Ancient World Seminar: Peter van Nuffelen (Ghent), 'Break or Continuity? Historiography in Late Antiquity'

Within the study of Late Antiquity, historiography has not yet received the attention it deserves as a witness to cultural change. Disciplinary boundaries, seeking to mark classical historiography off from its late ancient counterpart (or Syriac from Greek, etc.), partly explain this situation. The present paper seeks to identify some general characteristics of historiographical production in this period, across the various languages involved, and proposes new avenues of research. The paper shall look in particular at new forms of historiography and the development of new ideas on language, reality, and time.

Peter van Nuffelen is Research Professor at Ghent University. Drawing inspiration from philosophy, anthropology, and sociology, his research currently focuses on late antique history, literature and historiography, and on ancient religion. He recently received two prestigious grants for the project "Finding the present in the distant past: The cultural meaning of antiquarianism in late Antiquity" (FWO/NWO, 2013-2017) and "Memory of Empire: the Post-Imperial Historiography of Late Antiquity" (ERC, 2013-2017).