Pagan Monotheism in Philo

Checking some blogs on my list, I discover that Jim Davila over at Paleojudaica, the ever observing Jim D, has picked up some news about an upcoming conference at the University of Exeter, UK, on Pagan Monotheism.

You can see the website for the conference here.

The conference is presented thus:
"Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire (1st-4th cent. AD)
Conference at Exeter, 17-20 July 2006
The publication of the volume Pagan Monotheism in Late Antiquity (eds. P. Athanassiadi – M. Frede, Oxford, 1999), in which pagan monotheism was presented as a major religious force in Late Antiquity, has led to an extensive debate on the definition and role of pagan monotheism in Late Antique society.

As part of an AHRB-funded research project concerned with the cultural and intellectual context of pagan monotheism in the Roman empire, directed by Professor Stephen Mitchell, the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter is staging a conference in July 2006.

The aim is to examine pagan monotheism as a religious phenomenon and to place it in its social, political and cultural context. The focus will both be on philosophical and literary texts, and on the evidence derived from epigraphy, archaeology and material culture. The conference will also examine the various strands of monotheistic ideas and practices, and the way that these interact with other diverse religious developments in the Roman empire up to the fourth century."

As a philonist, it is interesting to see that among the many themes to be dealt with and lectures to be held, there will also be a lecture on Philo:
C. Hywel (Ripon College): Pagan Monotheism in Philo Judaeus.