Raycheva, Milena

Sofia University

Research Topic: Mechanisms of Damnatio Memoriae in Roman Asia Minor in the 3rd Century CE

Dr. Raycheva received her BA and MA degrees in Classical Archaeology at the Sofia Univeristy “St. Kliment Ohridski”. There she also defended her PhD dissertation in 2013 – “The Imperial Cult in the Roman Province of Thrace”. Currently she is working as a Chief Assistant Professor in the Department of Classical Archaeology at the National Institute of Archaeology with Museum in Sofia, part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Her research interests include Greek and Roman epigraphy, ancient religion and propaganda, cult architecture and priesthoods. She is also profoundly fascinated with the administration and social structure of the eastern Roman provinces. Her project at ANAMED – “Mechanisms of damnatio memoriae in Roman Asia Minor in the 3rd century CE” – is a follow-up of some ideas that developed while writing her doctoral thesis. It is devoted to damnatio memoriae, or condemnation of memory – a punishment applied towards the images and names of the so called “bad” Roman emperors after their death. The project will deal with the manifestations of this phenomenon in Asia Minor. The topic is surprisingly understudied and contains a great potential for the better understanding of the persisting “center vs. periphery” discussion in terms of the Roman imperial cult. For the purpose, she intend to survey the best documented provinces of Roman Asia Minor in the 3rd century. Her research will focus mainly on the rich epigraphic record in order to single out the deleted names in the inscriptions. Furthermore, she will study imperial portraits, coins, gems and any other media with imperial images, which will help her prepare a substantial database for comparative analysis.