CA Lecture series 2017/18: Graham Barrett, ‘The end of Roman Spain’

Date/Time
Date(s) - 09/05/2018
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Location
Lecture Theatre 6 (room G35), Business School (

Categories


We would like to invite you to join us for our final CA public lecture of the year on Wednesday 9th May at 5.30pm, in Lecture Theatre 6 (room G35) of the Manchester Metropolitan Business School (M15 6BH).

Our speaker for this lecture is Graham Barrett (Lincoln), who will be speaking on ‘The End of Roman Spain’. Dr Barrett has kindly provided the following abstract:

‘Hispania in the fifth century is poorly served by primary sources. After Orosius laid down his stylus around 418, for the most part we are reliant on the Chronicle of Hydatius, which ends in 468. Undoubtedly an eyewitness of the first order – he was, after all, kidnapped by barbarians in the course of chronicling their takeover of his homeland – he was possessed of his own apocalyptic interpretation of events which darkly colours our perspective on the period. Yet there is one source, not so much overlooked as misunderstood, which may get us closer to the messy reality on the ground: a letter from the emperor Honorius (393/5-423) to the garrison of Pamplona, with attached paean of praise for the city and its noted amenities. In this lecture we shall consider the implications of the correspondence for modelling the end of Roman rule in the Iberian Peninsula and farther afield, and the effects of this model of ending on the subsequent development of social and cultural identities in what had been the western empire.’

A drinks reception will follow the lecture, after which attendees may wish to join us for dinner with the speaker at a local restaurant. 

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