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Roman Emperors and Western Political Culture - 05-06-07 /07/2017, Brisbane (Australia)

Roman emperors play a significant role in contemporary political discourse, with rulers such as Augustus, Caligula, Nero, and Marcus Aurelius regularly cited as positive or negative models in newspaper editorials, stump speeches, and Twitter. Our understanding of these emperors as paradigms of power has been shaped by centuries of intellectual debate from Tacitus and Seneca to Erasmus and Machiavelli.


FECHA/DATE/DATA: 05-06-07 /07/2017


ORGANIZADOR/ORGANIZER/ORGANIZZATORE: Dr. Davenport ; Dr. Malik

INFO: web - c.davenport@uq.edu.au ; s.malik@uq.edu.au


INSCRIPCIÓN/REGISTRATION/REGISTRAZIONE: Deadline: 31/05/2017 Aqui/here/qui


The cost of registration includes admission to all conference sessions, the conference pack, as well as tea and coffee on arrival, and morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea on both Thursday 6 July and Friday 7 July.


-Inscripción completa/full registration/registrazione completa: 250$


-Studiante/student/studente: 165$


Conference dinner


The dinner will be held at Saint Lucy Caffé e Cucina at the University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus from 19.30 on Thursday 6 July. The cost includes shared starters, a main course, dessert, tea or coffee, as well as a selection of wines, beers, soft drinks and fruit juices for three hours. Price: 90$ per person


PROGRAMA/PROGRAM/PROGRAMMA: Aquí/here/qui


WEDNESDAY, JULY 5

18.00 – 20.30: Opening Session and Keynote Lecture 1

This is a free event open to members of the general public. Please RSVP by Friday, 30 June using the online form. Registered conference delegates are not required to RSVP.

Venue: Room 212, Sir Llew Edwards Building (no. 14), University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus

18.00 – 18.15:

Welcome to the University of Queensland and ‘The Once and Future Kings Conference’.

  • Professor Alastair Blanshard (Paul Eliadis Professor of Classics and Ancient History and Acting Head of the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry)

  • Dr Shushma Malik (University of Queensland; conference co-convenor)

  • Dr Caillan Davenport (Macquarie University; conference co-convenor)

18.15 – 19.15: Keynote Lecture 1 – Professor Rhiannon Ash (University of Oxford; R.D. Milns Visiting Professor 2017), ‘Emperors in Space: Proxemics and the Portrayal of the Princeps’

19.15 – 20.00: Wine Reception in the Terrace Room, Sir Llew Edwards Building

20.30: Informal Dinner at a local restaurant (at delegates’ own expense)


THURSDAY, JULY 6

Conference Sessions: Level 2, Michie Building (no. 9), University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus

Registration: Room 210, Michie Building

Presentations and Keynotes: Room 211, Michie Building

Teas and Lunches: Level 2 Foyer, Michie Building

09.00 – 9.30: Registration and Arrival Tea/Coffee


Session 1: The Legacy of Augustus


09.30 – 10.30: Keynote Lecture 2 – Dr Penelope Goodman (Leeds), ‘Retrospective parentage: Augustus as a “father of Europe”’

10.30 – 11.00: Morning Tea


Session 2: Emperors in the Principate (I)


11.00 – 11.45: Paper 1 – Dr Eleanor Cowan (Sydney), ‘Inventing Augustus: the representation of Augustus under the Julio-Claudians’

11.45 – 12.30: Paper 2 – Dr Gwynaeth McIntyre (Otago), ‘From gilded age to golden age: Suetonius’ Domitian and the purpose of De Vita Caesarum’

12.30 – 13.30: Lunch


Session 3: Emperors in the Principate (II)


13.30 – 14.15: Paper 3 – Dr Caillan Davenport (Macquarie), ‘The materiality of Roman emperors’

14.15 – 15.00: Paper 4 – Dr Janette McWilliam (Queensland), ‘Shaping paradigms of power: the role of imperial children in the early empire’

15.00 – 15.30: Afternoon Tea


Session 4: Emperors in Byzantium


15.30 – 16.15: Paper 5 – Dr Meaghan McEvoy (Macquarie), ‘Educating Theodosius II: Theodosian child-emperors and manipulation of the imperial image in the fifth century A.D.’

16.15 – 17.00: Paper 6 – Mr Ryan Strickler (Macquarie), ‘Emperor or Antichrist? Portrayals of Roman emperors in seventh-century Byzantine apocalyptic discourse’

17.00 – 18.15: Break


Session 5: Emperors and Fiction


18.15 – 19.15: Keynote Lecture 3 – Professor David Scourfield (Maynooth, Ireland), 'Thornton Wilder’s Ides of March, Gore Vidal’s Julian, and John Williams’ Augustus’

19.30 – 22.00: Conference Dinner at Saint Lucy Caffé e Cucina, University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus


FRIDAY, JULY 7

9.30-10.00: Arrival Tea/Coffee


Session 6: Emperors in the Renaissance


10.00 – 10.45: Paper 7 – Associate Professor Benedetto Fontana (CUNY) [via Skype], ‘Machiavelli and the military: the people and the army under the principate’

10.45 – 11.30: Paper 8 – Ms Frances Muecke (Sydney), ‘Biondo Flavio on the Roman emperors: periodization, sources and chronicle’

11.30 – 12.00: Morning Tea


Session 7: Emperors from the Enlightenment to the Nineteenth Century


12.00 – 12.45: Paper 9 – Professor Graham Maddox (UNE), ‘Justinian, neo-Roman liberty and the western republican tradition’

12.45 – 13.30: Paper 10 – Dr Shelley Hales (Bristol), ‘Roman emperors in nineteenth-century London: the Crystal Palace’


Lunch: 13.30-14.30


Session 8: Emperors on the Silver Screen


14.30 – 15.15: Paper 11 – Associate Professor Tom Stevenson (Queensland), ‘Julius Caesar in film’

15.15 – 16.00: Paper 12 – Professor Arthur Pomeroy (VUW), ‘Sympathy for the devil? The depiction of Nero on screen’

16.00 – 16.30: Afternoon Tea


Closing Roundtable Discussion


16.30 – 17.15: Chairs – Dr Caillan Davenport (Macquarie) and Dr Shushma Malik (Queensland)

19.00: Informal Dinner at a local restaurant (at delegates’ own expense)


SATURDAY, JULY 8

10.45: Meet at the Queensland Museum front entrance on the corner of Grey and Melbourne Streets, South Brisbane for the ‘Gladiators’ exhibition. Please be prompt, as this exhibition has timed entry and we need to enter as a group.

11.00: ‘Gladiators’ exhibition entrance time (for ticketholders).


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