Learning objectives
Students will develop knowledge and understanding in the field of the tradition and reception of classical texts, as well as in the discipline of paleography, and to some extent, in classical diplomatics. Direct contact with written sources from the past will be encouraged through the reading of texts and the use of various sources, as well as through the contribution of the history of classical tradition and paleography to historical and philological studies.
Knowledge and understanding:
Students will develop advanced knowledge and understanding in the field of the tradition and reception of classical texts, as well as in paleography, through the direct reading of texts and the use of various sources (manuals, scientific books and articles, facsimile tables of classical collections, digitized reproductions of manuscripts and documents now available online, etc.).
Applied knowledge and understanding:
Students will be able to apply their knowledge and understanding in an interdisciplinary perspective, demonstrating proficiency in placing classical authors within their historical and cultural context, as well as recognizing, reading, and describing various types of scripts, both book scripts and documentary scripts, from their origins to the 15th century. Their comprehension skills and problem-solving abilities will be strengthened in relation to new or unfamiliar topics belonging to broader or interdisciplinary contexts connected to their field of study.
Autonomy and judgement:
Students will develop the ability to gather and interpret data necessary for formulating independent judgments regarding the reception of classical tradition and paleography, including reflections on other ancient and modern cultures. They will be able to integrate knowledge, manage complexity, and make judgments based on limited or incomplete information.
Communication skills:
Upon completion of the course, students should have acquired the ability to effectively communicate literary and non-literary content and to develop clear cross-historical and literary pathways. Furthermore, thanks to the specific focus on communicative skills related to the history of writing, students will be able to communicate information, ideas, problems, and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist interlocutors. They will be able to formulate clear conclusions supported by their knowledge and explain the underlying rationale behind their conclusions.
Learning skills:
The theoretical and disciplinary commitment will provide students with a certain methodological mastery and learning skills useful for future professions related to teaching and communication. Through the overall structure of the course, which focuses on the processes of the history of classical tradition and writing in various historical and social contexts, students will develop the necessary learning skills to continue studying autonomously and mainly self-directed in lifelong and continuous education paths.
Course unit content
Unit 1
History of Classical Tradition.
History of the Classical Tradition (theoretical part): writing tools and materials in the ancient and medieval ages; practices of copying Greek and Latin texts; techniques for reconstructing the relationships between the manuscript witnesses of a work (direct tradition and stemmatic method); tools to investigate the survival of a text within other texts (indirect tradition, intertextuality, and the fortune of the classics); structure and specific aspects of a critical edition. Specific case study of the tradition of a classical text (practical and monographic part): the Satyricon by Petronius.
Unit 2
Paleography.
Historical “excursus” about the Latin writings of manuscripts from the ancient times to invention of printing. References to codicology and diplomatics. Reading and analysis of various writing with the help of traditional facsimiles and of digital reproductions of manuscripts now available on-line.
Full programme
Unit 1 - History of Tradition
See below, under the Bibliography section. The texts examined during the course will be continuously uploaded, lesson by lesson, to the Elly page of the course; additionally, at the end of the course, a complete list of all texts read and analyzed in class will be provided.
Unit 2 - Paleography
Introduction to the discipline. Technical terminology. Brief introduction to codicology. Origin and development of Latin writing: the earliest examples. Writing and codices in the 1st-8th centuries: capital script; cursive capital script; uncial script; semiuncial script; cursive and semi-cursive minuscule script. System of abbreviations. Writing and codices in the 8th-12th centuries: "pre-Carolingian" scripts; Beneventan script; Visigothic script; Merovingian script; Carolingian script. Writing and codices in the 13th-14th centuries: Gothic script and cursive Gothic script. Writing and codices in the 15th century: humanistic book script and cursive script. Brief introduction to diplomatics.
To take the exam as a non-attending student, please contact the instructor directly: tel. 0521.90 6693; email: simone.gibertini@unipr.it.
Students who already have 6 or 12 CFUs (ECTS credits) in the same SSD M-STO 09 "Paleography" must agree on an alternative program with the instructor.
Bibliography
Unit 1
History of Classical Tradition.
For attending students, the following is required:
1) Content of the lectures, including the reading and knowledge of the texts examined during the course (as well as the correct use of their critical apparatus), continuously uploaded, lesson by lesson, to the Elly page of the course;
2) Study of Chapters I (La critica testuale, pp. 11-33), II (L’originale non conservato, pp. 35-144), and IV (Anatomia dell’edizione critica, pp. 171-183) of P. Chiesa, Elementi di critica testuale, Bologna 2012 (second edition, any reprint), Pàtron;
3) Study of the chapter Storia e sistema nella memoria dei poeti (pp. 39-117) in G.B. Conte, Memoria dei poeti e sistema letterario. Catullo, Virgilio, Ovidio, Lucano, Palermo 2012, Sellerio. This chapter can also be read in the 1974 edition (Turin, Einaudi) of the same book, pp. 17-74.
For non-attending students, the following is required:
1) Study of the first part (Materiali e modi della trasmissione dei testi, pp. 11-44) of M. Scialuga, Introduzione allo studio della filologia classica, Alessandria 2003, Edizioni dell’Orso.
2) Study of Chapters I (La critica testuale, pp. 11-33), II (L’originale non conservato, pp. 35-144), and IV (Anatomia dell’edizione critica, pp. 171-183) of P. Chiesa, Elementi di critica testuale, Bologna 2012 (second edition, any reprint), Pàtron;
3) Study of the chapter Storia e sistema nella memoria dei poeti (pp. 39-117) in G.B. Conte, Memoria dei poeti e sistema letterario. Catullo, Virgilio, Ovidio, Lucano, Palermo 2012, Sellerio. This chapter can also be read in the 1974 edition (Turin, Einaudi) of the same book, pp. 17-74;
4) Study of the chapter La tradizione del testo (pp. 39-61) in G. Vannini, Petronii Arbitri ‘Satyricon’ 100-115. Edizione critica e commento, Berlin-Boston 2010, Walter de Gruyter;
5) Independent reading of the texts examined during the course, continuously uploaded, lesson by lesson, to the Elly page of the course. Furthermore, students will be required to use the critical apparatus of these texts correctly.
Unit 2
Paleography
1. Handbook:
G. CENCETTI, Paleografia latina, Roma, poi Sesto San Giovanni (MI), Jouvence, 1978 e successive ristampe (Guide allo studio della civiltà romana ; 10.3), ISBN 88-7801-000-6, 978-88-7801-000-0.
In addition:
- Frank T. COULSON, "Punctuation", in "The Oxford handbook of Latin palaeography", edited by Frank T. Coulson and Robert G. Babcock, Oxford, Oxford University press, 2020, ISBN 9780195336948, pp. 5-8.
- Frank T. COULSON, "The citing of manuscript shelfmarks: a modest proposal", in "The classical World" 82, 1988, pp. 31-34.
- Armando PETRUCCI, “Breve storia della scrittura latina”, nuova ed. riveduta e aggiornata, Roma, Bagatto Libri, 1992, pp. 20-23 (technical nomenclature) and pp. 132-133 (the three Meyer's rules about the Gothic Script).
- Paolo CHERUBINI, “La scrittura latina”, in “Breve storia della scrittura e del libro”, Roma, Carocci, 2004, e successive ristampe: 2005, 2006, 2008, (Le bussole, 142), p. 71 (the Zamponi's rule about the Gothic Script).
2. Further readings (at least one book among the following):
Armando PETRUCCI, “Prima lezione di paleografia”, Roma-Bari, GLF editori Laterza, 2002, and following reprints (Universale Laterza, 811; Prime lezioni).
or
Giorgio COSTAMAGNA, “Perché scriviamo così. [Invito alla paleografia latina]”, Roma, Il centro di ricerca, 1987 (Fonti e studi del Corpus membranarum Italicarum. 1a ser., Studi e ricerche, 26).
or
A. C. DE LA MARE, "A Palaeographer’s Odyssey", in "Sight & insight. Essays on art and culture in honour of E. H. Gombrich at 85", edited by John Onians, London, Phaidon, 1994, ISBN 0714829714, pp. 88–107.
3. Materials distributed during the course.
4. A list of supplementary and optional (but not compulsory) readings will be supplied during the course.
Teaching methods
Unit 1
History of Classical Tradition
The teaching method is suited to the requirements of the discipline, which includes a study of the History of the Classical Tradition and its technical and methodological foundations through lectures, accompanied by discussions of textual, interpretative, historical, and linguistic issues.
Unit 2
Paleography
The educational activities will be conducted using the heuristic-socratic method. Dialogical interaction with the class will be privileged to bring forth any prior knowledge students may have on the subjects at hand. Slides used to support the lectures will be uploaded on a weekly basis to the Elly platform for the respective academic year. To download the slides, online course enrollment is required. The slides are considered an integral part of the teaching material. Students who wish to take the exam as non-attending should directly contact the instructor: tel. 0521.90 6693; email: simone.gibertini@unipr.it. Students who have already obtained 6 or 12 CFUs (ECTS credits) in the same SSD M-STO 09 "Paleography" must agree on an alternative program with the instructor.
Assessment methods and criteria
Unit 1 - History of Classical Tradition
The assessment will take place during the final exam, which consists of an oral examination on the different parts of the syllabus with the aim of evaluating the following:
- Knowledge of the History of the Classical Tradition, its technical and methodological foundations, as well as the case study examined in the monographic part of the course (the Satyricon by Petronius);
- The ability to culturally and historically contextualize the texts, understand the dynamics of their propagation in space and time, and use a critical edition appropriately;
- Clarity of exposition, eloquence, and appropriateness of answers.
In particular, an unsatisfactory evaluation is determined by a lack of knowledge of the minimum course content; an inability to express oneself appropriately on the subject; lack of independent preparation; failure to resolve problems related to gathering information and decoding texts, as well as an inability to form independent judgments and communicate content, analysis, and judgments in an argued, competent, and convincing way. A passing grade (18-23/30) is determined by an acceptable level of performance on the above evaluation indicators; average scores (24-27/30) are given to those demonstrating a more than sufficient (24-25/30) or good (26-27/30) level of performance; the highest scores (28/30 to 30/30 with honors) are awarded based on the demonstration of excellent to outstanding performance on the evaluation indicators.
Unit 2 - Paleography
For the purpose of evaluation, a final oral exam is planned to assess knowledge of the history of Latin writing and the ability to recognize, read, and describe various types of scripts, both book scripts and documentary scripts, from their origins to the 15th century.
The exam consists of one or more questions on the history of Latin writing, as well as reading and analysis of one or more selected plates chosen by the instructor.
Evaluation criteria: clarity of presentation, language proficiency and use of specialized vocabulary, ability to rework content, interdisciplinary connections, relevance of answers to the questions asked.
A passing grade will be achieved with correct answers to 60% of the questions, respecting the aforementioned criteria. The grading scale is based on a thirty-point system.
FINAL GRADE: The final grade will be the average of the sum of the evaluations for both Unit 1 and Unit 2.
