GREEK EPIGRAPHY: CRITICISM, CONTEXTS, DIGITAL RESOURCES
- Academic year
- 2023/2024 Syllabus of previous years
- Official course title
- EPIGRAFIA GRECA: CRITICA, CONTESTO, STRUMENTI DIGITALI
- Course code
- FM0540 (AF:448770 AR:258554)
- Modality
- On campus classes
- ECTS credits
- 6
- Degree level
- Master's Degree Programme (DM270)
- Educational sector code
- L-ANT/02
- Period
- 1st Semester
- Where
- VENEZIA
- Moodle
- Go to Moodle page
Contribution of the course to the overall degree programme goals
The course aims to ensure:
- advanced methodological skills in the description, reading and interpretation of epigraphic sources;
- ability to frame epigraphic sources both from the philological point of view and from the arcaheological one;
- awareness of the importance of this category in reconstruction and historical interpretation;
- interest in the history of studies with particular reference to antiquarian aspects, for the formation of corpora, for epigraphic collections;
- knowledge of digital tools (indexes, corpora, image archives), and of new forms of marking and cataloging of epigraphic texts.
Expected learning outcomes
- read and translate, understand and interpret Greek epigraphic texts;
- correctly frame each document from a linguistic, alphabetic, typological, chronological point of view;
- describe in an appropriate manner the context of discovery, type of support, function and purpose of the document;
- propose an analytical commentary on the text, frame it in a historical way, propose suitable textual and documentary comparisons, and finally explain its relevance as a historical testimony with particular attention to the institutional aspects;
- use the paper and digital tools necessary for the analysis and understanding of epigraphic texts; access the main databases of literary and epigraphic texts;
- communicate in oral form using the specific terminology of the discipline;
- write a complete epigraphic item;
- participate in the discussion thanks to the comparison with other students on seminar opportunities led by the teacher.
Pre-requirements
It is also indispensable Basic knowledge of the Greek language: students can acquire it by following the Greek Laboratory (divided into three different levels) offered within the DSU..
Contents
The system of the so-called Athenian 'empire' was based on a system of alliances in which Athens played a powerfully hegemonic role. In the course of the 5th century, however, Athens also experimented with forms of territorial intervention and control by sending colonists and clerics. In this course, we will consider the aims and contexts of these forms of 'colonization' with particular regard to epigraphic documentation.
The course is structured as follows:
- general introduction on Athenian 'colonization';
- illustration and use of the main printed and on-line resources with a focus on institutional and political history;
- detailed illustration of the Axon Database: http://virgo.unive.it/venicepigraphy/axon/public/
- analytical study of a selection of significant epigraphic documents: reading, translation, dating, palaeographic commentary, historical and typological interpretation (according to the descriptive and interpretative scheme of the Axon Database):
- final exercises of autonomous drafting of epigraphic cards (according to the Axon model) relating to individual documents with classroom discussion of the most interesting or problematic aspects.
Referral texts
Atene, vivere in una città antica, a cura di M. Bettalli e M. Giangiulio, Roma 2023.
E. CULASSO, D: MARCHIANDI (a cura di), Gli Ateniesi fuori dall'Attica, ASAA, LXXXVIII, 2010.
Th.J. FIGUEIRA, Athens and Aigina in the age of imperial colonization, Baltimora 1991
N. SALOMON, Le cleruchi di Atene. Carattere e funzione, Pisa 1997.
Further bibliographical indications will be available on the Moodle site.
Database AXON: https://mizar.unive.it/axon/public/index/index
Proxeny in the Ancient World: http://proxenies.csad.ox.ac.uk/
Students not attending the Course are invited to contact the teacher; They have to write and discuss in the Class an epigraphic Item of the Database AXON.
Assessment methods
- active participation in the course during the lectures (20%)
- the oral discussion on a epigrahic document (40%)
- the final oral exam concerning both the topics presented during the lectures and the aspects discussed during the seminars of the students (40%).
Students not attending the Course:
- the oral discussion on a epigrahic document (50%)
- the final oral exam concerning the texts on the Syllabus (50%).
Teaching methods
It also provides:
- a visit to the epigraphic collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Venice (if possible);
- one session in the DSU Greek Epigraphy Laboratory.
Teaching language
Type of exam
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