Dan Zhao

‘Foreigners and Propaganda: War and Peace in the Imperial Images of Augustus and Qin Shi Huangdi’ (MA in Classics, 2018).

This thesis explores the relationship between the portrayals of foreign peoples and concepts of ‘moral’ or ‘just’ warfare during the reigns of Augustus (r. 27 BCE–14 CE) and the first emperor of the Qin dynasty (221 BCE–206 CE), Qin Shi Huangdi (r. 221 BCE–210 BCE), from China. This thesis examines the manner and method by which the two emperors portray foreign peoples but also analyses the reasons behind such portrayals and how they were manipulated to form the emperors’ imperial images and ideologies (and vice versa, how their imperial images or ideologies might have influenced Roman and Chinese portrayals of foreigners). The Res Gestae of Augustus and the stele inscriptions of Qin Shi Huangdi form the core of the analysis.

Supervisors: Dr Hyun Jin Kim, Associate Professor Frederik Vervaet