Offences between (Blood) Relatives: Family Justice in Ancient Greece & Rome

We would like to draw your attention to our Call for Papers for the Workshop “Offences between (Blood) Relatives: Family Justice in Ancient Greece and Rome”. The Workshop will be held on 24th January 2025, at the ‘Edinburgh Law School’ (University of Edinburgh). It is aimed at PhD students, Postdocs, and Early Career Researchers who intend to present a paper (work in progress or full paper) on ancient Greek and Roman law.

The Workshop explores the legal attitude towards “blood offences” between relatives in Greece and Rome. We particularly welcome proposals that investigate specific aspects of the so-called “family justice” from a Greek or Roman legal perspective, analyse the similarities and/or differences between Greek and Roman homicide laws, or explore the linguistic codification and the social or religious perception of blood offences from both a general (i.e. society) and a specific (i.e. family) point of view.

This in-person Workshop, the first meeting of the “Greek and Roman Law: A Combination (Still) To Be Explored” cycle, offers a unique opportunity for scholars to contribute to the discussion of methodological and theoretical problems in the study of family law, criminal law, law and gender, as well as legal procedure, as they are described or assumed in ancient literary sources (from Archaic Greece to Western and Eastern Roman Empire). The goal is to foster a dialogue between different scholars, disciplines, and historical backgrounds to develop a comparative and transhistorical perspective on ancient law, exploring similarities, differences, and influences between the two legal systems.

Interested scholars are invited to submit their proposals (in pdf. format) containing a title and an abstract (max. 500 words, bibliography excluded) by the deadline of 15th November 2024. Proposals should be sent to the e-mail address [email protected]. Both full papers (30 mins in length) and shorter papers based on works in progress (15 minutes in length) will be considered. While we regret that we are unable to provide financial assistance for travel or accommodation, we are committed to assisting participants in finding suitable accommodation in the city centre.

Organising Committee:

Prof. Dr Paul Du Plessis (Professor of Roman law, Director of the Centre for Legal History, University of Edinburgh)

Luca Fiamingo (PhD Candidate in Philology, Literature and Performance Studies, University of Verona)

Serena Barbuto (PhD Candidate in Historical Studies, University of Milan)

Host or Publisher Edinburgh Law School, University of Edinburgh