Quarticciolo

Applying case study methodology, this article addresses problematics related to the identity and origin of the Italian fascist-era residential satellite areas constructed around the capital, Rome. The article focuses on one such suburb, Quarticciolo, built mainly between 1940 and 1943 on the eastern periphery of the city. Three narratives contributing to the formation of the area’s identity are identified and presented: Quarticciolo as (i) an expression of the fascist government’s aspirations, (ii) a significant centre of anti-fascist resistance, and (iii) an example of modern rationalist architecture. The three narratives, along with their constitutive elements, are then compared, and counterarguments to them are presented. It is argued that although all the narratives, in different ways, are connected to historical facts, each one of them on its own offers a one-sided interpretation. The narratives are then connected to the process of the public memorialization of the fascist era and the resistance, and to broader ongoing discussions concerning the architecture of totalitarian and dictatorial regimes as ‘dissonant heritage’.

Varieties of euro adoption strategies in Visegrad countries before the pandemic crisis

The enlargement of the euro area (EA), an unfinished process, was low on the European agenda in the period between the 2008 and the 2020 crises. The socio-economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and frictions in geopolitics would call for a coherent Europe, yet new and old fault-lines appeared in the EU involving the eastern periphery where sovereignty issues gained particular importance. The authors revisit the euro adoption process of the new member states, with a focus on the Visegrad Group (V4) countries, applying a two-track approach: a monetary policy analyses of EA entry as a rational cost/benefit issue and, second, a political economic survey of key stakeholders, set in the context of the dilemmas of retaining or sacrificing nominal monetary sovereignty. Even a piecemeal enlargement of the EA, involving Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania, would cause business consequences and political repercussions in the countries left out of EA. The paper concludes that further moves towards a developmental state model would preclude euro adoption and put such member state in collision course with the core Europe.

THE GECHEPSIN FORTIFIED SETTLEMENT: EXPERIENCE OF COMPREHENSIVE EXCAVATIONS

Несмотря на очевидный прогресс в наших представлениях о системе расселения восточной периферии азиатского Боспора, круг известных памятников совсем невелик, а об их хронологии можно судить только на основании подъемного материала. Комплексные исследования на городище Гечепсин позволили выявить два строительных горизонта, датируемых керамическими материалами в пределах II в. до н. э. - II в. н. э. и охарактеризовать особенности топографии (фортификацию, коммуникации и т. п.). Исследованная кладка сооружения фортификационной системы крепости была сооружена на культурном слое эпохи позднего эллинизма и просуществовала не более века. Выявленные на площадке городища постройки возведены, судя по всему, в античных традициях сырцово-каменной архитектуры. В конце I тыс. до н. э. - нач. I тыс. н. э. в районе городища, согласно спорово-пыльцевому анализу, были широко распространены степные злаково-разнотравные растительные сообщества. Присутствие пыльцы водных растений в верхней части профиля отражает, вероятнее всего, использование речной глины для возведения сырцовых конструкций. Despite obvious progress in developing our concepts on the settlement system in the eastern periphery of Asian Bosporus, the group of the known sites is not that large, while their chronology can be determined only with the use of surface finds. Comprehensive excavations at the Gechepsin fortified settlement made it possible to identify two construction horizons dated by ceramic finds to 2 century BC -2 century AD and characterize specifics of topography (fortification, communications, etc.). The examined masonry of the fortress fortification construction was built in the occupation layer of the Late Hellenic period and did not function more than half a century. Constructions identified at the fortified settlement were, most likely, built in Ancient Greek traditions of adobe-stone architecture. At the end of I mill. BC - early I mill. AD steppe gramineous-mixed grass plant associations were widespread in the area around the settlement as evidenced by pollen analysis. Presence of water plant pollen in the upper part of the profile, most likely, reflects use of river clay for building adobe constructions.

Diversity of littoral zoobenthos in Lake Arakhley (Transbaikalia) during the arid phase

There is little data available on the zoobenthos of the Baikal region’s eastern periphery water bodies in low-water years. The taxonomic diversity of zoobenthos of the littoral zone of a deep lake (Arakhley, Transbaikalia) was studied in an extremely low-water year, 2017. The zoobenthos of the lake littoral zone was represented by 44 taxa. Chironomids accounted for 41% of the zoobenthos taxonomic diversity, 14% each – gastropods and leeches. The taxonomic diversity of the littoral zoobenthos in different parts of the lake varied from 19 to 24 taxa and averaged 22.3 ± 1.97 taxa. The relationship between taxonomic diversity and depth in Lake Arakhley is described by polynomial dependence. Deviations from the relationship identified at the periphery of vegetation thickets were due to the ecotone effect. Obtained data shows the state of zoobenthos taxonomic diversity under conditions of climate aridization and the reduction of littoral sandy habitats.

Herod in History

Most of our information about Herod the Great derives from the accounts found in Josephus’ Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities. Together they constitute quite a unique resource on one of the most famous personalities of ancient history. But whence did Josephus get his information? It is commonly agreed that his primary source was Nicolaus of Damascus, Herod’s court historian, though the extent to which Josephus adapted his material remains disputed. This book takes a modern source-critical approach to Josephus’ extensive account of Herod’s reign to suggest that Josephus did indeed rely heavily on Nicolaus’s work, but that previous scholarship was mistaken in seeing Nicolaus as a mere propagandist. Nicolaus may have begun his Universal History while Herod was alive, but he finished it after his death. He thus had no reason to write propaganda. This makes his work all the more interesting, for what we have instead is something rather different: a Syrian intellectual claiming a place in Augustan Rome, by telling a story about what the Augustan World looks like on the Eastern periphery. We delineate Nicolaus’ approach to various critical topics in Herod’s reign in order to reveal the Damascene’s perception of client kingship, the impact of empire, and the difficulties involved in ruling Judaea. Most significantly of all, we uncover an Eastern intellectual’s view on how to succeed and how to fail in the new Augustan world order.

Chapter 6.2 Englacial tephras of East Antarctica

Driven by successful achievements in recovering high-resolution ice records of climate and atmospheric composition through the Late Quaternary, new ice–tephra sequences from various sites of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) have been studied in the last two decades spanning an age range of a few centuries to 800 kyr. The tephrostratigraphic framework for the inner EAIS, based on ash occurrence in three multi-kilometre-deep ice cores, shows that the South Sandwich Islands represent a major source for tephra, highlighting the major role in the ash dispersal played by clockwise circum-Antarctic atmospheric circulation penetrating the Antarctic continent. Tephra records from the eastern periphery of the EAIS, however, are obviously influenced by explosive activity sourced in nearby Antarctic rift provinces. These tephra inventories have provided a fundamental complement to the near-vent volcanic record, in terms of both frequency/chronology of explosive volcanism and of magma chemical evolution through time. Despite recent progress, current data are still sparse. There is a need for further tephra studies to collect data from unexplored EAIS sectors, along with extending the tephra inventory back in time. Ongoing international palaeoclimatic initiatives of ice-core drilling could represent a significant motivation for the tephra community and for Quaternary Antarctic volcanologists.

Managing the Contradictions of Development Finance in the EU’s Eastern Periphery

Eastern members of the European Union have turned to development banks only to a limited extent so far. In this chapter, in order to understand why the “development imagination” of Eastern governments remained restricted, we look at the underlying logics of the national development finance fields. Through the case studies of Hungary and Poland, we uncover marked contradictions within the fields. Initially, development finance was torn between the contradictory logics of neoliberalism and developmentalism, followed by institution-building efforts from the EU that resulted in functioning development banks designed primarily for the EU’s Single Market. Finally, when financial nationalist and authoritarian political parties came to power, development banks came under firm political control, while new development actors appeared. Development banks in Hungary and Poland also exhibit differences in size, structure, and focus that we trace over time. In the end, we argue that today Eastern development banks’ ability to connect, contribute, and benefit from EU structures shows a marked difference from core Member States, one which calls for change in the EU development institutions and policies.