Hadrian’s personality combined a variety of elements and balanced both universal and local values, being the ultimate expression of an empire that encompassed diverse cultures, languages, and traditions. The unity of the empire through diversity is evident in his relationship with each of the three cities that can be considered as his ‘homelands’: Italica -his ancestors’ place of origin; Rome -the city where he grew up, the heart of his empire; and Athens -his beloved cultural ‘homeland’ whose citizenship he proudly held about his mid-thirties.

 

Organised by the Directorate of Prehistoric & Classical Antiquities, Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens (Hellenic Ministry of Culture) and the Institute of Historical Research, Section of Greek and Roman Antiquity, «Roman Attica Project».

November 20, 2025
17:00

Material Entanglements in the Ancient Mediterranean and Beyond investigates cultural, and especially artistic, contacts across a broad swath of the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern world from the Middle Bronze Age to the Sasanian Period (c. 2000 BCE – c. 650 CE).

Polly Low, Professor of Ancient History, Durham University

This lecture will use a selection of case studies to explore the problem of identifying and analysing ’empire’ and ‘imperialism’ in Classical Greece; a particular aim of the lecture is to show how far the practices and ideologies of the fifth-century ‘Athenian Empire’ dominate not only modern but also ancient models of coercive interstate power.

November 03, 2025
18:00 EET

The Seminars on Greek and Roman Antiquity aim at presenting the most recent findings of research on the ancient Greek and Roman World, as well as on the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean. They aspire to engage all disciplines relating to the study of the ancient world, focusing both on the written sources and on the material evidence, through the participation of experienced as well as younger scholars.

Co-organised by the Institute of Historical Research of the NHRF, the Department of History and Archaeology of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens and the École Française d’Athènes.

October 2025 – June 2026

On the website “Kyprios Character”, you will discover everything you want to know about ancient Cypriote history, archaeology and numismatics. You can search for information related to the ancient coins of Cypriote city-kingdoms, read scientific articles written especially for this website by specialised researchers, locate related numismatic bibliography, and consult a calendar of events as well as links of interest.