19th International Colloquium on Roman Provincial Art
Social Mobility
Frankfurt - Mainz - Saalburg, 1-7 June 2026
From 1 to 7 June 2026, the Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften at Goethe University is hosting an international conference on “Social Mobility” (19th Colloquium on Roman Provincial Art). The colloquium series on Roman Provincial Art is dedicated to the stone monuments of the Roman provinces and among the most important international events in this field. Cooperation partners include the Archaeological Museum Frankfurt, the Romano-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute, the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA) in Mainz, and
the Saalburg Roman Fort.
The Roman conquest brought about some fundamental changes for the local provincial population. In addition to geographical mobility, e.g. through new settlement patterns, trade, and military dislocation, this also affected social mobility. Old elites had to reposition themselves in order to assert themselves, and new elites emerged, especially in the context of political-military conflicts. However, the granting of civil rights and opportunities for economic networking also offered members of lower social groups opportunities for advancement, for example through military service. In the northern provinces in particular, the new Mediterranean media of image, writing and architecture, as well as their combination, opened up new, often ostentatious forms of expression for social positioning. These could be used equally to articulate innovations and traditional values. Grave and dedication monuments in particular, but also representative residential furnishings, open up far-reaching possibilities for
analysis in this regard. They are often a means of social communication for newly constituted provincial societies. The aim of the 19th International Colloquium on Roman Provincial Art is to examine how the social processes mentioned above are reflected and discussed in the medium of stone monuments.
More detailed information and program
Contact
CRPA2026@em.uni-frankfurt.de
The full program can be found here as PDF-Download.
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