About the Talk: 

Visiting scholar Leonora Neville (University of Wisconsin Madison) will give a public talk titled "Political Religion in the Long Roman Empire" as part of the UT Humanities Center’s 2023-2024 Distinguished Lecture Series. 

In the ancient Roman Empire political and religious action were inseparably intertwined and Roman success was considered a consequence of their expertise in religion. Centuries after the Christianization of the Empire, religion remained an aspect of nearly all government action. Considering later Roman political religion in light of the categories used to study ancient religion helps us understand medieval eastern Christianity in strikingly new ways. 

The lecture is free and open to the public and is held in Hodges Library’s auditorium on the UT Knoxville campus. Public parking is available in the Volunteer Hall parking garage for our off-campus visitors. Everyone is welcome! 

About the Speaker: 

Leonora Neville is a historian of the later Roman Empire.  Her five books and numerous essays explore gender, authority, government, history writing, and the importance of the classical past for medieval Roman culture.  She is the John and Jeanne Rowe Professor of Byzantine History and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

About the Series: 

The UT Humanities Center's Distinguished Lecture Series brings acclaimed humanities scholars and renowned artists to the Knoxville campus for research-based conversations with UT faculty and graduate students and to give a public talk on a topic of the speaker's choosing. Speakers are nominated and hosted by faculty from our nine affiliated arts and humanities departments. Because only speakers with exceptional records of publication and research activity are eligible to receive a nomination as a visiting scholar, the program brings to campus some of the most cutting-edge and prolific intellectuals in the humanities today. Details on this season's program are available on our website.