Call for Papers
Department of Classical Studies Graduate Student Conference Boston University, Boston, MA - March 28th, 2026
Cupido regnandi: Lust for Power in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Keynote speaker: Dr. Luca Grillo, Professor of Classics at the University of Notre Dame
At the opening of his Georgics, Vergil admonishes Octavian: Nec tibi regnandi veniat tam dira cupido (“May such a frightful lust for ruling not come to you!” 1.37). To be sure, the ancient Mediterranean world produced some of the earliest and most vivid accounts of the horrors and allurements of political strongmen. Often discontented citizens, failed institutions, and imbalanced relationships between elites and the masses lie at the heart of these moments of populist turmoil. Ambitious leaders have always sought power by testing or outright violating established laws and norms. In extreme cases, these dynamics have led to the collapse of political systems, civil unrest, and open warfare.
The 2026 Graduate Student Conference at BU’s Department of Classical Studies seeks to examine how literary sources theorized and remembered the polarizing personalities of tyrants, demagogues, and usurpers from the Greek archaic period to the twilight of antiquity.
The conference will take place on March 28th, 2026 at the School of Theology (Room 325) at Boston University. Papers from current graduate students in Classical Studies, Ancient History, Ancient Philosophy, Classical Art/Archaeology and related fields are welcome. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- Tyrannical ambitions (actual or alleged);
- Populist generals (e.g., Cleon, Pompey);
- Political readings of Greek and Latin poetry;
- Ancient biography and historiographic narrative;
- Near Eastern, Hellenistic, and Roman Imperial usurpers/conspirators;
- Accounts of political ambition and regime change in Greek and Roman philosophy.
Please send abstracts (as PDF files) of 300–500 words for 20-minute papers to [email protected] with the subject line “Boston Classics Graduate Conference 2026” by February 17th, 2026. Selected participants will be notified of acceptance by February 23rd, 2026. Since all submissions will be reviewed anonymously, no personal information whatsoever should be included in the PDF file; the attached document should contain only the paper title, abstract, and bibliography.
