It is fifty years ago this year that A.H.M.Jones launched his proposal for a prosopographical lexicon of the Later Roman Empire.  His intention was to bring to fruition an undertaking which had been conceived and begun by Theodor Mommsen, as a complement to the PROSOPOGRAPHIA IMPERII ROMANI, but which had been interrupted by the two World Wars.  By contrast, the project launched in 1950 has been characterised from the outset by international co-operation.  The prosopography of a christianised world presented particular issues, which were resolved by the agreement that Jones' Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire should cover the secular world, working in co-operation with the Prosopographie Chrétienne, directed by H-I. Marrou.

Thirty years ago, in 1970, the project was adopted by the British Academy, thus ensuring its continuation after the death of Jones in 1971. The FIRST VOLUME (covering the years 260-395) which he had compiled with two of his pupils, John Morris and John Martindale, was published later that year by Cambridge University Press.  VOLUME II (395-527), edited by John Morris and John Martindale, came out in 1980, and the third and FINAL VOLUME (527-641), edited by John Martindale, appeared at the end of 1992.

After the completion of the work on Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, it was agreed to continue the project into the Byzantine period; but by this time it had become clear that such work would use electronic resources in a completely new way.  Again, international co-operation characterised the undertaking; in 1993 the British Academy and the BERLIN-BRANDENBURG ACADEMY signed a formal agreement to co-operate in the complex task of assembling a continuation of the Prosopography to cover the period from 641-1261.  2000 sees the publication (in book form) of the second section of the first part of the PROSOPOGRAPHIE DER MITTLEBYZANTINISCHEM ZEIT, ABTEILUNG I: 641-867, as well as the first CD-ROM from the Academy project, PROSOPOGRAPHY OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE.  The period from 1261 is covered by the PROSOPOGRAPHISCHES LEXIKON DER PALAIOLOGENZEIT, a project of the Austrian Academy.

The British Academy is convening the present colloquium to celebrate 50 years of work on prosopography and thirty years of Academy support, as well as to mark the retirement of John Martindale, who has worked on all four publications.  The aim is to invite students and scholars to consider the developments in prosopography over the last fifty years, particularly the methodological issues raised, and to assess the contribution made by prosopographical research to the study of the Roman Empire and the medieval world.

The Colloquium will take place at the British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London, on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 September 2000. The session of the afternoon of Friday 29 September will be devoted to discussion of the different kinds of sources used in prosopography - in particular seals, inscriptions, hagiographical and historical texts. The morning session on Saturday 30 September will look at some of the issues of definition and distinction raised by prosopography in the process of trying to identify and characterise individuals: speakers will look at the distinctions between heretics and orthodox, between foreigners and Romans, and between those with official and those with unofficial authority. In the afternoon session speakers will consider the contribution of prosopographical studies to the study of the Roman Empire and the medieval world.

There will be displays of publications and other material associated with the project.

All those interested are welcome and admission is free, but it is essential to register in advance. In order to do so, please contact Rosemary Lambeth at the British Academy (10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH; telephone: 020 7969 5264; r.lambeth@britac.ac.uk ) who will supply further details.

PROGRAMME