- Ancient Greek History, Ancient Historiography, Greek Epigraphy, Papyrology, Greek History, Greek Literature, and 42 moreAncient Greek Historiography, Roman History, Greek history, epigraphy, papyrology, History of Classical Scholarship, Attic Orators, Papyrology & Epigraphy, Athenian Democracy, Greek Papyrology, Greek Oratory, Homer, Classical philology, Roman Historiography, Greek Language, Ancient Greek Religion, Greek Paleography, Ancient Greek Epigraphy, Ancient Greek Philosophy, Byzantine Studies, Renaissance Studies, Ancient Philosophy, Ancient Greek Rhetoric, Textual Criticism and Editing, Renaissance Humanism, Textual Criticism, Italian Humanism, Greek Philology, Classics, Greek Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, History and Classical tradition studies, Latin Literature, Greek and Roman Epigraphy, Ancient Greek Literature, Modern Greek literature, History of Historiography, The Classical Tradition, Historiography, Hellenistic History, Ancient History, Cultural History, Epigraphy (Archaeology), and Inscriptionsedit
Research Interests: Ancient History, Classics, Greek Literature, Greek History, Papyrology, and 12 moreAncient Greek History, Ancient Greek Historiography, Greek Papyrology, Attic Orators, Ptolemaic Egypt, Greek and Roman Epigraphy, Greek and Roman History, Greek Oratory, Classics: Ancient History and Archaeology, Ancient Greek Literature, Inscriptions, and Papyrology & Epigraphy
Despite the significance of its contents, the so-called Demades papyrus (P.Berol. inv. 13045) has received scarce scholarly attention since the 1923 editio princeps by Karl Kunst. This unique late second-century BCE document of almost 430... more
Despite the significance of its contents, the so-called Demades papyrus (P.Berol. inv. 13045) has received scarce scholarly attention since the 1923 editio princeps by Karl Kunst. This unique late second-century BCE document of almost 430 lines was found in the Egyptian chora, but it is supposed to have been written in Alexandria, where it probably served as a textbook for the highest level of rhetorical education. Besides shedding new light on its find circumstances and physical aspects, the volume offers a full re-edition and commentary of the two adespota texts contained in it, namely a eulogy of the Lagid monarchy and a historical work consisting of a dialogue between Demades and his prosecutor in the trial of 319 BCE at the court of Pella. The aim of the accompanying introduction is to address the question of the origin, nature and purpose of such fragments and of the collection itself, as well as to show to what extent the papyrus contributes to a better understanding of some of the main historical events of the early Hellenistic period. This book is thus meant to fill a significant gap in Classical scholarship, all the more so as a close investigation of most of the topics dealt with therein has hitherto been lacking.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Building on the categories that Peter Green introduced in his treatment of the supposed imitatio and aemulatio of Alexander by Caesar, this paper examines the relationship between Napoleon and the Macedonian king, who was notoriously one... more
Building on the categories that Peter Green introduced in his treatment of the supposed imitatio and aemulatio of Alexander by Caesar, this paper examines the relationship between Napoleon and the Macedonian king, who was notoriously one of his main models. Its primary purpose is to shed light on the way in which Alexander is portrayed both in Napoleon’s writings (in particular, the notes he dictated at Longwood House) and in the works of the so-called ‘St Helena Evangelists’ rather than on the analogies that were drawn by his contemporaries and beyond. Particular attention is thus devoted to the question as to the extent to which Napoleon actually participated in the scholarly debates over the figure of Alexander that developed in eighteenth-century France and whether his view of the Macedonian can be interpreted along the lines of Pierre Briant’s distinction between the «courant Bossuet-Mably-Rollin-Sainte Croix» and the «courant» which sprang from Montesquieu. In that connection, special emphasis is also placed on the sources (both ancient and modern) upon which Napoleon drew to develop his interpretation of Alexander, especially the books he possessed in the period between his youth at Brienne and the end of his life at Longwood House. This paper argues that Napoleon’s approach to the Macedonian was essentially threefold, insofar as it was driven by his interests in ancient strategy and geography, but was influenced by the heritage of the histoire moralisante. This conclusion also leads to a better understanding of Napoleon’s obsession with competing with and outdoing his ancient heroes, which is one of the most distinctive features of his approach to Greek and Roman history.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Re-edition of P.Hibeh I 28 (c. 280-260 BC) with introduction and line-by-line commentary.
Research Interests:
The increasing importance of diplomatic interactions in the Hellenistic world led some historians and rhetoricians to expand and manipulate Aristotle’s tripartition of the genera dicendi so as to include the ambassadorial address.... more
The increasing importance of diplomatic interactions in the Hellenistic world led some historians and rhetoricians to expand and manipulate Aristotle’s tripartition of the genera dicendi so as to include the ambassadorial address. Building primarily on epigraphic evidence, which, despite being instrumental in reconstructing the development of ancient Greek diplomacy, has been largely neglected, this paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of the characteristics of ambassadorial rhetoric in the third century BC by examining some inscriptions that preserve summaries of (or comment on) the envoys’ oral presentations before their audiences.
Research Interests:
The reception of the Athenian model and its impact throughout the Hellenistic world and beyond have increasingly become the focus of recent scholarship. My project proposes to carry out a thorough reconsideration of the history of... more
The reception of the Athenian model and its impact throughout the Hellenistic world and beyond have increasingly become the focus of recent scholarship. My project proposes to carry out a thorough reconsideration of the history of Ptolemaic Egypt through a close examination of political and ideological reuses of the Athenian past, as they emerge clearly from a number of sources and media. In particular, by exploring issues related to institutional, religious and cultural history, it tackles the question of how the Ptolemies shaped and reacted to Classical Athens’ democratic traditions soon after the establishment of their kingdom in 305 BC, when Ptolemy I assumed the title of pharaoh. The significance of this research, which entails a diverse range of evidence (from papyrus fragments of documents and ancient writers to epigraphic evidence; from archaeological material to modern historiography of the ancient world), consists, therefore, in its contribution to the understanding of the historical complexity of post-Classical civilization while casting new light on the processes through which the Hellenistic Greeks dynamically engaged with their Athenian forerunners, as well as on the ways in which Greek political discourse and identity developed in the post-Alexander world.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The paper intends to shed light on the first three columns of what is usually referred to as the Demades papyrus, which contain the remains of an eulogy of Ptolemaic monarchy. Although found in the necropolis of Βουσῖρις ἐν τῷ... more
The paper intends to shed light on the first three columns of what is usually referred to as the Demades papyrus, which contain the remains of an eulogy of Ptolemaic monarchy. Although found in the necropolis of Βουσῖρις ἐν τῷ Ἡρακλεοπολίτῃ, P.Berol. inv. 13045 is supposed to have been written in Alexandria and dates to the end of the second century BC. The content of the fragment, which has received scarce critical attention since the editio princeps (1923), can be summarized as follows: after comparing various political constitutions in the first column, the author goes on to praise Egypt and Alexandria in the second and expounds an ideal of kingship in the third. Besides providing a new edition, with an English translation, of the text, the paper addresses the question of its nature and destination (a philosophical treatise, a rhetorical piece περὶ βασιλείας or an oration πρὸς βασιλέα τινά), and considers the problem of the historical context it reflects. Particular attention is paid to assessing to what extent the stock virtues listed in the third column coincide with those codified in the treatises of advice to monarchs and princes of the late Classical and Hellenistic periods.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The article focuses on a difficult section in the eleventh book of Athenaeus' "Deipnosophistae" containing an extensive direct quotation from the treatise on Nestor's cup by the late Hellenistic scholar and historian Asclepiades of Myrlea... more
The article focuses on a difficult section in the eleventh book of Athenaeus' "Deipnosophistae" containing an extensive direct quotation from the treatise on Nestor's cup by the late Hellenistic scholar and historian Asclepiades of Myrlea (FGrHist 697). This passage centres on a cosmic explanation of the Homeric verses ("Iliad" 11.632-637) that seems to point to Asclepiades' proximity to the interpretative methods practised by Crates of Mallos (especially allegoresis). My paper has two main purposes: on the one hand, it addresses the numerous textual problems of the fragment, which also raise questions pertaining to its general interpretation (and to that of the treatise itself); on the other, it provides further arguments to clarify Asclepiades' position within the tradition of ancient Homeric scholarship by arguing that his adoption of Stoic cosmology while discussing the nature of the liquid contained in the cup reveals a profound acquaintance with the philosophical positions entertained by Crates in interpreting the Homeric poems.
Research Interests:
The essay consists of three parts and intends to shed light on the nature of the Commentarium rerum Graecarum (1439), a late historical work by Leonardo Bruni deriving from Xenophon’s Hellenica and still lacking a critical edition. First... more
The essay consists of three parts and intends to shed light on the nature of the Commentarium rerum Graecarum (1439), a late historical work by Leonardo Bruni deriving from Xenophon’s Hellenica and still lacking a critical edition. First of all, it aims to sketch the reception of the work by showing why it has been neglected by scholars so far and to what extent it can be considered original. Secondly, it outlines the historical circumstances in which the Commentarium rerum Graecarum was written and it argues that it probably originated from the meeting between Bruni and Pletho on the occasion of the Council of Ferrara-Florence. Lastly, it analyses the way Bruni abridged and reshaped the Greek text in order to create a new Latin one. The comparison between some relevant passages from the two works leads to the conclusion that the Greek manuscript used must belong to the second branch of the stemma codicum of the Hellenica.
Research Interests:
The purpose of the paper is twofold. First, it tries to compare Plethon’s Opuscula de historia Graeca, which consist of two texts in the codex Marcianus Graecus 406 that were edited in 1989 by Enrico V. Maltese, to Bruni’s Commentarium... more
The purpose of the paper is twofold. First, it tries to compare Plethon’s Opuscula de historia Graeca, which consist of two texts in the codex Marcianus Graecus 406 that were edited in 1989 by Enrico V. Maltese, to Bruni’s Commentarium rerum Graecarum (1439), a Latin reworking of Xenophon’s Hellenica, which still lacks a critical edition. In particular, this comparison is possible because the two works complement each other from a chronological point of view and are based on the same methodological core; moreover, both probably originated from the meeting between Bruni and Plethon on the occasion of the Council of Ferrara-Florence. Second, this paper intends to shed light on other little-known historical and geographical excerpts contained in Plethon’s autographs by arguing that among Plethon’s works they bear the closest resemblance to the Opuscula de historia Graeca if we consider the way their sources are abridged and reshaped.
Research Interests:
The purpose of the paper is twofold. First of all, it intends to shed light on the formal devices used by Τιμαχίδας and Θαρσαγόρας in quoting the sources on which the text of the inscription is based. In particular, it aims at... more
The purpose of the paper is twofold. First of all, it intends to shed light on the formal devices used by Τιμαχίδας and Θαρσαγόρας in quoting the sources on which the text of the inscription is based. In particular, it aims at demonstrating that the choice of combining different kinds of evidence can be justified on the basis of the distinction between historical writing and antiquarian research formulated in 1950 by Arnaldo Momigliano. Secondly, it tries to insert the Lindian Chronicle in the context of Hellenistic epigraphy and historiography by comparing the way literary and documentary sources are cited in the Chronicle to what is displayed in some inscriptions of the third and second century BC and in Polybius, Diodorus of Sicily, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and Josephus. This comparison allows to argue that from this point of view Diodorus and some important interstate arbitrations bear the closest resemblance to the Lindian Chronicle.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Ancient History, Papyrology, Epigraphy (Archaeology), Greek Epigraphy, Latin Epigraphy, and 11 moreClassical philology, Roman Epigraphy, Greek Papyrology, Ancient Greek Epigraphy, Greek and Roman Epigraphy, Storia antica ed epigrafia latina, Epigraphy, Roman law, ancient legal history, ancient history, documentary papyri, Latin legal documents, Inscriptions, Epigrafia, and Papyrology & Epigraphy
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In his 1981 essay “The Rhetoric of History and the History of Rhetoric” Arnaldo Momigliano bitterly reacted to the attempt made, among others, by Hayden White to regard “historians, like any other narrators, as rhetoricians to be... more
In his 1981 essay “The Rhetoric of History and the History of Rhetoric” Arnaldo Momigliano bitterly reacted to the attempt made, among others, by Hayden White to regard “historians, like any other narrators, as rhetoricians to be characterized by their modes of speech”. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between history and rhetoric in the post-Alexander world from an unusual perspective: starting from the assumption that, beyond the fragmentary works of the Hellenistic historians and a small corpus of Greek inscriptions, Ptolemaic papyri are the only sources that preserve orations in the form of direct speech, I will focus on some literary scraps which contain discourses held by historical characters. Particular emphasis will be placed on the question as to whether these ῥητορεῖαι are to be interpreted as fragments of historical works, of orations or of rhetorical exercises (προγυμνάσματα and μελέται), as well as on the methodological issues that such distinctions imply.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
SH 21
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
(2022) Quinto seminario di geografia storica del mondo antico.Gli istmi e le penisole nella tradizione antica tra storia, geografia e letteratura II. Firenze 6 ottobre 2021.