Seleukid Lecture series

The 8th edition of the Seleukid Lecture Series will run from September to December 2024, always on the 3rd Wednesday in a month, starting at 11:00 am EST / EDT / Toronto Time.

Participation is free and open to everyone interested, but registration is required unless you are already on our mailing list. Please, send a request to altay dot coskun at uwaterloo dot ca or to rabbi dot scolnic at gmail dot com, and you will receive the Zoom meeting link and passcode once available.

The lecture series is organized by Altay Coskun (University of Waterloo) and Rabbi Ben Scolnic (Southern Connecticut State University). Please, direct all enquiries or suggestions to us.

Seleukid Lecture Series VIII
Fall 2024

September 18: Angus Llewellyn Jacobson (Tasmania)
“Demetrios Soter: Early Beginnings of the Seleukid-Antigonid οἰκειότης in Libanios, Or. 11”
Expert feedback will be provided by Catherine Saliou (Paris)
Abstract

October 16 EXCEPTIONALLY BEGINNING AT 10:30 am:
Ian Stern (Haifa)
“The Rise and Fall of Hellenistic Period Maresha”
Expert feedback by Stuart Miller (University of Connecticut)
Abstract

This lecture has been postponed to 19 March 2025:
Raúl Navas Moreno (Barcelona)
“Continuity and Change in Hellenistic Iran:
Seleukid Relationship with Achaimenid, Arsakid and Sasanian Empires”
Expert feedback by David Engels (Brussels)
Abstract

Consider participating instead at the panel ‘New Trends in Seleukid Research’ on 15 November 2024. See Utrecht Workshop 2024 — Dr. Altay Coskun.

December 18: Julien Olivier (Paris)
“The Ptolemies, Still and Always in Syria-Phoenicia (142–101 BCE)
The Evidence of Coinage”
Expert feedback will be provided by Kyle Erickson (University of Wales, Lampeter)
Abstract



Seleukid Lecture Series VII
Winter-Spring 2024

January 17: Cathy Lorber (Los Angeles):
“Ptolemaic Influence on Seleukid Judah through Tobiad Agency and Money”
Expert feedback by Ben Scolnic (Hamden, CT)
Abstract

February 21: Marion Meyer (Vienna):
“A Statue in Early Hellenistic Antioch and Its Long Life in the City (and Modern Scholarship)”
Expert feedback by Tricia Kim (New York)
Abstract

March 20: Cesar Soutullo (Navarra):
“Images of Monarchical Power on the Coins from the Seleukid Kingdom” 
Expert feedback Deirdre Klokow (Austin, TX)
Abstract

April 17: (cancelled)

May 15: “Let’s talk about the Daphne Parade”. Panel discussion with Nicholas Sekunda (Gdansk), Rolf Strootman (Utrecht), Stephen Harrison (Swansea), Altay Coskun (Waterloo), hosted by Ben Scolnic (Hamden).
Abstract

June 19: Paul Johstono (Maxwell)
“Problems in Generating Infantry for Seleukid Field Armies”
Expert feedback by Phil de Souza (Dublin)
Abstract

Seleukid Lecture Series VI
Fall 2023

September 20, 2023: Graham Wrightson (South Dakota State University)
“Panium: A New Perspective”
Expert feedback by Paul Johstono (USAF Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell, AL)
Abstract

(October 18, 2023) To be rescheduled in 2024:
Peter Edwell (Macquarie University, Sydney)
“Between Antioch and Seleucia-Ctesiphon: Defending the Seleucid Middle Euphrates in the second century BC”
Expert feedback by Simon James (University of Leicester)
Abstract

November 15, 2023: Alain Bresson (University of Chicago)
“Wealthy Seleukids?”
Expert feedback: Oliver Hoover (American Numismatic Society)
Abstract

December 20, 2023: Eliah Vieira-Faria (University of Swansea)
“Contempt Etched in Metal: Coinage, Defacement & Resistance in the Seleucid Empire”
Expert feedback: Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides (Macquarie University, Sydney)
Abstract

 




Seleukid Lecture Series V
Winter-Spring 2023

January 18, 2023: Patricia Eunji Kim (Gallatin School, New York)
“Beyond Portraiture: Toward an Art History of Queenly Faces in the Seleukid World”
Expert feedback by Craig Hardiman (University of Waterloo)
Abstract

February 15, 2023: Pierre-Luc Brisson (McGill, Montreal)
“Ruling under Roman Hegemony: The Cases of Eumenes II and Antiochos IV”
Expert feedback by Germain Payen (Université de Lille)
Abstract

March 15, 2023: Oliver Hoover (American Numismatic Society, New York)
“Ghost Stories: Uses and Survivals of the Seleukid Royal Identity on Non-Seleukid Coins”
Expert feedback by François de Callataÿ (Head of the Patrimonial Collection of the Royal Library of Belgium and Professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles)
Abstract

April 19, 2023: Nicolaas Verhelst (Vienna)
“Uncommon Greek Personal Names along the Passageways of Gods, Kings, and Peoples”
Expert feedback by Julien Monerie (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Abstract Slide Show

May 17, 2023: Ekaterina Berzon (Moscow)
“‘The Dear Son of a Bull’: Some Remarks on the Interpretation of the so-called Phaennis’ Oracle (Paus. X. 15. 3)”
Expert feedback by Marijn Visscher (Bergen)
Abstract


June 21, 2023: Book Launch ‘Seleukid Ideology’
Seleukid Ideology - Creation, Reception, and Response (Seleukid Perspectives 1), Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, expected in spring 2023.
See the book website for more information.





Seleukid Lecture Series IV
Fall 2022

September 21, 2022: Deirdre Klokow (New York and Los Angeles)

“Local Economies and the Evidence of Bronze Coinage in the Seleukid Empire”
Expert feedback by Kyle Erickson (Lampeter)
Abstract

October 19, 2022: Boris Chrubasik (Toronto, ON) & Laurianne Martinez-Sève (Lille)

B. Chrubasik, “Seleucid Power – An Empire of ReconceptualizationAbstract
L. Martinez-Sève, “Rupture ou continuité ? L’expression du pouvoir gréco-bactrien
sous les Diodote Abstract

The event will be co-hosted by the Nancy Study Group in the context of the conference:
“Crises, Collapses and Recoveries of the Seleukid Authority” (Athens, 19-21 October)
Conference Program (Free) Registration

November 16, 2022: Stefano Caneva (Padua, Italy)

“When and How Did Antiochos II Receive His Epithet Theos?”
Expert feedback by Altay Coskun, Waterloo, ON
Abstract

December 21, 2022: Michael Taylor (Albany, NY)

“Legion v. Cataphract: The Battle of Magnesia (190 BC)”
Expert feedback by Silvannen Gerrard (Manchester)
Abstract






Seleukid Lecture Series III
Winter-Spring 2022

February 16, 2022: Erich Gruen (Berkeley, CA)

“The Treaty between Rome and the Jews: Cui Bono?”
Expert feedback by Benedikt Eckhardt (Edinburgh)
Abstract

March 16, 2022: Altay Coskun (Waterloo)
“Ideological Layers in the Apameia Foundation Mosaics”
Abstract and further illustrations Slide show preview

April 20, 2022: John Serrati (Montreal / Ottawa)
“Soldiers, Settlers, and Citizens: Klêrouchoi in the Seleukid Empire”
Expert feedback provided by Michael Taylor (Albany University)
Abstract


May 18, 2022: Eran Almagor (Jerusalem)
“Esther the Queen in the LXX Greek Addition C and D”
Abstract Handout


June 15, 2022: Nicholas Sekunda (Gdansk University)
“Liability for Military Service in the Seleukid Empire”
Abstract Video Recording in preparation



Seleukid Lecture series II
Fall 2021

September 15, 2021: Rolf Strootman (Utrecht)

“How Iranian was the Seleukid Empire?”
Expert feedback will be provided by Stephen Harrison (Swansea)
Abstract Watch Recorded Lecture on Youtube

October 20, 2021: Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides (Sydney)

“The King-ship of the Seleukids: a Different Explanation of the Anchor Symbol”
Expert feedback will be provided by Johannes Haubold (Princeton)
Abstract Watch Recorded Lecture on Youtube

November 17, 2021: Kyle Erickson (Lampeter)

“To the Strongest?
The Problem of Establishing and Bequeathing Authority in the Seleukid Empire”
Expert feedback will be provided by Stefano Caneva (Padua)
Abstract Watch Recorded Lecture on Youtube

December 15, 2021: Stephen Harrison (Swansea)

“Antiochos at Daphne and Xerxes at Sardeis:
A Comparative Perspective on the Seleukid Vision of Empire”
Expert feedback will be provided by David Engels (Warsaw & Poznan)
Abstract Watch Recorded Lecture on Youtube




Seleukid lecture series I
Summer 2021

May 19, 2021: Ben Scolnic (Hamden, CT) & Altay Coskun (Waterloo, ON)

“The Iron Beast, Its Eleven Horns, and the Three Horns Uprooted by the Eleventh
– An Exploration into the Seleukid Allegory of Daniel 7”
Abstract Handout & Readings Watch Recorded Lecture on Youtube

June 16, 2021: Richard Wenghofer (North Bay, ON)

“Fear and Loathing in the Seleukid Kingdom: Popular Resistance to Seleukid Royal Authority”
With expert feedback by Kyle Erickson (Lampeter)
Abstract Slide show Watch Recorded Lecture on Youtube

July 21, 2021: Maria Lord (Lampeter & Vienna) & Deirdre Klokow (Los Angeles)

First lecture: “The Futility of the Search for Line(s)”
Second lecture: “Connectivity and Rural Spaces in the Seleucid Empire”
With expert feedback by Paul Kosmin (Cambridge, MA)
Abstract 1 Abstract 2 Watch Recorded Lecture on Youtube

August 18, 2021: Silvannen Gerrard (Manchester)

“Seleukid Infantry-Cavalry Ratios: The Importance of Numerical Evidence for
Understanding Seleukid Warfare”
With expert feedback by John Serrati (Montreal and Ottawa)
Abstract Slides Watch Recorded Lecture on Youtube