Events Programme 2022-2023
No booking is necessary for the events below, apart from the Reconnecting Roman Britain conference on 11 November and the event at the Society of Antiquaries on 2 February.
Tuesday 8 November, 5.30pm
Room G35, Senate House, London
Presidential Lecture
Professor Tim Cornell: ‘The Consular Fasti and the early history of the Roman Republic’
Friday 11 November
Chancellor's Hall, Senate House, London
Reconnecting Roman Britain
‘Reconnecting Roman Britain’ is a new one-day, in-person event aimed at showcasing the latest research and findings on Britain in the Roman world and enhancing cross-sector and community connections. The event will include a wide range of contributions on recent discoveries and investigations into the archaeology of Roman Britain.
The inaugural event will take place at Senate House, London, and is organised by Andrew Gardner, Natasha Harlow, Lisa Lodwick and Sadie Watson, on behalf of the Britannia editorial committee of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies. The aim is for this to be the first in an annual series of events, with future day-conferences taking place at rotating locations across the UK.
Saturday 19 November
Online
Remembering Joyce Reynolds
A joint event with the British Epigraphy Society to remember Joyce Reynolds (President of the Roman Society, 1986-1989)
The programme and joining instructions will be advertised when available.
Tuesday 6 December, 5.30pm
G35, Senate House, London
Dr Emilio Zucchetti (Roman Society Germanicus Scholar 2020-2022): 'Were Private Debts Publicly Recorded in the Late Republic? Tabulae novae, the Multitude, and the Leader in the Debt Crisis of 48-47 BCE'
Thursday 2 February, 5pm
Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House
Dr Yannis Galanakis: 'The antiquities trade in late 19th century Greece – stories of people & objects'
Book here: https://www.sal.org.uk/event/antiquities-trade/
Abstract:
The last few decades have witnessed a renewed interest on behalf of source countries to get back ancient objects that have been illicitly excavated and exported from them; and of institutions in central and north Europe and north America (in so-called ‘import’ countries) to document and investigate the provenance and authenticity of their collections. Despite this interest, however, objects – not people – remain central to discussions surrounding the antiquities trade – licit or illicit. In this talk, I aim to shift attention to people: who were the diggers, dealers and recipients of the ancient objects that were being unearthed in the second half of the nineteenth century in Greece? How did they organise their trade and what motives did they have? By going back to the protagonists of this fascinating story and by contextualising them historically and alongside the antiquities legislation that was in operation in Greece at the time, my aim is to provide a glimpse of a world little known – a social history of the antiquities trade, where people and their actions take centre stage and ancient objects become active agents in the promotion, negotiation and service of different socio-political agendas. This is, historically, a very important period not only for Greece but for Europe and North America as it was, after all, during this time that the foundations of modern museum collections were laid. It was also the period during which – more systematically than ever before – digging for the past was transformed from an antiquarian activity to a professional practice (archaeology). This transformation impacted on excavation processes, collecting attitudes, and the measures that had to be taken for the protection and curation of the past as well as on the, now more rigorously regulated, monitoring of the trade in ancient objects.
Wednesday 22 February, 5.30pm
G35, Senate House, London
Dr Peter Sarris: 'Justinian: Holy Emperor and Demon King'
Tuesday 28 March, 5.30
G35, Senate House, London
Joint Event with the Hellenic Society: The Antikythera Mechanism, chaired by Professor Liba Taub, University of Cambridge
Professor Mike Edmunds: 'From Antiquity to a Mechanical Universe - the implications of the Antikythera Mechanism'
Dr Seb Falk: title tbc
Saturday 3 June, 2pm
G22/26, Senate House, London
2.00 AGM
Ancient Enslavement: fresh perspectives
2.30 Myles Lavan (St Andrews): Manumission in the Roman world: a comparative perspective
3.00 Henrik Mouritsen (KCL): Recent trends in the study of ancient slavery
3.45 Tea
4.15 April Pudsey (ManMet): The Lives and Concerns of Enslaved Children: Evidence from Roman and Late Antique Egypt
4.45 Alice Rio (KCL): Early Medieval Slavery: what changed?
5.30 Reception
Click here to see upcoming lectures hosted jointly with Classical Association.
Details of past events can be found here.
Visit the Roman Society's YouTube channel to browse videos of past lectures.