Classics Colloquium with Julia Shear

Julia Shear from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens will speak on “Erasing Macedonians: The Politics of Athenian Space in 200 B.C."

Abstract:

Under increasing external pressure, in 200 B.C., the Athenians abandoned the policy of strict external neutrality which they had pursued since 229 when they literally bought back their freedom from the Macedonians. At that point, they declared war on King Philip V of Macedon and engaged in a period of erasing Macedonians from their inscribed documents and their cityscape. In this colloquium, Shear asks how these erasures affected the images presented by the inscriptions and what the texts and their images tell us about the politics of space in Athens at this time. As she argues, the war against the Macedonian king required a change in the image of the good citizen, and not all earlier honorary monuments could accommodate this new imagery. The processes of erasure did not take place evenly throughout the city but were focused on areas that were already particularly connected with citizens. 

All are invited to attend the Tea at 4 p.m. in the Quita Woodward Room, Old Library.

The weekly Classics Colloquium provides an informal meeting ground for the College's lively community of undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty who are interested in classical subjects. Each year, the series brings to campus a number of distinguished speakers on a variety of literary, archaeological, and historical subjects.

Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies