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\"This volume examines the evolving role of the city and citizenship from classical Athens through fifth-century Rome and medieval Byzantium. Beginning in the first century CE, the universal claims of Hellenistic and Roman imperialism began to be challenged by the growing role of Christianity in shaping the primary allegiances and identities of citizens. An international team of scholars considers the extent of urban transformation, and with it, of cultural and civic identity, as practices and institutions associated with the city-state came to be replaced by those of the Christian community. The twelve essays gathered here develop an innovative research agenda by asking new questions: What was the effect on political ideology and civic identity of the transition from the city culture of the ancient world to the ruralized systems of the middle ages? How did perceptions of empire and oikoumene respond to changed political circumstances? How did Christianity redefine the context of citizenship?\"-- Provided by publisher.

Against the background of unease at the increasingly loose and conflictual relationship between citizenship and governance, this book brings together rich, ethnographic studies from EU member states and post-Communist and Middle-Eastern countries in the Mediterranean Region to illustrate the crisis of legitimacy inherent in the weakening link between political responsibility and trust in the exercise of power. With close attention to the impact of the ambiguities and distortions of governance at the local level and their broader implications at the international level, where a state's legitimacy depends on its democratic credentials, Citizenship and the Legitimacy of Governance initiates a comparative discussion of the relationship between established moralities, politics, law and civil society in a highly diversified region with a strong history of cultural exchange. Demonstrating that a comparative anthropological analysis has much to offer to our understanding, this volume reveals that the city is a crucial arena for the renegotiation of citizenship, democracy and belonging.

\"In the first century CE, Philo of Alexandria and Josephus offer vivid descriptions of conflicts between Judeans and Greeks in Greek cities of the Roman Empire over various issues, including the Judeans' civic identity, the extent of their obligations to local cities and cults, and the potential security threat they posed to those cities. This study analyzes the narratives of these conflicts, investigating what citizenship status Judeans enjoyed, their political influence and whether they enjoyed the right to establish institutions for observing their ancestral worship. For these narratives to be understood properly, it should be assumed that many Judeans were already citizens of their cities, and that this status played a central role in those conflicts\"--Provided by publisher.

Between Crown and Commerce examines the relationship between French royal statecraft, mercantilism, and civic republicanism in the context of the globalizing economy of the early modern Mediterranean world. This is the story of how the French Crown and local institutions accommodated one another as they sought to forge acceptable political and commercial relationships with one another for the common goal of economic prosperity. Junko Thérèse Takeda tells this tale through the particular experience of Marseille, a port the monarchy saw as key to commercial expansion in the Mediterranean.At first, Marseille’s commercial and political elites were strongly opposed to the Crown’s encroaching influence. Rather than dismiss their concerns, the monarchy cleverly co-opted their civic traditions, practices, and institutions to convince the city’s elite of their important role in Levantine commerce. Chief among such traditions were local ideas of citizenship and civic virtue. As the city’s stature throughout the Mediterranean grew, however, so too did the dangers of commercial expansion as exemplified by the arrival of the bubonic plague. Marseille’s citizens reevaluated citizenship and merchant virtue during the epidemic, while the French monarchy's use of the crisis as an opportunity to further extend its power reanimated republican vocabulary.Between Crown and Commerce deftly combines a political and intellectual history of state-building, mercantilism, and republicanism with a cultural history of medical crisis. In doing so, the book highlights the conjoined history of broad transnational processes and local political change.

This comprehensive Handbook gives an overview of the political, social, economic and legal dimensions of citizenship in the Middle East and North Africa from the nineteenth century to the present. The terms citizen and citizenship are mostly used by researchers in an off-hand, self-evident manner. A citizen is assumed to have standard rights and duties that everyone enjoys. However, citizenship is a complex legal, social, economic, cultural, ethical and religious concept and practice. Since the rise of the modern bureaucratic state, in each country of the Middle East and North Africa, citizenship has developed differently. In addition, rights are highly differentiated within one country, ranging from privileged, underprivileged and discriminated citizens to non-citizens. Through its dual nature as instrument of state control, as well as a source of citizen rights and entitlements, citizenship provides crucial insights into state-citizen relations and the services the state provides, as well as the way citizens respond to these actions. This volume focuses on five themes that cover the crucial dimensions of citizenship in the region: Historical trajectory of citizenship since the nineteenth century until independence Creation of citizenship from above by the state Different discourses of rights and forms of contestation developed by social movements and society Mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion Politics of citizenship, nationality and migration Covering the main dimensions of citizenship, this multidisciplinary book is a key resource for students and scholars interested in citizenship, politics, economics, history, migration and refugees in the Middle East and North Africa.

A good understanding of the role and function of the ocean seems to be of paramount importance in recent years, constituting the basic tool for the promotion of healthy and sustainable marine environment, and a target area of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this study, the content knowledge of elementary school students (grades 3-6) in regards to ocean sciences issues was examined. A structured questionnaire was administered to 1004 students participating in a cross-cultural study from three Mediterranean countries (Italy, Croatia, and Greece). The results of the study indicated a rather moderate level of knowledge in the total sample, while slight differences were recorded among the three countries revealing common knowledge gains and misconceptions. Rasch analysis was applied to further evaluate the validity of the results, while the influence of certain demographics on students’ knowledge level was also investigated. This study concludes with a discussion of the implications on national curriculum development in elementary education level, in order to promote ocean literacy and to ensure protection and conservation of the Mediterranean Sea.

Significant regional variability in lifespan in Europe is influenced by environmental factors and lifestyle behaviors, including diet. This study investigates the impact of geographical region on the lifespan of European rulers spanning from the fourteenth century to the present day. By analyzing historical records and literature, we aim to identify region-specific dietary patterns and lifestyle factors that may have contributed to longer lifespans among rulers. The hypothesis to be tested is that rulers from Southern European countries, where the traditional Mediterranean diet is consumed by the local people, may exhibit longer lifespans compared to rulers from other regions, due to the well-documented health benefits associated with this dietary pattern. We extracted comprehensive information for each ruler, encompassing their sex, birth and death dates, age, age of enthronement, duration of rulership, country, and cause of death (natural vs. non-natural). To determine their nationality, we coded rulers based on their hypothetical present-day residence (2023). Utilizing the EuroVoc Geographical classification, we categorized the countries into four regions: Northern, Western, Southern, Central and Eastern Europe. While Cox regression models did not find significant differences in survival rates among regions, further analysis stratified by time periods revealed intriguing trends. Contrary to our initial predictions, the Northern region displayed better survival rates compared to the Southern region between 1354 and 1499, whereas survival rates were similar across regions from 1500 to 1749. However, after 1750, all regions, except the Southern region, exhibited significantly improved survival rates, suggesting advancements in healthcare and lifestyle factors. These findings underscore the dynamic influence of both region and time period on health and longevity. Interestingly, despite the prevalence of the Mediterranean diet in the Southern region of Europe, rulers from this region did not demonstrate longer lifespans compared to their counterparts in other regions. This suggests that additional lifestyle factors may have played a more prominent role in their longevity. In conclusion, our study sheds light on the intricate relationship between region, time period, and lifespan among European rulers. Although the Mediterranean diet is often associated with health benefits, our findings indicate that it alone may not account for differences in ruler longevity across regions. Further research is warranted to explore the impact of other lifestyle factors on the health and lifespan of European rulers throughout history.

Based on archaeological evidence, the spread of agropastoralism across Europe followed two main paths: the Danubian route, along which Neolithic farmers expanded north across the central European plains; and the Mediterranean route, where migration occurred along the coast of the Mediterranean sea. Here we examine 20 cattle breeds from the continent and assess the genetic diversity levels and relationships among the breeds using 19 microsatellite markers. Additionally, we show evidence that concords with two distinct cattle migrations from the Near East, and also demonstrate that Mediterranean cattle breeds may have had more recent input from both the Near East and Africa.

I present the concept of “citizenship islands” to analyze the ongoing emergency in the Mediterranean Sea. Citizenship islands are based on the idea of “nonplaces” for noncitizens who are both constantly present and invisible. Citizenship islands are a test of what is to come, as noncitizens such as migrants and refugees continue to arrive, even as countries refuse their right of entry and of seeking asylum. Based on research in Lampedusa, I argue that as understandings of citizenship change, the ongoing emergency in the Mediterranean Sea forces a focus on noncitizens. What is happening around discourses of citizenship, mobility, and migration requires new language to describe and analyze what is already happening, and to theorize new research tools for the future. Nonplaces invite a paradox between visibility and invisibility, between in-dependence and inter-dependence, highlighting the importance of language in characterizing the experience of migrants and refugees and how that language shapes relationships between newcomers/noncitizens and already established residents/citizens.

Aim Beringia, the unglaciated region encompassing the former Bering land bridge, as well as the land between the Lena and Mackenzie rivers, is recognized as an important refugium for arctic plants during the last ice age. Compelling palaeobotanical evidence also supports the presence of small populations of boreal trees within Beringia during the Last Glacial Maximum. The occurrence of balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera) in Beringia provides a unique opportunity to assess the implications of persistence in a refugium on present‐day genetic diversity for this boreal tree species. Location North America. Methods We sequenced three variable non‐coding regions of the chloroplast genome (cpDNA) from 40 widely distributed populations of balsam poplar across its North American range. We assessed patterns of genetic diversity, geographic structure and historical demography between glaciated and unglaciated regions of the balsam poplar’s range. We also utilized a coalescent model to test for divergence between regions. Results Levels of genetic diversity were consistently greater for populations at the southern margin (θW = 0.00122) than in the central (θW = 0.00086) or northern (θW = 0.00034) regions of the current distribution of balsam poplar, and diversity decreased with increasing latitude (R2 = 0.49, P < 0.01). We detected low, but significant, structure (FCT = 0.05, P = 0.05), among regions of P. balsamifera’s distribution. The cpDNA genealogy was shallow, however, showing an absence of highly differentiated chloroplast haplotypes. Coalescent analyses supported a model of divergence between the southern ice margin and the northern unglaciated region of balsam poplar’s distribution, but analyses of other regional comparisons did not converge. Main conclusions The palaeobotanical record supports the presence of a Beringian refugium for balsam poplar, but we were unable to definitively identify the presence of known refugial populations based on genetic data alone. Balsam poplar populations from Beringia are not a significant reservoir of cpDNA diversity today. Unique alleles that may have been present in the small, isolated populations that survived within Beringia were probably lost through genetic drift or swamped by post‐glacial, northward migration from populations south of the ice sheets.