School of History, Classics & Archaeology

History of the conference

The Celtic Conference in Classics has taken place biennially since 2000 under the leadership of its founder, Anton Powell.

Arthur#0027s Seat

The plan

The idea of a recurrent Celtic Conference in Classics, which would rotate between countries and regions within Britain, France, and Ireland, was conceived in 1998, in Wales. The intention, then as now, was to create events which would combine the virtues of the small, precisely-focused conference of specialists, aiming at a joint publication, with the openness of a grand occasion for classicists and ancient historians with widely varying specialisms.

Separate panels were to run in parallel, with members encouraged to migrate freely between them. The scholarly aim was to cross-fertilize in two ways: to open specialist panels to those from other subject-areas, and to encourage co-operation by scholars from widely differing national traditions.

A friendly and democratic atmosphere, with an expectation of mutual aid and positive criticism, has always been seen as essential.

Choice of panels and speakers

The choice of panel-subjects and of speakers is made partly by the home campuses, partly by volunteer specialists from countries abroad. In recent years, scholars from outside the home countries have provided increasing initiative in the design, chairing, and recruitment of panels, and this is warmly welcomed by the organizers.

Organisation and participation

The first seven conferences were organized, or co-organized, by the founder of the CCC, Anton Powell, in two instances (at Glasgow and Edinburgh) in co-operation with Douglas Cairns. The 2014 conference at Edinburgh is being organized principally by Cairns, in co-operation with Powell, and in association with the Department of Classics (Edinburgh) and the Classical Association of Scotland.

Participation in the Celtic Conference, whether as panel-organizers, speakers, or simply as interested specialists, is open to those from any country.

Previous conference locations

  • 2000 Maynooth (Ireland)
  • 2002 Glasgow (Scotland)
  • 2004 Rennes II (France)
  • 2006 Lampeter (Wales)
  • 2008 Cork (Ireland)
  • 2010 Edinburgh (Scotland)
  • 2012 Bordeaux III (France)
  • For 2014 the venue again will be the University of Edinburgh

Average numbers at the Conference were of some 70-80 at each of the first two events, rose to 100 in 2008, to 150 by 2012 and are expected to be of some 300 in 2014. The CCC is thus one of the largest conferences of classicists in northern Europe, and is perhaps the only very large such event to be structured mainly around the aim of collective publication.

Publications

Numerous edited volumes have been published, over this period, of papers arising from the CCC, mostly in English but some in French. French and English have been from the start the official languages of the Conference.