Erasure in Late Antiquity

Erasure was, paradoxically, a conspicuous phenomenon in Late Antiquity. This is evidenced by the practices associated with so-called damnatio memoriae, changes in physical space, and broad processes of religious and cultural change. While the theme of erasure is attracting increased interest across a wide range of disciplines, there have been few attempts to consider erasure as a more general phenomenon, to study it from a multidisciplinary perspective and to ask what, if anything, was unique about erasure in Late Antiquity? This volume, edited by Kay Boers, Becca Grose, Rebecca Usherwood, and Guy Walker, brings together eight essays, each reflecting on the phenomenon of erasure and the various methodologies used in its investigation. Taking a broad theoretical, chronological, and thematic scope, the contributions to this volume reflect on the processes of erasure, and the strategies, agencies, and authorities behind them. Collectively, the contributions seek to understand erasure as a flexible and diverse phenomenon that is identifiable in various discursive fields of late antique visual, material, and textual cultures.