IMC 2015: Sessions
Session 714: Networks & Neighbours, III: Religions in Conflict and the Challenge of Evolution
Tuesday 7 July 2015, 14.15-15.45
| Sponsor: | Networks & Neighbours |
|---|---|
| Organisers: | John Latham-Sprinkle, Department of History, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London Ioannis Papadopoulos, School of History, University of Leeds Otávio Luiz Vieira Pinto, School of History, University of Leeds / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) |
| Moderator/Chair: | Peter John Heather, Department of History, King's College London |
| Paper 714-a | Reactionary Paganism: Renewal and Invention of Traditions in Late 4th-Century Rome (Language: English) Index terms: Pagan Religions, Political Thought |
| Paper 714-b | The Silver and the Purple: Ostrogothic Arianism and the Reform of Roman Imperial Policy (Language: English) Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Mentalities, Political Thought |
| Paper 714-c | Soviets and Sun-Gods: The Changing Uses of an 'Alan' Nart Saga (Language: English) Index terms: Historiography - Modern Scholarship, Literacy and Orality, Mentalities |
| Abstract | Religion is in the core of the Weltsannschauung of Late Antique and Early Medieval societies. But as these societies changed, so too did religion. Ioannis Papadopoulos will discuss how Roman religion changes in face of the rise of Christianity through the analysis of traditional senatorial discourses and the strengthening of a more reactionary form of paganism – an attempt to restore a wishful past and maintain a status quo. In a similar line, Otávio Luiz Vieira Pinto shall also discuss how religion was a political tool for the Ostrogoths: the Aryan dogma was an ideological argument through which Theoderic envisioned a connection with Imperial Roman dynasties and, at the same time, stressed Gothic past and identity. And finally, John Latham will raise the question of Alan religion and the recording of religious and mythical narratives concerning this group, tackling not only the memory of bygone practices, but also the utility and appropriation of these discourses in modern contexts, such as Soviet Russia. |