INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

MEDIAL (RE)PRESENTATIONS - VARIOUS MESSAGES

LEADERSHIP, IDEOLOGY AND CROWDS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE OF THE 4th CENTURY AD


GÖTTINGEN, 19-20 FEBRUARY 2015



Theme

This conference concentrates on leadership, ideology and crowds in the fourth century AD (i.e. the period from the emperors Constantine to Theodosius (306-395). As a dynamic period within Roman history, the fourth century saw various transformations in the imperial administrative structures, the position of the emperor(s), and the emerging dominance of Christianity. We will investigate the fourth century at large, with a specific focus on the functioning of leadership and ideology, and on the ways in which leading figures in society - in particular emperors and bishops - interacted with their 'crowds', whether they be the inhabitants of the city of Rome, the subjects of the empire at large or the members of the various Christian communities. The emergence of bishops as religious leaders on the worldly stage of power made them a force to reckon with for the emperors of the fourth century. Consequently, we are interested in the ways in which emperors and bishops interacted while having similar aims: securing their own position of power.




Goals

Our workshop seeks to:

    (1) develop a typology of leadership relations in the fourth century

    (2) understand expressions of leadership, ideology and crowds in various types of sources

    (3) merge traditional philological and historical analyses with modern theories and methodological applications from a broad range of disciplines such as ancient history, classical philology, archaeology, art history, Roman law, theology, sociology, social psychology, topography or urban design.


Programme

For the programme click here or see the sidebar.




Organizers

The conference is organized by Erika Manders and Danielle Slootjes, and forms a joint venture between the universities of Göttingen (Germany) and Nijmegen (The Netherlands).