Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Alte Geschichte

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften | Alte Geschichte | Forschungsprojekte | (Re)Negotiating Social Cohesion – Religion and Community in Antiquity (800 BCE–400 CE)

(Re)Negotiating Social Cohesion – Religion and Community in Antiquity (800 BCE–400 CE)

Project description

The Einstein Visiting Fellow project “(Re)Negotiating Social Cohesion – Religion and Community in Antiquity (800 BCE–400 CE)”, generously funded by the Einstein Stiftung/Einstein Foundation Berlin, explores the ambivalent role of religion in social cohesion in Graeco-Roman antiquity: On the one hand, religion can promote social integration by offering shared values and beliefs that influence individual lifestyles and facilitate group-based integration. On the other hand, religion also carries risks of division and conflicts across various domains. The project investigates the significance of religion for social cohesion in ancient societies through a comparative analysis. This includes examining different historical periods and communities, such as, e.g., the Roman Republic, Greek city-states, and communities marked by political upheavals and religious diversity in Late Antiquity. The research project comprises several subprojects that address different aspects and epochs, ranging from democratic processes in ancient Athens to religious conflicts and social cohesion in late antique cities. The project employs discursive approaches to conduct a detailed examination of interactions between structural conditions and actors. This project holds significance beyond historical inquiry as it addresses contemporary debates regarding the social relevance of religion. Studying ancient societies offers insights into mechanisms of social integration and division that are also relevant for understanding modern societies. Moreover, the project’s interdisciplinary nature is emphasized by including sociology, migration research, theology, religious studies, classical archaeology, and philology. In sum, the project provides a deeper understanding of the complex role of religion in social cohesion processes through a detailed and comparative analysis of ancient societies. The findings will contribute to an international discussion in academia and provide insights into the design of social processes in the present.

The individual projects look into these issues more closely by focusing on Classical Athens, the local and global Hellenistic world, late antique cities, Alexandria in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and Rome in the Republican period respectively.

 

Project members

Prof. Dr. Claudia Tiersch – PI

Dr. Beate Dignas (University of Oxford, Somerville College) – PI and Einstein Visiting Fellow

Rogier E.M. van der Heijden – Postdoc

Dr. Julien Dechevez (University of Oxford, Somerville College) – Postdoc (associated)

Jonas N. Ortel – PhD student

Mira Wenzel – Student assistant

 

Individual projects
Religion as a Medium for the Formation and Preservation of Identities in a Local and Global Hellenistic World (Dignas) 🖉

Evolving as a period of deep political transformation and characterized by huge ethnic and cultural diversity, the Hellenistic world created an unprecedented need for new strategies of negotiating social cohesion on all levels of society. As fundamentally embedded and dynamic, religion offered the potential to support or jeopardize the outcome of such negotiations. So far, scholars have limited their attention to the instrumentalization of this potential by political authorities. In contrast, this study seeks to establish the active role of religion as a guiding and steering principle of processes of political transformation. Such a strong impact of religion can be shown as based in the psychological and social functions of Hellenistic religious practice and experience, which determined the behaviour of actors that strove for social coherence. Religion, in symbolic as well as material terms, was often the central argument that was formulated, and this not in order to 'use' or 'abuse' religion but as premise and language shared by individual and collective identities alike.
The postulated resilience (well beyond a passive survival) and guiding force of religion appear to be grounded in the interplay between its adaptability and its claim for tradition. Therefore, a second focus of the study is the question, how religion fostered social cohesion precisely because it was a stable guarantor of familiar continuity in processes of change. As catalyst and medium of a collective memory it was able to formulate 'tradition' creatively. Continued 'familiarity', in turn, provided the trust that allowed for adaptation and change.

Religion and Social Cohesion in Late Antique Cities (Tiersch) 🖉

This project draws on Claudia Tiersch’s extensive research on religion in late antique cities, focusing on the complex renegotiation of social cohesion amid the politically and religiously challenging conditions of late antiquity. These conditions were precipitated by conflicting dynamics, such as increased demands from the central state, diminished urban autonomy, and the decline of the curial class. Moreover, the failure of central state institutions to fulfill their duties led to regional disparities and centrifugal forces within the Roman Empire, imposing additional responsibilities on cities. Urban cohesion faced further strains due to religious conflicts, particularly those associated with the rise of Christianity as a novel religious force and its implications for new forms of social integration. The proposed monograph will explore these new processes of negotiating social cohesion, not focusing on the religious-social conflicts of the time but on adapting to the era’s challenging circumstances.

Cohesion in Cosmopolis? Alexandria in the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial Periods (van der Heijden) 🖉

Alexandria, more so than other cities in antiquity, was a hotbed of religious conflicts well before the Constantinian Revolution. One reason was its politically charged ethnic heterogeneity, the effects of which were intensified by the poliIcal transformation processes of the Roman imperial period. This sub-project focuses on the delicate balance between social tensions and cohesion in Hellenistic and Imperial Alexandria. It will investigate this balance by looking at relevant actors, their interests, and the negotiation mechanisms within religious categories. This involves the potential for religiously fueled conflicts, the diverse interests of those involved, and the modalities of intercultural and inter-religious negotiation processes. The study's objective is to add a further dimension to the history of conflict in Alexandria, which recognizes mechanisms for strengthening internal social cohesion.

Rome in the Republican Era (Ortel) 🖉

Social cohesion in the Roman Republic faced continuous challenges due to ongoing military operations and significant expansion processes over its 500-year history. Concurrently, Rome’s political culture was heavily shaped by religion and was subject to considerable dynamics during this period. Religious discourses and practices, emerging from a plethora of diverse sources (coins, buildings, inscriptions, literary genres), unmistakably manifest as struggles for political power. Given the remarkable longevity of the Republic, it is crucial to explore religious discourses and practices both as a stabilizing resource and in their role in the political dynamics of the Republic. Santangelo has exemplified this for the second century BCE, but the question arises for other periods, such as early Republican Rome and its crisis-ridden end. In the later stages, politicized religion became an instrument of political conflicts, leading it to fall short as a resource of stability for crisis resolution. This role was only regained after the transformations of the Principate. The dynamics of republican religion need to be analysed not only as a consequence of political changes but as societal renegotiations of the pax deorum, the religiously connoted foundation of power or access to religious knowledge within social upheavals. Rome can thus be contrasted with Athens concerning the religious settings for negotiating processes of social cohesion.

Gods and Money: 'Sacred' Finances and the Negotiation of Social Cohesion in Classical Athens (Dechevez) 🖉

For centuries, how to fund rituals was a central concern for Greek cities. Ritual practices, lying at the heart of the relationship between communities and their gods, represented one of the most significant entries in the civic budget. As a result, their funding was the subject of careful deliberation, debate, and contestation. To ensure both the continuity of ritual practices and the stability of public finances, the Greek cities developed innovative yet carefully considered strategies to support cult funding and generate new sources of revenue. While these practices are most often studied in isolation, this project seeks to bring them into dialogue by analyzing how they interacted within a specific historical context. More importantly, this project seeks to explore how the financing of cults functioned as a place of negotiation, tension, and dispute, and, more broadly, how economic decisions concerning religious matters can generate, shape, but also undermine social cohesion within the polis. In this respect, Athens provides a particularly valuable case study, as the richness of surviving evidence allows for the identification of a wide range of cult funding methods, which can be examined from multiple and contrasting perspectives. Conversely, while highlighting the extent to which ‘sacred’ finance was a matter of institutional concern, such an approach also sheds light on how the ancient Greeks understood and negotiated their relationship to the divine.

 

 

News
  • Start associated Postdoc Dr. Julien Dechevez (University of Oxford, Somerville College) (October 2026). We welcome Julien Dechevez (PhD Université de Liège/Collège de France) as associated postdoctoral researcher on the Oxford side of our project! Dechevez will be working on the financing of cultic practices in classical Athens and their role in the negotiation of social cohesion. 
  • Job opportunity Junior Research Fellowship (Postdoc, University of Oxford, Somerville College) in conjunction with the Einstein Visiting Project. Topic: Classical Athens OR cities of the Roman East. Deadline: 14 May 2025, 12:00 noon (GMT). Informal enquiries about this post may be directed in the first instance to senior.tutor@some.ox.ac.uk.
  • Interview with Beate Dignas in Kennenlernen! (March 2026)
  • Interview with Beate Dignas in Podcast #AskDifferent, Episode 44: Religion in der Antike: Kraft für Zusammenhalt oder Quelle von Konflikten? (October 2025)

 

Upcoming events
  • 11 November 2026, 16:15–17:45 h: Guest Lecture Dr. Maijastina Kahlos (Helsinki): "Making Community by Marking Dissent: Religious Boundaries and Social Cohesion in Late Antiquity".
    Humboldt University of Berlin, FRS 191-193, Room 4026 (4th floor).
  • 12 November 2026, 09:15–11:45 h: Roundtable discussion with Dr. Maijastina Kahlos (Helsinki): "Making Community by Marking Dissent: Religious Boundaries and Social Cohesion in Late Antiquity".
    Humboldt University of Berlin, FRS 191-193, Room 5028 (5th floor).
  • 13 January 2027, 16:15–17:45 h: Guest Lecture Prof. Dr. Dominik Maschek (Trier/LEIZA): "Popular Belief, State Religion, and the Crisis of the Roman Republic: An Archaeological Reassessment".
    Humboldt University of Berlin, FRS 191-193, Room 4026 (4th floor).
  • 14 January 2027, 09:15–11:45 h: Roundtable discussion with Prof. Dr. Dominik Maschek (Trier/LEIZA): "Popular Belief, State Religion, and the Crisis of the Roman Republic: An Archaeological Reassessment".
    Humboldt University of Berlin, FRS 191-193, Room 5028 (5th floor).
  • 30 June – 2 July 2027: Workshop "Religion and Social Cohesion in the Ancient City: Moments of Crisis and Transformation".
    Hauptgebäude der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin.
    • More information will follow.

 

Past events 🖉
  • 15 April 2026, 18:15–19:45 h: Guest Lecture Prof. Dr. Josine Blok (Utrecht): "Social Cohesion in Ancient Greek Polytheism: How and Why?".
    Humboldt University of Berlin, FRS 191-193, Room 4026 (4th floor).
    [poster]
  • 16 April 2026, 09:15–11:45 h: Roundtable discussion with Prof. Dr. Josine Blok (Utrecht): "Social Cohesion in Ancient Greek Polytheism: How and Why?".
    Humboldt University of Berlin, FRS 191-193, Room 5028 (5th floor).
    [poster]
  • 6 June 2025, 17:15–18:45 h: Podium discussion "Religion als soziale Kraft? Antike und Moderne im Gespräch". Participants: Prof. Ddr. Felix Körner SJ (IKT), Prof. Dr. Claudia Tiersch and Dr. Beate Dignas. Moderation by Rogier van der Heijden. Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften. For more information, see the website of the LNDW.
    Humboldt University of Berlin, Main Building, Unter der Linden 6, HS 1070.
    [poster]
  • 1 July 2026, 18:15–19:45 h: Guest Lecture Prof. Dr. Pieter Francois (Oxford): "What makes societies cohesive and resilient? And how to measure this cross-culturally?".
    Humboldt University of Berlin, FRS 191-193, Room 4026 (4th floor).
    [poster]
  • 2 July 2026, 09:15–11:45 h: Roundtable discussion with Prof. Dr. Pieter Francois (Oxford): "What makes societies cohesive and resilient? And how to measure this cross-culturally?".
    Humboldt University of Berlin, FRS 191-193, Room 5028 (5th floor).
    [poster]
  • 30 September 2026, 17:15–18:45 h: Keynote Lecture Prof. Dr. Clifford Ando (Chicago): "Religion, Citizenship, and the Failure to Cohere".
    Lise-Meitner-Saal, BBAW, Unter den Linden 8, 10117 Berlin.
  • 30 September – 2 October 2026: Workshop "(Re-)Negotiating Social Cohesion in Antiquity: Systematic Aspects".
    Lise-Meitner-Saal, BBAW, Unter den Linden 8, 10117 Berlin.
    For attending the workshop, either in person or via Zoom, please send an e-mail to rogier.van.der.heijden@hu-berlin.de.

 

 

Presentations by project members
  • Beate Dignas, "Religion as Argument: Forging Community in the Hellenistic Polis", workshop: Memory and Oblivion: Ancient Societies in Perspectives, Universität Basel, Basel, Switzerland, 28.11.2026.
  • Rogier van der Heijden, "Nicht von den Göttern erlaubt: Religiöse Argumentationsmuster in Konflikten im antiken Alexandria", conference: So nicht! Protest als historisches Phänomen, Cusanuswerk, Regensburg, Germany, 05.11.–08.11.2026.
  • Rogier van der Heijden, "Für den König, gegen die anderen? Religion und gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt im ptolemäischen Alexandreia", invited guest lecture, Universität Augsburg, Augsburg, 03.11.2026.
  • Rogier van der Heijden, "Religious conflict in Alexandria: Temporality in religious discourse through Athanasius’ Festal Letters (328–370 CE)", conference: International Medieval Congress 2026 "Temporalities" (Panel 1114), University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom, 06.07.–09.07.2026.
  • Rogier van der Heijden, "Cohesion in Cosmopolis: Cultural (ex)change, religious spaces and social cohesion in Hellenistic Alexandria", conference: Cosmopolities in Antiquity and Modernity – Mechanisms of Multiethnicities, Samos, Greece, 15.05.–16.05.2026. (hybrid)
  • Claudia Tiersch and Rogier van der Heijden, "Sozialen Zusammenhalt verhandeln. Religion und Gesellschaft in der Antike", conference: Große Mommsen-Tagung 2026 „Streit – Konflikt – Disput: Antike Antagonismen im interdisziplinären Fokus“, Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA), Mainz, 07.05.–09.05.2026.
  • Claudia Tiersch, Jonas Ortel, and Rogier van der Heijden, "Sozialen Zusammenhalt verhandeln. Religion und Gesellschaft in der Antike", IfG Forschungstag, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 13.02.2026.
  • Beate Dignas, "Religion and Social Cohesion in the Hellenistic Polis: Stasis and Homonoia", Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, 03.02.2026.
  • Rogier van der Heijden, "Sozialer Zusammenhalt in der Antike: Eine Einführung", invited guest lecture, Oberseminar Alte Geschichte, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany 09.12.2025.

 

 

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