GREEK EPIGRAPHY: CRITICISM, CONTEXTS, DIGITAL RESOURCES
- Academic year
- 2025/2026 Syllabus of previous years
- Official course title
- EPIGRAFIA GRECA: CRITICA, CONTESTO, STRUMENTI DIGITALI
- Course code
- FM0540 (AF:568729 AR:324762)
- Modality
- On campus classes
- ECTS credits
- 6
- Degree level
- Master's Degree Programme (DM270)
- Educational sector code
- L-ANT/02
- Period
- 2nd Semester
- Where
- VENEZIA
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 offered within the DSU..
Contents
The experience of the Athenian empire is at the center of attention for 5th-century historians and, in its inevitable connections with the democratic experience, also in the political debate that developed between the 5th and 4th centuries. Keeping in mind the strength of the interpretation that was given of this experience both in antiquity and in modern studies, we will attempt to reconstruct some aspects of the empire's functioning through a selection of 5th-century epigraphic documents. The analysis will first focus on material, administrative, and institutional aspects of the individual documents, but will then lead to a reflection on the political, economic, and ideological implications of Athens' pressure on its allies.
The course is structured as follows:
- General introduction to the Athenian empire
- Presentation and use of the main paper and online resources, with particular attention to institutional aspects and political history
- Detailed presentation of the Axon Database: https://open.unive.it/axon/
- Analytical study of a selection of significant epigraphic documents: reading, translation, dating, paleographic commentary, historical and typological interpretation (according to the descriptive and interpretive schema of the Axon Database)
- Final exercises for the independent drafting of epigraphic fiches (according to the Axon model) related to individual documents, with classroom discussion of the most relevant aspects.
Referral texts
J.K. DAVIES, La Grecia classica, Bologna 1996, pp. 17-166
P. FUNKE, Atene nell'epoca classica, Bologna 2001
M. BETTALLI, M. GIANGIULIO, Atene, vivere in una città antica, Roma 2023
Further bibliographical indications will be available on the Moodle site.
Database AXON: https://mizar.unive.it/axon/public/index/index
Attic Inscriptions Online: https://www.atticinscriptions.com/
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%)
- AXON item and epigraphic commentary to be handed in 7 days before the exam and discussed during the examination (40%)
Type of exam
Grading scale
• Sufficient knowledge and understanding applied with reference to the program;
• Limited ability to collect and/or interpret data, formulating autonomous judgments;
• Sufficient communication skills (oral and written)
B. Grades in the range 23-26 will be awarded in the presence of:
• Good knowledge and understanding applied with reference to the program;
• Discrete ability to collect and/or interpret data, formulating autonomous judgments;
• Discrete communication skills (oral and written)
C. Grades in the range 27-30 will be awarded in the presence of:
• Very good or excellent knowledge and understanding applied with reference to the program;
• Good or excellent ability to collect and/or interpret data, formulating autonomous judgments;
• Fully appropriate communication skills
D. "Lode" (distinction) will be awarded in the presence of excellent knowledge and understanding applied with reference to the program, judgment capacity, and communication skills.
Teaching methods
It also provides:
- a visit to the epigraphic collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Venice;
- one session in the DSU Greek Epigraphy Laboratory.
Teaching language
Further information
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments
Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with
mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals
This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development