship there was an opposition inside the winner’s camp. M. Aemilius Lepidus, a consul 78 B. C., also belonged to the opposition.

Homines noui Romae in cursu honorum perficiendo plerumque a uiris nobilibus adiuuabantur. aliter C. Mario et Q. Lutatio Catulo accidit: nam Ernestus Badian, uir eruditissimus, Arpinatem operam dedisse putat, ut homo ab illo uiro, qui ad Aegates uicit, oriundus, consul fieret, quoniam hic Iuliorum affinis, ipse uero cognatus Iuliorum fuerit. Mario opitulante senatus Catulo imperium proconsulare prorogasse uidetur, tametsi hic cum Germanis in Alpibus gloria permodica pugnauit.

Die Autorin analysiert neue Beiträge zum Forschungsproblem der römischen Identität und beistimmt einiger Standpunkte nicht. V. V. Dementieva glaubt, dass es keine Gründe gibt, um mores maiorum als Hauptbestandteil der römischen Identität zu negieren. Meinung der Autorin nach, waren diese Normen nicht nur die Sittlichkeit der Elite, sondern auch das Referenzethos der ganzen Bürgerschaft. Die Entwicklung mores maiorum hatte nicht nur quantitative Änderungen, sondern auch qualitative Umgestaltungen.

The author follows the popular belief that the history of Lucretia was a product of Hellenistic literature which in turn borrowed the plot from ancient mythology. The story was included in the Roman historical tradition quite early, possibly before Fabius Pictor, who borrowed it from someone of his Greek predecessors. In different stages of the formation of the historical tradition, the meaning of the story varied. Originally, it possibly was the story of two brothers, one of whom tempted the wife of another (or she seduced him).

Die scharfe Teilung des sacrum und publicum war charakteristisch für die römische Republik. Der Artikel ist der Erforschung der Wechselwirkung dieser Gesellschaftsbereichen gewidmet. Die Magistrate hatten viele Verpflichtungen im sakralen Bereich, aber es machte sie keine Priester. Die Priester halfen den politischen Behörden, berieten in religiösen Fragen und nahmen an den Gesellschaftsritualien teil, aber hatten keine politische Befugnisse.