Department of History

“Listening to Heretical Voices: Philostorgius’s Vision of History”

Anna Lankina, Department of History, 2013-2014 Rothman Doctoral Fellow
Rarely do historians have access to the voices of religious minorities. In the later Roman Empire sources pertaining to such “heretical” groups were targeted for systematic destruction. The fifth-century Greek Ecclesiastical History of the Christian “Arian heretic” Philostorgius is an unusual example of a surviving minority source. In this talk, Anna Lankina will not only provide insight into the work of a persecuted religious minority, but will also argue for the History’s rightful place as an integral part of the development of the genre of ecclesiastical history. Specifically, she will demonstrate that Philostorgius displays a distinctive theology of history, viewing religion and empire as interconnected categories that reveal the will of God in human history. This in turn will allow for a reassessment of late antique historiography as a whole and contribute to a new perspective on the cultural history of the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine history.
This event is part of the 2013-14 Fellowship Brown-Bag Series, which features informal talks by the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere’s Rothman Faculty Summer Fellows, Tedder Doctoral Fellows, and Rothman Doctoral Fellows. Fellows will speak for 20-30 minutes in length about their funded work, leaving ample time for questions and discussion. The Center will provide drinks and dessert.

• This event is free and open to the public.
• For more information on becoming a Rothman Doctoral Fellow, see the Call for Proposals.
• For more information on this event, contact humanities-center@ufl.edu.