MATTHEW LARSEN: THE PRISON OF LATE ANCIENT CORINTH AND ITS CAPTIVES

This talk will discuss the recently identified prison of late antique Corinth and the lives and experiences its captives. First, it will discuss the Boudroumi and Northwest Shops in their initial construction and the key aspects of their later renovation into a carceral facility. It will then discuss the prisoner graffiti left by the inmates of the prison on the floor and walls of the prison, which offer important social and cultural historical perspectives on the lived experiences of incarceration. It will then situate the prison and its captives within the larger context of carcerality in ancient Corinth, as well as the ancient Mediterranean world more broadly. Especially, it will contextualize and offer new insight into the potential use of the Julian Basilica as a prison in the earlier imperial period, situate the renovations of the Boudroumi and Northwest Shops within the broader context of the earthquakes and subsequent renovations under the governor of Achaia at the end of fourth century CE, as well as the location of the prison within the shifting urban landscape of Corinth in Late Antiquity.

Matthew Larsen is PI of 'The Prison Project: Materiality of Incarceration in Mediterranean Antiquity' at The University of Copenhagen, where he is also Associate Professor (in Promotion Program). He is the author of Gospels before the Book (Oxford University Press, 2018), which won a Manfred Lautenschlaeger award, as well as numerous articles in leading journals. He is currently completing two book manuscripts: a monograph on early Christians and incarceration and an interdisciplinary book overviewing the institution of incarceration in Mediterranean antiquity (co-authored with Mark Letteney).

Following the lecture, there will be a discussion led by Fotini Kondyli, Assoc. Prof. of Byzantine Art and Archaeology, University of Virginia, and Elizabeth A. Whitehead Distinguished Scholar at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

The lecture can be attended in person or online. To attend online, please register here.