… seen on the Classicists list:
CALL FOR PAPERS
‘HINDSIGHT, or THE IMPORTANCE OF UNFULFILLED EXPECTATIONS IN GREEK AND ROMAN HISTORY’
Chairs: Kai Brodersen (Erfurt) and Anton Powell (Classical Press of Wales)
To form a conference panel at the sixth Celtic Conference in Classics, Edinburgh, 28-31 July 2010.
If, as a historical magazine puts it, ‘What happened then matters
now’, it may seem to follow that we should privilege those aspects of
ancient history which most clearly lead to the modern world, or at least had
long-lasting and obvious consequences in Antiquity. And so we may downplay
ancient expectations which were not fulfilled. But such expectations may
have been predominant in their day. To neglect them may make it impossible
to reconstruct ancient mentalities, or even to understand why history’s
winners acted as they did. Especially in periods of gross instability, unfulfilled
forecasts may be numerous and rewarding to reconstruct. Some examples: after the disgrace
at Sparta of three recent royal predecessors, what were Leonidas’ prospects
if he were to return alive from Thermopylai? After Caesar’s death, how
persuasive was the fear that his empire, like Alexander’s, would fragment
into permanent successor kingdoms? What chance did the militarily-inept
Octavian seem to have of surviving – before Naulochus? Or, given his record
of poor health, after Actium? But even in less troubled times, unfulfilled
forecasts which influence policy may be the norm, subject afterwards to
downplaying by historians in Antiquity as today.The organisers of this conference panel believe that one of the most promising ways to
improve the writing of history is to train ourselves not to impose our hindsight
onto the necessarily-diverse and imperfect forecasting by political actors
of Antiquity. This approach is also currently under discussion by academic and other lawyers,
interested in the concept of `negligence’ in relation to the benefit of hindsight.We warmly invite suggestions for papers on this theme, concerning any period
of Greek or Roman Antiquity.Reply to:
kai.brodersen AT uni-erfurt.de
and
powellanton AT btopenworld.com
rogueclassicism 