Learning objectives
Obtain the methodological and linguistic skills required to carry out personal research on Latin texts with the assistance of electronic resources.
Prerequisites
- Having pursued at least 10 cfu within the Latin field (“lingua e letteratura latina, L-FIL-LET/04”).
- NB: any student having taken 18 cfu in the field (“lingua e letteratura latina, L-FIL-LET/04”) will have to pass a written test of Latin before taking the exam.
Course unit content
Title of the course: Classical Texts and Electronic Resources: Linguistic and Stylistic Analysis of “Informal” Latin Texts
The study of a Classical text can hardly expend of the conscientious assistance of textual and bibliographical databases.
The students must carry out a scientific investigation in agreement with the teacher.
First part: knowledge of electronic textual and bibliographical databases.
Full programme
1. Introduction to the main databases for the analysis of Classical Latin Texts
a. Année Philologique
b. Gnomon Bibliographische Datenbank
c. Library of Latin Texts (Brepols)
d. Thesaurus Linguae Latinae
e. Biblioteca Teubneriana Latina
f. Musisque Deoque / Cursus in clausula / Pedecerto
g. Tesserae
2. Epistolography and the letters of Cicero
a. Textual transmission
b. The register issue: formal and informal, spoken and written language
c. Stylistic and linguistic peculiarities of Cicero’s letters (as compared to his forensic prose)
3. Interpretation and commentary of a selection of Cicero’s epistles
4. Interpretation and commentary of other examples of Latin epistolography
a. Cicero’s correspondents
b. Augustus
c. “Letters on papyri”
Bibliography
The bibliography is very selective and merely indicative; it will be completed in class and according to the research to be carried out.
Albrecht, M. von, Cicero’s Style. A Synopsis Followed by Selected Analytic Studies, Leiden-Boston 2003.
Cugusi, P., “L’epistolografia. Modelli e tipologie”, in Cavallo, G. et alii (eds.), Lo spazio letterario di Roma antica. II La circolazione del testo, Roma 1989, 379-419.
Cugusi, P., Corpus epistularum Latinarum papyris tabulis ostracis servatarum (CEL), 3 vols., Firenze 1992-2002.
Gibson, R. K. & Morrison, A. D., “Introduction: What is a Letter?”, in Morello, R. & Morrison, A. D. (eds.), Ancient Letters: Classical and Late Antique Epistolography, Oxford 2007, 1-16.
Halla-aho, H., “Epistolary Latin”, in Clackson, J. (ed.), A Companion to the Latin Language, Malden, Oxford & Chichester 2011, 426-444.
Ohst, H., Die Epistulae ad familiares des Kaisers Augustus, Berlin-Boston 2023.
Powell, J. G. F., “Cicero’s style”, in Steel, C. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Cicero, Cambridge 2012, 41-72.
Shackleton Bailey, D. R., Cicero: Select Letters, Cambridge 1980.
Teaching methods
The course is based on theorical and practical lessons and weekly tutoring.
Assessment methods and criteria
The examination consists of a practical oral test on various points of the programme and of a discussion of the personal research carried out by the student in agreement with the teacher.
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For possible students of “laurea triennale”:
The examination consists of a practical oral test on various points of the programme.
NB: The test takes the form of a final exam and intends to evaluate the following aspects:
- the knowledge of electronic resources dealt with in class and the capacity to use them in a suitable way.
- the precise reading and rendering of the texts that are put forward.
- the capacity to analyse and critically assess the texts, to assimilate its contents and to stablish interdisciplinary links.
- the clarity of the presentation, the accuracy of language, the answer’s propriety to any questions.
The pass the exam the first two criteria must be fully matched, and a correct answer must be given to at least 60% of the questions asked as regards the aforementioned criteria.
