Maria Nowak got an ERC Consolidator Grant!

We are extremely proud to announce this achievement by our colleague and a CRAC community member!

Professor Maria Nowak has received an ERC Consolidator Grant for her project A provincial capital polis at the end of the Roman era. Periphery or a centre of power? (acronym: PeriPolis). Its aim is to show the late Roman Empire as a state struggling with problems surprisingly similar to those affecting contemporary societies.

The project focuses on the period from the 5th to the 7th century, when Constantinople gradually lost more and more territory. The researcher analyses whether the capital was still able to effectively control distant territories, especially in terms of the basic function of the state, which is law enforcement.

Based on written and archaeological sources, professor Maria Nowak will present a new perspective on the functioning of the late Roman Empire on its peripheries. The research will examine provincial administration, the effectiveness of communication between the imperial court in Constantinople and provincial capitals, and the enforcement of law in distant regions. The period under study is characterised by significant changes in the balance of power, which inevitably affected the administration of the provinces and the authority of the emperors themselves.

CONGRATULATIONS!