What Means Late Antiquity in the Balkans? New Concepts, Historiographies and Case Studies for the Period between the 3rd and the 8th Centuries.
Deadline for submission: October 15th 2025
Date of seminar : 28 November 2025
You can apply if you are a PhD student or a Postdoc who have defended its PhD dissertation in the last 5 years. The title of the paper, an abstract (200-400 words) and 5 keywords should be sent to haemusyoungscholars@gmail.com by the 15th of October 2025.
The Young Scholar Network of the HAEMUS Interrnational Research Network seeks to facilitate a discussion that, grounded in the latest research and ongoing investigations, can aid in identifying the primary characteristics and phenomena that defined the Balkan Peninsula from the 3rd to the 8th century. Depending on the starting point of view adopted for such a task, this period has been defined as Late Antique, Late Roman, Early Christian and Early Byzantine era. Taking into account the distinctive features of this historical period, as defined in the major epistemological works on the matter, and recognizing the elements of rupture and continuity from the previous era, the debate will propose answers to the following questions:
- What means Late Antique / Late Roman / Early Christian / Early Byzantine in the Balkans? (Viz. how these definitions are generally used in studies devoted to the Peninsula.)
- These formulas are to be accepted as simple synonyms for Late Antique or the latter is to be considered a precise definition for a peculiar period? 3. What makes the Balkans specific and what makes it an integral part of the Empire between the 3rd and the 8th century?
Each presentation (c. 20 minutes) will be followed by a small discussion (c. 10 minutes).
Topics
This seminar will be multidisciplinary, relying on any kind of testimonies available in the fields of history, archaeology and art history. Among the themes for which discussion are encouraged, we can mention (but not exclusively):
- Historiography
- Epigraphy
- Numismatics
- Topography
- Iconography
- Administration
- Urban development
- Military organisation
- Religion
- Migrations
See more: Young Scholars Circle