Leiden University is delighted to announce an upcoming online mini-conference, “Political Culture from Late Antiquity to the Post-Classical Greek City and Back Again”, on the occasion of the publication of L.E. Tacoma, Roman Political Culture. Seven Studies of the Senate and City Councils from the First to the Sixth Century A.D. (Oxford 2020).
On Wednesday June 10th, 2020, from 14:00 to 17:00, four speakers will discuss changes in Roman political culture:
L.E. Tacoma, Leiden University;
J. Barreveld, Leiden University;
K. Tengeler, Leiden University;
M. Kooijman, Ghent University;
O.M. van Nijf, Groningen University.
Registration is free; please register by sending an e-mail to the student assistant of the Ancient History Department of the Institute for History of Leiden University, The Netherlands at: [email protected]. Upon registration you will receive a link to Kaltura Live Room; it is not necessary to download software.
14:00: L.E. Tacoma, ‘The Doors of S. Giovanni in Laterano’
This introductory lecture will offer a discussion of the concept of political culture and its possibilities for the study of ancient political systems that followed the demise of classical Greek democracy and the Roman Republic. I will argue that the political cultures of the Hellenistic, Roman, and Late Antique period share a number of structural features that remained remarkably stable over time, despite significant societal changes. The fact that traditional political institutions like city councils and the Roman senate kept functioning for centuries without having much power to influence decision-making must imply that their function had become social rather than political: they offered elites a stage to affirm and negotiate their place in society and to dramatize the tensions inherent in a society under single rule.
14:15: J. Barreveld, ‘Reges and Gentes: dual states in the post-Roman West (c. 400-600 A.D.)’
During the fifth century A.D., the Western Roman Empire fragmented into a variety of successor states. These polities were often ruled by ‘kings’ (reges) who portrayed themselves as ruling over multiple peoples (gentes), both ‘Roman’ and ‘barbarian’. How are we to understand the relationship between communities and rulership? In this presentation, I will discuss the concept of ‘dual state’ in the context of three post-Roman ‘kings’: Masuna and the Moors of Mauretania, Theoderic and the Goths in Italy, and, finally, Childeric and the Franks of northern Gaul.
Questions
14:40: break (10 min)
14:50: K. Tengeler, ‘Polemics in Subtlety. Roman Political Culture in Mamertinus’ Panegyric on Julian the Apostate’
Greek cities of the Hellenistic and Roman cities had a strong festival culture. Festivals with athletic, equestrian and musical competitions flourished as never before, often paid by wealthy benefactors. Such festivals were much more than popular entertainments: they offered a complex social, cultural and political experience that played a major role in defining the social and political relations. In this paper we shall explore some of the ways in which festivals were part of the political culture in the post-classical polis with a special focus on the role of the benefactors.
Questions
15:15: M. Kooijman, ‘Legislators or Lobby Fodder? The Normative Meaning of Interaction in the Letter Collections of the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451)’
In the fifth century AD, the Roman Emperor communicated mostly through letters. Modern scholars tend to regard only imperial letters meeting specific formal criteria as Roman law. But how did these letters function in their own time? What was a letter, what was a law, and what did it mean if a letter became a law? This presentation explores three cases of late-antique imperial correspondence. Firstly, it compares the pre-conciliar letters of Emperor Marcian with his Novellae. Whereas the former were not explicitly laws, the latter were included in a sixth-century codification of Roman law, the Breviarium Alarici. It is the similarities between the two that can broaden our understanding of written imperial imperatives. Secondly, in order to put Marcian’s letters into perspective, I will analyze the Collectio Sirmondiana, a rare example of late-antique Roman law in its original epistolary form. Finally, these case studies will lead to the conclusion that Marcian, although applying terms from the juridical jargon to his pre-conciliar letters, formally accepted the independent power of the Christian Church. His letters to Pope Leo and the council bishops at Chalcedon (AD 451) did not claim the same monarchical power as the legislative epistles of Marcian and his predecessors.
Questions
15:40: break (10 min)
15:50: O.M. van Nijf, ‘Festivals, benefactors, and the political culture in the Greek city’
Greek cities of the Hellenistic and Roman cities had a strong festival culture. Festivals with athletic, equestrian and musical competitions flourished as never before, often paid by wealthy benefactors. Such festivals were much more than popular entertainments: they offered a complex social, cultural and political experience that played a major role in defining the social and political relations. In this paper we shall explore some of the ways in which festivals were part of the political culture in the post-classical polis with a special focus on the role of the benefactors.
Questions
16:30: L.E. Tacoma, ‘Closing the Doors again’
In these concluding remarks, the question will be addressed how we should understand changes in political culture. The late antique cases show the successful appropriation and adaptation of political discourse and behaviour by new groups in Late Antiquity. In this way, a classical model of political culture could remain the major point of reference even when the urban elites, cities, the festivals, and the traditional political institutions on which this political culture were based faded into the background.
16:45: general discussion