Antiquity Doctoral Program

The history of the programme

The Antiquity Programme was started in 2001 under the leadership of professor Dr. Gyula Wojtilla. The teaching staff also included professor Dr. Egon Maróti, senior lecturer Dr. Zoltán Farkas, and associate professor Dr. Zsuzsanna Hoffmann.

From 2006 on, associate professor Dr. Melinda Székely, and then senior lecturers Dr. Iván Tóth, Dr. Imre Áron Illés, and Dr. Nóra Dávid have joined the teaching staff of the programme. In 2019 Dr. Gyula Priskin also became the member of the teaching staff. Thus it can be said that the teachers of the programme, and their research fields, essentialy cover all the major areas of the ancient world, and their language skills make it possible to study the history and literature of all these cultures. Furthermore, their teaching experience ensures that their extensive knowledge is actually passed onto the students.

With the collaboration of the students in the programme, various publications were prepared. The most important of these is the thematic volume of Acta Antiqua et Archaeologica in 2004, edited by Gyula Wojtilla and Szabolcs Felföldi, the Ancient Indian Historical Anthology in 2012, edited by Gyula Wojtilla, Imre Áron Illés, and György Zentai, the Late Roman Anthology in 2013, edited by Melinda Székely and Imre Áron Illés, and the thematic volume of Acta Antiqua et Archaeologica in 2015, edited by Melinda Székely and Imre Áron Illés. The doctoral students presented papers on the oriental days, organised by the Oriental Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which were also published as articles. Also in 2015 the volume Res Militares Antiquae II was published, edited by Melinda Székely and Gábor Horti, containing the papers of the 2nd Conference on Ancient Military and Weapons, an event that had been organised by us in Szeged. In 2017 a volume of the journal Chronica was published, containing articles in English, German, and French, edited by Melinda Székely and Imre Áron Illés, while in 2019 appeared a thematic volume of Belvedere Meridionale about antiquity, edited by Melinda Székely and Gyula Priskin. In 2019 we held a workshop on the cultural history of ancient Egypt, with the participation of the doctoral students and teachers of ELTE’s Egyptological department. The department has also been organising a series of workshops about female roles and identity that attracts a lot of interested scholars; we are planning the publication of a proceedings volume next year that will include this year’s papers as well. In addition, source editions by the students of the programme have been published in the series Documenta Historica, under the aegis of the Institute of History of the University of Szeged.

During the history of the programme so far altogether 19 students have been admitted to it. It is also possible to submit a dissertation prepared outside the framework of regular tuition. Melinda Székely has obtained her doctoral degree in this way, with the qualification summa cum laude. From the students with regular tuition up to now Iván Tóth, Szabolcs Felföldi, Imre Áron Illés, Katalin Lakos, Gábor Széll and Miklós Janzsó have obtained a doctoral degree, all with the qualification summa cum laude. In 2018 the programme introduced preliminary defence into its requirements, which was successfully completed during Gábor Széll’s and Miklós Janzsó’s doctoral process. In May 2019 Miklós Janzsó passed his comprehensive exam with summa cum laude, and then in December 2019 he successfully defended his thesis at the preliminary defence round. In June 2019 Péter Kapi and Bálint Ormos, and then in January 2020 István Kovács, in June 2020 Laura Habes Tashman passed
their comprehensive exam.

The programme at present

The topics of the courses taught reflects the research areas of the teachers taking part in the programme at the time. Therefore great emphasis has been and is given to Roman history and social history, Greek historiography, the history of the ancient Near East and Egypt, and the history and languages of ancient India. The courses also cover the multivarious relations between the ancient West and East.

Taking into account the nature of the programme, we admit students who besides their history major have also attained other, special training. Our students have a background in Greek, Latin, Indology, archaeology, and philosophy. The oral admission process includes the reading of sources, in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, or Sanskrit, and also the reading of specialised literature in two world languages.

On top of the general, core courses, we put great emphasis on training that advances individual research and resembles workshop seminars. The programme offers its participants training in the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Egyptian, and Sanskrit languages. The needed special literature is provided by the SZTE Klebelsberg Library, MTA Library, international library loan, short study trips to foreign libraries, the teachers’ private book collections, and Internet sources.

We ensure that the students of the programme take part in international academic activities through scholarships and personal connections. The programme has excellent connections with Germany (Berlin, Mainz, Halle, Munich), England (Oxford), Italy (Ravenna, Milan, Bologna, Turin, Urbino), and Austria (Vienna, Innsbruck). We also have close ties with the neighbouring countries and Hungarian universities (Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca, Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureş, Maros Megyei Múzeum/Muzeul Județean Mureș). Our relationship with the ancient history departments of Hungarian universities (ELTE, DE, PPKE, KRE, PTE) is excellent, just as it is with fellow departments and colleagues (SZTE Department of Roman Law, Hungarian National Museum, classicists, archaeologists, philosophers, theologians).

The teachers and students of the programme actively paricipate in the work of the research and action group Collegium Hungaricum Societatis Europaeae Studiosorum Philologiae Classicae, SEC, and in its national conferences, the proceedings of which are regularly published in book format.

Our students regularly present their work at the annual international Sapiens Ubique civis conference, while our teachers give keynote speeches and act as chairpeople at the same conference.

Our students (András Kárpáti) also present papers at the Laetae Segetes International Doctoral Conference, which is held annually in Brno.

The students and teachers of our programme working in the field of the history of religions take part from year to year in the History of Religions Workshop, organised by Pázmány Péter Catholic University, and in 2019 Laura Habesh Tashman and Nóra Dávid presented their paper at the international workshop called Plants in Religions.

Our student, István Kovács, regularly presents his work at the Byzanz und das Abendland / Byzance et l’Occident Studia Byzantino-Occidentalia international conference, which is also held annually.

Antiquity training plan

The secretary of the program

Dr. Nóra Dávid
E-mail: davidnorah@gmail.com

The teachers of the programme

Dr. Nóra Dávid
Dr. Imre Áron Illés
Dr. Gyula Priskin
Dr. Melinda Székely

The topic supervisors and their topics

Dr. Nóra Dávid
The peoples and religions of the ancient Near East

Dr. Imre Áron Illés
Greek and Roman historiography

Dr. Gyula Priskin
The cultural history of ancient Egypt

Dr. Melinda Székely
Social and economic changes of the Roman Empire

The supervisors of the programme

Dr. Nóra Dávid
Dr. Imre Áron Illés
Dr. Melinda Székely

Students who have so far obtained their degrees in the programme

(Name, title of dissertation, supervisor’s name, year, regular tuition/individually prepared)

Melinda Székely
Eastern Trade of the Roman Empire Based on Pliny the Elder’s Natural History
Prof. Dr. Gyula Wojtilla
2006
individually prepared

Iván Tóth
Alexandros’ Homer. Arrian Studies
Dr. Zoltán Farkas
2011
regular tuition

Szabolcs Felföldi
Life along the Late Antique and Early Mediaeval Silk Road
Prof. Dr. Gyula Wojtilla
2013
regular tuition

Imre Áron Illés
The Genesis and the Dating of the lex Flavia municipalis
Dr. Melinda Székely
2013
regular tuition

Katalin Lakos
The Role of Early Buddhism in the Economic and Social History of Ancient India
Prof. Dr. Gyula Wojtilla
2016
regular tuition

Gábor Széll
The Fight Against Barbarians and Heretics in Hydatius’ Chronicle
Dr. Melinda Székely
2019
regular tuition

Miklós Janzsó
The Tabula Cebetis in the 1st-2nd century philosophical milieu
Dr. Melinda Székely
2020
regular tuition

Laura Habes Tashman
Women's Presence in the Southern Levant During the Hellenistic-Roman Period
Dr. Nóra Dávid
2024

Students who have completed the course requirements of the programme

(Name, supervisor’s name, year of completing course requirements)

Balázs Ullrich

Prof. Dr. Egon Maróti
2004
regular tuition

Ágnes Básti
Prof. Dr. Gyula Wojtilla
2005
regular tuition

Olga Vajda
Prof. Dr. Egon Maróti
2008
regular tuition

György Zentai
Prof. Dr. Gyula Wojtilla
2012
regular tuition

Ildikó Piróth
Dr. Zsuzsa Hoffmann
2013
regular tuition

Attila Hajdú
Dr. Iván Tóth
2013
regular tuition

Gábor Horti
Dr. Melinda Székely
2014
regular tuition

Gergő Gönczi
Dr. Melinda Székely
2015
regular tuition

Doctoral students who have passed their complex exams

Péter Kapi
The Administration and Religion of the Roman Empire and the Conquered Peoples
Dr. Imre Áron Illés
2019

Bálint Ormos
Judgment of the City and the Country in Roman Intellectual History
Dr. Melinda Székely
2019

István Kovács
Byzantine rhetoric
Dr. László Horváth, Dr. Iván Tóth
2020

Laura Habes Tashman
Women's Presence in the Southern Levant During the Hellenistic-Roman Period
Dr. Nóra Dávid
2020

Brigitta Gombos
The role of bankers in the economy of the Roman Empire
Dr. Melinda Székely
2021

Attila Sebők
Diplomacy in Ancient Hellas
Dr. Imre Áron Illés
2021

Current students with regular tuition

(Name, present year, proposed title of the dissertation, supervisor’s name, state-funded/fee-paying)

Tamás Zsolt Magdus
Godess Ceres in roman religion, politics and in public thinking
Mrs Miklós Draskóczy Dr. Melinda Székely
2023

Péter Kapi
The Administration and Religion of the Roman Empire and the Conquered
Peoples
Dr. Imre Áron Illés
2017

Bálint Ormos
Judgment of the City and the Country in Roman Intellectual History
Dr. Melinda Székely
2017