To Embrace and to Reject: Cultural Memories in Roman Macedonia (ca. 1st Century BC – 3rd Century AD)

All welcome to the workshop 

To Embrace and to Reject: Cultural Memories in Roman Macedonia (ca. 1st Century BC – 3rd Century AD).

The workshop takes place on Thursday, 21 and Friday, 22 November, 2024, in a hy­brid for­mat with live pres­ence at the Swedish In­sti­tute at Athens, Mit­seon 9, and on­line via Zoom.

It is co-organized by Georgia Galani (Swedish Institute at Athens) and Panagiotis Tselekas (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki).

The workshop intends to shed light on the different ways in which the local communities of Roman Macedonia employed their cultural memories in the encounter with Rome and the Roman population living in the region. Set against the political background of the Macedonian kingdom, with its kings and omnipotent military elite, the events and developments of the first period of Roman rule, before Augustus, might have had a long-standing impact on the relation of Macedonia with its pre-Roman past. The role of the old elites – a key-player in the mobilization of past as a political resource in response to change – might have affected local responses to the Roman rule, possibly resulting to quite different strategies of remembering compared to other provincial parallels. What was the role of memory in a region where the glorious past, primarily of a military character, was, on the one hand, numbed during the first phase of Roman rule, and on the other hand generally lacking the ‘classical tradition’ of the Greek city-states that could potentially be used as leverage in the relationship with Rome?

Programme

Thursday, 21 November 2024

09.00-09.30: Registration

Introduction

09.30-10.00: Georgia Galani (Swedish Institute at Athens) & Panagiotis Tselekas (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

First Session: Rome and Macedonia: Living and Remembering in a Common Present

10.00-10.30: Rubina Raja (Aarhus University): Forging the Future: Caesar’s Forum Iulium, Augustus’ Legacy and Visions, and the Shaping of Early Imperial Rome.

10.30-11.00: Frank Daubner (Trier University): A Gift for Emperor Tiberius. Macedonian Past and Roman Audience.

11.00-11.30: Antti Lampinen (Turku University / The Nordic Library at Athens): Nomina sicuti numina: Hellenistic Cultural Memories and Apotheosis in Trogus-Justin’s Account of the 3rd Century BC.

Coffee Break

11.30-12.00

Second Session: To Remember and to Forget: Shreds of the Local Past in a Roman Province

12.00-12.30: Vassilis Evangelidis (Athena Research Centre): Mechanisms and Manifestations of Memory and Remembrance in Roman Macedonia.

12.30-13.00: Dimitris Damaskos (University of Patras): Searching for Cultural Memory in Roman Macedonia, or the Construction of the Past: Some Case Studies.

13.00-13.30: Natalia Kazakidi (Academy of Athens) & Ioanna Vasileiadou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki): Gymnasia in Roman Macedonia: Between the Roman Present and the Hellenistic Past.

Lunch Break

13.30-15.00

Third Session: Divine Memories: Old Gods and Heroes in New Settings

15.00-15.30: Georgia Galani (Swedish Institute at Athens): From Royal Memories to ‘Imperial’ Concerns: Divine Representations in the Coinage of Roman Macedonia.

15.30-16.00: Panagiotis Tselekas (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki): Embracing and Commemorating Alexander the Great in Roman Macedonia.

16.00-16.30: Emmanuel Voutiras (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki): The Cult of Dionysos in Roman Macedonia: Survival or Revival?

General Discussion

16.30-17.00

Friday, 22 November 2024

Fourth Session: Whose Memories? The Evidence from the People and the Cities

09.00-09.30: Elias Sverkos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) & Nikolaos Gavriilidis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki): The Macedonian Past in the Epigraphic Evidence of the Imperial Period.

09.30-10.00: Dimitra Terzopoulou (Academy of Athens): Constructing Memory in Roman Thessaloniki. Tradition, Adaptations and Innovations on the Funerary Monuments of Locals and Foreigners.

10.00-10.30: Eleni Papagianni (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki): Τhe ‘Second Life’ of a Marble Statue Group from Roman Dion.

Coffee Break

10.30-11.00

11.00-11.30: Katerina Anagnostopoulou (Ephorate of Antiquities of Kozani / University of Ioannina): Interpretating Death in Roman Macedonia. The Case of the Funerary Monuments from Upper Macedonia.

11.30-12.00: Silvana Blazhevska (National Institution Stobi): Cultural Memories in the Northern Part of Roman Macedonia: General Perspectives.

General Discussion

12.00-12.30

Conclusions

12.30-13.00: Athanassios Rizakis (Hellenic Research Foundation / Université Nancy II).

Warmly welcome!

Attached files: Poster, Programme 

Sign up to participate on Day 1 (November 21)

Sign up to participate on Day 2 (November 22)