On October 4 and 5, Prof. Zach Herz will host speakers from three continents in Boulder, CO for a conference entitled "An Empire of Correspondence." The conference will feature talks on the role of imperial letters in social, legal, and political life throughout Roman history. Anyone who wishes to watch a livestream of the proceedings should request a link at .

Location: Norlin Library - Center for British & Irish Studies Room (CBIS Room)
Time: 8:30AM - 6:00PM

Off

McClanahan Lecture Series

Lampreys and the Birth of Roman Imperial Jurisdiction
Dr. Zach Herz, °µÍø½ûÇø

Thursday, February 17th, 2022  |  7:00 p.m.  |  Hybrid

Vedius Pollio liked feeding people to lampreys. According to an urban legend that circulated in Imperial Rome, the emperor Augustus saved one of Pollio’s slaves from this grisly fate and punished Pollio for his brutality. In this talk, Dr. Herz considers what the Pollio story can tell us about how emperors worked. It reveals the complex mechanics of Augustan messaging, and offers a glimpse into the freighted moral questions raised by imperial power. What does it mean to go to the emperor for justice? What can he offer that other decisionmakers can’t? And what could justice even mean in the autocracy of the enslaving household, on one hand, or of the Principate on the other? Come for the man-eating fish, stay for the jurisdictional conflict.

This lecture is free and will be given in person (Eaton Humanities 250) and simultaneously hosted on Zoom.
This lecture is sponsored by Mary E.V. McClanahan.  CU Classics is grateful for her generous support.

  View the PDF poster here

Off