Julia Hillner

@writinghelena.bsky.social

1.1K followers 230 following 340 posts

Writing about imperial women to understand late antiquity:
history - ideology - dynasty - violence - agency - memory

Also working on: crime, punishment, prosopography, digital humanities, and the city of Rome
@dependencybonn.de .. more

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Julia Hillner is Professor for Dependency and Slavery Studies at the University of Bonn. She was previously Professor of Medieval History at the University of Sheffield. She is an expert on late antiquity, applying digital methods of social network analysis to large data sets drawn from a wide variety of late antique and early medieval sources. .. more

History 61%

Philosophy 13%

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Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · Mar 18

At the Connecting Late Antiquities project we've compiled a list of digital projects on late antiquity - one step to, erm, connecting late antiquities!
Huge thanks to @bnduman.net & @laurahartmann.bsky.social

Take a look, the variety is mindblowing!

www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/research/...

Related Digital Projects

www.dependency.uni-bonn.de

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 19h

oooh - thank you! And congrats, this looks amazing and super-useful.

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 19h

Sorry for the late reply - I got sidetracked yesterday :) And thanks so much for all the info. This is all very useful to me, as I am (also) working on a project on gender & crime.

Reposted by Julia Hillner

Andrew Jacobs (he/him) @drewjakeprof.bsky.social · 19h

This is a late ancient (5-7th c.?) Greek account of the life of a rich woman who was raised Jewish, converted to Christianity when her parents died, lived for 20 years as a male monk named John, was discovered & made head of a woman's monastery, & was later martyred

Andrew Jacobs (he/him) @drewjakeprof.bsky.social · 19h

well, what the heck. it's the tuesday before thanksgiving, and whoever is on here deserves a treat: the first new translation I've posted in a long while: the Life and Martyrdom of Susanna:

andrewjacobs.org/translations...

Life and Martyrdom of Susanna

andrewjacobs.org

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 2d

Sorry, molten gold

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 2d

That was a strange auto-correct, sorry! But I am intrigued by these stories about molten lead. I always wondered about that law and did not know the punishment turned up elsewhere

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 2d

Perhaps not personally!

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 2d

Not a story as such but Constantine had a law that prescribed pouring molten lead down the throat of nursemaids helping or not hindering their charges to get abducted CTh 9.24.1 - though personally you already know that

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 2d

Although Uta is the star here, I am more intrigued by the female founder figures who appear in Naumburg cathedral’s coir without a husband or male companion: above all, so-called “Gerburg”, not a nun, perhaps a widow?

Stone sculpture of a woman with crown, mantle and book in front of column, under a baldachin

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 2d

Reveal

Apparently Uta was the model.

She herself was a countess at Naumburg in the 11th century and one of the founders of this beautiful cathedral who were rather unusually commemorated in its choir.

image from here:
static.wikia.nocookie.net/dis/images/d...

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 2d

Up close with Uta at Naumburg cathedral today, aka the “most beautiful woman” of the Middle Ages.

Remind you of someone?

Detail stone sculpture of a woman with crown and mantle

Stone sculpture of woman with crown and mantle

Stone sculpture of a couple, woman with crown and mantle, man with shield and sword, standing in front of columns, covered by a baldachin, faint traces of colour

Reposted by Charles West

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

Many congratulations to my colleague and very old friend Marios Costambeys and his entire team for winning one of these! Early medieval monasticism rulez 💪https://www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles/neuigkeiten-themen/info-wissenschaft/2025/ifw-25-96

UK-German Research Projects in the Arts and Humanities

www.dfg.de

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

Indeed! But apparently that was at first not part of the Acts. Later the two texts are often bound together though. Helena’s 9th century hagiographer knew both and was at pains to explain Helena’s “Judaizing”! But he concluded that you have to know what you hate, or something…

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

I am obsessed with this text because of the super strange representation of Helena. Would love to have your opinion on this some time…

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

But it was known in Rome at end of C5 (and to author of Liber pontificalis) and earliest Latin ms from Rome is sixth century

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

That is, it was the assembled into these Acts which have four parts. Each of these might be even earlier. And we also don’t know actual origin (could be Eastern, not Rome), original language (Greek? Syriac?) etc

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

It has been quite precisely dated by Wilhelm Pohlkamp and Tessa Canella into the mid fifth century. There are three versions, one just before, one just after Chalcedon, and one much later, perhaps 9th c. Only the last one is fully edited, in Mombritius

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

In case anyone is wondering about my sudden outbursts on afterlives of Constantinian women, I am currently at the amazing Max-Weber-Kolleg in Erfurt (Religion & Urbanity group) comparing how they each were remembered in the early medieval city of Rome

www.uni-erfurt.de/en/max-weber...

Julia Hillner | Fellow | Max-Weber-Center | University of Erfurt

Julia Hillner is currently fellow at the Max-Weber-Center of the University of Erfurt.

www.uni-erfurt.de

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

The key to this is that the Life starts with declaring that Constantia had been taught by Silvester…

Unfortunately the Acts of Silvester are not properly edited and this part in particular is not well known.

Anyway, not sure what to do with this knowledge but I am happy nonetheless

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

12 Jews turn up and Silvester debates them one by one. This story ends with a miracle (a Jew strikes dead a bull and Silvester resurrects it) but of course it ends the same with their conversion 6/

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

In the Acts of Silvester Helena, Constantine’s mum, writes to her son to try to dissuade him from conversion by Silvester because she prefers Judaism. He replies by letter asking her to send some Jews to the palace which she does 5/

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

This the aunt does and 12 girls turn up. Constantia has a public debate with each of them and in the end they all declare themselves defeated and convert 4/

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

In it Constantina (here called Constantia) tries to convert two noble girls. The girls‘ aunt writes to them to dissuade them. They reply by letter expressing their admiration of Constantia and ask the aunt to send also her daughters and other girls to the palace 3/

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

The life has recently been edited by a great team including the late and dearly missed Dennis Trout. 2/

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 5d

Today I suddenly realised that the Life of Constantia, an extremely rare 7th c. hagiographical text about Constantina, daughter of Constantine, is modelled on the Acts of Silvester, with Constantina replacing Silvester, nb a bishop of Rome. 💡

That made me happy 😊 1/

global.oup.com/academic/pro...

global.oup.com

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 6d

I did not- thank you for sharing! I also remember our visit very well! Looks like it’s time to go back (though I have been in between, it’s always nice to visit my girl on the Via Labicana :)

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 10d

brill.com/display/book...

brill.com

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 11d

here is another link that works (there seems to be something wrong with HSozKult today)
meinclio.clio-online.de/open/pdf/con...

meinclio.clio-online.de

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · 11d

Great sum-up of our roundtable on the power and powerlessness of so-called “flagship” history journals at the last Historikertag (in German). A huge thanks to its authors, Mia Schumacher and Charlotte Sophie Metternich

www.hsozkult.de/conferencere...