Events

Upcoming events

Past events

Public lectures

  • On April 22nd 2026, 2-4 PM, Prof. Michèle Lowrie (Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Service Professor in Classics and in the College, University of Chicago) gave a lecture on translatio imperii in room 1.11, T2, Campus Ufo. This lecture was hosted by Prof. Peter Van Nuffelen and the Gents Instituut voor Klassieke Studies (GIKS), led by Prof. Marco Formisano.
  • Sofía Torallas Tovar (University of Princeton), “When Materiality Matters: Codicology and Paleography Reveal the Work of the Scribe”. Lecture given in Thursday 10th October at 14h in the Faculty Board Meeting Room (Blandijn, first floor).
  • Mathijs Clement (University of Cambridge), ‘‘Crafting a capital: Gregory of Nazianzus and the Second Rome’’. Paper presented on September 17, 2024, in the Camelot meeting room at the Blandijn at 12:30.
  • Alex Corona Encinas (University of Valladolid), on the nexus of religion and the army under the emperor Constantine. Research seminar presented on May 17, 2024,  at the Blandijnberg at 11:30.
  • Micaela Brembilla (Uppsala University), “Mustio and his Gynaecia – pontifex of Soranus or just a very lucky guy?”. Lecture given on April 18, 2024 in the Camelot room at the Blandijnberg at 13:00.
  • Mariana Bodnaruk (Central European University), “Titulus loquens: The Speaking Inscriptions of the Senatorial Office-Holders in the Later Roman Empire”.
    Lecture given on December 12,  2023, in the Faculteitszaal at the Blandijnberg at 12h.
  • Nicolò D’Alconzo (Ghent University): “Women of fiction. The heroines of the ancient Greek novels and their Byzantine readers” by Nicolò D’Alconzo.
    Lecture given on November 22, 2023 for the 2023-2024 lecture series of the Griekenlandcentrum.
  • Prof. Edward Watts (UC San Diego): “Justin II’s inadvertent destruction of the Roman imperial system”
    Lecture given on October 11, 2023.
  • Prof. Eleni Bozia (University of Florida), “From Favorinus’ “Γαλάτης ὢν ἑλληνίζειν” to JFK’s “Ich bin ein Berliner”: In search of ideals of diversity and inclusion”.
    Lecture given on March 15, 2023.
  • Mariapia Mucciogrosso (UCLouvain), “Building Blocks for the Editio Critica Maior of Gregory of Nazianzus’ Or. 19”.
    Lecture given online on February 23, 2023, for the TeTra – Text and Transmission Joint Research Seminar
  • Yasmine Amory (Ghent University): “People of Aphrodite. Life and culture in a late antique Egyptian village”.
    Lecture given on February 22, 2023, for the 2022-2023 lecture series of the Griekenlandcentrum.
  • Sadi Maréchal (Ghent University): “Sins can (not) be washed away. Baths and Bathings habits in late antique society”.
    Lecture given on January 17, 2023, for the Verein für Spätantike Archäologie und Byzantinische Kunstgeschichte in the Museum für Abgüsse Klassischer Bildwerke in Munich.
  • Opening launch
    The Ghent Centre for Late Antiquity was officially launched on October 4th 2022.
    Lieve Van Hoof, the Centre’s first Director, emphasized the wish for closer interdisciplinary collaboration within Ghent University as well as the wish to strengthen international collaboration on Late Antiquity.
    After a series of overviews and sample papers of late antique research currently being conducted at Ghent University, Peter Heather (King’s College London) gave a keynote lecture on “From Late Rome to Late Antiquity – and possibly beyond? ”.

Conferences

  • Alternatives to Kingship in Byzantium and Beyond, Session at the International Byzantine Conference 2026, Vienna
    Organizers: G. Nicosia, G. Menéndez Sánchez, P. Van Nuffelen
  • The second International Postgraduate Conference, “Vulnerability and Power in Late Antiquity  (4th to 9th cent.)” (27-29 April, 2026)
    Organizers: Carlo Emilio Biuzzi, Justine De Rouck, Tanguy Desimone, Angelo Gargiulo, Thomas Girault, Giovanni Gomiero, Karl Robinson, Ricarda Schier, Leila Williamson
  • Meteorology in the first Millennium (19-20 March 2026)
    Organizers: A. Gargiulo, S. Vanden Broecke, P. Van Nuffelen
  • “Real and Imagined Boundaries in Late Antiquity (4th-9th c.)” (Ghent, April 28-30, 2025)
    Organizers: Carlo E. Biuzzi, Yannis Brichant, Angelo Gargiulo, Giovanni Gomiero, Karl Robinson, Ricarda Schier
  • Symposium on Ancient Narrative and its Reception: a Tribute to Prof. Saiichiro Nakatani (1972-2023).
    Held on March 14, 2025 at the Faculty Board Meeting Room (Blandijn, first floor).
  • “Meet the Jury. Manuscripts studies: from material aspects to critical editions” (Ghent,  September 13, 2024)
    Organizer: Peter Van Nuffelen
  • “‘Overwhelmed. Spectacles & Visuality in Early and Late Imperial Poetry’ (Ghent, December 7-8, 2023)
    Organizers: Vicente Flores Militello, Marco Formisano, Aaron Pelttari.
    The conference took place at Ghent University on December 7-8, 2023.
  • “Multilingual literary practices in a multicultural world, from Archaic Greece to the Byzantine Empire” (Rome, November 14-15, 2023)
    Organizers: Eleni Bozia, Klaas Bentein, Chiara Monaco
    The conference took place in Rome on November 14-15, 2023.
  • “Roman Baths and Agency” (Rome, October 18-20, 2023)
    Organizers: Sadi Maréchal, Konogan Beaufay and Maura Medri
    The conference took place in Rome, Italy (Academia Belgica) and online on October 18-20, 2023.
  • 14th Celtic Conference in Classics (Coimbra, 11-14 July 2023)
    Three panels organised by several members of the GCLA will be held at the next CCC:
    –  “Apuleius’ Metamorphoses and the Greek Novel”
    Organizers: Rachel Bird, Olivier Demerre, Ian Repath
    – “Interfacing with linguistic norms, 323 BCE – 1453 CE”
    Organizers: Chiara Monaco and Ugo Mondini
    – “The unwritten side of (im)politeness. Investigating non-verbal communication in ancient sources”
    Organizers: Yasmine Amory and Marco Catrambone
  • Lexicologie et lexicographie syriaque: 4-9 July, 2022
    Together with Professor Riccardo Contini, Mara Nicosia was the organizer of the atelier “Lexicologie et lexicographie syriaque” at the 13th Symposium Syriacum (Paris, 4-9 July 2022).
  • ICAN VI: 21-24 September 2022
    The sixth International Conference on the Ancient Novel took place in Ghent 21-24 September 2022.
  • LVLT14: 5-9 September 2022
    The 14th International Colloquium on Late and Vulgar Latin (Latin vulgaire – latin tardif XIV) was held at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of Ghent University (Belgium) from Monday, September 5th to Friday, September 9th, 2022. It was organized by the Latin section and the research group DiaLing at the Department of Linguistics.

Workshops

  • Letters and Politics in Late Antiquity: Autocracy, Bureaucracy, and Lobbying in the Later Roman Empire, 31 May – 2 June 2023

Organisers: Prof. Dr Lieve Van Hoof, Marijke Kooijman, Matthijs Zoeter

From May 31st to June 2nd, Ghent hosted an international workshop on the role of letters in late antique Roman politics (4th to 6th century AD): how did various late antique actors and interest groups use letters to try and influence decision making processes on all levels?

  • The Reuse of Ancient and Late Antique Narratives in the Medieval Middle East and Beyond: 31 January 2023

Organizers: Mara Nicosia, Koen De Temmerman, Ingela Nilsson.

The workshop focuses on the reception of ancient and late antique narratives across languages and cultures in the Middle Ages and brings together participants from Latin, Greek, Middle Eastern, Iranian, and Georgian studies.

  • Ancient Concepts of Fiction and Narrative in the Imperial Period and Late Antiquity: 18 November 2022

Organizers: Anne Alwis, Nicolò D’Alconzo, Koen De Temmerman, Claire Jackson, and Ruth Webb.

This is the fourth and final meeting of a series of workshops co-organised by the universities of Ghent, Kent, and Lille organized with the aim of generating new insights on the distinctions between true, false, and plausible narratives in the Mediterranean region 100-700 CE, a period of transition from pluralist polytheism to a Christian Empire and from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. This period saw a flourishing of different kinds of narratives with differing claims to truth. How do such attitudes to truth, fiction and lies and their interrelationship alter during this period and how is this manifest in the written narratives?

Book launches

  • Boekpresentatie Jeroen Wijnendaele, ‘De wereld van Clovis. De val van Rome en de geboorte van het Westen’ November 27, 2024 in Herberg Macharius, Gent.
  • Book launch of Oudheidkunde is een wetenschap by the science journalist Jona Lendering in book store De Groene Waterman in Antwerp on November 29, 2023.
  • Book launch of Late Roman Italy. Imperium to Regnum, edited by Jeroen Wijnendaele.
  • Launch of the series “sera tela: Studies in Late Antique Literature and Its Reception” and of the book Epitomic Writing in Late Antiquity and Beyond. Forms of Unabridged Writing (eds. Paolo F. Sacchi and Marco Formisano, Bloomsbury 2022) on March 8, 2023.

Intensive and summer courses

  • Course Syriac Language and Literature – Basic course for the academic year 2024-2025. Syriac is a Semitic language that originated as the local dialect of the city of Edessa (modern Şanlıurfa, in southeast Turkey) between the second and the third century AD. From this local starting point, it became the literary and liturgical language of several churches in the East, and it maintains this role until now. The goal of the course is to offer a comprehensive introduction to both Syriac language and culture. The focus will be on mastering the basic grammar and developing the skills to read and translate easy texts, as well as on getting familiar with the main Syriac authors and literary genres. All necessary tools, such as grammars, exercise books, and compendia, will be provided to the participants at the beginning of the course.The course will consist of a weekly 2-hours class, starting from October. The day and time of the classes will be chosen together with the participants before the start of the course. The classes will be divided into a first, longer part dedicated to the grammar, and a second one dedicated to the presentation of an author or a work, according to the attached syllabus. The course will be taught in English by Carlo Emilio Biuzzi (PhD, Department of History) and Giorgia Nicosia (PhD, Department of History), in collaboration with Giovanni Gomiero (PhD, Department of History). It will be held in hybrid form, so it can be attended either in Ghent or online, via Teams. 
  • Crash Course in Greek Palaeography: Leiden University Library, 27-28 May 2024. The Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society, Leiden University Library and the Greek department of Ghent University offer a two-day course in Greek palaeography in collaboration with the Research School OIKOS. The course is intended for MA, ResMA and doctoral students in the areas of Classics, Ancient History, Ancient Civilizations and Medieval studies with a good command of Greek. It offers a chronological introduction into Greek palaeography from the Hellenistic period until the end of the Middle Ages and is specifically aimed at acquiring practical skills for research involving literary and documentary papyri and/or manuscripts. This course gives the unique opportunity to practice reading on original papyri and manuscripts from the collection of the Leiden Papyrological Institute and the special collections of the Leiden University Library.
  • Introduction to Syriac (2023/2024)  The goal of the course was to offer a comprehensive introduction to both its language and its culture and history. The focus of the course was on mastering the grammar and developing the skills to read the different scripts and to translate easy texts. All necessary tools, such as grammars, exercise book, and dictionaries, were provided to the participants at the beginning of the course.
    The course consisted of a 2-hours class once a week, starting from late-October, with a possible second weekly appointment to practise together the material learnt during the classes. The syllabus and the schedule were tailored to accommodate the preferences of the participants at the beginning of the course. The course was taught by Giovanni Gomiero (PhD, Department of History) in collaboration with Giorgia Nicosia (PhD, Department of History).
  • Crash Course in Greek Palaeography: 22-23 May, 2023 The Greek department of Ghent University offered a two-day course in Greek palaeography in collaboration with the Research School OIKOS. The course was intended for MA, ResMA and doctoral students in the areas of Classics, Ancient History, Ancient Civilizations and Medieval studies with a good command of Greek. It offered a chronological introduction into Greek palaeography from the Hellenistic period until the end of the Middle Ages and was specifically aimed at acquiring practical skills for research involving literary and documentary papyri and/or manuscripts. We also provided the unique opportunity to read from original papyri in the papyrus collection of the Ghent University Library and become familiar with the ongoing research projects at Ghent University.
  • Introduction to Classical Arabic: 15-26 August, 2022 Ghent University and OIKOS organized the second summer course introducing Classical Arabic. We offered an extended two-week course to allow more in-depth practice with the Arabic script and orthography, besides the treatment of basic grammatical concepts and the reading of course material. The program consisted of a theoretical morning block, where we introduced the script and grammar. In the afternoon one could choose to focus either on documentary or literary material. In the afternoon sessions we read relevant texts to give you hands-on experience with the text type of your choice. Instructors: Simon Ford (literary texts); Fokelien Kootstra (papyri).