Late Antiquity III: Late Latin Literature
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Society for Late Antiquity
Organizer Name
Ralph W. Mathisen
Organizer Affiliation
Univ. of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign
Presider Name
Giselle de Nie
Presider Affiliation
Univ. Utrecht
Paper Title 1
Saints Peter and Paul and the See of Rome in the Sermons of Chromatius of Aquileia, Gaudentius of Brescia, and Maximus of Turin
Presenter 1 Name
Michael Brinks
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Univ. of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign
Paper Title 2
The Transformation of Epic in Late Antiquity: The Depiction of Judas in Iuvencus and Sedulius: On Greed and Genre
Presenter 2 Name
Michael Müller
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Univ. zu Köln
Paper Title 3
Cassiodorus's Variae: Panegyric in Letter Form
Presenter 3 Name
Christine Radtki
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Univ. zu Köln
Paper Title 4
The Prose Vitae of Venantius Fortunatus and Cult Formation in Sixth-Century Gaul
Presenter 4 Name
Kent Navalesi
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Univ. of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign
Start Date
12-5-2013 10:30 AM
Session Location
Fetzer 2030
Description
During the past 40 years Late Antiquity (ca. 200-800 CE) has become recognized as a new historical period with its own unique characteristics. With regard to religion, Late Antiquity is the first age of monotheistic religions represented by people seeking spiritual and emotional, not to mention material, satisfaction in religion. With regard to politics, Late Antiquity brought a retreat from centralized governments and a the tendency toward ever-larger empires that had been underway ever since the Bronze Age, and a movement toward localism even in the face of putatively strong central powers. Late Antiquity brought an expanded role of an underlying belief in the rule by law, seen in secular, canon, and vulgar law, at the same time that central authority seemed to be breaking down. Culturally, Late Antiquity is represented by artistic trends that focused on idealization, and the privileging of content/message over form. And with regard to literature, contrary to many past assumptions, Late Antiquity was marked by a great flowering of literary production, much of which survived because of the switch from the use of papyrus to parchment as the primary writing material. These sessions sponsored by the Society for Late Antiquity demonstrate how these, and other factors, give Late Antiquity its unique identity.
Ralph Mathisen
Late Antiquity III: Late Latin Literature
Fetzer 2030
During the past 40 years Late Antiquity (ca. 200-800 CE) has become recognized as a new historical period with its own unique characteristics. With regard to religion, Late Antiquity is the first age of monotheistic religions represented by people seeking spiritual and emotional, not to mention material, satisfaction in religion. With regard to politics, Late Antiquity brought a retreat from centralized governments and a the tendency toward ever-larger empires that had been underway ever since the Bronze Age, and a movement toward localism even in the face of putatively strong central powers. Late Antiquity brought an expanded role of an underlying belief in the rule by law, seen in secular, canon, and vulgar law, at the same time that central authority seemed to be breaking down. Culturally, Late Antiquity is represented by artistic trends that focused on idealization, and the privileging of content/message over form. And with regard to literature, contrary to many past assumptions, Late Antiquity was marked by a great flowering of literary production, much of which survived because of the switch from the use of papyrus to parchment as the primary writing material. These sessions sponsored by the Society for Late Antiquity demonstrate how these, and other factors, give Late Antiquity its unique identity.
Ralph Mathisen