Session1109
TitlePolitical Authority in Late Antiquity, II: Late Latin Poetry
Date/TimeWednesday 6 July 2022: 11.15-12.45
 
SponsorPostgraduate & Early-Career Late Antiquity Network
 
OrganiserBen Kybett, Independent Scholar, York
 
Moderator/ChairRichard Flower, Department of Classics, Ancient History, Religion & Theology, University of Exeter
 
Paper 1109-a The Mutilated Page: Authoritative Torture and Archival Fantasy in Late Latin Poetry
(Language: English)
Ella Kirsh, Department of Classics, Brown University
Index Terms: Daily Life; Language and Literature - Latin; Mentalities; Social History
Paper 1109-b Julian's 'Letter to the Athenians' and the Creation of Imperial Authority
(Language: English)
Nicola Holm, Department of Classics, Ancient History, Religion & Theology, University of Exeter
Index Terms: Byzantine Studies; Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 1109-c The Queen and the Poet: Female Authority in Venantius Fortunatus' Poems on Radegund
(Language: English)
Elena Castelnuovo, Independent Scholar, Milano
Index Terms: Art History - Sculpture; Language and Literature - Latin; Religious Life
 
AbstractLate Latin Poetry often extols its author's views of authority and legitimacy. This session will explore ideas of imperial authority as found within late Roman poetry of Claudian and Venantius Fortunatus. The first paper (Kirsh) explores depictions of household management and within late Latin poetry. The second paper (Holm) considers how the Emperor Julian had to defend his militaristic decision-making in order to legitimise his own imperial authority through the circulation of his 'Letter to the Athenians'. The final paper, (Castelnuovo), considers the relationship between Fortunatus and his patroness and his formation of her new imperial authority