Classics Lecture ~ Leidwanger

The Department of Classical Studies at Tulane University and The Archaeological Institute of America New Orleans Society present “Carver, Cleric, Soldier, Smith: Movers of the Late Antique Mediterranean” by Justin Leidwanger (Stanford University).

Date ~ Thursday, November 5, 2026

Time ~ 6:00pm

Location ~ Jones 102

Seafaring shaped the Mediterranean, generating social, economic, and other connections that enabled the Roman Empire. The unraveling of Rome’s political unity in late antiquity offers an opportunity to examine how these individual links—the people, objects, and processes—intertwined to create a broader network. In this talk, I examine three of the best-studied shipwrecks from two transformative centuries spanning ca. 500 to 700 CE: one off Sicily carried 100 tons of architectural marble for a church; another in Turkish waters transported wine for military supply; and the third along the Croatian coast brought a diplomatic envoy and goldsmith. Together, these wrecks reveal intersections of everyday commercial and elite or state-directed exchange as well as a structural shift in their roles amid the political reconfiguration that marked the era.  

This in-person, non-ticketed lecture is free and open to the general public.  There will be no zoom component.  Tulane University is committed to providing universal access to all our events on site. Please contact Elizabeth M Reyna at 504-865-5719 / ereyna@tulane.edu at least two weeks in advance of the event if you have accessibility needs and need a disability-related accommodation to participate on campus.  Please note that advance notice is necessary to arrange some accessibility needs.