On February 10, Mateu Portells Watson, Panagiota Bantavanou, and Giorgos Athanasiadis will give presentations of their research to the CHS community.
Mateu is an Ancient Historian, a PhD Candidate at the Department of History and Archaeology, University of Crete, and a Pre-doctoral Fellow in Hellenic Studies 2025-26. His presentation will be on "Voluntary and forced migrants in the transfer of Greek language and literature towards Rome (240 BCE – 27 BCE)." During the mid and late Roman Republic, enslaved and formerly enslaved people were key agents in the processes of cultural transfer from the Greek-speaking eastern Mediterranean towards Rome. This arrival of enslaved intellectuals coexisted with the migration of freeborn individuals towards the city. How do the biographies of free migrants differ from those of literate enslaved persons who were taken to Rome against their will? And how did the coexistence of these two simultaneous, but radically different, patterns of mobility affect the development of literature in Republican Rome?
Panagiota is a Bioarchaeologist, a PhD Candidate at the Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, Department of History and Ethnology, Democritus University of Thrace, and a Pre-doctoral Fellow in Hellenic Studies 2025-26. Her presentation will be on "Integrating Bioanthropological Analysis and Ancient Texts in the Study of Cremation from the Hellenistic to Roman Period." This study investigates the influence of multicultural dynamics on the burial practice of cremation across the Hellenistic (323-31 BCE) and Roman (31 BCE – 324 CE) periods, showcasing the city of Thessaloniki (Northern Greece). The evolutionary patterns of cremation are explored through the analysis of human cremated remains utilizing innovative technological methodologies (Histology, SEM-EDS, FTIR-ATR) coupled with descriptions derived from ancient Greek and Latin literature.
Giorgos is an Ancient Historian, PhD Candidate at the Department of History and Archaeology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and a Pre-doctoral Fellow in Hellenic Studies 2025-26. His presentation will be on "[Θεσσαλ]ονίκῃ μόνῃ συν<ήπτ>ετο ἡ τι[μὴ]: Roman Rule and Local Society in the Capital of provincia Macedonia." This paper examines Roman authority in Thessaloniki from the Roman conquest of Macedonia in 168 BCE to the third century CE. It focuses on the mechanisms through which power was exercised, the political and institutional transformations introduced under Roman rule, and their impact on local society—particularly on the civic elite, which shaped its activities within this framework. As the seat of the Roman governor, Thessaloniki provides an ideal case study for exploring these dynamics.
The series of presentations is open to CHS fellows and affiliates as well as to the CHS community via Zoom.
See the Pre-doctoral Fellowships in Hellenic Studies description on our website.
LOCATION:CHS in Washington, DC (via Zoom for CHS community) STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20260210T160000Z DTEND:20260210T173000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR