About the Presentation
Alexander Batson presents the unknown story of the European reception of Attic law. In 1540, European scholars knew very little about the content or procedure of Athenian law. By 1650, they had access to nearly 20 treatises that explained the variety of Attic legal actions, the diversity of Athenian courts, and the minute details of legal terminology. The reconstruction of Attic law was not merely a dusty antiquarian project, but an attempt to recover a usable past that could be implemented in various theological, legal, political, and economic projects. The paper explores how European intellectual figures like Philip Melanchthon, J.J. Scaliger, and Claudius Salmasius recovered Attic law and put it to a variety of uses.
About the Speaker
Alexander Batson is an assistant professor of intellectual history at the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a historian of early modern Europe. His research focuses on intellectual history, jurisprudence, the history of classical scholarship, and the Protestant Reformation. His monograph project, The Secure Sea: The Greek Tradition in European Imperial Ideology, examines how early modern thinkers used ancient Greek literature and history to craft visions of empire based around limited, secure, territorial seas.
Organisers
The Early Modern Hellenism Colloquium Series is a collaboration between the University of Cyprus and the University of Oslo and is convened by Natasha Constantinidou and Han Lamers.