Pagans and Christians in Late Antique Rome: Interpreting the Evidence

Thursday 20 September 2012

9 am – 9:30 am: Welcome Addresses and Introductory Presentation

Antal Molnár, director of the Hungarian Academy in Rome

Marianne Sághy, Michele R. Salzman, Rita Lizzi Testa conference organizers

Johanna Rákos-Zichy, Mariana Bodnaruk conference coordinators

9:30 am – 11:00 am:  Religion and the Emperor  

Thomas Jürgasch (Freiburg University) Constantine, the Christians and the Invention of Paganism

Laura Acampora (Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana, Roma) Pagan Temples and Christian Buildings in Rome between the Fourth and Fifth Century: an Archeological and Topographical Approach

Douglas Boin (Georgetown University) Imperial Cult in Christian Rome:

Towards a More Nuanced Understanding of Fourth and Fifth Century Society

11 am -11:30 am: Coffee Break

11:30 am – 1:00 pm: Cultu(ra)l Memories

Gitte Lønstrup Dal Santo (Accademia di Danimarca, Roma) Storytelling and Cultural Memory in the Making: Celebrating Pagan and Christian Founders of Rome

Kristine Iara (Ludwig-Maximilian University, München) Connecting the Remains: Cult Places in Late Antique Rome

Michael Mulryan - Luke Lavan (University of Kent) The Fate of Temples of Ostia in an Italian Context

1:00 pm- 3:00 pm: Lunch

3:00 pm- 4:30 pm: Pagan Cults and Magic

Silviu Anghel (EDRIS, Göttingen) Shifting the Orthodoxy: the Changing Face of Pagan Cults

Jonas Bjornebye (Accademia di Norvegia, Roma) Re-Interpreting the Cult of Mithras

Maijastina Kahlos (University of Helsinki)  Artis heu magicis: The Label of Magic in the Fourth-Century Conflicts and Disputes

4:30 pm – 5:00 pm: Coffee Break

5:00pm- 6:30 pm: Culture, Conflict, Cohabitation

Giulia Marconi (Università di Perugia) Pagans, Christians and Young People: Spaces of Education

Danielle Slootjes (Radboud University, Nijmegen) Christianity and its Influence on Crowd Behavior

Francesca Diosono (Università di Perugia) Professiones Gentiliciae: the Collegia of Rome between Paganism and Christianity

7:00 pm: Keynote lecture

Michele R. Salzman (University of California Riverside) Pagans and Christians in Constantine's Rome

8:00 pm Cocktail dinner

Friday 21 September

9:00 am-10:30 am:  Religion and the Urban Prefecture

David Natal (University of Manchester) Symmachus and the Anician Entourage: Famine and Religious Controversy

Robert Chenault (Willamette University) Beyond Pagans and Christians: Politics and Intra-Christian Conflict in the Controversy over the Altar of Victory

Claire Sotinel (Université Paris-Est, Créteil Val de Marne) The Urban Prefect and  Christian Building Projects

10:30-11:00: am Coffee Break

11:00 am – 12:30 pm: Reinterpreting the Gods

Alessandra Bravi (Università di Perugia) Divine Images: from Cult to Ornament?

Caroline Michel d’Annoville (Université Grenoble 2) Rome and Imagery in Late Antiquity: Perception and Use of Statues

Levente Nagy (University of Pécs) Representations of Hercules in Fourth-Century Christian Context

12:30- 3:00 pm: Lunch

3:00 pm – 4:30 pm: Poetry and Propaganda

Marianne Sághy (CEU, Budapest), Romanae gloria plebis: Bishop Damasus and the Traditions of Rome

Dennis E. Trout (University of Missouri) Making Difference: the Carmina contra Paganos and the Invention of Late Roman Paganism

Neil McLynn (Oxford University), Poetry and Pagans in Late Antique Rome: the Case of the Senator “Converted from the Christian religion to Servitude to the Idols”

4:30 pm – 5:00 pm: Coffee Break

5:00 pm – 6:30 pm: Marriage Strategies, Burial Policies and Cult of the Saints

Gaetano Colantuono (Bari) Propter copiam puellarum: Interreligious Marriages among Christians and Pagans

Nicola Denzey Lewis (Brown University) Reinterpreting Pagans and Christians from Rome's Late Antique Mortuary Evidence

Hartwin Brandt (Bamberg University) Paulinus of Nola and the City of Rome

7:00 pm: Concluding Remarks

Rita Lizzi Testa (Università di Perugia) Vrbs Roma between Pagans and Christians

8:00 pm:  Dinner