Conference Report
INTEGRITY AND CORRUPTION IN ANTIQUITY
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA, PRETORIA
21-24 OCTOBER 2010
The organisers of ‘Integrity and Corruption in Antiquity’ managed the difficult task of
bringing together a wide range of academics in different stages of their careers, from several
countries across the world, and various disciplines to create a conference that was genuinely
interesting and diverse. The invited keynote speakers Professor Emily Greenwood and
Professor Clifford Ando were both instrumental in presenting broad and challenging papers as
well as significantly contributing to the discussion throughout the entire conference. The
organisers put together a programme hinged around a broad theme that addressed issues
prevalent in both the ancient world and modern-day politics.
The papers themselves utilised a range of material including both literary and visual evidence
from Classical Greek politics and philosophy to late-antique Roman Christianity. Although,
perhaps predictably, corruption played a far larger part in the programme than integrity, the
papers offered a variety of models for understanding the complicated themes involved in
negotiating corruption in the ancient world. The organisers were keen to show the relevance
of corruption as a theme in modern South African society, and as a result, the time set aside
for discussion often turned to this topic. This yielded interesting and unique (for me) points
for debate that have not been prevalent in the European conferences I have previously
attended.
A substantial advantage to attending this conference was being able to meet such a wide
variety of academics and postgraduates from all over the world. I particularly enjoyed
meeting a postgraduate student from Zimbabwe, a country whose political circumstances gave
him a distinctive understanding of the concept of corruption. Learning how President Mugabe
utilised rhetoric from the late Roman Republic in his speeches was a subject that I felt
particularly lucky to be able to hear about. It was also a privilege to meet leading academics
in the field of Classics and Ancient History, Philosophy and Theology from the United States,
South Africa and Europe during the conference. Their contributions, both formally and
informally, have been extremely helpful for my work since.
On a less academic note, the organisers also took the delegates on a fantastic trip to a local
game reserve. The organisers went out of their way to ensure that everyone experienced local
culture during their time in South Africa, which made the whole experience rewarding on a
variety of levels.
Finally I would like to thank the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, whose financial
support made travelling to this conference possible.
Abstract
ULTIMATE CORRUPTION MANIFEST: NERO AS THE ANTICHRIST IN LATE
ANTIQUITY
In this paper I will discuss the manifestation of ultimate corruption: the apocalypse as
designed by Satan and orchestrated by the Antichrist. The Antichrist is the symbol of
corruption in the extreme; it was widely acknowledged by late antique writers including
Lactantius, Sulpicius Severus and Jerome that the First Beast in the Book of Revelation was
considered to represent the emperor Nero. Key to this interpretation was Nero as the
archetypal persecutor of the Christians, and included amongst his victims were the Apostle
Peter and Saint Paul.
Although this is undoubtedly highly significant, these writers were also heavily influenced by
the traditions of earlier Roman historiography, which had long pictured Nero as the worst of
emperors; a status justified by parading a long list of Nero’s corruption of moral, sexual,
social, political, religious, and ethnic norms in Rome. In the works of a fledgling Christian
religion all of Nero’s many earthly vices, recorded by the likes of Tacitus to reflect the
corruption at the heart of imperial power, came to be understood to have grave eschatological
repercussions and I will argue that it is through this process that Nero came to symbolise
ultimate corruption; the manifest destructor of the world.
Miss Shushma Malik
PhD candidate
Classics and Ancient History
University of Bristol