[H-verkko] Helsinki, Emperors and the Divine – Rome and Its Influence

[agricola at utu.fi]

Agricolan tapahtumakalenteriin on lähetetty uusi ilmoitus:
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Emperors and the Divine – Rome and Its Influence

Helsinki, Fabianinkatu 24
30.1.2014 klo 10:00 – 31.1.2014 klo 16:30
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In the course of history, the divine sphere has often been harnessed to serve
the needs of political leaders. Political power has frequently been legitimized
as authorized of the divine forces. In pre-modern societies, and especially in
the Roman Empire, phenomena that we call religion and politics were closely
intertwined, indeed inseparable. This can be perceived at its clearest in the
relationship of the Roman emperors to the divine – in their support of
different divinities, in their role as the mediators between the divine and
humankind, and in their religious policies. The closeness to the divine was a
way of legitimization of imperial power.

The purpose of the symposium is to bring together scholars from different
disciplines to discuss the mutual problems of the research of Roman emperors –
that is, scholars of history, classics, comparative literature, archaeology,
comparative religion, Biblical studies, church history and Roman law. The
symposium aims at connecting scholars working on the earlier imperial period and
late antiquity, research fields that often tend to remain as separate.

The symposium will combine the scholarly discussions on the emperors as the
protégés of particular gods, the emperors as the representatives of the divine
sphere and even as (more or less) divine beings themselves. One of the aims of
the symposium is to discuss the phenomenon of emperors and the divine in a
wide-ranging perspective, also bringing Christian material into the larger
context of the Roman Empire.

In the course of history, the divine sphere has often been harnessed to serve
the needs of political leaders. Political power has frequently been legitimized
as authorized of the divine forces. In pre-modern societies, and especially in
the Roman Empire, phenomena that we call religion and politics were closely
intertwined, indeed inseparable. This can be perceived at its clearest in the
relationship of the Roman emperors to the divine – in their support of
different divinities, in their role as the mediators between the divine and
humankind, and in their religious policies. The closeness to the divine was a
way of legitimization of imperial power.

The purpose of the symposium is to bring together scholars from different
disciplines to discuss the mutual problems of the research of Roman emperors –
that is, scholars of history, classics, comparative literature, archaeology,
comparative religion, Biblical studies, church history and Roman law. The
symposium aims at connecting scholars working on the earlier imperial period and
late antiquity, research fields that often tend to remain as separate.

The symposium will combine the scholarly discussions on the emperors as the
protégés of particular gods, the emperors as the representatives of the divine
sphere and even as (more or less) divine beings themselves. One of the aims of
the symposium is to discuss the phenomenon of emperors and the divine in a
wide-ranging perspective, also bringing Christian material into the larger
context of the Roman Empire.

The symposium is free for all but pre-registration is required. All the
relevant information, including symposium programme and a link to the
registration form can be found at the symposium’s web page at:
http://www.helsinki.fi/collegium/events/emperor-and-the-divine/index.html


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http://agricola.utu.fi/ajankohtaista/tapahtumakalenteri/