Università Roma Tre

Pierfrancesco PORENA, Latin Epigraphy
DISCIPLINARY FIELD: L-ANT/03, now STAN-01/B
(36 hours - 6 ECTS)
"Rome and the Roman world: an epigraphic civilization"
No human civilization has ever celebrated and exposed the ‘written word’ more than the Greek-Roman one. The module proposes an introduction to the study of the epigraphic landscape in Latin language in the Roman world, from the origins to the fall of the Western Empire. We proceed to the reading of inscriptions, live, but also as PDF and power point images. The texts are examined and transcribed according to the criteria of the current scientific edition. Examples of the different categories of inscriptions (sepulchral, honorary, building, sacred, etc.) are analyzed with particular attention to their historical, social and topographical context. We then study the different categories of epigraphic sources in Latin, the criteria of their ancient making and editing, their history and their modern edition (printed and digital). In addition, the students will be stimulate to consult the printed epigraphic collections and other tools of epigraphic and bibliographic research, and to consult the epigraphic databases.

TEXTS for attending students:
A. Buonopane, Manuale di epigrafia latina, Rome (Carocci) 2020 (it includes links to the Italian translation of the Latin inscriptions analysed in the text).
In addition to the manual, to be studied in its entirety, the students attending can download in PDF format from the Teams digital platform some handouts; their contents are illustrated in class and which must be studied for the exam.

Reference texts for non-attending students:
in addition to the handbook by A. Buonopane (above), which should be studied in full, also study: S. Giorcelli Bersani, Epigrafia e storia di Roma, Carocci, Rome, new edition 2015, reprint 2017.

Students can study texts in English, French, German and Spanish on the teacher's advice; it is possible to ask for taking the exam in one of these three languages.