The student will acquire advanced knowledge on the discipline through (a) the in-depth study of the formal and content characteristics and ways of use in the historical context of certain categories of epigraphic texts; (b) lemmatization, reading, transcription, interpretation and historical-critical framing of published and unpublished inscriptions. The student will also strengthen knowledge of the basic techniques and conventions for filing and editing epigraphic texts.
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The first part aims to clarify the boundaries of the discipline, the semantic system underlying it, and the theories about the ways and times of the adoption of alphabetic writing in ancient Greece.
The second part, entitled “From Psephos to Psephisma”, examines the role of writing in the judicial, normative and legislative procedures. It considers a number of different types of inscriptions which illustrate the evolution of this process, from the simple inscriptions of the instrumentum publicum to the more elaborate epigraphic representation of assembly decrees.
The third part, “Greeks and non-Greeks in Magna Graecia”, is dedicated to an in-depth examination of a distinctive historical context. It employs the epigraphic approach to investigate the interactions between the Greek people of Magna Graecia and the indigenous populations. A particular emphasis will be placed on the relationship between the Tarentines and the Messapians.
The fourth and final part of the course will be devoted to workshop activities.
Programme
The course is divided into four parts.The first part aims to clarify the boundaries of the discipline, the semantic system underlying it, and the theories about the ways and times of the adoption of alphabetic writing in ancient Greece.
The second part, entitled “From Psephos to Psephisma”, examines the role of writing in the judicial, normative and legislative procedures. It considers a number of different types of inscriptions which illustrate the evolution of this process, from the simple inscriptions of the instrumentum publicum to the more elaborate epigraphic representation of assembly decrees.
The third part, “Greeks and non-Greeks in Magna Graecia”, is dedicated to an in-depth examination of a distinctive historical context. It employs the epigraphic approach to investigate the interactions between the Greek people of Magna Graecia and the indigenous populations. A particular emphasis will be placed on the relationship between the Tarentines and the Messapians.
The fourth and final part of the course will be devoted to workshop activities.
Core Documentation
Students are asked to study M. Guarducci, L’epigrafia greca dalle origini al tardo impero (IPZS, Rome 1987) and the handouts provided during the course