Very grateful for EUP's invite to write for their blog a reflection on our new 'Late Roman History' book series. I've used this to set out my thoughts on the rationale in the larger landscape of book series and how we intend to do things differently.

Featuring a paper by me on small fields, status, and the "slaves' economy" in late antique Gaul ~James

"Land and Power in the Later Roman World " #Conference 📆 29 June to 1 July 2026 📍 Tübingen 🔗 View details: bit.ly/4tsST40 Please send enquiries to Dr Giordana Franceschini, [email protected] #AllWelcome

I’m happy to share that my entry on Rhoda is now published on the Bible Odyssey website. Check it out! www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/rho...

We’re thrilled to share that Slave Trading in the Early Middle Ages: Long-Distance Connections in Northern and East Central Europe by Janel M. Fontaine has been shortlisted for the 2026 Royal Historical Society First Book Prize. More about the shortlist: blog.royalhistsoc.org/2026/05/18/r...

"The Mute Servants" Two statues of adolescent youths, whose hands would have held lamps or dishes or jugs, embodying in bronze the function of male domestic slaves at a Roman villa banquet. (1st-2nd centuries AD, now in the archaeological museum in Cordoba)

Medieval People Vol. 40 (2026) scholarworks.wmich.edu/medpros/vol4... @mip-medpub.bsky.social @gettingmedieval.bsky.social @woodjamie.bsky.social @writinghelena.bsky.social @carrielarocco.bsky.social @jonathanseyfried.bsky.social

It was a privilege to contribute to this new article - not least because I learnt lots from my colleagues in the process of co-writing the piece. ~James

Just published & open access! Problems and Possibilities of Namelessness in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages - it was a blast writing this with @woodjamie.bsky.social, Hope Williard, Máirín MacCarron and James Burns @dosse-project.bsky.social scholarworks.wmich.edu/medpros/vol4...

Was just informed by @katgelk.bsky.social that _From Slave to Saint: Onesimus Throughout Christian History_ now has a page on @fortresspress.bsky.social's website! Consider pre-ordering for Jan 2027 to learn more about Onesimus from the 1st–20th centuries www.fortresspress.com/store/produc...

Very pleased to see 'Slave Trading in the Early Middle Ages' by Janel Fontaine on this shortlist. Likewise, 'The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850-1240' by friend-of-the-project, John Latham-Sprinkle.

"Land and Power in the Later Roman World " #Conference 📆 29 June to 1 July 2026 📍 Tübingen 🔗 View details: bit.ly/4tsST40 Please send enquiries to Dr Giordana Franceschini, [email protected] #AllWelcome

Happening today (Teams link in the replies)

Are you familiar with this project, led by Kostas Vlassopoulos? www.ims.forth.gr/en/project/v... (Seizing this as an excuse to advertise our Institute 😎)

Seizing this as an excuse to repost my blog post on late antique slave sales, which points out that the same clauses are found in Sogdian, Bactrian, Latin, Greek, and Syriac contracts bsky.app/profile/doss...

Thanks again to everyone who came to this — there were many wonderful and incisive questions!

The DoSSE project will be hosting John Latham-Sprinkle (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) for a hybrid talk on 'What Can Medieval Georgia Teach Us About Child Labour?' next Monday, 12.00-13.15. Details for online and in-person attendance below:

Congratulations to Catherine-Rose Hailstone, whose book is now available to pre-order from Edinburgh University Press! *God, Demons, and Fear: Emotion, The Self, and Self-control in Gregory of Tours* edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-god-dem... @caterose.bsky.social @imems.bsky.social

Tomorrow brings our first meeting of the term, with James Burns (Leicester, @dosse-project.bsky.social) joining us to speak on 'Gregory of Tours and Slavery'. All welcome! 5.30pm, IHR Wolfson NB.02. Please register here: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Another example of a version of this clause - this time from a late antique Bactrian contract (669 CE) where a boy is sold by his relatives into slavery: [from Said Reza Huseini @bactria.bsky.social, 'Slavery Represented in Bactrian Documents', Slavery & Abolition 44.4 (2023), 682-96]

We organised this conference with Dr Haroon Bashir, head of research at the Markfield Institute, whose important book on abolitionism and Islam was published last year by Oxford University Press: "Slavery, Abolition, and Islam: Debating Freedom in the Islamic Tradition" academic.oup.com/book/59288

We would like to share that one of our speakers at this conference, Dr F. Redhwan Karim (Markfield Institute), has a book out next month on "Gender Relations in the Qur’an: Conceptualising Space and Male–Female Interaction" (Edinburgh University Press) edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-gender-...

Happening today!

I was really glad to write this obituary for Professor Dame Averil Cameron: www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a.... I wish more had been done to celebrate her contributions and achievements since she retired. She will be much missed! www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a...

Re-posting for the afternoon crowd. Lots of fun and spots available if you in Cambridge

I'll be kicking off this term's IHR Earlier Middle Ages seminar with a paper on 'Gregory of Tours and Slavery', on 6 May. See you there! ~James

We are delighted to announce a one day conference on Manumission in the Medieval Islamicate World – happening on 22 April, at the University of Leicester – which the DoSSE project has co-organised with the Markfield Institute. Email Erin [email protected] to register your free attendance.

What are humanities and social sciences research good for? Consider Enslaved.org: putting names to as many of the people trafficked during the Atlantic slave trade as possible. Insisting on the dignity of every human being. #Talkabouthumanities #talkaboutsocialsciences

How did late medieval debates shape the understanding of slavery and employment? Read up on Martin Schermaier's project here. 👉 buff.ly/n0dPpSF For an overview of all research projects, see the new Dependent: buff.ly/gi1LMwh @unibonn.bsky.social @dfg.de

Pleased to see that my latest article, entitled "The Alexamenos Graffito as Christian Self-Parody," is now out in NTS. In it I argue against the widely held view that this graffito is non-Christian in origin and that it could very well have been written by an enslaved Christian.

Just in time for Passover. Thanks to Moment Magazine and Jacob Wirtschafter for this review of my recent book from @princetonupress.bsky.social! momentmag.com/book-review-...

Fascinating new research on how we can identify the burial remains of female domestic servants in Qin dynasty China:

For this week on 'Slavery in Late Antiquity', students looked at the relationship of slavery with the Church, beginning with three excellent articles: [email protected] on 'servi servorum Dei' -Cassandra Casias on Augustine's sermons to slaveholders -Justin Pigott on slave ordination

Bluesky friends, I am happy to advertise a conference on ancient and medieval slave trading in the Mediterranean, co-organized by myself and Elizabeth Fentress, to be held in Toronto next month (April 15-17, 2026). Contact me via email (rather than here) or the email on the poster for more info!

The IHR's guide to its Monumenta Germaniae Historica collections (@monumenta.bsky.social) is a superb introduction for students of medieval German and European history. #medievalsky

🧯Hot off the press: Education in Religious Contexts of Late Antiquity (Cambridge Element) > free download until April 8! www.cambridge.org/core/element...

We are delighted to announce a one day conference on Manumission in the Medieval Islamicate World – happening on 22 April, at the University of Leicester – which the DoSSE project has co-organised with the Markfield Institute. Email Erin [email protected] to register your free attendance.

The well-known Late Roman “Zoninus Collar”. To mark a slave. See J.Trimble’s article among others. My hand at similar depth from camera in attempt to illustrate (embody?) how small it is.

And another press release from @unibonn.bsky.social, this time on our new project funded by @volkswagenstiftung.de The Nameless in History ...and in English www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/048-... @woodjamie.bsky.social

Any chance anyone has a PDF of Heinz Heinen, "Amtsärztliche Untersuchung eines toten Sklaven. Überlegungen zu P. Oxy. III 475", in A. Marcone (ed.), Medicina e società nel mondo antico. Atti del convegno di Udine (4-5 ottobre 2005), Studi Udinesi sul Mondo Antico 4 (2006), 194-202?

For Week 5 of Slavery in Late Antiquity, students researched and presented on different servile occupations: scribal and secretarial work; cooking and serving food; weaving and textile work; and viticultural labour.

Greatest honour of my career so far. As founding editor I'm proud to announce @edinburghup.bsky.social Studies in Late Roman History. The world's first book series exclusively dedicated to the core domain of Late Antiquity. Like to discuss proposals or manuscripts? Reach out! tinyurl.com/dujjeuth

An exciting new book from friend-of the-project, @lisakaarenbailey.bsky.social , which we're all looking forward to reading

📣 The Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS), in collaboration with the International Institute of Social History (IISH), invites researchers to examine coercive labour regimes through the analytical lens of the household. For more: buff.ly/tmQLUm3 @unibonn.bsky.social @dfg.de

New #OpenAccess book from @degruyterbrill.bsky.social: Slavery and the Shaping of the Premodern Muslim Family

Kicking off our project on The Nameless in History with Pia Wiegmink and @woodjamie.bsky.social in the beautiful surroundings of Schloss Herrenhausen @volkswagenstiftung.de

Our next seminar will be this Wednesday 4 March with Niall Ó Súilleabháin (King's College London), speaking on 'Archives of Servitude in Post-Carolingian Francia'. All welcome - please register here! IHR Wolfson NB02, 5.30pm.

Looking forward to seeing friend-of-the-project Niall give his paper on post-Carolingian servitude at the IHR this Wednesday! We were lucky enough to get a preview of Niall's fascinating research from a lecture he gave at Leicester last year, so we know his paper will be fantastic.

For Week 4 of 'Slavery in Late Antiquity', students read April Pudsey and Ville Vuolanto's chapter on 'Enslaved Children in Roman Egypt: Experiences from the Papyri'. They then searched for further evidence for the lives of child slaves on the papyri.info database.