COST A36, Tributary Empires Compared
Romans, Ottomans, Mughals and beyond
Mid-term Meeting
Warsaw, 13-15 October 2006
Institute of History, Warsaw University
Room A, 2nd floor
This meeting is the mid-term conference of the tributary empires compared network. Its focus is on synthesis and builds on the work already begun in Copenhagen. It aims to further the dialogue between the models of power in sociology, historical sociology and empirical historical research on classic imperial formations. The first day will be dedicated to discussions of historical, sociological models of empires as systems of power and the problems of comparison. The second day will examine the notion of imperial universalism, a central aspect of state-formation in “our” tributary empires. This will enable the network to explore common ground between the various branches (European as well as Oriental) of the originally middle-eastern tradition of state-craft. Finally the third day will seek to deepen our understanding of the empires as systems of power by testing their limits. Power, tribute and state formation, the language of universal hegemony and frontiers of empire will be key themes of this meeting.
Friday, 13 October
Universal Empire and Historical Sociology
Morning: 9.30-13.00
Sociology and anthropology on history
chair: Peter Fibiger Bang (Copenhagen)
9.30-9.40 opening
9.40-10.15 Garry Runciman (Cambridge),
Empire as a Topic in Comparative Sociology
10.15-10.40 Jan Kieniewicz (Warsaw),
European Empires of the Indian Ocean
10.40-11.00 coffee break
11.00-11.35 Peter Haldén (European University, Florence),
Empires: the diverse uses of systems theory
11.35-12.10 Michal Tymowski (Warsaw),
Early Imperial Formations in Africa and the power segmentation
problem
12.10-12.50 discussion
13.00-14.30 lunch
Afternoon: 14.30-18.00
History meets sociology
chair: Chris Bayly (Cambridge)
14.30-15.05 Chris Wickham (Oxford),
Tributary Empires
15.05-15.40 Walter Scheidel (Graz/Stanford),
Rome and Han China
15.40-16.00 coffee break
16.00-16.35 Stephen Blake (Minneapolis),
Returning the Household to the Tributary Empire Model: Gender, Succession, and Ritual in the Mughal, Safavid and Ottoman Empires
16.35-17.10 Phiroze Vasunia (Reading),
Ancient and Modern Imperialism: Network Proposal
17.10-17.50 discussion
19.00 dinner (Restaurant Senator, ul. Szeroki Dunaj 1/3)
Saturday, 14 October
Imperial Universalism, shared symbols and ideological constructions
Morning: 9.00-12.30
chair: Metin Kunt (Sabanci-Istanbul)
9.00-9.35 Gojko Barjamovic (Copenhagen),
Assyrian and Achaemenid Imperial Culture
9.35-10.10 Rolf Schneider (Munich), Rome’s Oriental Identity:
Visual Strategies of Imperial Universalism
10.10-10.30 coffee break
10.30-11.05 Garth Fowden (National Hellenic Research Foundation),
Pseudo-Aristotelian Politics and Theology in Islam
11.05-11.40 Judith Herrin (King’s College, London),
The Christian tradition, Greek and Latin
11.40-12.20 discussion
12.30-14.00 lunch
Afternoon: 14.00-17.30
chair: Jeroen Duindam (Utrecht)
14.00-14.35 Cemal Kafadar (Harvard),
Other empires in the Ottoman mind: how the Ottomans compared themselves to other universalist enterprises, past and present
14.35-15.10 Ebba Koch (Vienna),
Perso-Indian Universalism and the image of Timur
15.10-15.30 coffee break
15.30-16.05 Justyna Olko (Warsaw),
Aztec Universalism: Elite Ideology in Service of Empire-Building
16.05-17.30 concluding discussion
19.00 dinner (Restaurant Fret@Porter, ul. Freta 37)
Sunday, 15 October
Frontiers of Empire
8.00-9.30 Breakfast meeting of the Management Committee (Hotel Harenda)
Morning: 9.40-13.10
chair: Bjørn Forsen (Finnish Institute at Athens)
9.40-10.15 Adam Ziólkowski (Warsaw),
From a limitless imperium populi Romani to the Maginot line bound Roman Empire
10.15-10.35 Mircea Negru (Spiru Haret-Bucharest),
Roman frontiers in the north of Lower Danube. Evolutions and significations
10.35-11.10 Dariusz Kolodziejczyk (Warsaw),
Do universal empires have frontiers? – an Ottoman case
11.10-11.30 coffee break
chair: Giovanni Salmeri (Pisa)
11.30-12.05 Michael Khodarkovsky (Loyola University, Chicago),
The Russian Steppe Frontiers
12.05-12.40 David Ludden (University of Pennsylvania),
Frontiers of empire in India
12.40-13.10 discussion
13.15-14.15 lunch
14.30 guided visit to the Royal Castle
18.00 dinner (Belvedere-Café Lazienki Krolewskie, ul. Agrykoli 1)
List of Participants:
COST MC Members
COST
David Grønbæk (Brussels)
Balázs Kiss (Budapest)
Denmark
Peter Bang (Copenhagen)
UK
Chris Bayly (Cambridge)
Turkey
Metin Kunt (Sabanci)
Halil Berktay (Sabanci)
Finland
Bjørn Forsen (Athens)
France
Claire Sottinel (Tours)
Austria
Ebba Koch (Vienna)
Italy
Giovanni Salmeri (Pisa)
Holand
Jeroen Duindam (Utrecht)
Poland
Dariusz Kolodziejczyk (Warsaw)
Adam Ziólkowski (Warsaw)
Greece
Antonios Anastasopoulos (University of Crete, Greece)
Romania
Rodica Naniu-Ursu (University "Spiru Haret", Bucharest)
Working Group:
Austria
Walter Scheidel (Graz)
Germany
Rolf Schneider (Munich)
Denmark
Gojko Barjamovich (Copenhagen)
UK
Chris Wickham (Oxford)
Judith Herrin (London)
Garry Runciman (Cambridge)
Phiroze Vasunia (Reading)
Greece
Garth Fowden (Athens)
Poland
Jan Kieniewicz (Warsaw)
Justyna Olko (Warsaw)
Michal Tymowski (Warsaw)
Sweden
Peter Haldén
Romania
Mircea Negru
External experts:
Steven Blake (Minneapolis)
Cemal Kafadar (Harvard)
Michael Khodarkovsky (Loyola Chicago)
David Ludden (University of Pennsylvania)
