HORSE-RIDER IMAGE ON THE COINS OF THE EASTERN CELTS AND THE CULT OF CELTIC WAR GODDESS

The article deals with the iconography of the Celtic coins which come from the South-Eastern Europe. Main attention is paid to the coins found in the Trans-Carpathian region of Ukraine. The aim of this article is to shed light on symbolism of the Celtic coins, in particular on a horse-rider figure on the reverse of these coins. Research methodology is based on the structuralist approach. The scientific novelty. The author shows how the imagery of the coins was connected to the Celtic religious beliefs and cults. The Celtic issues from the Trans-Carpathian region were derived chiefly from the coins of Philip II and Audoleon. A horse-rider image is present on almost all of the Celtic coins from the Trans-Carpathian area and nearby regions. While on most of coins the rider’s figure is highly schematized, some of them contain a detailed image of a female figure. There is no reason to suggest that the Celtic women used to lead their communities or were widely involved in the warfare as military leaders or individual fighters. At the same time, their significance in the religious and ideological spheres of warfare was great. One can assume that the horse-rider depicted on the Celtic coins was considered rather as an image of deity associated with war, fertility and horse-breeding. It is highly probable that this deity in fact was Epona or other related goddess. The coins were widely used in both trade and ritual practices. In particular, the Classical sources mention the Celtic ritual of devotion of coins to the goddess of hunting. The findings of coins with chop-marks, similar to those found in the Gallic and Gallo-Roman sanctuaries, should be mentioned in this context as well.

OVERCOME AND UNAVOIDABLE BARBARISM: DISCIPLINE OF THE MACEDONIAN INFANTRY IN THE AGE OF PHILIP II AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Цель исследования заключается в анализе дисциплинированности македонской пехоты эпохи великих завоеваний IV в. до н.э. Задачами являются рассмотрение мероприятий Филиппа II, направленных на повышение дисциплины в македонской армии, определение их эффективности, выявление сути дисциплинарных проблем, характерных для фалангитов времен Филиппа и Александра. Исследование опиралось на всесторонний анализ античных письменных источников, сравнительно-исторический метод, метод контент-анализа. Определено, что традиционно для пешего ополчения царства Аргеадов, как и для аналогичного компонента вооруженных сил соседних «варварских» народов, была свойственна низкая дисциплинированность. Посредством интенсивных тренировок, введения системы поощрений и взысканий Филиппу II удалось привить македонским пехотинцам дисциплину, высокий уровень которой был продемонстрирован в войнах за господство на Балканском полуострове, а затем подтвержден в период Восточного похода Александра. Базисом дисциплинарных мотивов фалангитов следует считать выгоды от принадлежности к царской армии и сформировавшуюся корпоративную идентичность. Тем не менее, большое военное значение корпуса македонских пехотинцев и его сплоченность сделали возможными и массовые выступления, в ходе которых воины открыто протестовали против военно-стратегических и политико-административных решений монарха, не соответствующих интересам войска. The main aim of this research is the analysis of the Macedonian infantry discipline in the period of the great conquests of 4th century BC. The research objectives are the review of Philip’s II actions to improve the Macedonian army discipline, the determining their effectiveness, the identifying the essence of disciplinary problems which are connected with the phalangites of Phillips and Alexander’s times. A multi-faceted approach to the ancient narrative sources, methods of comparative historical analysis and content analysis have been used. It defends that traditionally for infantry militia of the Argead Kingdomas well as for a similar component of the neighboring barbarian societies’ armed forces the law discipline was typical. Through intensive training, the introduction of a system of rewards and penalties, Philip II managed to instill for the Macedonian infantry discipline which high level was demonstrated in wars of domination in Balkan Peninsula and confirmed during the Alexander's Asian expedition. The phalangites’disciplinary motives were based on benefits of belonging to the royal army and an established corporate identity. However, the great military importance of the Macedonian infantry and their unity made possible mass demonstrations, during which the military protested against the military–strategic and political–administrative decisions of the monarch, which did not correspond to the interests of the army.

El Escorial – the Concept, the Image, and the Style of the Royal Residence of King Philip II

The paper explores the architecture of King Philip II royal residence. El Escorial monastery palace represents a system of art treasures of the Spanish Renaissance, manifested in the method of implementing the figurative absolutization of the Classical aesthetics, revealing the ideas of the magnificence of the “Roman spirit” of the Habsburg empire. By reinterpreting the legacy of the theory of architectural rules, El Escorial was the standard of classical construction in late 16th century Spain. The Christian ideas become the cement of the Empire governance. It is symbolic that the year of the completion of Trento Cathedral (1563) was also the year the construction of El Escorial had begun. The first executor of the project was the architect, philosopher, and mathematician Juan Bautista de Toledo, who studied in Rome and Naples under the masters of the Italian Renaissance. He was later replaced by Juan de Herrera, the acclaimed spokesman of the royal architectural style. The paper covers the most controversial issues: problems of the ensemble concept, their interpretations, the role of theoretical sources, biblical semantics, etc.

Patterns of Politics in Ancient Greek Athletics

Greek athletics were of high political significance in view of their place in religion and communal festivals. This is reviewed in terms of votive offerings; the status of a group, a ruler, or an individual within a community; interstate rivalries, colonization and state formation; elite status, kudos, and political capital, especially in chariot-racing. The examples of Cleisthenes of Sikyon and the Alcmaeonids of Athens, among others, are discussed. The rivalry of Athens and Sparta in athletics and chariot events is also examined, e.g. the cases of the Spartans Lichas, Cynisca, and Agesilaus, and the Athenian Alcibiades. The participation of ‘peripheral’ Greek cities (Italy, Sicily, Cyrene) in Panhellenic games bolstered their Greek identity and served their rulers too. Macedonian rulers, e.g. Alexander I, Philip II and Alexander the Great, notably took part in Greek games for the fifth century on, and so asserted their Greek identity and their domain. The Panathenaic Games served political aims not only for Athenian elite, but also for Ptolemies and Macedonians.

The influence of Xenophon’s didactic writings on the military leadership practice of Alexander the Great

The article examines the influence of Xenophon’s didactic works on the military activities of Alexander the Great. It is re-vealed that messages from ancient sources containing direct in-dications of the fact that Alexander was familiar with Xeno-phon’s works are either fundamentally unreliable or subject to different interpretations. Nevertheless, a comparison of the rec-ommendations proposed in “Kyropedia” and other Athenian au-thor’s writings the with Alexander’s practical activities reveals obvious similarities in their views on training military personnel, organizing competitions in military skill, providing soldiers with richly decorated weapons, and caring for the sick and wounded. A set of coincidences is associated with the political and admin-istrative activities of Alexander, who, like Cyrus the Elder in Xenophon’s writings, demonstratively showed mercy towards the vanquished, attracted representatives of the local elite to the ser-vice, wore clothes traditional for a conquered country. A large number of similarities, good education of Alexander and the popularity of Xenophon’s writings in the second half of the 4th century BCE allow us to conclude that the Macedonian king was familiar with the works of the Athenian author. However, the components of Xenophon's didactic legacy associated with the methods of warfare do not correlate well with Alexander's mili-tary leadership practice. The fundamental differences are re-vealed in the armament of the cavalry and their tactics, the depth of the infantry formation, the role of army branches on the battle-field. They were caused by a significant breakthrough in the art of war that took place in Macedonia during the time of Philip II. This breakthrough also led to the emergence of new tactics that provided for crushing the enemy not with a frontal attack of heavy infantry, but through the combined use of various types of troops. Alexander as a military leader was raised under the con-ditions of a new, more developed military art. Thus, the over-whelming majority of Xenophon's recommendations, which de-scribed the cavalry as a purely auxiliary branch of the army and considered the classical hoplite phalanx a decisive force in battle, were clearly irrelevant for him and therefore ignored.