Project description
An examination of ancient slaves and their historical agency
Slavery has been a significant component of ancient societies. However, our understanding of the role of ancient slaves remains limited. The ERC-funded SLaVEgents project will study the diverse identities of slaves, their formation of communities and networks, and how their agency catalysed pivotal political, social, economic, and cultural transformations in the ancient world. Studying the proactive influence of enslaved individuals on the societies they were a part of is expected to yield great insights. Through an examination of slavery in various ancient societies (Greece, Rome, Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, Syria), the project will draw upon a comprehensive array of ancient languages and relevant archaeological data. This approach will provide a fresh perspective on antiquity spanning Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1000 BCE to 300 CE.
Objective
SLaVEgents is an ambitious project focused on slave agency; it aims to explore how enslaved persons in antiquity actively shaped the societies they lived in. It will examine the multiple identities of enslaved persons, the communities and networks that they created or participated in, and how slave agency brought about major political, social, economic and cultural changes in the ancient world. By exploring the various forms of slave agency, SLaVEgents will offer a radically new perspective on antiquity from the point of view of history from below.
The project moves beyond the usual focus on slavery in classical Greece and Roman Italy to offer a comprehensive examination of the history of enslaved persons across Western Eurasia and North Africa between 1000 BCE and 300 CE. SLaVEgents is the first project to examine together all ancient slaveries from Mesopotamia to the Atlantic, and include sources in the full range of ancient languages (Assyrian, Babylonian, Hebrew, Aramaic, Phoenician, Egyptian, Greek, Latin) and the relevant archaeological data.
The research team – composed of the PI, eight senior researchers, seven post-doctoral researchers and three PhD candidates – will construct a large-scale digital prosopography of all attested ancient slaves which will include all relevant sources in the original and in English translation. The Linked Open Data created by the digital prosopography will enable new forms of quantitative and qualitative research and will make a significant contribution to Digital Humanities. The monograph and the two collective volumes of the project will offer an important step towards rewriting the history of antiquity with slaves at its centre. In addition, the project will deliver fifteen articles, three PhD dissertations, three workshops, one international conference and a website.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history ancient history
- social sciences law human rights human rights violations human trafficking
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
70 013 IRAKLEIO
Greece
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.