McClanahan Lecture Series
Lampreys and the Birth of Roman Imperial Jurisdiction
Dr. Zach Herz, University of Colorado Boulder
Thursday, February 17th, 2022听 |听 7:00 p.m.听 |听 Hybrid
Vedius Pollio liked feeding people to lampreys. According to an urban legend that circulated in听Imperial Rome, the emperor Augustus saved one of Pollio鈥檚 slaves from this grisly fate and听punished Pollio for his brutality. In this talk, Dr. Herz considers what the Pollio story can tell us听about how emperors worked. It reveals the complex mechanics of Augustan messaging, and听offers a glimpse into the freighted moral questions raised by imperial power. What does it mean听to go to the emperor for justice? What can he offer that other decisionmakers can鈥檛? And what听could justice even mean in the autocracy of the enslaving household, on one hand, or of the听Principate on the other? Come for the man-eating fish, stay for the jurisdictional conflict.
This lecture is free and will be given in person (Eaton Humanities 250) and simultaneously hosted on Zoom.
This lecture is sponsored by Mary E.V. McClanahan.听 抖阴旅行射 Classics is grateful for her generous support.