INSCRIPTIONS AND THEIR USES IN ANCIENT LITERATURE: A CONFERENCE

DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS AND ANCIENT HISTORY
UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
25-26TH JUNE 2009

Booking is now open for this conference, which aims to explore the possibilities which the literary record of ancient inscriptions offer both to those interested in understanding ancient attitudes towards inscriptions and to those interested in exploring the broader relationship (and overlaps) between epigraphical and non-epigraphical modes of expression from a range of literary, historical and epigraphical angles.

Full details, including the conference programme and booking form, are available here: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/classics/eventsnews/inscriptions/
There is a conference fee of £30, to cover tea, coffee and lunch on both days.  The deadline for registration is 31st May 2009.

Thanks to the generous support of the Classical Association and the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies we are able to offer four bursaries to postgraduate students wishing to attend the conference. Bursaries will cover the conference fee and up to two nights’ accommodation in Manchester.  Those interested in applying should send to polly.low AT manchester.ac.uk a brief (c.250 word) statement  explaining how attendance at the conference would contribute to their research, and should also ask their supervisor (or other appropriate referee) to send a short statement of support to the same address. The deadline for applications for these bursaries is 30th April 2009.

The 2009 meeting of the Hibernian Hellenists will take place at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, on 13/14 March.  The programme of papers is as follows:

Friday 13 March

20:00  Professor Michael Silk (King’s College, London), ‘The Greek Dramatic Genres: Theoretical Perspectives’.

Saturday 14 March

09:30  Professor Hans van Wees (University College London), ‘Perfect Oligarchs?  Birth, Merit and Wealth in Homer’.

11:15    Mrs Carmel McCallum-Barry (University College Cork), ‘Early Modern Versions of Greek Tragedy’.

14:00  Dr Donncha O’Rourke (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), ‘Our First Virgil Reader: Propertius Book 4’.

All are welcome.  There is a registration fee of €10; accommodation can be arranged.  For further details contact Breege Lynch,  Department of Ancient Classics, NUI Maynooth, at classics AT nuim.ie or +353 1 708 3316.

Workshop on Latin Poetic Commentary

This is a joint enterprise between the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, and the Corpus Christi College Centre for the Study of Greek and Roman Antiquity, University of Oxford, convened by Profs. Bruce Gibson and Stephen Harrison, and inspired by the U.S. commentary workshops at Georgetown and Minneapolis. This is the first session of a continuing programme; the next session will be on Latin Prose Commentary and will take place in Liverpool in 2010.

The first session will take place at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, on Saturday 14^th March 2009. Five participants will present work in progress from commentaries, as follows:

Stephen Heyworth (Oxford)     Propertius 3

Jennifer Ingleheart (Durham)     Ovid Tristia 2

Ruth Parkes (Oxford)               Statius Thebaid 4

Richard Thomas (Harvard)       Horace Odes 4

Gail Trimble (Oxford)               Catullus 64

Draft commentaries will be pre-circulated to registered participants. Each presenter will have one hour, most of which will be discussion (10-15 minutes presentation). The workshop will run c.11.00-6.00.

Those who wish to attend should contact Professor Stephen Harrison at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, OX1 4JF (stephen.harrison AT ccc.ox.ac.uk). There will be a fee of £15 which will cover tea, coffee and lunch (Oxford graduate students will not be charged, though they must register); others please send Stephen a cheque for £15.00 payable to ‘Corpus Christi College, Oxford’ to register (those without a UK bank account can pay in cash on the day).

Between Ideal and Reality
Exercise of Power in Sicily from Antiquity to Early Modern Times

From February 13th to February 15th, the Institute of History of the University of Aachen (Theaterplatz 14, 52062 Aachen, Germany) will be hosting a conference on „Exercise of Power in Sicily from Antiquity to Early Modern Times”. Everyone interested in the topic is welcome to attend the event. The 17 international researchers involved in the project are investigating the discrepancy between ideal and reality in the exercise of political, economical and religious power in Sicily. The results of the paradigmatic and interdisciplinary case studies will be published as a collection of papers.

The research project is organised and supervised by the chair of Roman History of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the chairs of Ancient and of Medieval History of the University of Aachen (RWTH). The project initiators are David Engels (Roman History, ULB), Lioba Geis (Medieval History, RWTH) and Michael Kleu (Ancient History, RWTH).

The conference is attendance free. Those interested are kindly asked to apply
by contacting sizilien@histinst.rwth-aachen.de. Further information concerning the project and the conference can be obtained by consulting
http://www.histinst.rwth-aachen.de/ext/sizilien/.

Contributions

Classical Antiquity

1. Michael Kleu, M.A. (Aachen): Von der phönizischen Hegemonie zur karthagischen Epikratie. Eine Untersuchung der karthagischen Herrschaftsausübung auf Sizilien

2. Dr. phil. Stefan Schorn (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ/Leuven): Politische Theorie, `Fürstenspiegel´ und monarchische Propaganda: Philistos von Syrakus, Xenophons Hieron und Dionysios

3. Alexander Schüller, M.A. (Aachen): Der Befreier Siziliens und die Macht der Soldaten. Dions sizilisches “Experiment” und das Problem seines Scheiterns

4. Dr. phil. Luca Guido (Sassari/Heidelberg/Düsseldorf): La prima guerra punica e la costituzione dell’amministrazione provinciale romana

5. Thomas Bounas, M.A. (Athen/Aachen): Cicero und Verres: Realität und Idealität römische Provinzverwaltung

Imperial Rome, Byzance, and Islam

6. Dr. phil. Julia Hoffmann-Salz (Köln): Augustus und die Städte Siziliens

7. Dr. phil. Peter Van Nuffelen (Exeter): Episcopal Succession in Late Antique Sicily

8. Carla Nicolaye, M.A. (Leuven/Aachen): The Vandal Occupation of Sicily and the Struggle for Domination over the Mediterranean

9. Dr. phil. Volker Menze (Münster): Gregor der Große (590-604) und die Päpstliche Herrschaft in Sizilien

10. Erik Lipperts, M.A. (Aachen): Sizilien zur Zeit der Anfänge des Bilderstreits

11. Dr. phil. David Engels (Bruxelles): L’insurrection d’Ibn Qurhub: La Sicile entre Fatimides et Abbasides

Middle Ages and Early Modern Times

12. Dr. phil. Julia Becker (Rom): Graf Roger I. von Kalabrien und Sizilien. Eine realistische Herrschaft zwischen drei Kulturen?

13. Lioba Geis, M.A. (Aachen): Die Hofkapelle als Herrschaftsinstrument Rogers II. für Sizilien?

14. Dr. phil. Georg Vogeler (München/Lecce): Sizilien unter Friedrich II.: Vom Kernland des Regnum Siciliae zur imperialen Peripherie

15. Dr. phil. Christian Friedl (München): Herrschaftskonzeption bei König Manfred. Staufisches Ideal und Scheitern der realpolitischen Ansätze

16. Philipp Schneider, M.A. (Aachen): Die Sizilianische Vesper und die communitas Siciliae

17. Sascha Schlede (Aachen): Von der Herrschaft Friedrichs III. bis zur Vereinigung mit dem Königreich Neapel 1296-1458

JEWS, CHRISTIANS, GREEKS, ROMANS: CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS INTERACTIONS

A symposium in honour of Professor Tessa Rajak

University of Reading

Thursday, 25 June 2009

10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.

The conference is to mark the long and distinguished career of our colleague, Tessa Rajak, and her many years of research, teaching, and service to the global academic community.

SPEAKERS

PHILIP ALEXANDER, Professor of Post-Biblical Jewish Studies and Co-Director of the Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Manchester. “Did the Rabbinic movement lose the West? Reflections on the fate of Greek-speaking Judaism after 70 CE”.

E. GILLIAN CLARK, Professor of Ancient History and Head of Subject (Classics & Ancient History), University of Bristol. “Augustine and the Septuagint”.

HANNAH M. COTTON, Shalom Horowitz Professor of Classics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “The Conception of Jesus and the Documents from the Judaean Desert”.

MARTIN D. GOODMAN, Professor of Jewish Studies and Fellow of Wolfson College, University of Oxford. “Tolerance of Variety within Judaism in the Early Roman empire”.

ERICH S. GRUEN, Wood Professor of History Emeritus, University of California at Berkeley. “Perseus as a Multi-Culturalist”.

FERGUS G. B. MILLAR, Camden Professor of Ancient History Emeritus, University of Oxford. “Jews and Christians in Late Antique Mesopotamia”.

JOHN NORTH, Professor of History Emeritus, UCL, University of London. “Pagan Orthopraxy”.

TESSA RAJAK, Professor of Ancient History Emeritus, University of Reading. Moderator of final panel discussion.

CONFERENCE

For some time now, scholars have sought to undermine rigid distinctions between Jews, Christians, and other religious communities in Greco-Roman antiquity. Researchers have progressed far in understanding the complex religious and cultural interactions that flourished in the Hellenistic and Roman periods and in exploring the social and cultural milieux inhabited by different religious groups.

In bringing together distinguished international experts in the field, this conference aims to evaluate and interrogate long-established positions and to move discussion to the next level. We seek to build on the current understanding of religious interaction in the Roman Empire, and on the broader question of hybrid identities, and develop critical perspectives for future study. The primary focus is Jewish-Christian interaction, but within the context of a broader framework that includes other religious communities. What does religious multiculturalism mean in an ancient context? What becomes of categories such as “Jew” and “Christian” (or “Diaspora Jew” and “Judaean Jew”, or “Pharisee”, “Sadducee”, and “Essene”) in a scenario where religious and cultural identities appear to be fluid? How does the interpretation of sacred texts proceed in such a situation? How exemplary is the case of the Empire’s Jewish communities? What are the politics of religious contact and boundary-manipulation in the Roman Empire? What is the role of collective memory? These are the questions we hope to address in our papers and discussions.

REGISTRATION AND FEES

Conference Only: Registration for the conference is £25 and includes lunch and a reception. If you would like to attend the conference, please send your name, address, email address, and a cheque for £25 payable to the “University of Reading” to: Nina Aitken, School of Humanities, University of Reading, P. O. Box 218, Reading RG6 6AA, U.K.

Conference and Dinner: Registration for the conference is £25 and includes lunch and a reception. The conference will be followed by a dinner, which has a separate fee of £30. If you would like to attend the dinner as well as the conference, please send your name, address, email address, and a cheque for £55 payable to the “University of Reading” to: Nina Aitken, School of Humanities, University of Reading, P. O. Box 218, Reading RG6 6AA, U.K.

Students: The conference is free for students. Please inform us of your participation by sending an email to Nina Aitken at n.l.aitken@reading.ac.uk. However, students who would like to attend the dinner as well as the conference should send their name, address, email address, and a cheque for £30 payable to the “University of Reading” to Nina Aitken, School of Humanities, University of Reading, P. O. Box 218, Reading RG6 6AA, U.K.

The conference is sponsored by the Jowett Trust, Oxford, and the School of Humanities and the Department of Classics at the University of Reading.

For further information, please contact Phiroze Vasunia at p.vasunia AT reading.ac.uk or at the Department of Classics, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AA, U.K.

Telephone: +44 (0)118 378 8410.