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Greek lexicography is in a state of constant evolution thanks to progress in philological studies and, in a special way, to the contribution offered by papyri, which frequently provides us with new words or new meanings of already known... more
Greek lexicography is in a state of constant evolution thanks to progress in philological studies and, in a special way, to the contribution offered by papyri, which frequently provides us with new words or new meanings of already known words. In this regard, the online, freely consultable database WiP – Words in Progress. Supplementary Lexicon of Ancient Greek aims to collect new or rare words and detail corrections and additions in order to record recent progress in the updating and expansion of Ancient and Byzantine Greek. This contribution aims to describe how the database works, and what advantages it offers compared to traditional dictionaries, with a particular focus on the contribution that Greek documentary papyri offer to Greek lexicography.
È indetto un bando per l'ammissione al primo training workshop "RECREATE-Hands on Reconstruction", che si terrà dall'11 al 14 giugno 2024 presso il Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici dell'Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, in... more
È indetto un bando per l'ammissione al primo training workshop "RECREATE-Hands on Reconstruction", che si terrà dall'11 al 14 giugno 2024 presso il Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici dell'Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, in collaborazione con il Centro Internazionale per lo Studio dei Papiri Ercolanesi 'Marcello Gigante'.

A call for applications is now open for the first training workshop “RECREATE - Hands on Reconstruction”, to be held from 11th to 14th June 2024 at the Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici of the Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, in collaboration with the Centro Internazionale per lo Studio dei Papiri Ercolanesi ‘Marcello Gigante’.
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In this paper we intend to revisit the subscriptio of the PΗerc. 89/1301/1383 briefly to suggest a new reconstruction of the central lines based on a comparison with the subscriptio of PHerc. 1471 (Philodemus, On Frank Criticism) and a... more
In this paper we intend to revisit the subscriptio of the PΗerc. 89/1301/1383 briefly to suggest a new reconstruction of the central lines based on a comparison with the subscriptio of PHerc. 1471 (Philodemus, On Frank Criticism) and a passage from Galen.
This paper focuses on PHerc 330 and 332, two unpublished papyri of the Herculaneum collection written by the same hand. Basing on paleographical, bibliological, and content elements, I propose that they respectively preserve the inner and... more
This paper focuses on PHerc 330 and 332, two unpublished papyri of the Herculaneum collection written by the same hand. Basing on paleographical, bibliological, and content elements, I propose that they respectively preserve the inner and the external part of the same roll. Such a new roll is of particular interest for some bibliological features, especially for its lower height than the standard documented in the Herculaneum bookrolls and for the presence of a wide initial agraphon.
Greek lexicography is in a state of constant evolution thanks to progress in philological studies and, in a special way, to the contribution offered by papyri, which frequently provides us with new words or new meanings of already known... more
Greek lexicography is in a state of constant evolution thanks to progress in philological studies and, in a special way, to the contribution offered by papyri, which frequently provides us with new words or new meanings of already known words. In this regard, the online, freely consultable database WiP – Words in Progress. Supplementary Lexicon of Ancient Greek aims to collect new or rare words and detail corrections and additions in order to record recent progress in the updating and expansion of Ancient and Byzantine Greek. This contribution aims to describe how the database works, and what advantages it offers compared to traditional dictionaries, with a particular focus on the contribution that Greek documentary papyri offer to Greek lexicography.
This paper focuses on the paleography of some papyri of the Herculaneum collection. It is divided into three sections. The first provides an overview on the so-called Anonimo IV, showing that the papyri referred to this scribe have in... more
This paper focuses on the paleography of some papyri of the Herculaneum collection. It is divided into three sections. The first provides an overview on the so-called Anonimo IV, showing that the papyri referred to this scribe have in fact different graphical features. The second discusses PHerc. 1126: this roll is written by the same hand which copied PHerc. 89/1301/1383, but belongs to a different scroll. The third provides a short overview of the papyri written by the scribe Anonimo XXXI.
Character recognition models rely substantially on image datasets that maintain a balance of class samples. However, achieving a balance of classes is particularly challenging for ancient manuscript contexts as character instances may be... more
Character recognition models rely substantially on image datasets that maintain a balance of class samples. However, achieving a balance of classes is particularly challenging for ancient manuscript contexts as character instances may be significantly limited. In this paper, we present findings from a study that assess the efficacy of using synthetically generated character instances to augment an existing dataset of ancient Greek character images for use in machine learning models. We complement our model exploration by engaging professional papyrologists to better understand the practical opportunities afforded by synthetic instances. Our results suggest that synthetic instances improve model performance for limited character classes, and may have unexplored effects on character classes more generally. We also find that trained papyrologists are unable to distinguish between synthetic and non-synthetic images and regard synthetic instances as valuable assets for professional and educational contexts. We conclude by discussing the practical implications of our research.
P.Herc. 89 and 1383 (Philodemus, Opus incertum) are parts of an unpublished Herculaneum roll broken roughly in the middle; the upper and the lower portions, separately inventoried and stored, have been recently joined. In this article, I... more
P.Herc. 89 and 1383 (Philodemus, Opus incertum) are parts of an unpublished Herculaneum roll broken roughly in the middle; the upper and the lower portions, separately inventoried and stored, have been recently joined. In this article, I propose to attribute the scorza numbered P.Herc. 1301, which preserves the lower exterior part of a roll, to the roll of P.Herc. 89/1383. The attribution is based on paleographical, bibliological and textual data.
In recent decades, Herculaneum papyrology has undergone an evolution that involves not only the way of reading, interpreting and editing the texts, but also, especially, the way of reconstructing the fragmented rolls. This increasingly... more
In recent decades, Herculaneum papyrology has undergone an evolution that involves not only the way of reading, interpreting and editing the texts, but also, especially, the way of reconstructing the fragmented rolls. This increasingly raises methodological questions concerning the presentation of results in the editions and the graphical representation of the reconstruction. This paper aims to present some reflections on these two aspects.
As for the first one, accuracy and usability of the editions of reconstructed rolls will be taken in consideration, giving particular attention to the numbering of the columns and to the presentation of text coming from papyri characterized by complex stratigraphy.
Then, moving to the second point, after some reflections on the so-called maquettes, we will present a new software, currently being developed, for the virtual reconstruction of papyri with complex stratigraphy.
This work aims to investigate the meaning of the definition «spaccato», which occurs for the first time in Piaggio’s Memorie and in the oldest Inventory of the Herculaneum Papyri. Along with the detailed examination of the documents that... more
This work aims to investigate the meaning of the definition «spaccato», which occurs for the first time in Piaggio’s Memorie and in the oldest Inventory of the Herculaneum Papyri. Along with the detailed examination of the documents that use the term, the morphological analysis of the papyri recorded as «spaccato» and «spaccato per mezzo» shows that in the 1823, 1824, and 1853 Inventories, these terms had a technical sense which cannot be found in later inventories. Already in Piaggio, the term is closely related to the well-known practice of opening the rolls by cutting them along the length, which was inaugurated by Paderni.
This paper presents a catalogue of Knut Kleve’s documents and papers, which are kept at the National Library of Norway, with a description of their content.
Many Herculaneum papyri remain unpublished to this day because of their stratigraphical problems. This paper presents the idea of a new specific software which will make the complex work of reordering pieces and layers in the virtual... more
Many Herculaneum papyri remain unpublished to this day because of their stratigraphical problems. This paper presents the idea of a new specific software which will make the complex work of reordering pieces and layers in the virtual reconstructions of the Herculaneum scrolls easier and faster.
In the major dictionaries of ancient Greek currently in use, some words are recorded as Philodemean hapax on the basis of the only attestation in Philodemus, De dis, book I (PHerc. 26), according to the text published by Hermann Diels in... more
In the major dictionaries of ancient Greek currently in use, some words are recorded as Philodemean hapax on the basis of the only attestation in Philodemus, De dis, book I (PHerc. 26), according to the text published by Hermann Diels in 1916; the article shows that some of these words are not confirmed by the exam of the papyrus and, since they have no other evidence in ancient sources, should be classified as ghost words.
In this paper, I present the first edition of the last two columns of PHerc. 89/1383, which contains a theological work by Philodemus. Both columns result by the virtual matching between the upper (PHerc. 89) and the lower part (PHerc.... more
In this paper, I present the first edition of the last two columns of PHerc. 89/1383, which contains a theological work by Philodemus. Both columns result by the virtual matching between the upper (PHerc. 89) and the lower part (PHerc. 1383) of the roll. The text seems to preserve a Philodemean polemic against unknown opponents about the doctrine of the divine nature of the world and about the matter of the denial of the gods (ἀναιρεῖν τὸ θεῖον). I suggest the possibility that in the close of this book Philodemus refutes Stoic cosmology.
PHerc. 89, classified by Wilhelm Crönert as a theological text by Philodemus, is the upper part of a roll whose subscriptio is preserved; the lower portion of the same roll has been recently identified in PHerc. 1383. Neither papyrus has... more
PHerc. 89, classified by Wilhelm Crönert as a theological text by Philodemus, is the upper part of a roll whose subscriptio is preserved; the lower portion of the same roll has been recently identified in PHerc. 1383. Neither papyrus has been studied systematically due to their poor state of conservation. This paper presents some preliminary remarks about PHerc. 89/1383 and its content, then focuses on the subscriptio, where a new
examination has revealed the reading ὑπομνηματικόν, instead of ὑπόμνημα.
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I PHerc. 89 e 1383 costituiscono rispettivamente la parte superiore e inferiore dello stesso rotolo, fratturatosi approssimativamente a metà della sua altezza. Entrambi i papiri non sono mai stati oggetto di uno studio sistematico a causa... more
I PHerc. 89 e 1383 costituiscono rispettivamente la parte superiore e inferiore dello stesso rotolo, fratturatosi approssimativamente a metà della sua altezza. Entrambi i papiri non sono mai stati oggetto di uno studio sistematico a causa del loro cattivo stato di conservazione e del grave disordine stratigrafico che li caratterizza, che impedisce la lettura continua del testo. L’intervento intende mostrare alcuni risultati preliminari della ricerca in corso finalizzata a un’edizione complessiva del rotolo. In particolare, attraverso la scelta di un caso esemplare, si mostrerà come il ripristino virtuale di sovrapposti e sottoposti può contribuire alla lettura e al recupero di porzioni di testo più ampie. Il rotolo restituisce un nuovo testo teologico di Filodemo, che rivela importanti punti di contatto con le altre opere sugli dèi della biblioteca ercolanese.
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Greek lexicography is in a state of constant evolution thanks to the progress of the philological studies and, in a special way, to the contribution offered by papyri, which not rarely offer new words or new meanings of already known... more
Greek lexicography is in a state of constant evolution thanks to the progress of the philological studies and, in a special way, to the contribution offered by papyri, which not rarely offer new words or new meanings of already known words. In this regard, the online freely consultable database WiP – Words in Progress. Supplementary Lexicon of Ancient Greek, based on the previous PAWAG - Poorly Attested Words in Ancient Greek and directed by Franco Montanari and Serena Perrone (University of Genoa), aims to collect new or rare words and detail corrections and additions of many different kinds, in order to record recent progress in the updating and enlargement of Greek lexicography.
In particular, the research unit of the Istituto Papirologico “G. Vitelli” at Florence, in collaboration with the University of Genova, operates in WiP by updating the lexicon of the documentary papyrology, which has as its main tool the F. Preisigke’s Wörterbuch der griechischen Papyrusurkunden and its Supplements, of which the last dates back to 2000. The new several editions of papyrological texts enrich constantly our knowledge of the Greek lexicon concerning many different fields like administration, economy, daily life etc., by furnishing hapax or rare words which are not yet recorded in the main existing dictionaries.
This speech aims to present the online database WiP, how it works and which advantages offers compared to traditional dictionaries, with a particular focus on the great contribution offered by Greek documentary papyrology to Greek lexicography.
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The library of the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, the only ancient library which has survived into the modern era, preserves a unique heritage of philosophical texts not transmitted by the medieval tradition. It contains more than... more
The library of the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, the only ancient library which has survived into the modern era, preserves a unique heritage of philosophical texts not transmitted by the medieval tradition. It contains more than 1800 papyri carbonized by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and brought to light during the Bourbon excavations in the 18th century. During the eruption, many rolls were seriously damaged or broken in several pieces: each part of the same roll has been stored – and in some cases opened – separately from the others. This is one of the reasons why in the Officina dei Papiri in the Biblioteca Nazionale of Naples it is possible to find fragments stored with a different inventory number which belong to the same original roll.
PHerc. 89/1383 is a case of this kind: as Gianluca Del Mastro has recently discovered, these two papyri are respectively the upper and the lower part of the same roll, broken roughly in the middle. A systematic study of both papyri – that remain so far unpublished due to their poor state of conservation – is required to determine the correct order of the fragments in the roll and to examine the content of the work. Actually, due to its carbonized state, during the unrolling different layers of papyrus remained attached to each other: this makes it necessary to distinguish sovrapposti and sottoposti (pieces layered above or below) from the main layer in order to virtually place them in their original position in the roll.
This speech aims to show some preliminary results of the work in progress on this new text, in which a new reading of the final subscriptio confirms that the author is the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus of Gadara. Thanks to an accurate stratigraphical analysis of the fragments, some textual sequences are now readable and they will be able to clarify the theological argument of the treatise, by revealing important points of contact with the other religious works by Philodemus.
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Seminario PNRR - Papiri e Nuovi Risultati della Ricerca Seminario PNRR a cura del CISPE Marcello Gigante e del Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II.
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Tra gli scritti teologici restituiti dalla biblioteca della Villa dei Papiri, l’opera filodemea di cui questo volume offre la prima edizione critica apporta un nuovo contributo alla conoscenza della riflessione epicurea sulla divinità. Il... more
Tra gli scritti teologici restituiti dalla biblioteca della Villa dei Papiri, l’opera filodemea di cui questo volume offre la prima edizione critica apporta un nuovo contributo alla conoscenza della riflessione epicurea sulla divinità. Il trattato, il cui titolo finale è conservato solo parzialmente, è forse dedicato a un tale Gaio Bruttio, identificabile con ogni probabilità in un maestro di retorica vicino all’Epicureismo e già noto alla famiglia di Cicerone. L’argomento del libro, pur nell’estrema frammentarietà del testo, sembra incentrato sulla natura fisica della divinità e sulle sue prerogative, nonché sui criteri che, alla luce della dottrina epicurea delle immagini, consentono la conoscenza del divino. L’edizione del rotolo papiraceo, smembrato in tre parti diversamente inventariate (PHerc. 89/1301/1383) e compromesso da una stratigrafia estremamente complessa, ha richiesto un approccio ricostruttivo e ecdotico specifico, di cui è fornita una dettagliata illustrazione nella Premessa. Ai fini della costituzione del testo si è reso necessario un meticoloso lavoro di ricomposizione dei disiecta membra e di ripristino virtuale di sovrapposti e sottoposti, fondato sulla rigorosa autopsia degli originali e sull’integrazione degli elementi materiali e d’archivio disponibili. L’ipotesi di ricostruzione è stata costantemente verificata grazie alla realizzazione di una maquette virtuale, la cui versione finale è acclusa all’edizione e consultabile online.