Rebecca Faber Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" 18 May 2021, 6 PM ZOOM https://zoom.us/j/93415907103         Meeting ID  93415907103   Are women vile demons who materialize to torment, harass and irritate holy men? Or are they God’s instrument for the improvement and perfection of male character? Does having a wife undermine priestly piety, as proponents affirming ascetic renunciation argued, or are married and unmarried Christians equal in God’s sight? These issues and Christian encratites occupied the minds of leaders in fourth century Christianity. This lecture analyses how eminent orthodox in the early church addressed questions of sacerdotal abstinence within the context of historical discourse, citing their exegesis of 1 Corinthians 7 combined with study of ritual purification laws mandated in Leviticus for Hebrew priests. The questions are discussed through the prism of selected writings of St Jerome of Stridon, Jovinian of Rome (through letters of Siricius, pope of Rome), and Ambrosiaster. Special emphasis is given to Jerome’s advocacy of virginity in his letters 22 and 130, his refutation of Jovinian in Adversus Jovinianum, and Amrbrosiaster’s, commentaries The lecture concludes with a comparison of these views developed by the church scholars with suggestions for further study of the questions in other works.    ...

Ioannis Kaminis, Dr. Sofia University "St. Kiiment Ohridski" 23 March 2021, 5 PM ZOOM https://zoom.us/j/93415907103         Meeting ID  93415907103 Asceticism is characterized by abstinence, self-control, and self-denial with the goal of connecting with God or attaining a higher form of virtue (ἀρετή). Various ascetic practices were practiced by pagans and Christians during the Late Antiquity. During that era, many people chose to abstain from food, drink, sexual intercourse, sleep, and wealth in order to transform their attitude toward the world or to connect with a higher metaphysical order. The aim of the present study is to examine how the philosophical asceticism of the Stoics influenced the thought of a famous representative of Christian asceticism, Evagrius of Ponticus, and how philosophical education continued to exist in a different form in Christianity. You can watch the lecture in Youtube Philisophical and Christian asceticism ...

Svetoslav Ribolov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sofia University "Sv. Kliment Ohridski"  9 March 2021 г., 6 PM         ZOOM https://zoom.us/j/93415907103         Meeting ID  93415907103   The Christian school of Antioch appeared in the 3rd century after two centuries of Church history in the city of Antioch. The earliest representatives of this catechetic school were Lucian, Dorotheus and Malchion (3rd c.). They were prominent Biblical scholars. The most important teachers of the Antiochian Church of the 4th and the early 5th century were Diodorus, Theodore and John Chrysostom. Their theological legacy split into the Orthodox and Nestorian traditions in the following centuries. The school flourished in the late 4th and 5th century with thinkers as John of Antioch and Theodoret. They were very important theologians for the Council of Chalcedon (451). Nevertheless, the school found itself in decline in the late 5th century. You can watch the lecture in Youtube The Christian School in Antioch ...

Dimitar Iliev, Assist. Prof. Dr. Sofia University "Sv. Kliment Ohridski"  23 Febrary 2021 г., 5 PM         ZOOM https://zoom.us/j/93415907103         Meeting ID  93415907103 In Greek cultural tradition, at least since the times of the so-called Second Sofistic, the wandering orators and teachers of rhetoric were perhaps the most prominent public intellectual figures playing active and visible roles in society. In the Eastern part of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, in old cultural centres such as Athens or Antioch, many such rhetors were actively involved in urban politics. They constituted a part of the local and sometimes the imperial elite and entered into complex relationships with provincial and imperial authorities. They were also guardians of classical tradition, the cultural code and the conceptual framework through which the everyday life, the views, customs and institutes of their contemporaries were approached. The lecture discusses these multiple functions of the 4th-century rhetors, or sophists as they preferred to call themselves, using as examples the biographies of two among the most distinguished ones, Prohaeresius of Armenia and Libanius of Antioch. Very different as personalities, worldviews and heritage left for later generations, they can be viewed as the opposing ends of a wide spectrum of roles and attitudes characteristic of the intellecrual of the period.          You can watch the lecture in YouTube Intellectuals as Public Figures in the 4th Century or the presentation  DIliev_LateAntiqueIntellectuals.pdf and to get acquainted with the bibliography: Cribiore 2007: Cribiore , R., The School of Libanius in Late Antique Antioch , Princeton, 2007. Cribiore 2009: Cribiore , R., “The Value of a Good Education: Libanius and Public Authority”, in: Rousseau, Ph. (ed.), A Companion to Late Antiquity , Oxford, 2009; da Silva 2018: 2018:“Is it possible to control the crowd?” Libanius in defense of Julian and against the population of Antioch in the 4th century”, Heródoto Revista do Grupo de Estudos e Pesquisas sobre a Antiguidade Clássica e suas Conexões Afro asiáticas , March 2018 [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/ Kaster 1988: Kaster , R.A., Guardians of Language: The Grammarian and Society in Late Antiquity , Berkeley, 1988; Kennedy 1994: Kennedy, G.A., A New History of Classical Rhetoric , Princeton, 1994; Robert 1948: Robert, L., Hellenica IV. Epigrammes du Bas Empire , Paris, 1948; Swist 2016: Swist , J., “Pagan Altars and Monarchic Discourse in Libanius Declamation 22 ”, Phoenix, Vol. 70, No. 1 2/2016, 170–189; Watts 2006: Watts, E.J., City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria , Berkeley, 2006; Браун 2004: Браун, П., Власт и убеждение в Късната античност , С., 2004; Димитров 2005: Димитров, Д. Философия, култура и политика в Късната античност Случаят на Синезий от Кирена , Велико Търново, 2005. Looking foreward for your comments....

        Zlatomira Gerdzhikova, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Institute of Balkan Studies & Center of Thracology - BAS   18 February 2020 5 pm, 45 Moskovska Str.  ...

Rumen Ivanov, Prof, DcS. National Archaeological Institute with Museum, BAS 4 February 2020 5 pm, 45 Moskovska 45     you can watch the lecture  ...

Ioannis Kaminis, PhD Student Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Fuculty of Theology   20 January 2020 5 pm, 45 Moskovska Str.  ...

Nikolay Sharankov, Assist. Prof. Dr. Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Fuculty of Classical and New Philologies, Classical Department       3 November 2019 5 pm, 45 Moskovska Str.  ...

Lyuba Ragulova, Assust. Prof. Dr. Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Fuculty of Classical and New Philologies, Classical Department       24 September 2019 5 pm, 45 Moskovska Str.  ...

Kalin Stoev, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Institute of Balkan Studies & Center of Thracology/ University of Library Studies and Information Technologies       21 November 2018 4 pm, 45 Moskovska Str.     you can watch the lecture  ...

Svetoslav Ribolov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sofia university "St. Kliment Ohridski", Fuculty of Theology               11 June 2018 11 am, Institute for Balkan Studies, 45 Moskovska Str.       you can watch the lecture   ...

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Ivo Topalilov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Institute for Balkan Studies & Center of Thracology - BAS           18 September 2018 4 pm, 45 Moskovska Str.   you can whatch the lecture  ...

      Ivan Valchev, Assist. Prof. Dr. Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Fuculty of History, Archaeology Department   10 October 2018 4 pm, 45 Moskovska Str. you can watch the lecture   Abstract Studying the processes of extinction of the paganism and the imposition of Christianity on the basis of archaeological sources shows the lack of unifying trends for Thrace. The destruction of pagan temples and sanctuaries and the disappearance of the traditional burial rituals show both regional peculiarities and common imperial tendencies. The result of Christianization, which can be seen in the archaeological record, is the gradual disappearance of the pagan cult and funerary practices in the period between the beginnings of the 4th century and the middle of the 5th century. The question for the disappearance of the pagan religion and the imposition of Christianity in the Thracian lands has attracted the interest of scientists for decades. However, there is no comprehensive study on the subject. The focus of the lecture is on the information from the pagan temples and sanctuaries, as well as the necropoleis dated in the late Roman period. The in-depth analysis of archaeological materials shows that many of the pagan religious centers functioned intensively until the very end of the 4th century and some even in the first decades of the 5th century. There are, however, examples of abandoned sanctuaries even before the end of the 3rd century as well as destroyed in the second quarter of the 4th century. The creation of a model for the treatment of ancient pagan temples and sanctuaries, which is general for Thrace, is impossible both because of the degree of research and publications and the obvious regional differences and individual approaches. What can be said is that the decline of pagan religious centers began from the end of the 3rd – the beginning of the 4th century and continued for about a century. At the moment it seems that the fatal blow was delivered with the laws of Theodosius I at the end of the 4th century. The data from the necropoleis of the late Roman Period are similar to those we receive from the temples and sanctuaries. The process of substitution of cremation with inhumation, which was not always connected with Christianization, was slower in the rural areas of Thrace and especially in the mountains such as the Rhodope Mountains. Тhe result of Christianization, which can be seen in the archaeological record, is the gradual disappearance of the pagan cult and funerary practices in the period between the beginnings of the 4th century and the middle of the 5th century....

            Vania Popova, Assoc. Prof. Dr.   24 October 2018 4 pm, 45 Moskovska Str.   you can watch the lecture        ...

            Zlatomira Gerdzhikova, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Institute of Balkan Studies & Center of Thracology - BAS   19 December 2018 4 pm, 45 Moskovska Str.  ...

      Dimitar Iliev, Assist. Prof. Dr. Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Fuculty of Classical and New Philologies, Classical Department   26 September 2018 4 pm, 45 Moskovska Str.   you can watch the lecture    and the PPP  at    academia.edu  and   research.gate         ...

        Rumen Ivanov, Prof, DcS. National Archaeological Institute with Museum, BAS   23 January 2019 5 pm, 45 Moskovska 45   you can watch the lecture      ...

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    Kalin Stoev, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Institute for Balkan Studies & Center of Thracology/ University of Library Studies and Information Thechnologies   20 March 2019 5 pm, 45 Moskovska Str.   you can watch the lecture      ...

              Svetla Petrova, Assoc. Prof. Dr. National Archaeological Institute with Museum, BAS   27 March 2019 5 pm, 45 Moskovska Str.     ...

          David Parrish, Prof. Pardue University   17 June 2019 5 pm, 45 Moskovska 45    ...