Arete Prize
The Arete Prize is awarded in most years to the Classics student who writes the best research or thesis paper. This year the Arete Prize was awarded to Zoe Baumbach for her paper, “The Legacy of Roman Architecture in Nazi Germany: Hitler's Inspirations for World Domination and Cultural Superiority." Zoe “Neoclassical Architecture of the Third Reich was reflective of Nazi Germany's core values—eternal and superior Nazi power—in the same way that classical architecture emulated Ancient Roman values—the mos maiorum and a clearly defined social-political hierarchy. Classic Architectural elements of the Flavian Amphitheater and Pantheon helped ancient Roman leaders such as Vespasian, Titus, and Hadrian establish Rome as a dominant world empire. Through use of similar classic architectural elements in the Deutsche Stadion and Volkshalle, Adolf Hitler channeled the values and successes of Roman emperors in order to bolster a similar empirical agenda: to establish Germany as globally hegemonic and eternally superior in culture.”