Philosophy in the Roman Mediterranean: Towards a History

The period 100 BCE to 200 CE saw some of the most far-reaching innovations in Western philosophical history, including a striking efflorescence of philosophy in the Mediterranean, especially in the east; old systems were revitalized through discussion and debate with new (including Christianity). But what makes this period exciting also makes it difficult to describe: unlike both the preceding and subsequent periods, there are no central institutions or school-heads to provide authoritative reference-points for how (or even with whom) members of a given school might normally be expected to argue. The consequence is that this whole period is very poorly represented in our histories. This workshop, the first in a projected series, begins with a focus on methodology. It brings together a team of scholars to explore ways of mapping post-Hellenistic philosophy in all the complexity that makes it both interesting and important, and establishing the terms in which its story can be told.

Organizer: George Boys-Stones

Speakers

• Andreas Bendlin (Toronto)
• René Brouwer (Utrecht)
• Leo Catana (Copenhagen)
• Madelina Dana (Lyon)
• Kendra Eshleman (Boston College)
• Bjorn Ewald (Toronto)
• Nathan Gilbert (Durham)
• Matthias Haake (Münster)
• Myrto Hatzimichali (Cambridge)
• Reviel Netz (Stanford)

For program details, please see the workshop webpage.