"I became aware of the importance of interdisciplinarity"

When and how got you became aware of the title doctor et professor honoris causa? What was your first reaction?

I learned of my appointment as doctor et professor honoris causa directly through Professor Borhy, who was kind enough to inform me by phone on December 18, 2024. The news came to me as a real surprise — almost like an early Christmas present. I hadn't expected to receive such a high distinction from a university as prestigious as ELTE, and so my reaction was both surprise and gratitude toward the institution that granted it to me and toward Rector Laszlo Borhy. This distinction moreover comes at a very special time for me, as, after nine years of service, I am leaving the position of Vice-President of my university and reaching retirement age as I await the appointment of professor emeritus…

I feel really privileged to have been able to dedicate my entire life to a profession I'm passionate about: teaching several generations of students and studying fascinating subjects are, in and of themselves, very rewarding activities that aren't done for recognition. But if, in addition, a reputed university like ELTE perceives some merit in them, the circle is complete.

When and where did you finish your university studies? Who were your professors?

I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Zaragoza, where I earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1977 and a doctorate in 1979. I had the opportunity to study with great professors, including my father, Prof. Antonio Beltrán, who introduced me to epigraphy, numismatics, and archaeology; and Prof. Serafín Agud, who fostered my love for the Greek language and linguistics. My doctoral thesis was supervised by prof. Beltrán himself and by Prof. José María Blázquez (Complutense University), an influential member of the first generation of Spanish historians of antiquity.

At the University of Zaragoza, I received a solid training in all disciplines related to the classical world, both philological and historical, and I became aware of the importance of interdisciplinarity, an orientation that has been a constant in my career and that I have tried to instill in my students. At the University of Zaragoza, I am fortunate to work with great scholars — including Francisco Marco and Francisco Pina, and to have created an excellent team devoted to the study of ancient history and epigraphy, some of whose members teach now at other Spanish and European universities: creating such a research team is undoubtedly one of the aspects of my career I feel most proud of.

Within ancient history, which is your field of specialisation? How does it fit into ancient history on an international level?

My main research interests are the ancient epigraphic cultures, and the history of Hispania and the Roman western Mediterranean, including irrigation, although I have paid attention to other topics as numismatics or ancient geography (esp. Pliny the Elder, Strabo and Ptolemy).

My research team, TITVLVS, is devoted to the multidisciplinary study of the ancient Palaeoeuropean, Palaeohispanic and Roman epigraphic cultures, approached as organic systems of knowledge and communicative practice combining language, script, and support in order to record or transmit messages

in well-defined social and ideological contexts. So we study inscriptions as sources for history and linguistics but also as social media, paying attention to their role in the different ancient written cultures and literacies. We are committed to open science and to the preservation of this important part of the European cultural heritage and its integration in the modern European cultural discourse through cooperation with museums, schools and cultural institutions and technological companies.

Internationalization has been a permanent feature throughout my career: research stays, publications, networks, academic collaboration with leading universities — such as ELTE — and even serving for nine years as Vice-President for internationalization at the University of Zaragoza (2016-2025). As such, I am particularly proud of having contributed to the creation of one of the Alliances of European Universities: UNITA – Universitas montium. I am convinced that universities have a fundamental role to play in consolidating the European values. These values have fostered a way of life that has managed to reconcile individual freedom and social protection in a balance that is difficult to find in other regions of the world. Today more than ever, when the academic freedom is threatened at some universities, we must take care of the values on which the European Union and also the Eötvös Loránd University are founded.

Who were/who are the professors who influenced on your scientific career?

As I have already mentioned, the contributions of the professors of the University of Zaragoza whose teaching I enjoyed during my education period — and particularly of my father, Antonio Beltrán — and also of those with whom afterwards I have shared my academic activities in the Department of Classics, have been very significant. Subsequently, I have been fortunate to collaborate with many Spanish and international colleagues, from whom I have learned a great deal. However, besides these, if I had to name two researchers whom I consider my masters, those are Jürgen Untermann (Cologne) and Géza Alföldy (Heidelberg). I owe to both of them a great debt of gratitude since they deeply influenced my approach to two of my main areas of research: Paleohispanic Studies and Roman epigraphy.

Which are the universities abroad where you acquired experience as a scholar, guest lecturer or visiting professor?

After graduating, I undertook several research stays in Germany, both at the Kommission für Alte Geschichte in Munich, with Dr. Armin Stylow —also a very influential scholar in my career, and at the University of Heidelberg with Professor Géza Alföldy, and then in Oxford, in Paris as a visiting professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure, and, especially, in Rome.

Which connections do you have to Hungary, Budapest and Eötvös Loránd University? When were you here for the first time?

ELTE is one of the international universities with which I have had the privilege of collaborating. My first contacts date back to the 1990s, and then, within the framework of academic exchanges, I had the opportunity to teach here from 2002 onwards. In recent years, as Vice-Rector for Internationalization at the University of Zaragoza, I have had the opportunity to strengthen ties with ELTE and to collaborate, through UNITA, with the CHARM-EU alliance, of which ELTE is a member.

Are there / were there important Hungarian ancient history academics who had a great influence on your career? Who put you in touch with them, with their works and academic activity?

In the early stages of my career, I was deeply influenced by reading the works of great Hungarian masters such as Andreas Alföldi, and afterwards of scholars like András Mócsy, from whom I learned a great deal about writing the history of the Roman provinces through epigraphy. I learnt a lot about the Celts from the studies by Miklos Szabo, whom I had the privilege of meeting and even participating in one of the homages paid to him through my close relationship with Professor Borhy, one of his disciples.

Who are the Hungarian ancient history academics you are currently in contact with?

In addition to the Hungarian researchers I have previously referred to, I have collaborated with other colleagues such as the late Barnabas Lörincz on the study of personal onomastics, Erzsebet Jerem within the framework of the FERCAN Celtic studies network, György Németh in the field of epigraphy and, especially, with Prof. László Borhy, whom I met first in 1989, when we were both staying in Heidelberg with Prof. Géza Alföldy and with whom, since then, I have maintained a fruitful collaboration and a close friendship.