Jupiter’s promise to Aeneas that he will give the Romans “imperium sine fine” (Aeneid 1.278), variously understood as “empire without end” or “power without limits”, reflects something of the need that lies deep in the human psyche to transcend the limitations set on our existence by a fickle and contingent world. Again and again the illusion that power can provide certitude, permanence and even immortality has seduced both rulers and the ruled whether it be in the East or the West. This session proposes to explore notions of power and authority and their exercise in a variety of historical and cultural contexts, with particular reference to breaking the bounds of human limitedness. We will consider papers that address this subject from a variety of perspectives – literary, historical, cultural, philosophical, theological, etc. – and would particularly welcome proposals that take a cross-cultural and/or interdisciplinary approach.

Selected papers will be submitted as a session sponsored by TACMRS to the 50th International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan 14-17 May 2015.