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IMC 2026: Sessions

Session 1620: Future Insight and Its Discontents in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, c. 200-900, II: Gazing at / into the Future

Thursday 9 July 2026, 11:15-12:45

Sponsor:Research Foundation, Flanders (FWO)
Organiser:Mateusz Kusio, Faculteit Theologie en Religiewetenschappen, KU Leuven
Moderator/Chair:Mateusz Kusio, Faculteit Theologie en Religiewetenschappen, KU Leuven
Paper 1620-aA Glance toward the Sky: Gazing into the Future during the Early Middle Ages
(Language: English)
Emanuele Piazza, Dipartimento di Scienze della Formazione, Università degli Studi di Catania
Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Technology, Theology
Paper 1620-bThe Prophesied Assassination of Emperor Maurice as a Conceptualisation of the Roman Oikoumene's 7th-Century Crisis
(Language: English)
Nicola Luciani, Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche, Geografiche e dell'Antichità (DISSGeA), Università degli Studi di Padova
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Greek, Political Thought
Paper 1620-cSciences of the Future: Temporal Precision in Astrology, Oneiromancy, and Exegesis, 2nd-3rd Centuries
(Language: English)
Claire Hall, Department of Classics & Ancient History, University of Bristol
Index terms: Language and Literature - Greek, Mentalities, Technology
Abstract

This session, part of the larger series "Future Insight and Its Discontents in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages (200–900 CE)", gathers papers discussing future insight qua gazing. Emanuele Piazza's paper analyzes late antique Latin discussions of lunar observation as a tool of predicting the future. Nicola Luciani offers a reflection on the late antique notions of tyche based on a passage of Theophylact Simocatta foretelling the murder of emperor Maurice in which a statue playes a vital role. Finally, Claire Hall broadens the horizon by engaging not only astrology, but also oneiromancy and exegesis, and shows how future insights was a matter concern for imperial and late antique intellectuals. The session will center the importance of imagery, perception, and observation in obtaining insight into the future in late antique contexts.