The purpose of the article is to consider the system of organising and financing Aphrodite festivals in Athens and the Northern Black Sea in the V-IV B. C. The important source is the epigraphical material. The text of the inscriptions allows to study how the festivals were organized and financed. The festivals played an important social role and promoted citizens consolidation as well as their responsibility towards the polis.

In this article we are talking about the Panathenaic festival, which was the main event of the Athenian Polis. And although Aristophanes comedies did not directly address Panathenaia description, they reflected main elements of the festival (procession, the peplos, the sacrifice) and the Panathenaic games.

The article is devoted to the Greek polis evolution in the era of Hellenism. Analyzing the changes of polis system in Ptolemaic and Seleucid kingdoms in III-I centuries B. C., the author declares that model of polis organization depended of its functions and historical traditions of self-governed societies.

In the article there is an attempt to outline the sense and basic evolutionary trends for two key notions: vita active and vita contemplative; an active strenuous life is meant by the first one and a contemplative life - by the second. The essentials of those notions were formulated in the Plato’s and Aristotle’s philosophies influenced by civic (polis) values. Then they were partially evolved in Roman culture, in the texts by Cicero and Seneca the Junior and some others. But the direct parallels of Greek βίος πρακτικός and βίος θεωρητικός were not formulated in the Roman tradition till the period of patristics. Augustine of Hippo formulated the new sense of vita activa and vita contemplativa, which corresponded to the Christian notion of the world.

The article deals with the position of the notaries - the secretaries of the imperial consistory - in the second half of the IV^th - the beginning of the V^th cen. The main source for that issue is the Theodosian Code - the first official codification of the Roman law of the Dominate. The information of the Code allows to research such matters as the functions of the notaries (both primary and secondary), the organization of their schola, their benefits and privileges and, first of all, the rise of their rank and status in the course of time.

The author of this article tries to examine the ways and methodes of the newly arrived tribes’ integration in the Roman empire. An analysis of sources shows, that in the IV-V the prolonged practice of barbarian’s subjection and integration into the Roman legitimacy could not be carried out fully. Because of barbarians’ pressing scale and weakening of the state Rome was forced to leave for a part of migrants an immense share of independence in the Roman territory what had detrimental impact upon the subsequent history of Rome.

This article considers the situation related to political mood fluctuations among Gallo-Roman aristocracy in the V^th A.D. against the crisis of institutions in Western Roman Empire. Analysis main source (the letter of Sidonius Apollinaris) shows that in condition of comprehensive crisis of the V^th century A. D. a weakening of the central government leads not only to strengthening the regional Gallo-Roman elite, but also to evident searching for the new political orienteers. Author of this article, basing himself on the accusation of Arvandus, makes a hypothesis about existence of contradictions among Gallo-Roman elite caused by appearance of the first barbaric kingdoms as well as the traditional attraction to emperor’s authority.

This article focuses on Jewish pogroms that accompanied the First Crusade, often said to play the key role in change of relations between Christians and Jews. In Jewish history summer of 1096 remains a period of catastrophe despite the low numbers of historical sources. Even less is known about the fate of Czech Jewry in Bohemia and Moravia.“Chronicle of Bohemians” by Cosmas of Prague is a vital source that provides information on both the events of that year and in general the aftermath of crusaders’ passage through Czech lands on their way to Jerusalem.

The establishment of the Minorite convents (representing one of major mendicant orders in Western Europe) in English towns contributed to the strengthening the positions of the order in that region. Features of the convents located in urban space, their interrelation with permanent structures of the towns (walls, gates, streets) are an example of a combination of the principles of the monastic construction with the spiritual ideals of the Minorities. The embodiment of spiritual ideals in the daily life of the brethren had a profound impact on the institutionalization of the order.

This paper is focused on the life of Richard the Lionheart, one of the most famous kings of medieval England, for analyzing his knightly qualities resting on “The Book of the order of Chivalry” by Ramon Llull, dated 1275. The king Richard I of England was chosen as a bright representative of the knightly culture, of medieval society his image even now is associated with the perfect knight. Comparison of the specific qualities of Richard the Lionheart with the actually-existed code allows for the conclusion of how a historical way corresponded to the real situation.

The article is devoted to The Freedom and People’s Rights Movement in Japan in the second half of the XIX century aimed at the introduction of constitutional system and the convocation of the Parliament. Particular attention is drawn to the creation of the first constitutional drafts, notably, almost unknown in the national historiography The It sukaichi Draft Constitution .

The article is concerned about the method of analysis of mass sources, such as for example daily periodicals. This method is based on the idea of British sociologist A. Giddens about routinization of perception of trivial information. To this end the article considers the German daily newspaper “Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung” in particular its regularly published editorial articles, which were placed outside of usual columns. Those “extraordinary” texts were breaking familiar layout of the edition by attracting readers’ attention and were going outside daily information flow. Theme variety of such editorials, analyzed in the article may demonstrate range of issues, which were relevant for reading public of Wilhelmine Germany.

The article considers the transformation of the memory culture of the outstanding politician, diplomat, founder of the German Empire, Otto von Bismarck. Close attention is given to the anniversaries of the politician, which are seen through the prism of actualization and deactualization of his image. It is explained how the communicative memory of Bismarck transformed into myth and becomes the basis for the national identity of the Germans. It is emphasized that the 200^th anniversary commemoration was addressed to the history not to the myth. Only social policy of Bismarck remained in the cultural memory.

The article is devoted to the 1918 Spring offensive, description shown on the pages of German Empire military elite memoirs. Those of Erich Ludendorff, Paul von Hindenburg, Max Bauer, Wilhelm Groener and Karl von Einem are the sources for the author. On their basis the research of the higher military ranks visions of premises for and objectives of the first half of 1918 campaign, as well as their opinion about its outcome and reasons for such outcome is carried out. It is concluded that most of them had illusions and misconceptions that influenced their evaluation of the offensive and its results. It also reveals the absence of the clearly defined offensive’s aims among the members of the German Supreme Headquarters and the existence of the dispute between Groener and the others.

The publication presents a speech translation of British and South African politician J.C. Smuts at a dinner at the Savoy Hotel in the South African club on October 23, 1923, devoted to the wide range of issues of British imperial policy as well as state-to-state relations in Europe. The emphasis is on Smuts position regarding the occupation of the Ruhr by French troops in 1923.

This article is devoted to the influence of political ideologies on the political development of Canada with regard to the parliamentary elections of 2015. In particular, the author draws reader’s attention to the conservatism, liberalism, social democracy as well as in general the Canadian two-party system and its specific features.