America enjoys a special relationship with ancient Rome. Our system of government is modeled on the imagined workings of the Roman Republic, and the columns and pediments of our public architecture evoke themes of power, grandeur, and permanence drawn directly from the classical world. But, in the light of our conviction that the Roman Empire ultimately fell, brought low by a combination of excess and immorality, infrastructural overload and external forces, we worry also that Rome’s demise might serve as a model for our own. In this talk, we’ll explore the tension between these rather different inheritances of Rome, focusing especially on how the messages are molded to fit our modern concerns.

Presented by Associate Professor of Classical Studies at University of Pennsylvania.  Campbell Grey is a social historian, working particularly in the late and post-Roman world (third through seventh centuries). He has studied rural communities in late antiquity: how they worked, what strategies, institutions and structures they possessed for maintaining equilibrium and managing conflict, and what they did when things went wrong. Campbell is the author of Constructing Communities in the Late Roman Countryside, Cambridge University Press.

We will meet in the MacColl Room on the second floor of First Presbyterian Church, 201 S. 21st Street, entrance on 21st Street. If you   will need the handicapped entrance, kindly let us know in advance.

Please register by emailing info@pennsvillage.org or by calling 215-925-7333. There is no charge for Penn’s Village members and volunteers. We would appreciate a $10 donation from guests. Other guests are welcome to attend three programs before joining and/or volunteering. Please cancel if you are unable to make your reservation so there will be room for others.