Literature and power at the court of Arcadius (Ordinario)
Prerequisiti
The first module is intended for undergraduate students and is open to PhD students.
The second module is intended for undergraduate and PhD students. Knowledge of Latin and ancient Greek is required.
Programma
The course is devoted to a turning point in the history of the later Roman empire: the years between the fourth and fifth centuries, when a breakdown in the relationship between the two parts of the empire led the Roman East and West to take completely different paths.
The first module will focus on Arcadius' domestic and foreign policies (relations with Honorius and the barbarian populations, and with the eastern elites). In the second module, we will focus on the literary texts dealing with the major political issues of these years. In particular, we will read selected passages from Synesius' De regno.
A supplementary teaching module will introduce students to different types of sources for ancient history.
Obiettivi formativi
general aims:
acquiring or developing methodological skills for the analysis and contextualisation of sources.
specific aims:
1st module
- explaining the most relevant problems in the relations between the two parts of the empire andbetween the empire and the barbarian populations at the beginning of the fifth century;
- pointing out the main differences between East and West in political culture and lines ofgovernment;
- contextualising the main sources about the politics of the Eastern Roman Empire in the early fifthcentury;
2nd module
- defining the main themes characterising the relationship between literature and power in the yearsof Arcadius, with a particular focus on the works of Synesius;
- identifying the most relevant elements in Synesius' De regno for tracing the development ofRoman society in these years;
- commenting with personal observations on the passages selected from Synesius' work (PhD).
Riferimenti bibliografici
Undergraduate and PhD students
- P. Brown, Potere e cristianesimo nella tarda antichità, Roma-Bari, Laterza 1995 (ed. or. Powerand Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire, Madison 1992);
- A. Garzya, Opere di Sinesio di Cirene, Torino, UTET 1989 / F. Monticini, Sinesio diCirene, Tutte le opere, Firenze-Milano, Bompiani 2024;
S. Mazzarino, L'impero romano, vol. 2, Roma-Bari 2010 (I ed. 1956);
PhD students
- A.D. Lee, From Rome to Byzantium AD 363 to 565. The Transformation of AncientRome, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press 2013
- T. Schmitt, Die Bekehrung des Synesios von Kyrene. Politik und Philosophie, Hof und Provinzals Handlungsräume eines Aristokraten bis zu seiner Wahl zum Metropoliten von Ptolemaïs,Munich-Leipzig, K.G. Saur 2001.
Further bibliography will be provided during the course.
Moduli
| Modulo | Ore | CFU | Docenti |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modulo 1: L'Oriente romano dopo Teodosio (per ordinari) | 20 | 3 | Fabrizio Oppedisano |
| Modulo 2: Sinesio e il potere (De regno) (per ordinari e PhD) | 20 | 3 | Fabrizio Oppedisano |
| Supplementary teaching activity | 18 | 0 | Nicolò Anegg, Michele Gammella, Daniele Reano |