A great range and quantity of research is done by graduate students in the Faculty of Classics. In the list below current PhD students are given with their provisional dissertation title (or area), where one has been entered. All the graduates can be contacted by e-mail by adding @cam.ac.uk to their CRSid.
Current PhD Students
Name: |
CRSid: |
Registered Title: |
Graham Andrews |
ga278 |
Roman political narrative in the third century CE. Graham has been in Cambridge since starting as an undergraduate. His thesis investigates the ancient narratives which describe the upheaval in the Roman Empire in the third century, and their influence on modern reconstructions of political development. More broadly, he is interested in the depiction of political activity, from the ancient world through to the modern. |
Anna Athanasopoulou |
aa2006 |
Intermediality, ecphrasis, Lucian Anna studied classics at the University of Athens (including a semester abroad at the Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV) before coming to the UK. She holds a MA from UCL and is currently a PhD student at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Anna’s thesis examines the dynamic tensions between text and other (extra-textual) media forms in the Lucianic corpus. Her research interests include Imperial Greek literature, intermedial aesthetics, ancient and modern ecphrastic writing, text/image theories, embodied and sensory approaches to literature. |
Vilius Bartninkas |
vb338 |
Ancient Philosophy I work on the nature and function of the traditional and cosmic gods in Plato’s later works. It is an interdisciplinary project that combines ancient philosophy (political theory, theology, cosmology) with a study of Greek religion and science. My goal is to discover the ways in which Plato reacted to and reformed traditional Greek notions of the divine. |
Albert Bates |
atb43 |
Ecphrasis; art-and-text studies Albert’s PhD thesis examines the role of artistic medium in Graeco-Roman ecphrases, asking how words ‘handle’ materials differently. He studied at Oxford for his BA, before moving to Cambridge for his postgraduate work. His broader research interests include art-and-text studies; vision, visuality and the ‘gaze’ in ancient literature; and the historiography of ancient art. |
Chiara Blanco |
cb780 |
The Butterfly Soul |
Marco Bonaventura |
mb2187 |
Dares Phrygius and Dictys Cretensis Marc’s PhD examines the texts attributed to Dares Phrygius and Dictys Cretensis, situating them within the tradition of Homeric criticism in antiquity. He previously studied at the University of Melbourne before coming to Cambridge in 2017. His broader research interests include the reception of Homer, epic, historiography, and tragedy (esp. Euripides). |
Tatiana Bur |
tcdb2 |
Ancient religion; ancient technology Tatiana’s PhD examines the human techniques and technical knowledge employed to manufacture religious aura in the Graeco-Roman world. Tatiana joined Cambridge in 2016 from the University of Sydney and her research interests span anthropological and comparative approaches to religion; intellectual history (especially of the Hellenistic period); new approaches to ancient science (particularly through technical manuals); and ancient entertainment. |
Zack Case |
zc270 |
Zack is a PhD student at King’s College, where he also completed his BA and MPhil degrees. His PhD focuses on Aristophanic Comedy, specifically exploring the poetics of humour and the relationship between comic plays and theoretical writings about humour. His broader research interests beyond ancient literature (especially tragedy) include reception and literary theory. |
Edoardo Chiattelli |
ec672 |
Classical and Comparative Philology and Linguistics Edoardo obtained his BA in Humanities from the University of Perugia, with an Erasmus year in Leeds, and MA in Philology, Literature and Classical Tradition from the University of Bologna. His PhD is on the use of the augment in early Greek literature, including an analysis of communication in ancient performative poetry. His broader research includes Indo-European linguistics and classical literature. |
Mark Darling |
md547 |
Indo-European verbal morphology |
Olivia Elder |
ole22 |
Language and Romanness Olivia’s PhD thesis combines historical and sociolinguistic approaches to examine the relationship between language and Roman identity using the evidence of literature, epigraphy and graffiti. She came to Cambridge after a BA in Ancient and Modern History and an MSt in Roman History at Oxford. Her broader research interests include bilingualism, letter-writing and themes of migration and citizenship. |
Marcus Ellis |
mte22 |
Concepts of the tragic in late Euripidean drama Marcus is a PhD student at Peterhouse, where he also completed his BA and MPhil degrees; the latter focused on Greek tragedy and its reception in the opera libretti of Hugo von Hofmannsthal. His PhD explores immanent concepts of tragic genre and the tragic in late Euripides, with a particular focus on monody and choral lyric. His broader interests include epic, tragedy and satyr play, their reception in the post-classical period, and literary theory. |
Natalia Elvira |
ne276 |
Early alphabetic writing in Greece Natalia’s PhD explores the earliest inscriptions with alphabetic writing found in Greek-speaking areas. She is funded by the ERC Project CREWS (Contexts of and Relations between Early Writing Systems). Before coming to Cambridge, Natalia studied at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and at Leiden University. Her broader interests include ancient and modern writing systems and historical and comparative linguistics. |
Kaicheng Fang |
kf374 |
With great interest in political thought in general, I mainly focus on Seneca. Regarding him as a Roman philosopher, I wish to explore how he brings Roman legal thought to his understanding of philosophy; regarding him as a philosopher in the Imperial period, I am interested in his attitude towards the monarchy itself and also his view on the best lifestyle under the monarchy. |
Stefano Frullini |
sf603 |
Democracy in Classical Peloponnese Stefano’s PhD thesis explores the nature and spread of democracy in Peloponnesian city-states. He arrived in Cambridge in 2017 for his MPhil in Ancient History after completing degrees in Chieti and Bologna (Italy). His other interests include the history of Greek political institutions, ancient political thought, and international relations in antiquity. |
Solveig Lucia Gold |
srg55 |
Theatrum Mundi in Ancient Philosophy A native New Yorker, Solveig studied Classics at Princeton before coming to Cambridge for her MPhil and now her PhD. She is interested in the role of metaphor in ancient philosophy, from Plato to Augustine: political metaphors, musical metaphors, and, most particularly, the metaphor of the world as a stage. |
Sofia Greaves |
srg55 |
The impact of the ancient city in modern Italy Sofia’s thesis examines the relationship between the ancient city and modernity in 20th century Italy, through art, architecture and urban planning. She came to Cambridge in 2017 following a bachelors at Durham and a Master’s at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Broader research interests include Fascism, identity and language planning. |
Joe Grimwade |
jg483 |
Conceptualisations of Memory in the Roman World Joe’s PhD concerns conceptualisations of memoria in Latin texts from the first century BCE onwards, with a focus on the Roman adoption and adaptation of pre-existing Greek theories of memory. His broader interests include the later history of memory and the modern reception of Horace. Joe completed an MPhil at Cambridge and bachelor’s at Warwick. |
Nathaniel Hess |
nh433 |
Humanist Latin translation of Greek verse Nathaniel, now on his third Cambridge degree, is currently attempting to give some shape to the tradition of rendering Greek verse in Latin as it (re?)emerges in the renaissance, a phenomenon which straddles classical reception and the history of scholarship. His other interests, chiefly poetical, cluster around Hellenistic, Augustan, and neo-Latin figures, with occasional forays into late antiquity. |
Talitha Kearey |
tezk2 |
The reception of Virgil in antiquity Talitha is a fourth-year PhD student, following undergraduate and master’s degrees at Cambridge. Her thesis examines concepts of authorship in Virgil’s ancient reception, focusing on the meeting-point of biography, poetics and criticism. Besides Virgil, she maintains research interest in forgeries and impersonation, history of scholarship, literary theory (especially feminist and queer theory), the material text, and Latin literature more broadly. |
Christian Keime |
ck465 |
Citations and reformulations in Plato's Symposium |
Florence Kipps |
fk306 |
Constructing history in Xenophon's Hellenica |
Hannah Kirk-Evans |
hck32 |
Space in Pliny the Younger Hannah studied her BA and MPhil at Cambridge and is now working on a PhD on the function of space in Pliny’s texts, work which builds on her MPhil thesis on spatial instability in the Panegyricus. Her wider interests include imperial Latin literature, the reception of Neronian texts by Trajanic authors, and concepts of spatial and textual instability.
|
Georgios Koukovasilis |
gk400 |
From Greek to Roman: Portraits and Identity in Roman Greece Georgios’ PhD will focus on portraits as a means of examining the transformation of Hellenic identity during the Imperial period. He completed his MPhil in Cambridge (2018), following a Bachelor’s at the University of Athens (2017). His broader interests include the art and visual culture of the Greco-Roman East, self-presentation strategies in Classical Antiquity and provincial identity within the Roman Empire. |
Alina Kozlovski |
ak905 |
Material heritage in the ancient Roman world Alina’s thesis examines how ancient Romans curated their past using its material remains. Before coming to Cambridge, she completed her BA and MPhil in Sydney and her broader interests include Roman architecture and topography, historiography, and museology. She has also excavated in Italy and Cyprus and has worked in several museums. |
Benedek Kruchio |
bk390 |
Information Transfer in Heliodorus’ Aethiopica Benedek’s narratological thesis examines the various principles of information transfer which underlie the plotting of Heliodorus’ Aethiopica and discusses their impact on the reader’s interpretive strategy. Benedek studied at the University of Vienna and at Humboldt University of Berlin. His research interests include imperial Greek literature, literary theory, and the reception of ancient literature in film and modern fiction. |
Benjamin Kybett |
bk396 |
Religion and Rhetoric at the Courts of the Theodosians, c. 381-404 Benjamin is writing a thesis on religious tolerance and the ‘secular’ in Late Antiquity. He did his undergraduate degree and an MPhil in Late Antique history at Oxford. He is interested in various aspects of the intellectual history of the later Roman Empire, including theology, philosophy, and political thought. |
Thomas Langley |
trl36 |
Concepts of the City in fourth century AD intellectual culture My background is predominantly in early modern and late antique history. I’m interested in cities’/civic life’s intellectual/cultural role in the Late Roman Greek East, and the role of the polis in political identity, despite the expansion of Christianity and imperial government. More generally I’m interested in the political, religious and intellectual history of the late antique period. |
Rebecca Lees |
rl488 |
Language and gender in Ovid’s Met Rebecca’s thesis examines the relationship between Latin grammatical gender and biological sex in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. She came to Cambridge after a Master’s in Durham and a bachelor’s at Oxford. Her broader interests include Augustan literature, sexism in language and the different perspectives offered by the ancient world on gender and sexualities. |
Michael Loy |
mpal2 |
Regional interactions in Archaic Greece Michael uses computational methods on archaeological ‘Big Data' to investigate how people, objects, and ideas moved around the world of Archaic Greece. He has worked ‘in the field’ in Britain, Greece, and Turkey, and is currently an affiliate researcher on the ERC project ‘LatinNow’. Michael’s interests include Mediterranean archaeology more generally, the digital humanities, Classical art, and museums. |
Konstantinos Lygouris |
kl464 |
Fifth-century CE Greek Christian verse paraphrase Konstantinos’ PhD explores the literary, cultural, and ideological significance of Greek Christian versifications of Scriptural texts, mainly Nonnus’ Paraphrase of St John’s Gospel and ps.-Apollinarius’ Metaphrasis Psalmorum. He completed his MPhil in Cambridge and BA at King’s College London. His broader interests include late antique Greek poetry and poetics, ancient literary criticism, and the changing rhetoric of praise. |
Robert Machado |
rm638 |
Greek oratory from a sociolinguistic perspective |
Charles Manklow |
cm862 |
Charles’ PhD explores the relationship between civilian status and military rank in the Roman world, using the Centurion as a case-study. He previously studied at Oxford before moving to Cambridge in 2016. His broader research interests include papyrology, epigraphy, and all aspects of Roman history (especially the role of the army). |
Peter Martin |
pm505 |
A comparison of Greek and Roman historiography |
Georgy Medvedev |
gm536 |
Research area: Aristotle’s theory of definition and its ontological foundations. Interests and background: George’s thesis examines different approaches to defining essence in Aristotle (definitions by division, causal definitions, functional definitions) and discusses the ontology which underlies these approaches in the Metaphysics and Posterior Analytics. Before coming to Cambridge in 2015, George did his B.A. in Classics in Durham, M.A. in Ancient Philosophy in Durham and MSc by research at Edinburgh. |
Ed Millband |
em564 |
The Annals of Tacitus, Book XIII: A Commentary |
Chiara Monaco |
cm863 |
Greek Literature and Linguistics Her research examines the development of Atticism in connection with the production of lexica in Hellenistic and Imperial age. She has completed a BA and a master in Classics at Sapienza, University of Rome, then she moved to Oxford for an internship in collaboration with Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project. Her broader research interests include ancient scholarship, Comedy, Greek sociolinguistic and dialectology. |
Thomas Nelson |
tjn28 |
Markers of Allusion in Archaic and Classical Greek Poetry Thomas’ thesis investigates how early Greek poets cite, footnote and acknowledge their predecessors within the oral performance context of their works. His broader interests include quotation, allusion, literary self-consciousness (a.k.a. ‘metapoetics’), the interrelation of image and text in antiquity, and Hellenistic poetry in its literary, cultural and political context. |
Lea Niccolai |
ln294 |
Rhetoric and religion in the writings of Julian the Emperor and Synesius of Cyrene Lea studied Classics and Oriental studies in Pisa (Italy) before coming to Cambridge in 2016. Her thesis looks at the way the Neoplatonists Julian and Synesius entered the late antique political discourse and contributed in reshaping it. Her broader research interests include late antique cultural history, Neoplatonism, Greek and Near Eastern world chronicles, and the Syriac reception of the Greco-Roman world. |
Valeria Pace |
vp325 |
Hellenistic literature |
Vangelis Pappas |
vp337 |
Aristotelian Mathematics |
Tulsi Parikh |
tp417 |
Votive Assemblages in Archaic Greece Tulsi’s research investigates patterns of votive dedication at archaic sanctuaries across Greece. She came to Cambridge in 2016 after a Master’s in Classical Art and Archaeology and a Bachelor’s in French and Modern Greek, both completed at KCL, and two years of teaching at secondary schools in France. Her broader interests include Greek religion, Greek and Roman art, practical archaeology and museums.
|
Andres Pelavski Atlas |
adp51 |
Consciousness in medical writings |
Ludovico Pontiggia |
lp478 |
The presence of Lucan in the Flavian epic poets |
Krishnan Ram-Prasad |
kjr50 |
Classical Philology and Linguistics Krishnan obtained his BA in Linguistics MPhil in Classics from the University of Cambridge prior to starting his PhD in 2018. Krishnan’s PhD is on the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European syntax within a Generative (Chomskyan) theoretical framework. His broader research includes other aspects of Indo-European linguistics, including comparative phonetics & philology, as well syntactic theory and language change in the main. |
Salla Raunio |
sjr203 |
Plato’s Timaeus |
Hanneke Reijnierse-Salisbury |
hls51 |
Representations of the body in the art of Roman Britain My thesis examines the figural art of Roman Britain, including funerary and religious sculpture and mosaics. I completed my bachelor's and master's degrees at Cambridge. My broader interests span Roman art more generally, both in Rome itself and the provinces, with a particular focus on identities and commemoration, as well as a developing interest in the art of the later empire. |
Antonia Reinke (nee Schrader) |
ams258 |
Shifting identities in ancient Greek drama Antonia’s PhD explores how characters’ identity changes on stage, their physical disguises, recognitions, mistaken and/or (un)masked identities, conceptualize the relationship between socio-hierarchical being and performance. Before coming to Cambridge for her MPhil, Antonia studied Classics, English and Mathematics in Freiburg, Germany. Her wider interests include Archaic and Classical Greek literature, social constructions of the body and the sociology of (un)dress. |
Teresa Roeger |
tcr33 |
Authority and Interpretation in Augustine of Hippo Teresa examines theory and practice of interpretation in the treatises of Augustine of Hippo, with a particular focus on the interpretation of quotations from classical texts. Before coming to Cambridge for an MPhil in 2015, Teresa completed a Staatsexamen degree in Heidelberg. Her interests include late antique centones, Rhetoric, and the city of Rome. |
Robert Alexander Rohland |
rar50 |
The carpe diem motif in Hellenistic and Roman poetry Robert’s thesis investigates how the carpe diem motif relates to performance, textuality and the evocation of present time. Before coming to Cambridge, Robert studied at Oxford and St Andrews. His broader interests include Augustan poetry, conceptions of time, and different aspects of textuality in literature, quotations, inscriptions and objects. |
Gabriele Rota |
gr351 |
A study of the Italian transmission of Cicero’s Epist. ad Atticum |
Alessio Santoro |
as2538 |
Unity and Being in Aristotle's Metaphysics Alessio's thesis analyses the relationship between unity and being in Aristotle's Metaphysics, by exploring both the background of this problem and the solution Aristotle offers. He came to Cambridge in 2015 after a Bachelor's and a Master's in Pisa (Scuola Normale Superiore). His broader interests include Greek and Arabic philosophy, logic, ontology, argumentation theory, linguistics and philosophy of language. |
Sarah Sheard |
srcs2 |
The female body in Roman visual culture Sarah’s work focuses on visual representations of the female body in the early imperial period. She received both her BA and MPhil from the University of Cambridge and is currently in the first year of her PhD. More broadly, she is interested in interdisciplinary and feminist approaches to the study of women in the ancient world. |
Jan Sienkiewicz |
js2449 |
Rhodes and the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean world Jan came to Cambridge from UCL with a background in Mediterranean archaeology to pursue further his main academic interests, namely the study of culture change and interregional contacts, and archaeological and anthropological theory. His thesis focuses on a Late Bronze Age community at Ialysos, Rhodes, and its relations with the Mycenaean and eastern Mediterranean worlds. |
Stephanos Stephanides |
ss2461 |
Plato’s attitude to the body Stephanos came to Cambridge in 2017 having read Classics at UCL for his undergraduate degree. In the first year of his PhD, Stephanos is currently exploring the importance of proportion and beauty in Plato’s later work, and how this increased importance has ramifications for Plato’s outlook toward embodied human life. He is also interested in the development of Plato’s thought. |
Anna Stevenson |
as798 |
Legal capacity and personality in Athenian Law |
Martin Szoke | mns36 |
Politics and the Past in the Age of Nerva and Trajan Before embarking on the PhD, I did both my BA and MPhil at Cambridge. My thesis looks at the (mis)representation and politicization of the past, in particular in Nervan and Trajanic sources. My wider interests include all things Roman and history, as well as contemporary politics and football. |
Henry Tang |
ht341 |
The 'Heroes' of the Thebaid |
Nathasja van Luijn |
ncmv2 |
Epistemology of artifacts in the Presocratics Nathasja’s thesis examines the epistemological significance of the analogies with artifacts in Presocratic philosophy. She came to Cambridge in 2018 after a Bachelor and Research Master in Leiden (Netherlands). Her broader interests include the (reception of the) Presocratics, the perceived relation between mankind and machines in Antiquity, and the interplay between ancient literature and philosophy. |
Sophie Wardle |
slmw2 |
Nineteenth-century responses to Roman London Sophie’s research explores Victorian responses to London’s Roman past. Her project investigates archaeological illustrations in the popular press and reports of unexpected encounters with the past during ‘city improvements’. Her wider research interests include Roman Britain and classical reception in the nineteenth century. Sophie previously studied at Durham University and at King’s College London. |
William Winning |
waw30 |
Allegory and allusion; riddles William’s PhD focuses on riddles and riddling language in Greek literature and literary criticism. He previously studied Classics at Cambridge (Trinity College) and Oxford (New College). His other interests include tragedy, epic, lyric poetry, the Sibylline oracles, Horace, and the classical tradition. |
Di Yan |
dy266 |
To Become a Man: Autochthony, Cosmology and Self-order in Classical Athens Di’s research investigates ancient Greeks’ understanding of social order through a series of myths on autochthony. She did her BA and MA in Boya College (Liberal Arts College), Sun Yat-sen University in China and then came to Cambridge to pursue her PhD. Her research interest range widely across ancient Greek mythology, Greek literature and philosophy, social theory and gender study.
|
Cristobal Zarzar Munoz |
cz298 |
Ancient Philosophy, esp. Hellenistic Philosophy and Ancient Theories of Perception. Cris’ doctoral thesis focuses on the phenomenon of conflicting perceptions in Epicureanism and Stoicism – conflicts that some ancient philosophers took to create epistemological and metaphysical problems. Before coming to Cambridge, he completed a Master’s and a MPhilStud at King’s College London, and a Bacherlor’s at Universidad Católica, Chile. His broader research interests include ancient epistemology and ancient philosophy of mind. |
Current MPhil Students
Name: |
crsid: |
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Ayesha Ahmed |
ada32 |
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Michael Antosiewicz |
mpa30 |
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Zoë Audra |
za274 |
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Catherine Bar |
cb868 |
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Nikolaos Cheimaras |
nac44 |
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Matthew Coote |
mtcc2 |
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Francesco De Vita |
fpd20 |
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Reece Edmends |
rae35 |
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Oscar Goldman |
osg22 |
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Daniel Grünwald |
dg479 |
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Lydia Herndon |
lgh28 |
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Isobel Higgins |
ivh21 |
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Thomas Kelly |
tk549 |
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Joshua Kramer |
jjk52 |
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Phoebe Lakin |
pml45 |
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Elsie Linley |
erl43 |
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Rares Marinescu |
rim32 |
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Sebastian Marshall |
sam246 |
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Augustine McManus |
alm98 |
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Ashley Mehra |
am2656 |
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Anya Morrice |
arm78 |
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Iona Nicolson |
ilmn2 |
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Henner Petin |
hp419 |
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Rachel Phillips |
rep57 |
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George Pliotis |
gfp22 |
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Xuan Qin Hourcade |
xq226 |
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Dara Roden |
dr402 |
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Elisa Scholz |
es774 |
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Kyriakos Velos |
kv319 |
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Elisa Vierny |
egsv2 |
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Seunghyun Yeo |
say28 |