CALL. 15.01.2016: War in the Ancient World: The economic Perspective - London (England)

FECHA LÍMITE/DEADLINE/SCADENZA: 15/01/2016

FECHA CONGRESO/CONGRESS DATE/DATA CONGRESSO: 27-28-29/04/2016

LUGAR/LOCATION/LUOGO: University College London (London, England)

ORGANIZADOR/ORGANIZER/ORGANIZZATORE: Manuela Dal Borgo, Roel Konijnendijk, Chris Carey, Hans van Wees

INFO: warintheancientworld@yahoo.co.uk

CALL:

The ancient world, from the Pillars of Herakles to the Near East, was fraught with conflict both civic and international. The wealth of empires and communities waxed and waned by the hand of war; it was through war that economic strategies came into their own, as communities learned to manage finances and allocate resources to increase their military effectiveness. Yet although we know that the methods of warfare changed markedly over even quite short periods of time, and that the nature of the economy was very different in different places and at different periods, the impact of the changes in warfare on its place in the economy and the impact of changes in the economy on the fighting of wars has never been seriously discussed. This conference seeks to consolidate the growing research on the role of economics in the study of ancient warfare by looking at the impact of war on the ancient economy and the impact of economics on ancient war. It will offer a platform for the discussion of such themes as the increase of state control over money and resources, changes in supply and demand of military manpower, equipment, and raw materials, the effect of war on trade, and the relative economic efficiency of armies and of coalitions. The aim is to bring together the insights of two disparate fields - to study themes of economics and warfare across the ages and cultures of the ancient world, defining areas of continuity and change. This is a conference for economic historians who recognise warfare as a test case and pool of evidence, and for military historians who are conscious of the importance of economic factors in shaping ancient realities of war. Speakers will be grouped into thematic panels to give papers of 20 minutes in duration, followed by 10 minutes of questions. Confirmed speakers so far include Robin Osborne, Lisa Kallet, Alan Bowman, Paul Erdkamp, Matthew Trundle, Edward Harris, Zosia Archibald, Christopher Tuplin and David Pritchard. We welcome proposals for papers on any topic that falls within the scope of the conference as defined above. Please submit a 300 word abstract to warintheancientworld@yahoo.co.uk by January 15th, 2016. Those whose submissions were accepted will be notified in mid February. Kind regards, Roel Konijnendijk (on behalf of the organisers)