Project description
Uncovering the ‘middle elites’ in Roman society
In the annals of history, Roman society’s inherent elitism has overshadowed more nuanced layers. Existing accounts have largely fixated on the apex and nadir of imperial elites, leaving the unexplored realm of the ‘middle elite’ in obscurity. With the support of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the RIDERS project aims to reshape historical narratives by adding a further perspective. With a departure from conventional methodologies, it will explore the untold stories of Roman imperial elites. Shifting away from the exclusive focus on top-tier and grassroots dynamics, the project draws from a wellspring of traditional prosopography, sociological insights and digital humanities. It revives the analysis of over 2 500 equestrian officers, a category long neglected.
Objective
Roman society is elitist by nature and is thus represented by most available sources. Roman imperial elites have been long investigated, however scholars usually focused only on the two extremes of elites, either the top level (elites employed in high imperial administration), or the bottom one (civic elites). No attention was devoted to investigating the existence of a “middle-elite”.
The RIDERS project offers an innovative investigation of Roman imperial elites with the ambitious purpose of changing traditional models of interpretation, moving beyond a top-down approach (i.e. focusing on the top level) and a bottom-up one (i.e. focusing on the bottom level), by developing a ground-breaking middle-out approach.
After over three decades since the last complete work devoted to equestrian officers, the RIDERS project re-addresses the entire corpus of the 2,500 equestrian officers currently known, to develop an innovative tool for an in-depth investigation of imperial middle-elites. By applying a multidisciplinary methodology, based on traditional prosopography integrated with sociological methods and supported by digital humanities, the RIDERS project will develop, as its main outcomes, the first database devoted to equestrian officers and the first monograph on imperial middle-elites.
The ambition of the RIDERS project consists in applying also to elites the social concept of “middle”, usually employed only for the remaining part of society. Suggesting that even elites had a “middle”, not only a top or a bottom, will ambitiously contribute to improving our knowledge of Roman society, which was much more complex and variegated than studies have hitherto highlighted.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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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.
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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.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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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) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
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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.
33607 PESSAC CEDEX
France
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.