2014):Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of psychological distress among students at an Australian university, Studies in Higher Education, This research contributes to the empirical literature on university student mental well-being by investigating the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of severe levels of psychological distress. More than 5000 students at a metropolitan Australian university participated in an anonymous online survey in 2013 that included the short form of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21). Comparisons with published research show that our respondents' DASS results were substantially higher than those observed in studies with general community samples, but comparable to other studies targeting university students. Of the explanatory variables analysed, the student's field of study, the number of hours spent studying per week and the number of hours spent caring for family members were all strongly associated with scores in the severe or extremely severe range for each of the DASS scales. These findings provide guidance for policy development, service delivery and further research in higher education.

The opening poem of Propertius Book 4 famously contains a programmatic statement which presents not amor (love or desire)—the staple of Roman elegy through the 20s and into the 10s BCE—as the ruling theme of the collection, but Roman aetiology: Roma, faue, tibi surgit opus, date candida ciuesomina, et inceptis dextera cantet auis!sacra diesque canam et cognomina prisca locorum.(4.1.67-69)Rome, lend your support. This work arises for you. Citizens, grant brightomens—and may the bird of augury sing favourably!Of rites and days I will sing, and of the ancient names of places.The focus on Roman origins in poem 1 itself specifically involves a comparison between the early history of Rome (the mythic past) and the poet's present (what we have come to know as ‘Augustan’ Rome). This comparison is introduced in the very opening lines of the poem: hoc quodcumque uides, hospes, qua maxima Roma est,ante Phrygem Aenean collis et herba fuit;atque ubi Nauali stant sacra Palatia Phoebo,Euandri profugae procubuere boues.fictilibus creuere deis haec aurea templa,nec fuit opprobrio facta sine arte casa.(4.1.1-6)Whatever you see here, stranger, where now is great Rome,was hills and grassland before the coming of Phrygian Aeneas.Where the Palatine shrine of Naval Phoebus now stands,the cattle of Evander once lay down as refugees.These golden temples grew from clay gods,and there was no shame in an artless dwelling.Anthropologists and sociologists have demonstrated the vital role which myths of origin, such as the poet here purports to represent, play in the formation, maintenance and expression of ethnicity in many cultures, ancient and modern. A.D. Smith even goes so far as to call such myths the sine qua non of ethnic identity. It seems reasonable to suggest, then, that the representation of Roman origins projects Roman identity. Indeed, some scholars have recently argued for this in the case of Propertius Book 4. What is more, as I will argue here, Propertius Book 4 accentuates the complexities inherent in the particular picture of Roman identity which Roman myth transmits, and dramatises them in such ways as to challenge the unitariness of that identity at the very moment of its assertion.

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Roman charioteers had a reputation, and not just for living fast and dying young. Nor was their reputation solely based on the glamour of their occupation, although it is clear that some charioteers could achieve something approaching celebrity status. Roman charioteers (by which I mean charioteers throughout the ancient Roman world) had a reputation of a rather darker stripe. The violence of their occupation, reflected and enhanced by the riotous violence of their supporters, contributed to the perception of charioteers in general as rough, uncouth characters. The gulf between some charioteers' celebrity and their slave status did much to encourage this brutal reputation in the Roman mind.

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