The call for applications for the 9th edition of the "Introduction to the Sources of Roman Law" workshop is open.
The workshop will take place from June 16-20, 2025 at the École française de Rome.
The deadline for applications is January 15, 2025.
Law is an essential component of the Roman world. The study of legal texts highlights the argumentative logic specific to the law and identifies the values that govern the decisions of jurists and legislators, but also enables us to get closer to a certain number of historical realities. These varied sources (literary, epigraphic, papyrological) reveal the evolution of legal thought, the principles of the law and how it was applied. They also reveal economic data, lifestyles and social practices. Legal texts thus constitute a rich and useful source of documentation for historians, which is in part waiting to be exploited. But a question of method arises: to what extent can legal texts be considered a reliable mirror of economic, social and political realities? Above all, how can we find our way through the variety of sources, genres and editions of legal texts?
Founded by Jean-Louis Ferrary, Dario Mantovani and Hélène Ménard in 2017, the workshop aims to familiarize participants with the main texts of Roman law and the methodological issues they raise, based on their direct and ongoing reading. The first field of exploration will be legal literature, starting with the Digest: we'll be looking at what it means to be a jurist in Rome, how law is made, the nature of the different literary genres, and the reference editions. Imperial constitutions, based on the Mosaicarum et Romanarum legum Collatio and the Codes, will form the second field of study.
Sessions will be held in the conference and seminar rooms of Piazza Navona and in the Volterra Library. Created from the deposit entrusted to the École française de Rome by the great Romanist Edoardo Volterra, its extraordinary ancient and modern holdings will enable us to reflect on the transmission of ancient texts and their passage through European culture. The study of Roman law, in the form of the books on the shelves of the Volterra library, will make visible and immediately accessible a journey through the history of historiography.
The course will be taught by Dario Mantovani and Hélène Ménard. A guest lecturer, chosen each year from among researchers involved in an international research project, a publishing project or with specific, complementary expertise, will be invited to illustrate his or her research and introduce students to the presentation of innovative projects. Thibaud Lanfranchi, senior lecturer at the Université Toulouse Jean-Jaurès, specializing in the political, social and institutional history of the Roman Republic, will be taking part in the 2025 edition, and will address the subject of senatus-consults (their form, normative value and transmission).
The final session on Friday June 20 will be devoted to the practical application by participants, organized in groups, of the methods acquired on the analysis of legal sources.
The workshop is aimed at young researchers (2nd year Masters, PhD students, post-docs) specializing in Roman and medieval history, philology or law, and more generally at any young researcher wishing to familiarize themselves with the sources of Roman law for their research topic or to develop their knowledge of a documentation of prime importance.
The course will run over five days (Monday to Friday). Sessions will run from 9.30am to 12.30pm, then from 2.30pm to 5.30pm. The languages used by participants and lecturers will be Italian and French. A B2/C1 level is required in both languages.
The École française de Rome provides scholarships to cover accommodation and lunches; participants are responsible for their own travel costs.
The workshop is also supported by the "Law, Culture and Society in Ancient Rome" chair at Collège de France and Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3.
Coordinators:
- Dario Mantovani, Collège de France
- Hélène Ménard, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, EA 4424 - CRISES
Applications must be submitted by 12 noon on 15 January 2024 (Rome time) via the form provided in the link below. Applicants must provide:
- a curriculum vitae
- a detailed letter of motivation
