Head injuries of Roman gladiators

Gladiator remains from a recently unearthed cemetery in ancient Ephesus (Turkey) offer a unique opportunity for proving common theories involving the weaponry and techniques of gladiator fighting based on the evidence supplied by cranial bones. This mass grave is the first of its kind to undergo a thorough osteological and forensic examination.A minimum number of individuals (MNI) analyses revealed that at least 68 individuals. All individuals found turned out to have been males aged between 20 and 30 years, except for one female associated with a female slave gravestone, and one male aged 45–55 years, had been buried in this area of the cemetery. The male mean body height was 168 cm (S.D. = 5 cm), which lies inside the normal range of height for Roman populations at those times.Eleven (16% of MNI) individuals exhibit a total of 16 well-healed antemortal cranial traumata. Five of the 11 individuals showed multiple trauma. Ten (15% of MNI) individuals exhibited a total of 10 perimortal cranial traumata. This is a surprisingly high frequency of deadly head injuries, taking into account that most of the gladiator types wore helmets. A possible explanation could be the frequently reported deathblow technique used by the hammer-carrying death god “Dis Pater”.The gladiator weaponry is well known through historical sources. At least one injury per known type of offensive weapon could be identified, as well as evidence for the most popular, the gladiator trident, which was found to be represented by one perimortem and two antemortem injuries. Overall the reportedly very strict nature of combat rules for gladiator fights could be confirmed by the absence of multiple perimortal traumatized individuals, showing a lack of the excessive violence commonly observed on medieval battle ground victims.This graveyard gives the opportunity to confirm historical aspects and to check the reliability of forensic methods for identification of antemortem, perimortem, or postmortem bone lesions. Typical examples for these kinds of lesions and injuries are presented. The colour of the margins of the traumata proved to be the most distinguishing feature for postmortal lesions.     

Public support for pro-choice abortion policies in the nation and states: changes and stability after the Roe and Doe decisions

In 1973 the United States Supreme Court ruled that abortion could be had practically on request during the first 3 months of pregnancy. This article discusses whether the decision led to more public support for that position, and where in the U.S. the increase in support has been most drastic. The most recent public opinion polls indicate about 60% public support legalized abortion, while it was only 45% before 1973. Support has also increased even if pregnancy is not judged to be detrimental to the mother's health, or if it is not the result of rape and/or incest, but even if it is simply requested for economic or purely personal reasons. People under 30, with college education, men and Protestants, seem to be the staunchest supporters of abortion on demand. There has also been an increase in the number of Catholics supporting abortion. Support for abortion increased in most states between 1969-1973, particularly in the West and in the Northwest. The fight to deny federal funds for abortion is still raging in Congress; some studies indicate that the religion of the legislators is the most powerful predictor of voting on abortion, and that the decision is a very personal one, and not easily altered by the lobbying of groups on either side.     

Sustainable development revisited

Before one can talk about “sustainability”, economic development has to have occurred, and the traditional motor for development has always been economic growth, says Professor Karl Heinrich Oppenländer, President of the ifo Institute for Economic Research. He poses the questions, Is growth policy the best social policy? Has the social market economy failed because of its ties to economic growth, or has this growth simply been too small? What would a strict adherence to the concept of sustainable development mean? This paper was originally presented at the IIPS 10th Anniversary Symposium, “Transforming the Global Order for the 21st Century,” held in Tokyo on 18–19 May 1998.     

Is there a relationship between election outcomes and perceptions of personal economic well-being? A test using post-election economic expectations

Do individuals believe that an election victory by their favored candidate will improve their personal economic well-being? Previous work has either adopted an approach that is not well suited to determining this relationship, or ignored this question to focus on perceptions of macroeconomic conditions. In this paper we adopt a new approach that allows us to determine the relationship individuals perceive between elections and personal economic welfare, examining the relationship between vote choice, the election outcome, and post-election expectations for personal economic well-being. We find that economic individualism plays an important role in shaping the relationship individuals perceive between election outcomes and their personal economic well-being. Individuals who reject economic individualism do perceive a relationship, with those viewing an election outcome as favorable more optimistic in their expectations for personal economic well-being than those who view the election outcome as unfavorable. Conversely, election outcomes do not influence the expectations of economic individualists.     

Presidents and the Diversionary Use of Force: A Research Note

This study represents an attempt at further developing the diversionary theory of force. The analysis covers the period 1949 to 1994 using a simultaneous system of equations that treat presidential approval and force as endogenous variables. After controlling for opportunities and Soviet/Russian crisis behavior, the model reveals a rally effect and that unemployment has a positive effect on force levels. I discuss how presidential decisions to divert are made in the context of poliheuristic decision processing.