Call for Papers: Otium et Negotium

Submit an abstract for the Paideia Institute's 2026 Living Latin in NYC Conference!

The Paideia Institute is pleased to announce that the thirteenth iteration of the Living Latin in New York City conference will take place on February 14th and 15th, 2026 in Manhattan. The conference program will include papers delivered in Latin, Ancient Greek, and English, breakout sessions for guided reading and conversation practice, and opportunities for informal exchange and networking. 

The theme of this year’s conference is Otium et Negotium. How do Greek and Latin texts throughout history conceptualize work and leisure, and how were these states valued, resisted, or idealized? What counts as productive activity, and who is expected to engage in it? What are the moral and political dimensions of work and recreation, and how do they shape identity, virtue, or power?

We invite proposals for short talks (in Latin, Ancient Greek, or English) that consider how this binary is constructed, contested, and represented across ancient literature, philosophy, history, and material culture. Outstanding submissions in English on other topics will also be considered, particularly (but not only) if they focus on classical language pedagogy.

Please use the link below to send in an abstract of no more than 500 words. The deadline for submissions is October 1, 2025. Travel bursaries are available and can be requested by completing a separate scholarship application. We encourage accepted speakers to apply for external funding as well since the number of travel bursaries is limited.

Submit an abstract

DE OTIO NEGOTIOQUE

Magnopere iuvat Institutum nomine Paideiam pronuntiare, decimum tertium Latinitatis ac Graecitatis Vivae Novi Eboraci conventum inde ab a.d. XVI Kal. Mart. ad a.d. XV Kal. Mart. usque anno 2026 in insula Manhattensi celebratum iri: quo in conventu non modo acroases sermone Latino Graecoque et Anglico proferentur, verum etiam aliae habebuntur sessiunculae, in quibus participes, magistris doctis eruditisque freti, exercitationibus legendi atque colloquendi operam dabunt; nec plures vel confabulandi animi causa vel congrediendi negotii gratia deerunt occasiones.

Huiusce conventus propositum ad notiones otii negotiique perscrutandas attinet. Quem ad modum ei, qui scripta vel Graece vel Latine ab antiquitus ad nostra tempora reliquerunt, otium negotiumque intellegebant et describebant? Quomodo utraque vitae condicio aestimabatur, quomodo utrique resistebatur, quomodo utraque esse optima atque in omni genere perfecta videbatur? Quid pro opera hominum frugifera et fructuosa habetur, et cuinam illa opera est suscipienda? Ad mores et ad res publicas quatenus otium et negotium attinent? Quomodo notiones otii negotiique aut identitatem hominum, aut virtutem, aut potestatem formant et fingunt?

Si cui acroasiunculam (sermone Latino vel Graeco vel Anglico conscriptam) ad hoc thema pertinentem, id est, quomodo haec ratio bifaria in litteris antiquis et in rebus philosophicis, historicis, archaeologicisque fabricetur, disputetur, repraesentetur, habere libet, praecipimus, ut summarium nobis tradat. Ratio etiam eorum habebitur, qui Anglice de aliis rebus disserere volunt, praesertim (sed non tantummodo) si propositum est rationem utriusque linguae docendae tractare. 

Rogamus ut nexu, quem infra reperies, adhibito summarium vocabulorum non plus quam quingentorum tradas: quod ante diem praestitutam, quae Kal. Oct. anno 2025 est, elapsam tradendum erit. Stipendia itineraria praesto erunt, quae cuivis per hanc petitionem congiarii scholaribus alendis destinati petere licebit. Suademus autem eis, qui ad conventum invitabuntur, ut stipendia etiam ab aliis locis petant, propterea quod stipendia itineraria omnibus non suppetent. 

Propositum mitte

ΣΧΟΛΗ ΤΕ ΚΑΙ ΑΣΧΟΛΙΑ

Ἡ ἑταιρεία τῆς Παιδείας ἥδιστ' ἀγγέλλει ὅτι μηνὸς Φεβρουαρίου τῷ ἔτει 2026 γενήσεται ἡ τρίτη καὶ δεκάτη σύνοδος ἡ καλουμένη Ῥωμαϊκή τε καὶ Ἑλληνικὴ ζῶσαι ἐν Νέῳ Ἐβοράκῳ. εἰς δὲ τὴν σύνοδον ῥήτορας προσκαλοῦμεν καὶ δὴ καὶ κεφάλαια ἀποδεχόμεθα ἀφ' ὧντινων βούλοιντο ἂν τῆς συνόδου μετέχειν. οἱ δὲ τῆς συνόδου μεθέξοντες οἷοι τ' ἔσονται καὶ ἄλλων ἀκροᾶσθαι ῥητόρων ῥωμαϊστί τε ἑλληνιστί τε καὶ βρεττανιστὶ λεγόντων καὶ μετὰ διδασκάλων διατρίβειν περί τόν τε ῥωμαϊσμὸν καὶ τὸν ἑλληνισμόν. ἡ δὲ σύνοδος γενήσεται ἐν Νέῳ Ἐβοράκῳ τῇ τε τετάρτῃ καὶ δεκάτῃ καὶ τῇ πέμπτῃ καὶ δεκάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ Φεβρουαρίου μηνός.

Τὴν μὲν οὖν κυρίαν ὑπόθεσιν ὑποτίθεμεν τήνδε· σχολήν τε καὶ ἀσχολίαν, ἤτοι ὅπως οἱ πάλαι Ἕλληνες καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι τῷ λόγῳ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ χρόνου τὴν μὲν ἀσχολίαν τὴν δὲ σχολὴν ἐνόουν, ἔτι δ’ ὅπῶς αὐτὰς ἐτίμων καὶ ἐπῄνουν ἢ αὐταῖς ἠναντιοῦντο, ὅτῳ δὲ δὴ τρόπῳ ἑκατέραν ἐν τοῖς βελτίστοις ἡγοῦντο εἶναι. τίνα μὲν ἔργα δοκεῖ καρποφόρα εἶναι, τίνες δὲ τοιούτων τινῶν ἔργων μετέχοιεν ἄν; τί δ’ ἔστι τὸ ἠθικὸν καὶ τὸ πολιτικὸν τῆς σχολῆς καὶ τῆς ἀσχολίας; τέλος δὲ πῶς τούτω τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἰδιότητα, τὴν ἀρετὴν ἢ τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ ἀπεργάζεσθόν τε καὶ πλάττουσιν;

Λόγους οὖν βραχεῖς περὶ τῆς κυρίας ὑποθέσεως ἀποδεχόμεθα ῥωμαϊστὶ, ἑλληνιστί ἢ βρεττανιστὶ γεγραμμένους καὶ παραδείγματα ποιουμένους τῆς σχολῆς καὶ τὴν ἀσχολίας, ὅπως περὶ αὐταῖν ἐννόουν οἱ πάλαι οὐ μόνον ἐν τῷ βίῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις, τῇ τε φιλοσοφίᾳ καὶ τῇ ῥητορείᾳ. ἀποδεχοίμεθα δ' ἂν καὶ κρατίστους λόγους περὶ ἄλλων ὑποθέσεων γεγραμμένους, οὐχ ἥκιστα περὶ τῆς διδασκαλίας τῶν παλαιῶν γλωττῶν.

Τοὺς δὲ βουλομένους μετασχεῖν τῆσδε τῆς συνόδου ἀξιοῦμεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς πέμψαι κεφάλαιον τοῦ λόγου (μὴ ὑπερβάλλον πεντακόσια ῥήματα) διὰ τοῦ κάτω δεσμοῦ τῆτες πρὸ τῆς πρώτης ἡμέρας τοῦ Ὀκτωβρίου μηνὸς. Οἵτινες ἂν βούλωνται, δύνανται αἰτῆσαι πορευτικὰς χορηγίας διὰ τοῦ δεσμοῦ χορηγιῶν. Ὀλίγαι δὲ μόνον ὑπάρχουσιν, διὸ παραινοῦμεν τοῖς ἀποδεχθεῖσιν ῥήτορσιν καὶ ἄλλας ζητῆσαι χορηγίας.

Ὑπόθεσιν ἐπίστειλον