ear Colleagues,
We are pleased to share the programme for the upcoming international conference, co-organized by Leiden University (Institute for History / Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Religions) and the University of Potsdam (Department of History / Chair of Ancient History)
DIVINATION AND AUTHORITY IN GRAECO-ROMAN ANTIQUITY
WHERE: Wissenschaftsetage of the Bildungsforum Potsdam (Am Kanal 47, 14467 Potsdam, Germany) and ONLINE
WHEN: 22—24 October 2025
Organizers: Kim Beerden (Leiden), Jens Fischer (Potsdam) and Rafal Matuszewski (Leiden)
>>> To attend both in person or via Zoom please contact Ms. Annette Woywod (sekretariat-altertum@uni-potsdam.de) <<<
PROGRAMME:
Wednesday, 22 October 2025
13:00 – 13:15: Welcome and opening remarks
13:15 – 14:00: Tanja Scheer (Universität Göttingen) – Gods and Goddesses, Sibyls and Seers: Gendered Authority in Greek Divination?
14:00 – 14:45: Marie-Laurence Haack (Université de Picardie Jules Verne) – Children’s Authority in Roman Religion
14:45 – 15:15: Coffee Break
15:15 – 16:00: Yann Berthelet (Université de Liège) – Pullarii: Divinatory Experts Lacking Authority?
16:00 – 16:45: Rafał Matuszewski (Universiteit Leiden) – Greek Oneiromancy and Authority
16:45 – 17:15: Coffee Break
17:15 – 18:30: Keynote: Kai Trampedach (Universität Heidelberg) – Does Authority Matter? The Art of Interpretation in Greek Divination
19:00: Conference Dinner
Thursday, 23 October 2025
9:15 – 10:00: Kim Beerden (Universiteit Leiden) – Seeing Is Believing? Hierarchies of Authority in Ancient Greek Divination
10:00 – 10:45: Pierre Bonnechere (Université de Montréal / Uppsala Universitet) – Oracles in “Polis Religion”: Who Controls What?
10:45 – 11:00: Coffee Break
11:00 – 11:45: Romain Loriol (Université Jean-Moulin-Lyon-III) – Belief in Signs in Ancient Rome: Credibility vs. Authority?
11:45 – 13:00: Lunch
13:00 – 13:45: David Potter (The University of Michigan) – Contesting Authority: the “What if” Factor in Managing Sibylline and other Oracles
13:45 – 14:30: Jens Fischer (Universität Potsdam) – Claiming the Words of the Gods: Political Authority and the Appropriation of Oracle Texts in Greece and Rome
14:30 – 15:00: Coffee Break
15:00 – 15:45: Maurizio Giangiulio (Università degli Studi di Trento) – ‘The Importance of Being Delphic’. Oracle Stories, Social Memory, and Collective Identities in Archaic Greece
15:45 – 16:30: Julia Kindt (University of Sydney) – The Authority of the Oracular Voice and the ‘Discovery’ of Truth in Classical Greece
16:30 – 17:00: Coffee Break
17:00 – 17:45: Kevin Bouillot (École Pratique des Hautes Études) – Authority in a Shaking Hand? Reconsidering the Delphic Pythias’ “Delirium” and Its Role in the Construction of Oracular Authority, Criticism and Studies
Friday, 24 October 2025
09:15 – 10:00: Sara Chiarini (Universität Hamburg) – Claims of Authority in Divinatory Recipes from the Graeco-Egyptian Magical Papyri
10:00 – 10:45: Aude Busine (Université libre de Bruxelles) – Pagan and Christian Holy Women as Oracles in Late Antiquity
10:45 – 11:15: Coffee Break
11:15 – 12:00: Antti Lampinen (University of Turku) – Eclipsed Authorities: Pre-Christian and Non-Graeco-Roman Divination in Late Antique Sources
12:00 – 12:45: Bettina Reese (Universität Potsdam) – Sorcerers, Deceivers, Cheaters – Eusebius and the (Anti-) Authority of Greek Oracles
12:45: Closing Remarks
AncientEsotericism.org :: Network for the Study of Esotericism in Antiquity 