Curriculum Vitae – Erik Thaddeus Walters, Dr. Phil. – Lebenslauf
John Cabot University, Department of History and the Humanities
Via della Lungara 233 – 00165 Roma (RM), Italia – Europe – (+39) 338 498 0870 – [email protected]
Current Academic Employment: Assistant Professor of Classics, History, and Religious Studies – JCU, Rome
Courses taught:
2011 Spring Semester (January-May):
LAT 101: Elementary Latin 1
RL 221: History of the Church
2011 Winter Semester (August-December):
LAT 101: Elementary Latin 1
RL 221: History of the Church
2012 Spring Semester (January-May):
LAT 102: Elementary Latin 2
RL 221-1: The Popes of Rome: History of the Catholic Church
RL 221-2: The Popes of Rome: History of the Catholic Church
2012 Summer Semester I (May-June):
RL 221-1: The Popes of Rome: History of the Catholic Church
2012 Winter Semester (August-December):
LAT 102: Elementary Latin 2
RL 221-1: The Popes of Rome: History of the Catholic Church
2013 Spring Semester (January-May):
LAT 282: Directed Readings in Latin
RL 221-1: The Popes of Rome: History of the Catholic Church
RL 225-1: Mystic, Saints, and Sinners: Studies in Medieval Catholic Culture
HST 311: Rome through the Ages: 8th cent. BCE through the 5th cent. CE (Richmond University)
2013 Summer Semester I (May-June):
RL 221-1: The Popes of Rome: History of the Catholic Church
2013 Summer Semester II (June-July):
HST 311: Rome through the Ages: 8th cent. BCE through the 5th cent. CE (Richmond University)
2013 Fall Semester (September-December):
LAT 282: Directed Readings in Latin
RL 221-1: The Popes of Rome: History of the Catholic Church
RL 225-2: Mystic, Saints, and Sinners: Studies in Medieval Catholic Culture
2014 Spring Semester (January-May):
LAT 282: Directed Readings in Latin
RL 221-1: The Popes of Rome: History of the Catholic Church
RL 225-1: Mystic, Saints, and Sinners: Studies in Medieval Catholic Culture
HST 311: Rome through the Ages: 8th cent. BCE through the 5th cent. CE (Richmond University)
2014 Summer Semester II (June-July):
HST 311: Rome through the Ages: 8th cent. BCE through the 5th cent. CE (Richmond University)
2014 Fall Semester (September-December):
LAT 203: Directed Readings in Latin (Trinity College)
LAT 282: Directed Readings in Latin
RL 221-1: The Popes of Rome: History of the Catholic Church
RL 225-1: Mystic, Saints, and Sinners: Studies in Medieval Catholic Culture
RL 481: Does Religion Poison Everything? Atheism, Theism, and Antitheism
2015 Spring Semester (January-May):
LAT 282: Directed Readings in Latin
RL 221-1: The Popes of Rome: History of the Catholic Church
RL 221-1: The Popes of Rome: History of the Catholic Church
RL 225-1: Mystic, Saints, and Sinners: Studies in Medieval Catholic Culture
HST 311: Rome through the Ages: 8th cent. BCE through the 5th cent. CE (Richmond University)
REL 300: Comparative World Religions (Richmond University)
Academic Formation:
2010 Universität Wien – Institut für Klassische Philologie, Mittel- und Neulatein, Wien - Österreich
Philologische-Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakultät - Klassische Philologie, Mittel- und Neulatein
Dr. Phil. sehr gut 1 (Dissertation: “Unitas in Latin Antiquity: the Contribution of Cyprian”
Betreuer: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Kurt Smolak
Prüferin: Univ.-Ao. Prof. Dr. Christine Ratkowitsch
Vorsitz: Univ.-Ao. Prof. Dr. Georg Danek)
2009 Pantheon Institute of Technology and Design, Roma - Italia
Faculty of graphic design: free-hand, CAG (Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDraw, QxPress), web design
Diploma professional
2003 Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana and the Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, Roma - Italia
Faculty of Cultural Heritage and History (interdisciplinary studies in archaeology, archives, art history,
cataloguing, conservation and legislation, library sciences, museum curatorship)
Faculty of Patristic Sciences (Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, Roma - Italia)
Faculty of Systematic Theology
S.T.L. magna cum laude (thesis: “Unitas” in Cyprian of Carthage: Change, Confusion, Contradiction, or Continuity)
direttore: Prof. Ord. Philipp Renczes, Dr. Theol.)
2001 Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, Roma - Italia
Faculty of Cultural Heritage and History (interdisciplinary studies in archaeology, archives, art history,
cataloguing, iconology, conservation and legislation, library science, museum curatorship)
Faculty of Theology
S.T.B. magna cum laude
1997 Saint Charles Borromeo, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Faculty of Undergraduate Studies and the Liberal Arts
Major: Philosophy, Greek, and Latin
B.A. magna cum laude
Languages:
Modern: castellano; Deutsch; English; français; italiano
Ancient: Greek, Latin
In situ employment, research, and teaching-related applications
2013-present Alberese Archeological Project in Toscana (excavating units & mapping contexts; cleaning and
cataloguing finds) – www.progettoalberese.it – (field work on excavations in situ of glass and
jewelry factory, food and commerce river and seaport from 1st-5th cents. CE)
2011-present Context Travel – www.contexttravel.com
Walking seminars of various archeological, medieval, renaissance, and baroque sites in Rome led
by Ph.D. or MA-level scholars.
1997-present Official licensed guide (con patentino) of Rome and the Vatican
- City and Province of Rome (all sites, museums, and monuments)
- Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica
- 1st – 4th century CE Roman necropolis in Vaticano (a.k.a. the “scavi”)
April 1999
Archaeological and historical research in situ Israel and Palestine (Nazareth, Jerusalem, Bethlehem,
Galilee); Amman-Petra, Jordan (R. Mackowski, Ph.D., S.S.D., moderator)
April 1998
Archaeological and historical research in situ Istanbul-Izmir, Turkey (R. Mackowski, Ph.D, S.S.D.,
moderator)
Pertinent peer reviewed publications:
Monograph (published):
“Unitas” in Latin Antiquity: Four Centuries of Continuity, Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2011, 220p, ISBN
9783631614938.
“Unitas ex Africa: was Tertullian the origo of imperial unification?”, 45p., in The Roman Empire during the Severan
Dynasty, DE SENA, E., ed., American Journal of Ancient History (AJAH), Gorgias Press, June 2013, 590p, ISBN
978-1-59333-838-1.
Edited Series (forthcoming):
Bridging the Gap: in Commemoration of the 1700th Anniversary of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, WALTERS, E.T., ed.,
Cambridge Scholars, London, 2014.
Articles for Peer Reviewed Scientific Publications (forthcoming):
“Christohorubacchanysos in Vatic ad circum: the origin of Constantine’s ‘illumination’ in light of an imperial
necropolis”, 20p., in Bridging the Gap: John Cabot University Conference Lectures in Commemoration of the 1700th
Anniversary of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, WALTERS, E.T., ed., Cambridge Scholars, London, December 2014.
Translation as ghostwriter:
“Chapter 2.3.3: The Byzantine Empire and the First Barbarian Kingdoms”, PORENA, P., in “Part 2: Ancient
Societies and Their States” in the Oxford Handbook of Economies in the Classical World, Oxford University Press,
Oxford, U.K., 2012.
Review (forthcoming):
“Giuliano a Cesarea: La Politica Ecclesiastica del Principe Apostata”, Herder Verlag, 2009, 220p, ISBN 9788889670521,
in the BMCR, Summer 2014.
In p reparation:
Book Translation:
A Palace Fit for Pigs: the Porcari Family Home in Medieval Rome, trans. of I Porcari, MODAGLIANI, A..
Articles:
“Unitas ex origine: from a stoic cosmopolis to a universal assembly in light of the Constitutio Antoniniana and the
third century crisis”
“Ulpian, Tertullian, and Cyprian: the stillbirth of the constitutional republican democratic model?”
“Acton, Hartel und Pius IX: Cyprianus von Karthago verfangen in den Fadenkreuzen”
“Hinc sacerdotii unitas exoritur: Cipriano nascosto e riscoperto in Vaticano”
“Gödel’s Theorem, Schläfli’s Symbols, and Stoicism: beyond the paradox of faith and reason?”
“Ludwig Schläfli and the ‘Stoic Solids’: a mathematical proof of a metaphysical paradox?”
Papers Presented and Conferences Attended:
•
The Severan Age: Commemoration of the 1800th Anniversary of the Death of Septimius Severus:
John Cabot University, Rome, Italy, 24-25 April 2011. Paper presented: “Unitas ex Africa: was Tertullian
the origo of imperial unification?”
•
Bridging the Gap: Commemoration of the 1700th Anniversary of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge:
John Cabot University, Rome, Italy, 24-25 May 2012. Paper presented: “Christohorubacchanysos in Vatic ad
circum: the origin of Constantine’s ‘illumination’ in light of an imperial necropolis”
Conferences Organized:
•
Bridging the Gap: Commemoration of the 1700th Anniversary of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge:
John Cabot University, Rome, Italy, 24-25 May 2012.
Current Research Interests and Projects:
•
Ancient Philosophy: reexamination and evaluation of economic, political, religious, and sociological
dynamics determinative of the gradual predominance of Neo-Platonism over Late Stoicism from the
Augustan through Theodosian Ages; reexamination of the Phoenician roots of Stoicism
•
Ancient Religion: reexamination and evaluation of the transformation of pagan solar monotheism
specifically in the Bacchic/Dionysiac cult and the Christian/Gnostic cult from the Nerva-Antonine
through the Severan ages specifically in Rome (in situ research of necropolis in Vaticano)
•
Archaeology, Conservation and Legislation of Cultural Patrimony: Palazzo Porcari in Rome, Italy
(14th – 15th centuries CE); Ancient Roman Necropolis in Vaticano (1st – 4th centuries CE)
•
Comparison of ancient and contemporary theoretical mathematical and physical models:
comparison of stoic thought on physics and its bearing on contemporary models of theoretical physical
theories (e.g. ancient stoicism, platonic solids, Euclidean geometry, Schläfli’s Symbols, Maxwell’s
Equations, Gödel’s Theorem, T.O.E., string/M theory, Unified Field Theory)
•
Linguistics and Literary Theory: examination of 20th century logical analysis/“positivism” precedents
in authors (especially Stoics) of the Late Republican/Augustan (Varro, Ovid), Early Imperial (Seneca the
Younger, Pliny the Elder), and Severan/3rd century crisis (Ulpian, Tertullian, Cyprian) Ages
•
Medieval-Renaissance church-state politics, international law, history, and archaeology: papal
politics, the Florentine-Roman noble Porcari Family, and the Palazzo Porcari in Rome from 1378-1498
•
Socio-politics, jurisprudence and law, ecclesiology: transmission and reception of Ulpian,
Tertullian, and Cyprian in the imperial-ecclesial dynamic and ius civile from the 4th – 9th centuries CE
•
Theology, philosophy, and history: evaluation of determination of two distinct branches of anteNicene Christian thought, i.e. not only neo-platonic but stoic, also, in contrast to opinion that there
exists either a melding of the two or a strictly Platonist influence that prevailed in the ante-Nicene/preConstantinian epoch
Academic Research Related References:
Univ.-Prof. Dr. K. Smolak; Ao. Univ.-Prof. Dr. G. Danek; Ao. Univ.-Prof. C. Ratkowitsch
Universität Wien – Institut für Klassische Philologie, Mittel- und Neulatein
Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring 1 A-1010 Wien – Österreich +43 6766146674 / +43 (0) 1427741909
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Academic Didactic and Professional Related References
Prof. Mary Merva, PhD, C.F.A.
Vice-President and Dean of Academic Affairs
John Cabot University
Via della Lungara 233
00165 Roma (RM) Italia
(+39) 06 6819121
[email protected]
Rosanna Graziani
Resident Director
The Rome Study Center of Richmond University
Piazza Sant'Andrea della Valle 6
00186 Roma (RM) Italia
(+39) 06 6875 296 [email protected]
Christoph Dr. Kardinal Schönborn
Wollzeile 2
A-1010 Wien – Österreich
Mario Bosco, Capo Ufficio
Ufficio Scavi
00120 Città del Vaticano
Europe
(+39) 06 69871330
[email protected]
Paul Bennet
General Manager
Context Travel
Via Santa Maria Maggiore 145, Suite 14
00185 Roma (RM) Italia
(+39) 06 97625204 www.contexttravel.com
Alessandro Sebastiani, Ph.D.
Director of the Alberese Archaeological Project
Marie Curie IE Fellow - University of Sheffield
Department of Archaeology
Northgate House
West Street
Sheffield
S1 4ET
[email protected]
Dr. Eric C. De Sena, Director
American Research Center in Sofia
75 Vasil Petleshkov Str.
1510 Sofia, Bulgaria
[email protected]
Proposal for Major Research Project/Habilitation:
“Οικονοµια Trinitatis”: Beyond the Paradox of Faith and Reason
Preliminary Hypothesis and Scope: A comprehensive examination of the transformation of the late antique
Roman Empire into the early medieval Holy Roman Empire through an exhaustive diachronic philological
analysis and synthesis of fundamental and ancillary Latin terms and concepts pertinent to said development
potentially may lead to a re-evaluation of established historical interpretations of the period in question and its
repercussions particularly for three major areas of study beyond classical philology: 1) history of science,
linguistics, logic, and theoretical physics; 2) jurisprudence, constitutional models, political theory, and state
relations; 3) paleo-Christian studies, patristic sciences, philosophy, and theology.
Preliminary Research: The results of research based on an exhaustive analysis of all 233 instances of the term
unitas in extant Latin literature from the 1st century BCE through the early 4th century CE – leading to the
successful defence of the doctoral thesis in 2010 and publication of the revised monograph Unitas in Latin
Antiquity: Four Centuries of Continuity in 2011 – and the very context that gave genesis to that endeavour, viz.
centuries-old debate over the textual authenticity and meaningful interpretation of two versions of the mid-3rd
century CE’s Cyprian’s De ecclesiae catholicae unitate, reveal that what long has been presumed to be an argument of
interest only to historians of early Christianity, patristic scholars, and theologians has its origin, dynamics, and
ramifications in three major areas which prior to the aforementioned study would have remained in obscurity.
1) History of Science, Linguistics, Literary Theory, Logic, Higher Dimensional Mathematics,
and Theoretical Physics: an ancient Stoic brand of “logical analysis” (anticipating the pursuits of
the early 20th century’s “Wiener Kreis”) that verbalized the logically true and valid proofs of the first
of the so-called Platonic solids, the tetrahedron, whose properties were not proven mathematically
until the theologian turned-philologist turned-mathematician, architect of higher multidimensional
geometry, and Swiss-born Ludwig Schläfli presented his thesis Theorie der vielfachen Kontinuität before
Vienna’s Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften (current ÖAW) in 1852, that considered
together pose potentially revolutionary ramifications for theoretical physical models (various “Super
String” theories, “M” Theory, “T.O.E.”, Gödel’s Theorem, various theories inspired by “Maxwell’s
Equations”, and “zero point” energy theories).
2) Civil and Constitutional Jurisprudence and Law, Political Theory, and State Relations: the
jurist Tertullian composed his “Christian” works concomitant to Ulpian’s preparation of Rome’s
revolutionary Constitutio Antoniniana in 212 which among other things supplanted the ius gentium with
the ius civile Romanum subsequently extending Roman citizenship to all freedmen and freedwomen
within the Empire’s confines through the juridical mechanism of origo. Tertullian’s application of the
same mechanism together with the juridical concepts of oikonomia and sacramentum to the Stoic
concept of unitas allowed him to verbalize and reflect the tetrahedron in his exposition of trinitas and
subsequent legal defence of the Christian religio based not on divine revelation but on that from
which Roman lex, ius, and iustitia ultimately are derived: ratio. Tertullian’s Trinitarian doctrine
provided the rhetor Cyprian with the formula for postulating the unitas ecclesiae catholicae during the
height of the third century crisis. Two possible interpretations of one constitutional paradigm
simultaneously emerged: 1) a return to the tri-partite Roman republican model; 2) a continuation of
the autocratic and monarchic Roman imperial model. Constantine, confronted with the presence of
a formidable state within a state embodied by the Christian “universal assembly” in the early fourth
century, decidedly followed the latter model gradually supplanting the pagan with the NiceneChristian religio and maintaining the identification of religion with state, which culminated with
Theodosius’ legislation outlawing all religions save the Nicene-Christian brand, the subsequent
identification of the Christian universal assembly (ecclesia catholica) with the imperial S.P.Q.R., or
church with state, and Rome’s Christian bishops’ co-opting of the office of pontifex maximus. Such
would define all subsequent juridical and political developments in the Byzantine, Merovingian, and
Carolingian empires, early medieval Europe, and state relations among these until the first attempt at
a return to the constitutional Roman Republican model and the birth of the modern nation-state
with the signing of the Magna Charta in 1215.
3) Paleo-Christian Studies, Patristic Sciences, Philosophy, and Theology: the Trinitarian
theology, Christology, and ecclesiology of the second and third centuries’ Tertullian and Cyprian
have been underestimated if not ignored due to presumptions of latent subordinationist tendencies
in the former’s unitas trinitatis and confusion and contradiction in the latter’s unitas ecclesiae catholicae.
Results of the aforementioned research demonstrate not only that a complete re-evaluation of
current models among Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic ecclesiologies is warranted, but that both
Tertullian’s and Cyprian’s thought already resolves completely the Christological and Trinitarian
debates that fuelled the first four ecumenical councils convoked in the fourth and fifth centuries,
which debates were due precisely to confusion in diction among Greeks in the Eastern Empire
(hypostasis, physis, prosopon, and ousia) and in spite of linguistically clear and logical expositions in Latin
formulated by the decidedly not subordinationist Trinitarian thought of Tertullian and completely
coherent ecclesiology of Cyprian.
Point of Departure and Terminal Point: the point of departure is concomitant to the chronological terminus
of the aforementioned doctoral thesis, i.e. 313CE. The amount of data collected will determine necessarily the
historical period of the proposed study, which foresees three potential terminal points: 1) the beginning of the
early medieval Carolingian/Holy Roman Empire in 800; 2) the definitive political and ecclesial rupture between
medieval Europe and the Byzantine Empire in 1054; 3) the decline of the Byzantine Empire, the rise of medieval
Europe and papal power, and the birth of the concept of the modern nation state through the Magna Charta in
1215 and the first attempt to return to the constitutional republican model.
Hermeneutic: the basic methodology to be employed is that utilized in the doctoral thesis but with a much
broader and more complex scope, viz. an exhaustive diachronic philological analysis and synthesis not only of
unitas but of other terms fundamental and ancillary to that term’s use (e.g. ius, oikonomia, origo, pontifex maximus,
sacramentum, vicarius, vinculum) in a variety of sources (e.g. Ambrose, Boethius, Gregory, Leo, church councils,
Justinian’s Corpus Iuris Civilis, et al.) in order to form a meaningful synthesis and accurate re-evaluation of the
object of research.