Social Norms, Regulations and Biopolitics in the 3rd–6th-Century Roman Empire

With the support of the Scientific Exchanges funding of the SNSF (project number IZSEZ0_243763), RomAge and the Institute of Roman Law (University of Bern) are organising a conference on social norms, regulations and biopolitics in the late antique Roman Empire. This conference brings together historians of law, medicine, religion, and society to explore how social norms, legal regulations, and religious discourses interacted to shape biopolitics between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE. Over three days, we will examine late antique legislation, ecclesiastical and ascetic discourses, medical theories, and everyday practices to better understand the mechanisms and logics of control, care, and exclusion in the Roman Empire. The conference will run in a hybrid format, with the option to join selected sessions online via Zoom.