Established within the framework of the HSE Basic Research Programme, the Laboratory for Study of Antiquity began operating on the HSE-Perm campus in 2011. The Laboratory research team included antiquity researchers from Perm State University and Perm State Pedagogical University. In early 2013, the Laboratory was renamed the Group for Historical Research, and became part of the HSE-Perm Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Research.

Our Goal

Our key goal is to prepare, test, and publish the results of our research into ancient civil communities. We particularly focus on research into the emergence (genesis) of the civil community and its evolution. It is a well-known fact that both the Greek polis and the Roman civitas developed in several important phases, and research into these phases is of special interest. Having originated as an aristocratic political system, the Greek polis underwent dramatic changes as a result of reforms and acquired democratic features in the late VI century BC (Athens), before becoming an empire (archê). The Roman civitas also started as an exclusive political community of citizens (subjects) during the period of the kings’ (VIII-VI BC), eventually becoming a res publica, and later an empire, after the sanguinary civil wars (I BC).

Professor P. J. Rhodes,
Academic Supervisor of the Group

 

P. J. Rhodes studied at Oxford, was employed by the University of Durham (U.K.) from 1965 to 2005, from 1983 as Professor of Ancient History, and is now Emeritus Professor and Honorary Professor; he is a Fellow of the British Academy, and will be President of the Classical Association in 2014/5. He has a particular interest in Greek political institutions and political activity, and has been involved with the work on Greek and Roman civil society of the Group for Historical Research since 2012.

 In modern science, particularly abroad, high priority is being placed on investigating the reasons why and how civil society developed in ancient states. Our Group carries out comprehensive research into the creation and evolution of the ancient civitas (both the Greek polis and the Roman civitas), exploring the subject chronologically (from its origins to the early Middle Ages), thematically (economics, politics, and religion), and geographically (from a regional perspective). This is the first time that our Russian researchers have undertaken research on this theme.

Valery G. Gushchin
Leading Research Fellow, Head of the Group