Roman Mysteries Blog: Tinker Tailor Votive Willies.

Ancient World Open Bibliographies: Bibliographies: Hadrian’s Wall.

Seen on the Classicists list:

We would like to call your attention to the conference entitled
"Latin, National Identity and the Language Question in Central Europe"
organised by Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Neo-Latin Studies. The
conference will take place in Innsbruck on 13-15 December 2012, the
conference call is posted on the homepage of
the institute:
http://neolatin.lbg.ac.at/news/language-and-identity-conference.

We warmly encourage the application of all interested scholars. The
150-200 words abstract of the paper proposal should be sent to
language.conference AT neolatin.lbg.ac.at no later than 30 April 2012.
Travel and accommodation grants are available within the limits of the
conference budget.

Seen on the Classicists list:

The fourth century was a pivotal age in the history of the Roman Empire, an
age of transition: New residencies of imperial power emerged in both West
and East, with Constantinople as upcoming principal court and stage for
imperial triumphs and celebrations. The attitude of the emperors towards
Christianity changed from proscription to prescription, though religious
belief and practice – Christian as well as traditional – were still diverse.
Rome‟s ever-growing status as the Christian city culminated in its claim for
primacy over other sees in the early 380s. The political division between
East and West after the death of Theodosius I, in 395, would, in retrospect,
be a definitive end to administrative unity.
The concepts of concordia and discordia pervade late-antique textual and
visual as well as material sources. Romans developed and exploited these
notions with fairly different (geo-)political, religious, geographical and
social ambitions in mind: some strove for unity within the empire, others
pursued unity within Christianity. There were advocates for unity among
„real‟ Romans opposed to threatening „barbarians‟ and agents for (a
cultural) unity within the senatorial aristocracy. And there were those who
rejected these initiatives for uniformity and opted for separation: the
split of the empire in 395 was final, but it was certainly not the first
division. Besides occasional geographical separate entities, the Latin
speaking West and the Greek oriented East had been polarized in intellectual
and theological matters. From a religious perspective, Christian and
traditional groups rejected or extricated themselves from the binding
Christian doctrine, some going underground as „heretics‟, others as monks
dwelling in isolated places. At the same time, traditional cults still
persisted or revived, of which Mithraism is but one example.
In all cases, people used the concepts of unity and discord in constructing
their identity. As a result, the Roman Empire in late antiquity was – maybe
more than other periods in its history – characterised by its many
identities and different groups trying to control the empire.
This conference seeks to explore the degree of unity and discord between
East and West in the fourth century from different angles. Therefore we
invite scholars of all fields working on Late Antiquity to present their
views on the topic. Our hope is that this meeting will prompt a dynamic
interchange among scholars with a focus on ancient history, literature,
archaeology, architecture, religion, law and philosophy, (but also on)
cultural memory and identity building. Comparisons of political, social or
cultural phenomena in the Eastern and Western part of the Empire are as much
appreciated as papers which discuss fourth century views on unity (or
separation). With this conference, we hope to deepen our understanding of
the complexities of unity and discord in the late Roman empire.

* Practicalities

Organisation: drs. Roald Dijkstra and drs. Sanne van Poppel, Radboud
University Nijmegen
Location: Radboud University Nijmegen (the Netherlands)
Date: 24-26 October 2012

Papers are accepted in English, German or French (30 minutes length).

Abstract (500 words) should be sent in before 1 May 2012 to unity@ AT et.ru.nl.
15 May at the latest, you will be informed about your admission to the
conference. For further questions, please mail to the address mentioned
above.

The conference opens with a keynote lectureby prof. dr. David Potter
(University of Michigan) on the 24th, followed by a reception, for both of
which everyone is cordially invited. There will be an optional dinner
afterwards (on own expenses). Confirmed speakers are offered hotel
accommodation for two nights (24 & 25 October) and conference meals
(breakfast, lunch and refreshments; dinner on the 25th). Given our
restricted budget, we kindly ask participants to declare travel expenses at
their own institution.

* Confirmed speakers:
Dr. Jan Willem Drijvers (University of Groningen) – tba
Prof. dr. Christian Gnilka em. (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster) –
“Die Reichsidee des Prudentius”
Prof. dr. Mark Humphries (Swansea University) – "The Centre and the
Centrifuge: Imperial Unity and Civil War in the Fourth Century"
Prof. dr. Hervé Inglebert (Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense) –
"Concordia, Romania et Ecclesia catholica : les discours de l’unité romaine
au IVe siècle"
Prof. dr. David Potter (University of Michigan) – "Can we measure the might
of Rome?"
Dr. Alexander Skinner (Cardiff University) – “Aristocrats and Imperial
Service: Observations on an East-West Contrast”
Prof. dr. Paul Stephenson (Radboud University Nijmegen) – tba

* Chairs:
prof. dr. Sible de Blaauw (Radboud University Nijmegen)
prof. dr. Bas ter Haar Romeny (Leiden University)
dr. Daniëlle Slootjes (Radboud University Nijmegen)

Seen on the Classicists list:

Colloque international – International symposium

Genre et sexualité dans la cité La politique du sexe dans les dialogues de Platon

Gender and sexuality in the city Politics of sex in Plato’s Dialogues

1-3 mars 2012 INHA Auditorium 2, rue Vivienne, 75002 Paris

Les dialogues de Platon constituent un espace propice à la réélaboration des questions de genre, de sexe et de sexualité dans l’Antiquité ; l’un des enjeux de ce colloque international, qui annonce le Symposium Platonicum qui se tiendra à Pise en 2013 sur le Banquet de Platon, consiste à réaffirmer l’importance de ce philosophe quant à la constitution de repères et de thèses pour l’ensemble de l’Antiquité grecque. Tout d’abord, les dialogues sont une source textuelle pour le philologue, l’historien, l’anthropologue et le sociologue. Les travaux récents sur le genre et la sexualité étudient Platon dans un ensemble de sources et de textes sans lesquels la pensée de ce philosophe demeurerait inintelligible. Le Banquet, la République, le Phèdre ou les Lois sont ainsi conçus comme des textes où se reflètent et s’élaborent une culture, des pratiques et des rituels que Platon prend comme objet de réflexion. Il s’agira, dans ce colloque, de repérer et de présenter les différents éléments d’héritage qui aident à la compréhension des questions du genre, du sexe et de la sexualité dans les Dialogues. Mais Platon est également une figure importante dans l’infléchissement qu’il donne aux concepts d’homme, de femme, d’erôs dans l’Antiquité plus tardive : législation sexuelle, reconfiguration du rôle et des fonctions des hommes et des femmes dans la cité, élaboration d’un erôs philosophique, sont autant de points qu’il s’agira d’exposer dans leur reprise par des auteurs de l’Antiquité, jusqu’à la Renaissance où « l’amour platonique » devient un véritable leitmotiv de la philosophie néoplatonicienne et dans la littérature.

Plato’s Dialogues constitute a propitious space for re-elaborating questions of gender, sex and sexuality in Antiquity. One of the goals of this international Conference, in preparation for the Symposium Platonicum to be held on Plato’s Symposium at Pisa 2013, consists in re-affirming this philosopher’s importance for the constitution of landmarks and theses for all of Greek Antiquity. In the first place, the Dialogues are a textual source for philologists, historians, anthropologists and sociologists. Recent works on gender and sexuality study Plato within a set of sources and texts without which this philosopher’s thought would remain unintelligible. Thus, the Symposium, Republic, Phaedrus and Laws are conceived as texts in which a culture, practices, and rituals, which Plato takes as the object of his reflection, are reflected and elaborated. The purpose of this Conference will be to identify and present the various inherited elements that aid the comprehension of questions concerning gender, sex, and sexuality in the Dialogues. However, Plato is also an important figure in the reorientation he gives to the concepts of man, woman, and erôs in later Antiquity. Sexual legislation, reconfiguration of the role and functions of men and women within the city, the elaboration of a philosophical erôs : all these points will be expounded as they are taken up by the authors of Antiquity, down to the Renaissance, when “Platonic love” becomes a veritable Leitmotiv in Neoplatonic philosophy and literature.

Programme

Jeudi 1 mars Matinée : Usages des concepts de genre, de sexe et de sexualité dans l’Antiquité (10-12h30)
– Sandra LAUGIER (allocution d’ouverture)
– Violaine SEBILLOTTE-CUCHET (Université Paris 1 – Panthéon-Sorbonne) : « Le genre dans la cité des historiens : y a-t-il eu une ‘politique du sexe’ dans l’Athènes de Platon ? »
– Table ronde autour de David HALPERIN, en présence de l’auteur.

Après-midi : Eros et politique (14h-16h00)
– François de POLIGNAC : « D’Aphrodite à Eros, quel genre pour l’érotique politique ? »
– Claude CALAME : « Education chorale et ‘homosexualité’ initiatique dans les Lois de Platon : relations et identités de sexe »


Après-midi : Les réformes platoniciennes : communauté, genre, et législation sexuelle (16h00-18h)
– Nathalie ERNOULT : « Construction, déconstruction de l’identité sexuelle dans la République de Platon »
– Gabriele CORNELLI : « Seducendo Socrate : retorica di genere e politica della memoria nell’ ‘Alcibiade platonico’ » « Seducing Socrates : rhetoric of gender and policy of memory in the platonic Alcibiades »

Vendredi 2 mars

Matinée : Eros et philosophie (10h-12h00)
– Carolina ARAUJO : « To orthos paiderastein : righteousness and eroticism in Plato’s Symposium »
– Angela HOBBS : « Transformations : the daimonic power of eros and philosophy in Plato’s Symposium »

Après-midi : Figures du Banquet(14h-17h30)
– Olivier RENAUT : « Le discours de Pausanias : un discours négligé ? ».
– Luc BRISSON : « Le discours d’Aristophane dans le Banquet lu du point de vue du ‘genre’ ».
– Clara ACKER : « Diotime de Mantinée »

Samedi 3 mars

Matinée : Interprétations anciennes et contemporaines du Banquet (10h-13h)
– Ruby BLONDELL et Sandra BOEHRINGER : « Platon, Lucien et les courtisanes »
– Florence DUPONT : « Du Banquet de Platon à la Cena Trimalchionis : la construction du genre chez des affranchis romains ».
– Annick JAULIN : « Le Banquet de Platon selon Leo Strauss »

Comité scientifique : Sandra BOEHRINGER, Luc BRISSON, Annick JAULIN, Arnaud MACÉ, Olivier RENAUT et Violaine SÉBILLOTTE-CUCHET Contact : Luc Brisson (lbrisson AT agalma.net) et Olivier Renaut (olivier.renaut AT u-paris10.fr)