IMC 2020: Sessions

Session 1129: Frontiers of Late Antiquity, II: Shifting Definitions and Perceptions of Frontiers

Wednesday 8 July 2020, 11.15-12.45

Organiser:	Rebecca Usherwood, School of Classics, University of St Andrews
Moderator/Chair:	Adrastos Omissi, School of Humanities (Classics), University of Glasgow
Paper 1129-a	The Topology of Territory: Analysis of Theoretical Approaches to Frontiers, Territory, Landscape, and Bounded Space in Late Antiquity (Language: English) Linda Ellis, Museum Studies Program San Francisco State University Index terms: Archaeology - General, Geography and Settlement Studies, Historiography - Modern Scholarship, Social History
Paper 1129-b	Symmachus and the Tribes of Romulus: Defending the Borders of Late Roman Senatorial Masculinity (Language: English) Tim Watson, Department of Modern & Classical Languages & Literatures California State University Northridge Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - Latin, Social History
Paper 1129-c	Gothic Pride and Roman Prejudice: Perception of Foreigners in the Ostrogothic Kingdom (Language: English) Marco Cristini, Classe di Scienze Umane, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Social History
Abstract	The refashioning of both physical spaces and social identities was a key feature of Late Antiquity, and the three papers of this panel investigate how these processes could unfold in both central and frontier locations. The first (Ellis) is the most theoretical, exploring identity and Roman state fragmentation in a case study of the south-eastern limes in Scythia Minor. The second (Watson) examines concepts of senatorial masculinity through the letters of Symmachus, particularly the othering of the east in relation to the west. The last (Cristini) discusses romanitas in the Ostrogothic kingdom, a place where regional and ethnic boundaries underwent major renegotiation.