CfP: Conference “The Shady Trade of Hermes: Theft, Thieves and Thievery in the Ancient World”

To mark seven years of the Centre for the Study of Ancient Civilisations, we are organising a conference entitled “The Shady Trade of Hermes: Theft, Thieves and Thievery in the Ancient World”, to be held at the University of Warsaw on 25-27.09.2025. Keynote speaker: Roberta Mazza (University of Bologna)

Intuitionally theft seems to be a simple concept of taking something away from someone, yet on any sort of closer consideration it becomes a fascinating, multi-dimensional phenomenon, or a whole range of phenomena. The theft in ancient societies could be analyzed from more than one perspective and with the use of cross-disciplinary methods. The conference is a way to provide a floor for the meeting of scholars working on different ancient societies in and beyond the Graeco-Roman world including ancient Near East and Northern Africa, on one hand. On the other, it is a chance to confront different approaches to theft in the periods under research.

Possible topics include but are not limited to the following:
– changing conceptions of theft, thieves and thievery over time;
– the various types of theft reflected in ancient sources, such as from tombs or
temples, or the appropriation of public funds;
– intellectual appropriation in ancient societies;
– legal recourses to investigating or punishing theft and modes of self-help
– theft as a delict of private law;
– literary representations of theft, thieves and thievery;
– archaeological evidence;
– the modern (il-)legal trade in antiquities.

The conference will be organized in a workshop format, with 45 minutes total for each talk and discussion, with a focus on source analysis.

We invite abstracts of max. 200 words to be sent to furtum2025@uw.edu.pl by the 28 th of February, 2025.

The conference organizers will provide the speakers with the accommodation, and if the resources are enough with partial reimbursement for travel expenses.

Organizing committee: Maria Nowak together with Jan Kwapisz, Małgorzata Sandowicz, Dagmara Wielgosz-Rondolino, Robert Wiśniewski.