Banning ideas, burning books: the dynamics of censorship in classical antiquity. How to balance the right to free speech and dissent against other legitimate concerns is an issue that is always with us. This project explores neglected literary evidence from antiquity to study responses to controversial ideas in order to enhance the modern debate on the limits of freedom of speech.
The Vandal Renaissance: Latin Literature in Post-Roman Africa (435-534CE). The project aims to investigate the Latin literature of the Vandal kingdom of North Africa. It expects to identify a vibrant literary culture that celebrated multicultural diversity, embraced the Classical tradition, and contributed to Christian theology, while helping form a distinct Vandal identity. Expected outcomes include a more detailed understanding of the intellectual influences on Vandal African authors, the mech ....The Vandal Renaissance: Latin Literature in Post-Roman Africa (435-534CE). The project aims to investigate the Latin literature of the Vandal kingdom of North Africa. It expects to identify a vibrant literary culture that celebrated multicultural diversity, embraced the Classical tradition, and contributed to Christian theology, while helping form a distinct Vandal identity. Expected outcomes include a more detailed understanding of the intellectual influences on Vandal African authors, the mechanics of Vandal court patronage, and the breadth of these authors' contribution to the history of Latin literature. The project will benefit Australian culture by providing a detailed historical example of the benefits and challenges of a multicultural society.Read moreRead less
Greek drama in ancient Italy. This project aims to reconstruct how ancient Italian communities – Greek colonies, indigenous populations and Rome – appropriated Greek drama, made it part of their cultural heritage and drew upon it to create their own forms of drama. The project will document and analyse how Greek plays became a shared cultural product despite racial, social and linguistic barriers, to illuminate the significance and effect of cross-cultural exchange in antiquity. The analysis of ....Greek drama in ancient Italy. This project aims to reconstruct how ancient Italian communities – Greek colonies, indigenous populations and Rome – appropriated Greek drama, made it part of their cultural heritage and drew upon it to create their own forms of drama. The project will document and analyse how Greek plays became a shared cultural product despite racial, social and linguistic barriers, to illuminate the significance and effect of cross-cultural exchange in antiquity. The analysis of cultural negotiations in ancient Italy also aims to provide points for reflection on today’s debate on multiculturalism and globalisation.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101110
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$345,928.00
Summary
Popular Perceptions of Roman Emperors from Augustus to Theodosius I. This project aims to examine how Roman emperors were perceived by the inhabitants of their empire, from soldiers, slaves and freedmen to senatorial aristocrats. It has two main aims: to explain the different ways in which the emperors' military, judicial, religious and moral authority was conceived, interpreted and transmitted in the Roman world; and to analyse the continuities and changes in these aspects between the first and ....Popular Perceptions of Roman Emperors from Augustus to Theodosius I. This project aims to examine how Roman emperors were perceived by the inhabitants of their empire, from soldiers, slaves and freedmen to senatorial aristocrats. It has two main aims: to explain the different ways in which the emperors' military, judicial, religious and moral authority was conceived, interpreted and transmitted in the Roman world; and to analyse the continuities and changes in these aspects between the first and fourth centuries A.D. The significance of this study lies in its demonstration that the popular reception of imperial rule is crucial to understanding how and why the institution of emperorship endured in the Roman world. This outcome will enhance scholarly and public understanding of the Roman empire.Read moreRead less
Scripts without a stage: Roman comedy in the Early Italian Renaissance. In the early Italian Renaissance at a time when theatrical infrastructure was still lacking, rapid advances in learning and technology helped scholars to show how the Latin plays, which had only survived as teaching texts, were in fact works to be performed, eventually leading to stage revivals. This project proposes to build on the successes of an Australian team working on the Roman playwright Terence, and demonstrate the ....Scripts without a stage: Roman comedy in the Early Italian Renaissance. In the early Italian Renaissance at a time when theatrical infrastructure was still lacking, rapid advances in learning and technology helped scholars to show how the Latin plays, which had only survived as teaching texts, were in fact works to be performed, eventually leading to stage revivals. This project proposes to build on the successes of an Australian team working on the Roman playwright Terence, and demonstrate the importance of humanist scholars to intellectual history. It intends to utilise a range of historical resources, many only available in recent years through digitisation.Read moreRead less
The history of inebriation and reason from Plato to the Latin Middle Ages. This project aims to uncover the undetected but pervasive dichotomy between spiritual inebriation and physical drunkenness from antiquity to the Middle Ages. While Christian theologians, inspired by Plato, celebrated inebriation as a metaphor for a hyper-rational state in which the soul transcends the limitations of reason, Christian moralists, inspired by Stoic philosophy, condemned physical drunkenness as fall from reas ....The history of inebriation and reason from Plato to the Latin Middle Ages. This project aims to uncover the undetected but pervasive dichotomy between spiritual inebriation and physical drunkenness from antiquity to the Middle Ages. While Christian theologians, inspired by Plato, celebrated inebriation as a metaphor for a hyper-rational state in which the soul transcends the limitations of reason, Christian moralists, inspired by Stoic philosophy, condemned physical drunkenness as fall from reason. The project will analyse the cultural and intellectual history of inebriation with the aim of changing appreciation of how medieval thinkers inherited and transformed pagan classical ideas about drinking. Inebriation provides a hitherto unexplored path to rewriting the history of reason, urging us to consider our culturally-ingrained reactions to drinking.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100854
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$380,204.00
Summary
The Female Voice in Ancient Philosophical Dialogues. This project aims to conceptualise and communicate how a major innovation was accepted in the ancient world, when women for the first time began to serve as intellectual role-models for both men and women. This project will create a ground-breaking narrative of female intellectuals over 800 years of history. The expected outcome is a new history of the role women played in the intellectual life in the ancient world, and a new understanding of ....The Female Voice in Ancient Philosophical Dialogues. This project aims to conceptualise and communicate how a major innovation was accepted in the ancient world, when women for the first time began to serve as intellectual role-models for both men and women. This project will create a ground-breaking narrative of female intellectuals over 800 years of history. The expected outcome is a new history of the role women played in the intellectual life in the ancient world, and a new understanding of how their voices were used as authorities on certain issues in philosophy and the good life. In addition, reflection on how this innovation was accepted historically will help modern attempts to advance the social cohesion of men and women, especially in the intellectual life. Read moreRead less
Transformations of Terence: ancient drama, new media, and contemporary reception. This project builds on the highly successful and critically acclaimed initiatives of this team to create and disseminate digital editions of medieval manuscripts, published with international universities and presses. It will establish further the international reputation of Australian scholars in the field of classical literary studies.
The invention of Rome: Biondo Flavio's Roma triumphans and its worlds. The subject of this project, Biondo Flavio's Rome triumphant, is of vital importance in the revival of classical antiquity in the renaissance. A new presentation and comprehensive study of the text will at last make this work widely accessible to modern readers and provide a new and deeper view on the cult of Rome in Western civilisation.
Theatre and autocracy in Ancient Greece. This project aims to study the relations between theatre and autocratic power in antiquity. Theatre, from the start, appealed just as much to autocrats as to democrats and throve in autocratic states for half a millennium after the extinction of the Classical democracies. While many studies trace ancient Greek theatre’s links to democracy, none explore its links to specific tyrants, monarchs or emperors. This project will examine how autocrats moulded the ....Theatre and autocracy in Ancient Greece. This project aims to study the relations between theatre and autocratic power in antiquity. Theatre, from the start, appealed just as much to autocrats as to democrats and throve in autocratic states for half a millennium after the extinction of the Classical democracies. While many studies trace ancient Greek theatre’s links to democracy, none explore its links to specific tyrants, monarchs or emperors. This project will examine how autocrats moulded the world’s first mass medium of communication to consolidate their power, and how competing interests used the theatre to share, limit or challenge that power.Read moreRead less