STRATEGIES OF REMEMBRANCE IN GREECE UNDER ROME
NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE AT ATHENS: 19-21 OCTOBER 2016
Organizers:
Tamara Dijkstra & Inger Kuin, University of Groningen
Muriel Moser & David Weidgenannt, Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main
CALL FOR PAPERS
Submissions deadline: January 29, 2016
In ancient and modern narratives alike, Roman Greece is often described as a shadow of its glorious past, and as a place
of powerlessness and passivity. Indeed, the cities of Greece underwent radical transformations in the centuries following
the Classical era: Macedonian rule and Roman hegemony both had important implications for the political power and
autonomy of the Greek cities and its citizens. These significant political changes were marked by outbursts of violence,
humanitarian crises, as well as increased contacts with Rome and the wider Mediterranean world. Both communities and
individuals were forced to navigate these circumstances, and ultimately carve a new position in the Roman world. In this
context, the invaluable resource of the past, be it real or imagined, constituted a powerful tool for self-definition and the
construction of (private or communal) public images. As a result, strategies of remembrance played a key role in this
process of adaptation.
There are various examples of people who sought to anchor the Roman present in the Greek past, ranging from explicit
use of the admired old Greece to subtle negotiations between tradition and innovation. Cities prided themselves in their
ancient, often mythical roots; the grand cities of Classical Greece - Athens, Sparta, Olympia - became popular tourist
destinations, and often the recipients of acts of lavish euergetism; young students were taught the art of rhetoric
through impersonations of Pericles or Socrates; and old Greek virtues were reaffirmed through the use of classicizing
iconography and epigraphy. Monuments commemorating Roman victories in Greece were a very different, yet equally
powerful reminder of the current state of affairs.
The aim of this collaborative workshop is to examine the ways in which communities and individuals, be they Greek or
Roman, mobilized the past as a resource in the political or social arena in Greece in the 1st century BCE and the 1st
century CE. The workshop is based on pre-circulated papers of c. 8000 words (in English). As we want to explore
comparative perspectives on strategies of remembrance in Roman Greece, we invite PhD-students, Post-Doctoral
researchers and senior scholars from various disciplines - Archaeology, Classics, Ancient History to send their
applications. Topic suggestions include:
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Architecture and city planning in the urban centres of Roman Greece
Remembering through public and private monuments
Tradition and innovation in religion, cults, and rituals
The past in Imperial Greek works of literature
Coinage and ‘Graeco-Roman’ identity
Nomenclature: choosing a name in Roman Greece
Please send your abstract (300 words) and a brief description of your academic background (150 words) by January 29,
2016 to [email protected] (contact: Tamara Dijkstra, David Weidgenannt).