Paulina Kaczmarczyk
Academic Career
- 2014-2017 Licencjat (Bachelor’s degree) in History, University of Wrocław (Poland)
- 2017-2019 Magister (master’s degree) in History, University of Wrocław (Poland)
- 2018 Erasmus+ (winter semester) at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
- 2016-2021 Licencjat (Bachelor’s degree) in Classical Philology, University of Wrocław (Poland)
- 2019-2024 Doctoral programme in History at the University of Wrocław (Poland)
- 2021 Boğaziçi Üniversitesi in Istanbul (Turkey), 4th Byzantine Greek Summer School [held online due to Covid-19 pandemic]
- III 2021-IX 2023 Research assistant in the Center for the Study of the Ancient World, University of Wrocław (Poland) in the NAWA Chair project “From the Achaemenids to the Romans: Contextualizing empire and its longue-dureé developments” (PI: prof. Robert Rollinger)
- 2022 Central European University in Budapest (Hungary), summer school: Late Antique Political Theology from the Early Church to the Byzantine Era
- II-X Erasmus Traineeship at the University of Tübingen (Germany) in the “Philologisch-Historischer Kommentar zur Chronik des Johannes Malalas” project (PI: prof. Mischa Meier) of Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften
Scholarship and Mobility
- 2018 Erasmus+ scholarship for a semester at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
- IX 2020 scholarship in “PROM programme” funded by NAWA (Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange) for a month research stay at the British School in Athens (Greece)
- VII 2021 awarded scholarship in “STER programme” funded NAWA (Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange) for a 5-months research stay in École pratique des hautes études in Paris (France) in 2022
- XI 2023-VI 2024 Wincenty Styś’s scholarship of the president of Wrocław for the excellent doctoral candidates
- II-X 2023 Erasmus Traineeship at the University of Tübingen (Germany)
- X-XII 2023 French Government Scholarship “France Excellence”: Research stay in the
- École pratique des hautes études in Paris (France)
- I-VIII 2024 Ernst Mach Stipendium-worldwide: Research stay at the University of Innsbruck (Austria)
Publications
- 2018 | Tajemniczy rytuał oczyszczenia. Czy Scytowie mieli szamana? (Hdt. IV 73-75), “SAMAI. Studia Antiquitatis et Medii Aevi Incohantis” 3 (pp.5-18).
- 2019 | Andrea de Giorgi: Ancient Antioch: from the Seleucid Era to the Islamic Conquest, Cambridge–New York, Cambridge University Press, pp. 226. “SAMAI. Studia Antiquitatis et Medii Aevi Incohantis” 4 (pp. 185-162). [review]
- 2021 | “Legenda o Pikusie w kronikach późnego antyku – źródło wyobrażone. Uwagi do książki Krzysztofa Hilmana „Pikus w Kronice Aleksandryjskiej i u Malalasa, Kraków 2019. “Klio. Czasopismo Poświęcone Dziejom Polskim i Powszechnym” 59/3 (pp. 253-274).
- 2022 | Seleukos’ sacrifices on the mountaintops of Northern Syria. Understanding the foundation rituals of Tetrapolis and their context in John Malalas’ work. In M.Kasper, R.Rollinger, A.Rudigier, J.Wiesehöfer, Religion in den Bergen. Sakrale Orte, Heiligtümer, Performanz, Mythos und Alltagsleben (pp. 387-407), Montafoner Gipfeltreffen 5. Wien.
- Submitted in 2023 | Seeking comfort in the Past. A Contemporary View on the Hellenistic Past in the John Malalas’ Chronicle. [conference volume]
- Submitted in 2023 | From Byzantium to India-Ethiopia. Alexander the Great as prefiguration of Justinian in John Malalas’ chronicle. In O.Gengler et al. (eds.), Herrscher und Herrschaft in Malalas’ Chronographia. Malalas Studien 5. Stuttgart.
Conferences
- 2021 | “Dlaczego Aleksander nie dotarł do Syrii? Legenda o Aleksandrze w dziele Jana Malalasa” [Why Alexander didn’t arrive to Syria? Legend about Alexander in John Malalas’ work] at the conference Świat starożytny - centrum i peryferie [The ancient world - centres and peripheries] organised by the National Commision of Ancient History of Polish Historical Association . Wrocław, 14-16.09.2021
- 2021 | “Seleucus’ sacrifices on the mountaintops in Northern Syria” at the conference: 5th Montafoner Gipfeltreffen “Religion in den Bergen”, Schruns, Austria, 19-23.10.2021.
- 2022 | Chair of the panel: ‘Late Antique, Medieval and Modern Europe’ at the conference “Contextualizing Imperial Borderlands (9th c. BC – 9th c. AD)”. Bregenz, Austria, 20-24.06.2022.
- 2023 |”Seeking Comfort in the Past. John Malalas about Hellenistic Syria” at the conference Historiography at the End of Antiquity. Concepts, Audiences, Regionality in the Broader Eastern Mediterranean 500-700. Innsbruck, Austria, 9-11.06.2023
- 2024 |”Perception of India-Ethiopia in Late Antique Historical Writing” at 20th Workshop of the Melammu Project: From Athens to Samarqand: Spatial Perception in Antiquity from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Taklamakan Desert. Innsbruck, Austria, 17-19.01.2024.
- 2024 |”Seleucids and their Heritage in the Late Antique Historical Writing” at the conference Between and Beyond Empires: From the Seleucids to the Sasanians (2nd c. BC – 7th c. AD). Wrocław, Poland, 3–6.12.2024.
Teaching
- Winter semester 2020/2021 | Latin I, University of Wrocław (Poland)
- Winter semester 2021/2022 | Latin I, University of Wrocław (Poland)
- Winter semester 2022/2023 | Latin I, University of Wrocław (Poland)
Research interests
- Ancient and Byzantine historiography and chronicles
- (early) Christian notions and reception of antiquity
- Historical spatial perception
- Conceptualisation of ancient history
- Imperial ideology in the ancient historiography
Languages
Modern
- Polish: native speaker
- English: C1
- German: A2/B1
- French: A2
Ancient
- good knowledge: Greek, Latin
- basic knowledge: Old Slavonic, Biblical Hebrew, Akkadian
Dissertation project
Rewriting the Past: Unveiling the Christianised History of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East in Late Antiquity. A Historical Commentary to John Malalas’ Chronographia V 39-VI 19, VII 15-VIII 33
This doctoral project examines the reinterpretation of Eastern Mediterranean and Near Eastern history in the 6th c. chronicle of John Malalas, a narrative equally shaped by earlier historiographical traditions and contemporary events, especially during Justinian I’s reign (526-565 BCE).
The study analyses the largely overlooked sections of the chronicle providing an outline of the Near Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean history, encompassing roughly the period from David, first king of Israel (9th/8th c. BCE) and Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem (ca. 701 BCE) to the Roman acquisition of Syria in 60s BCE. Structured in three parts, the dissertation is planned to begin with (1) a concise and up-to-date introduction to “John Malalas studies” and textual problems of the chronicle, followed by the chapter (2) investigating the fundamental concepts shaping the narrative, and concluded (3) with the thorough historical commentary to the chosen narrative parts (V 39-VI 19, VII 15-VIII 33). It highlights the narrativity of the chronicle and aims to uncover how and why the author “rewrote” ancient history through a Christian lens, combining earlier historiographical traditions with the contemporary worldview and political agenda. By approaching the Chronicle as a product of its time, I want to underscore John Malalas’ narrative as a unique example of the late antique Christian reception of ancient history. I also seek to highlight the influence of the author’s origins, contemporary circumstances, worldview, ideas, or even biases on his perception of history. In the Chronographia, these influences manifest through themes like imperial succession and universalism across the ages, and the projection of the present status quo onto the past, which is adapted to meet the expectations of the times the author and his readers lived in.