CALL.31.08.2017: Family Law(s) under the Roman Empire -Edinburgh (Scotland)

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Call for Applications by PhD participants The University of Edinburgh, in conjunction with Tel Aviv University, will be hosting a closed international workshop of the leading scholars working on legal history of the Roman Empire. The workshop will focus on marriage and family law in the main legal traditions of the time, namely, Roman law, Greek legal traditions, Christian legal traditions, Halakha, and/or the intersection between them.

FECHA LÍMITE/DEADLINE/SCADENZA: 31/08/2017

FECHA CONGRESO/CONGRESS DATE/DATA CONGRESSO: 30/11/-01/12/2017

LUGAR/LOCATION/LUOGO: The Centre for Legal History, the School of Law, University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, Scotland)

ORGANIZADOR/ORGANIZER/ORGANIZZATORE: Yifat Monnickendam

INFO: PDF - myifat@tauex.tau.ac.il

CALL: PDF

We are inviting five advanced PhD students to participate in the workshop. The successful applicants will have the opportunity to engage with cutting-edge scholarship, respond to pre-circulated papers and take part in the discussions. The applicants will be required to present their own research. Venue: The Centre for Legal History, the School of Law, University of Edinburgh. Successful applicants will be hosted by the University of Edinburgh (30.11-2.12.2017), but will have to seek funding for travel expenses from their home universities. Workshop dates: 30.11.2017-1.12.2017 Application deadline: 31.8.2017 Further information: Dr. Yifat Monnickendam mailto:myifat@tauex.tau.ac.il. Application requirements and deadline for submission: To apply, please send the following to Dr. Yifat Monnickendam myifat@tauex.tau.ac.il by 31.8.2017:

1. Cover letter explaining your current research and the reason for your interest in the workshop (up to two pages)

2. CV

3. Writing sample or chapter from your Dissertation

Field of scholarship: Prior to 212 CE, and to some degree even later, the Roman Empire was legally pluralist. Nevertheless, the extent to which different legal traditions, customs and norms engaged with and influenced one another has yet to be dealt with in detail. Although issues such as the relation between Roman law and Greek legal traditions, the interaction between the law of the Empire and local traditions, and the effect of Christianization of the Empire as reflected in its legal system have been discussed extensively in earlier literature, new perspectives on legal pluralism within the Roman Empire (e.g., in the works of Clifford Ando and Caroline Humfress) have shown that many of the earlier points of view require revision. This workshop aims to revisit these issues by using a unique and little explored test case—family law. This branch of law has been chosen for three main reasons. First and foremost, family law plays an important role not only in Roman law, Greek legal traditions and papyri, and Halakha but also in the nascent Christian legal traditions in the eastern and western Roman Empire. Second, the vast difference between Roman and Greek law, on the one hand, and Halakha, on the other, both in thought and practice, constitutes a natural basis for a comparative study—both broadly conceived and also for the treatment of more specific issues, such as legal transplants and the origins of particular legal traditions. Third, the importance of family law in a diverse environment lies in its role in constructing society and its boundaries by defining the criteria for making spouses – and hence families – legitimate. Furthermore, the similarities and differences between these legal traditions drew the attention of the ancient authors, and as such, form the basis for a study on polemic, discourse and the relation between the different communities of the Roman Empire.