Past event
Land and Power in the Later Roman World
Land and landownership underpinned the socio-economic fabric of the late Roman world. Land played a defining role in the working of the state and secular elites, providing their revenue and assuring their power over substantial parts of the rural population. The consolidation of the Christian Church as a large landowner was central to the establishment of Christianity as a major social and economic player in this period, as well as a basis for the religious authority of its leaders.
Rights associated with land and control over it were a catalyst for the development of legal principles and fiscal practices that remained influential for centuries. Understanding the close connection between land and power is thus essential, and doing so has prompted scholarly debates in various disciplines, from social and economic history to archaeology and Roman law.
The conference is part of the project Land and Loyalty: the Politics of Land in the Late Roman World. It aims to re-examine the links between land and power in the late Roman world in their legal, socio-economic and material dimensions. By bringing together scholars from different disciplines and academic traditions, the event will survey recent academic developments and hope to establish a comprehensive, interdisciplinary framework for understanding land ownership in the period between 300 and 600 CE.
The conference language will be English.
For all enquiries and further information, please contact Dr Giordana Franceschini at [email protected].