Kafka's ‘Before the Law’ - Wednesday 10th December 2014

The fifth and final meeting of the Ancient Law reading group in the Autumn term will take place on Wednesday 10th December at 5pm in Samuel Alexander S2.2. William Simms will be leading a discussion on Kafka's ‘Before the Law’ from his novel The Trial. Will has kindly provided the following introductory comments:

"Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was a Czech, Jewish, Modernist author whose work has had a profound impact on literary studies and philosophy. His novel The Trial has become one of the central texts around which debates on the relationship between law and literature have formed. Our interest is in a short parable lifted from the novel entitled ‘Before the Law’. The parable has particular relevance for us as readers of the law, as it reveals the absolute importance of the Law, its function as a guarantor of meaning within a given culture, but also brings that function under suspicion. What is the relationship between the law and literature, truth and fiction? What does it mean to be 'before the law' spatially and temporally? I would like to discuss all these issues with you and am really looking forward to what you can bring to this discussion. Kafka being Jewish also asks that we consider the parable in its religious context, a subject that I myself know little about but I'm hoping a few of you can elucidate!

No prior reading is required, the parable isn't long and I’ll provide you all with copies. But if you can't wait, please find Orson Welles's version below.

I’ll be guiding the seminar along to some degree, giving context where I can and perhaps introducing certain interpretations by my favourite theorists, but for the most part I'm interested in seeing where we take this as a group."

The Roman law of abortion - Wednesday 26th November

The fourth meeting of the Ancient Law reading group will take place on Wednesday 26th November at 4pm in Samuel Alexander S2.2. Rachel Plummer will be leading a discussion on the Roman law of abortion. Melissa has kindly provided the following introductory comments:

"We will explore the relationship between the ideals promoted in the legal texts and the reality which Roman literature suggests persevered despite elite male attempts to assert control over the female reproductive system. We will look at the legal rulings in the context of Roman medical and literary texts to assess the purpose and paranoia behind the laws."

The Theodosian Code… as a Letter Collection? - Wednesday 12th November

The third meeting of the Ancient Law reading group will take place on Wednesday 12th November at 5pm in Samuel Alexander S2.2. Melissa Markauskas will be leading a discussion on 'The Theodosian Code… as a Letter Collection?' Melissa has kindly provided the following introductory comments:

"The Theodosian Code preserves Roman legal material from the early fourth century AD through to the first third of the fifth. As counter-intuitive as it might at first seem, the individual constitutions of the Theodosian Code meet typical genre category guidelines for "letters." Even as they are preserved within the impressively hefty sixteen books of the Code, the original nature of these constitutions as letters, as messages taken down in tangible media and physically transmitted between parties who are separated by physical distance, is obvious in the address and subscription formula that appear with almost all constitutions.

This informal seminar will consider this "letter" metadata from a selection of Theodosian Code constitutions and ask what difference it makes to format a law code (or, indeed, legal texts in general) in this way."

No prior preparation is expected or required, but the reading is available here. Copies will be provided on the day.

Roman law of slavery - Wednesday 15th October *at 4pm*

The second meeting of the Ancient Law reading group will take place on Wednesday 15th October at 4pm in Samuel Alexander S2.2.

Sam Fernes is bringing to the table a text from Gaius' Institutes, in which slavery as it relates to the Roman law of persons is introduced.  The text will hopefully prompt a comparison between questions of slavery and freedom in Rome and in other legal cultures, although participants might want to consider questions of purpose and organisation of the text as well as matters relating directly to slavery. 

As ever, no preparation is required before the meeting, but if interested, the text is available online.  Photocopies will be provided on the day.

Talmud - Wednesday, 1 October 2014

The  first session of the Ancient Law reading group takes place in the University of Manchester's Samuel Alexander building South 2.2 on Wednesday at 5pm.

After a few introductory words, we shall mean business straight away. Marton Ribary is offering  a short excerpt from tractate Berakhot 19b of the Babylonian Talmud which touches upon the tension between traditionalism and innovation. The two opposing approaches to received legal tradition are by no means limited to the Talmudic sages, and it is expected that the topic will generate discussion among participants whose primary interest may be in other ancient legal cultures

Participants are asked to have a quick thought about how the opposing tendencies of traditionalism and innovation shape the legal culture of their primary interest. Methodological questions specific to the study of Talmudic literature shall be addressed as the discussion dictates.

There is absolutely no need to prepare or read ahead, but in case participants are interested, they can download a short document including the excerpts. Printouts will be provided for the session.

Schedule - Autumn term 2014-2015

2014 Autumn Semester
Wednesday 5pm, fortnightly

Samuel Alexander building, South Wing 2.2

The University of Manchester

First session: 1 October

The newly established “Ancient law reading group” seeks to provide a platform of learning and discussion for people interested in the broadly defined field of law in ancient times. We are particularly interested in any points of comparison and contrast between the legal thought (and implications thereof) of different societies and encourage all approaches (e.g. philosophical, legal, socio-historical, philological, literary).

Schedule:

1 October: Talmud (Marton Ribary)

15 October: Roman law – slavery (Sam Jones)

12 November: The Theodosian Code (Melissa Markauskas)

26 November: Roman law – abortion (Rachel Plummer)

10 December: Kafka’s Before the law (Will Simms’ Christmas special)

Method:

The sessions require no prior preparations from the participants. We would focus on the close reading of a short excerpt with the session leader orchestrating the discussion and introducing the participants to the linguistic and methodological issues of his/her own field.

Spring term:

We would like to continue our reading group in the Spring term to explore further ancient legal cultures such as Ancient Greece, Ancient Near East, Biblical Law, Early Canon Law, Early Islam, Zoroastrianism, Celts, Gauls and other neighbouring cultures of Rome. The list is purely indicative, and is by no means exhaustive. People studying ancient legal cultures are encouraged to join our group, and offer a session introducing their field.

The reading group is open to all staff and students members of the university and beyond.

For further information, please contact Marton Ribary and Sam Jones:

marton.ribary@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

samuel.jones-2@manchester.ac.uk