- Greek Epigraphy, Memory Studies, Ancient Greek History, Greek Archaeology, Greek Historiography, Herodotus, and 105 moreOral history, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Topografia di Atene, Greek sanctuaries, Persian Wars, Roman Athens, Orality-Literacy Studies, Hero cults, Ancient Greek Religion, Greek Oratory, Landscape Archaeology, Funerary Archaeology, Greek Epic, Greek Tragedy, Aristophanes, Ethnography, Greek Architecture, Death and Burial (Archaeology), Burial Customs, Burial mounds (Archaeology), Ancient Sports/Athletics, Orphism, Culture, Ritual, Tradition, Archaeology, War Memorials, Commemoration and Memory, Remembrance, Delphi, Greek Oracles and Divination, Delos, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Mortuary archaeology, Mythopoesis, Greek mythology, Politics of mythmaking, Athenian Imperialism, Social Network Analysis (SNA), Actor-Network-Theory, Ancient Networks, Ancient Military History, Simonides, Spartan/Messenian history, Michel Foucault, Thracian history and culture, Graeco-Roman Religion, Greek and Roman Epigraphy, Ancient magic, Greek and Roman Social History, Near Eastern Archaeology, Messenia, Inscriptiones Graecae, Herodotus, Thucydides, and Historiography, Ancient Greek Warfare, Mobility and networks in Mediterranean, Pentecontaetia, Second Sophistic, Greek Comedy, Old Comedy, Oral Traditions, War and society, Sociology of War, Ancient Warfare, Warfare in the Ancient World, War trauma and PTSD, Trauma and shell shock First World War, First World War, World War I, War Trauma and History, Combat PTSD, Combat Veterans, Military Veterans, Interdisciplinary perspective on war-trauma and PTSD, Biography of Objects, Monumenti Ai Caduti, Sacrari della Grande Guerra, Ancient Greek Dialects, Historical Linguistics, Historical Phonology, Thasos, Identity (Culture), Media and Memory, War Studies, Thucydides, Sparta, Athens, Peloponnesian War, Militarism, Ethnogenesis (archaeology), Genealogical studies, Herakles, Ethnogenesis, Delphic Oracle and Divination, Anthropology of War, War and Religion, Anthropology of Violence & Conflict, Social and Collective Memory, Social Memory, Cultural Memory, Memories and Experiences of War, War and Memory, Origin Stories, Memory of War, and Pausaniasedit
- I am Assistant Professor in Greek History at the Department of Humanities of the University of Trento, and Coordinato... moreI am Assistant Professor in Greek History at the Department of Humanities of the University of Trento, and Coordinator of the Interdepartmental Lab Memory and Society at the same University (https://www.lettere.unitn.it/3298/interdepartmental-laboratory-memory-and-society-lims). I have studied in Athens and London, obtained my PhD in Trento (2014), and held postdoctoral fellowships in Edinburgh and Genève.
My research interests mainly focus on ancient Greek history, epigraphy, and topography, on the one hand, and comparative history, on the other. Concerning the former, I am particularly interested in 5th century Athenian history, especially in war and war related phenomena, and their different means of representation and memorialization (historiography, inscriptions, monuments, space, rituals, oracles, and public discourse). Concerning the latter, I am especially interested in the commemoration of war, war trauma, and collective emotions on post war time in a comparative perspective between antiquity and today. In both fields of research my theoretical and methodological background is deeply affected by a socio-anthropological approach, as well as memory and identity studies.
I have co-edited four books concerning the memory of war, the last approaching the topic from a comparative perspective: ‘Commemorating war and war dead. Ancient and modern’ (Steiner Verlag: Stuttgart 2019). My first monograph ‘Prima di Erodoto. Aspetti della memoria delle Guerre Persiane’ (with a preface by N. Luraghi) was published in 2021 as a Hermes Einzelschrift (Steiner Verlag: Stuttgart).
In April 2021 I obtained the 'ASN-Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale' as an Associate Professor in Greek History.edit
Summary of the book, included in G. Proietti, Prima di Erodoto. Aspetti della memoria delle Guerre Persiane, Stuttgart: Steiner Verlag, Hermes Einzelschriften 120, 2021, pp. 456-463
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Questo libro riguarda la memoria delle Guerre persiane ad Atene, in rapporto con lo scenario panellenico, dall'immediato dopo Maratona fino alla cosiddetta 'prima Guerra del Peloponneso' (461–446). Esso analizza tutte le forme di memoria... more
Questo libro riguarda la memoria delle Guerre persiane ad Atene, in rapporto con lo scenario panellenico, dall'immediato dopo Maratona fino alla cosiddetta 'prima Guerra del Peloponneso' (461–446). Esso analizza tutte le forme di memoria pre-storiografiche (poesia, iscrizioni, monumenti, topografia, teatro, riti, culti, festival, discorso pubblico) attraverso le quali le Guerre persiane vennero ricordate e rappresentate prima che Erodoto le raccontasse in forma storiografica.
Andando a riempire una lacuna nella ricerca attuale, il libro prende le mosse dalla consapevolezza per cui le Guerre persiane così come sono raccontate nelle Storie di Erodoto non corrispondono esattamente alla storia fattuale, ma sono invece l'esito di un processo multiforme e stratificato di memorializzazione, che decennio dopo decennio ha riplasmato gli eventi alla luce delle esigenze presenti. Combinando un approccio filologico alla documentazione letteraria, epigrafica e archeologica con un panorama teorico e metodologico influenzato dall'antropologia culturale e dagli studi sulla memoria, esso ricostruisce le immagini e i significati associati a ciascuno strato di tale processo, offrendo così una sorta di 'stratigrafia della memoria' delle Guerre persiane prima di Erodoto.
Andando a riempire una lacuna nella ricerca attuale, il libro prende le mosse dalla consapevolezza per cui le Guerre persiane così come sono raccontate nelle Storie di Erodoto non corrispondono esattamente alla storia fattuale, ma sono invece l'esito di un processo multiforme e stratificato di memorializzazione, che decennio dopo decennio ha riplasmato gli eventi alla luce delle esigenze presenti. Combinando un approccio filologico alla documentazione letteraria, epigrafica e archeologica con un panorama teorico e metodologico influenzato dall'antropologia culturale e dagli studi sulla memoria, esso ricostruisce le immagini e i significati associati a ciascuno strato di tale processo, offrendo così una sorta di 'stratigrafia della memoria' delle Guerre persiane prima di Erodoto.
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Gli studi raccolti nel volume danno conto di alcune delle indagini intraprese in vari momenti nel quadro del Progetto di Ricerca PRIN 2017 ‘Divination and Greek History (Archaic to Classical): Reassessing Greek Oracular Responses’ (PI... more
Gli studi raccolti nel volume danno conto di alcune delle indagini intraprese in vari momenti nel quadro del Progetto di Ricerca PRIN 2017 ‘Divination and Greek History (Archaic to Classical): Reassessing Greek Oracular Responses’ (PI prof. Maurizio Giangiulio). I vari contributi concorrono a illustrare presupposti e metodi della ricerca più ampia che il Progetto persegue. In particolare, mirano a saggiare alcune prospettive di indagine della massima importanza. Una riguarda la ‘decifrazione’ della trama dei rapporti intercorrenti tra i responsi metrici e i contesti narrativi e storiografici che ne danno conto. Un’altra si concentra sull’analisi del dettato testuale dei responsi, al fine di misurarne la vicinanza o la distanza rispetto alla tradizione poetica. Un’altra ancora attiene allo studio dell’utilizzazione delle storie oracolari all’interno delle strategie storiografiche degli storici greci. E infine un’altra mira a recuperare i contenuti della memoria sociale arcaica della quale le storie oracolari sono parte integrante.
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In Classical times, the Athenian war dead were buried in the suburb of the Kerameikos, within a place which is currently defined, after Thuc. 2.34.5, as Demosion Sema, or Mnema, as according to Paus. 1.29.4. In the framework of the recent... more
In Classical times, the Athenian war dead were buried in the suburb of the Kerameikos, within a place which is currently defined, after Thuc. 2.34.5, as Demosion Sema, or Mnema, as according to Paus. 1.29.4. In the framework of the recent general reassessment of this burial area, which is no longer conceived of as a national military cemetery in a modern sense, but as a more nuanced “space for the fallen”, this paper argues that the expressions demosion sema (public tomb) and mnema (monument) have been arbitrarily taken to refer to the burial area as a whole. In light of a renewed textual analysis of Thucydides’ and Pausanias’ narrative contexts, as well as of a survey of their extant editions and translations, this paper suggests that this “space” did not have a more specific name than the name of the “most beautiful suburb of the city” where it was located, the Kerameikos.
En la época clásica, los atenienses muertos en la guerra eran enterrados en el suburbio del Kerameikos, dentro de un lugar que actualmente se define, después de Thuc. 2.34.5, como Demosion Sema, o Mnema, según Paus. 1.29.4. En el contexto de la reciente reevaluación general de esta área funeraria, que ya no se concibe como un cementerio militar nacional en el sentido moderno, sino como un más matizado “espacio para los caídos”, este artículo sostiene que las expresiones demosion sema (tumba pública) y mnema (monumento) se han tomado arbitrariamente para referirse al área funeraria en su conjunto. A la luz de un análisis textual renovado de los contextos narrativos de Tucídides y Pausanias, así como de un estudio de sus ediciones y traducciones existentes, este trabajo sugiere que este “espacio” no tenía un nombre más específico que el nombre del “suburbio más bello de la ciudad” donde se encontraba, el Kerameikos.
En la época clásica, los atenienses muertos en la guerra eran enterrados en el suburbio del Kerameikos, dentro de un lugar que actualmente se define, después de Thuc. 2.34.5, como Demosion Sema, o Mnema, según Paus. 1.29.4. En el contexto de la reciente reevaluación general de esta área funeraria, que ya no se concibe como un cementerio militar nacional en el sentido moderno, sino como un más matizado “espacio para los caídos”, este artículo sostiene que las expresiones demosion sema (tumba pública) y mnema (monumento) se han tomado arbitrariamente para referirse al área funeraria en su conjunto. A la luz de un análisis textual renovado de los contextos narrativos de Tucídides y Pausanias, así como de un estudio de sus ediciones y traducciones existentes, este trabajo sugiere que este “espacio” no tenía un nombre más específico que el nombre del “suburbio más bello de la ciudad” donde se encontraba, el Kerameikos.
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In Classical times, the Athenian war dead were buried in the suburb of the Kerameikos, within an area which is currently thought of as a military state cemetery named Demosion Sema (Thuc. 2.34.5). In recent times, several scholars have... more
In Classical times, the Athenian war dead were buried in the suburb of the Kerameikos, within an area which is currently thought of as a military state cemetery named Demosion Sema (Thuc. 2.34.5). In recent times, several scholars have argued that the long-held similarity between this area and modern national military cemeteries should be revised and replaced by a much more nuanced interpretation of the former, in terms of juridical status, topographic layout and functional homogeneity. However, not only the different arguments against its interpretation as a state military cemetery still wait to be composed in one consistent picture, but the conception of the Demosion Sema as the Athenian state war cemetery is still widespread in extant scholarship. An up-to-date status quaestionis of the issue appears therefore necessary. This paper reviews recent arguments in favour of a more blended conception of this ‘space for the fallen’ and adds some further considerations against its reading as a national military cemetery in a modern sense.
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The stele, to be displayed in the civic prytaneion, preserves a public decree concerning honours for the war dead, norms and limitations to their public mourning, as well as provisions for the fallen’s fathers and sons. The decree, dated... more
The stele, to be displayed in the civic prytaneion, preserves a public decree concerning honours for the war dead, norms and limitations to their public mourning, as well as provisions for the fallen’s fathers and sons. The decree, dated to mid-4th century B.C. on a paleographical basis, has been recently connected with the war the Thasians fought against the Thracians to protect their colony Datos/Krenides between 360 and 356 B.C. The first section (ll. 4-14) concerns public honours for the war dead, while the second section (ll. 14-49) deals with public provisions for the war dead’s fathers and sons. Concerning both the special treatment of the war dead and the welfare in favour of the war orphans, a useful comparison can be drawn from the analogue Athenian practice in Classical times.
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This article aims to contribute to the current debate on the local dimension of historical memory in late Archaic and early Classical Greece, and to investigate the memory of the Persian wars in their immediate aftermath, with regard to... more
This article aims to contribute to the current debate on the local dimension of
historical memory in late Archaic and early Classical Greece, and to
investigate the memory of the Persian wars in their immediate aftermath,
with regard to the interdisciplinary research on the multiplicity,
multipolarity and competitiveness of collective memory in both ancient and
modern history. First, it surveys the extant epigraphic and literary sources
dating to the 70s and 60s of the 5th century (Simonides, Aeschylus and
Pindar), which attest to the memory of the second Persian war by several
poleis who had played a part in them, and shows that each polis stressed its
own contribution to the freedom of Greece in the war against Xerxes,
without claiming any exclusive role in it. Second, relying on the notion of
‘competing memories’, it argues that in the first two post-war decades the
memory of the Persian wars developed according to a 'poli-hellenic'
configuration: each polis did not refer to a shared, panhellenic memory,
transcending the local perspective, but to a panhellenic competitive scenario,
where their emphasis on their own merits coexisted in the framework of a
paratactic and inclusive relationship (that is neither hierarchical nor
exclusive, as it later appears, instead, from Herodotus' account).
historical memory in late Archaic and early Classical Greece, and to
investigate the memory of the Persian wars in their immediate aftermath,
with regard to the interdisciplinary research on the multiplicity,
multipolarity and competitiveness of collective memory in both ancient and
modern history. First, it surveys the extant epigraphic and literary sources
dating to the 70s and 60s of the 5th century (Simonides, Aeschylus and
Pindar), which attest to the memory of the second Persian war by several
poleis who had played a part in them, and shows that each polis stressed its
own contribution to the freedom of Greece in the war against Xerxes,
without claiming any exclusive role in it. Second, relying on the notion of
‘competing memories’, it argues that in the first two post-war decades the
memory of the Persian wars developed according to a 'poli-hellenic'
configuration: each polis did not refer to a shared, panhellenic memory,
transcending the local perspective, but to a panhellenic competitive scenario,
where their emphasis on their own merits coexisted in the framework of a
paratactic and inclusive relationship (that is neither hierarchical nor
exclusive, as it later appears, instead, from Herodotus' account).
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‘All-blooming prosperity’ (panthales olbos) is a key concept in the last preserved epigram of the so-called ‘epigrams of the Persian Wars’ (IG I3 503/4, lapis C, line 4; 480-470 B.C.). This expression has been variously interpreted and... more
‘All-blooming prosperity’ (panthales olbos) is a key concept in the last preserved epigram of the so-called ‘epigrams of the Persian Wars’ (IG I3 503/4, lapis C, line 4; 480-470 B.C.). This expression has been variously interpreted and its attribution to the world of the dead has been debated (and, accordingly, its reference to the war dead commemorated by the monument has been denied). By contextualizing this expression through 5th century literary evidence this paper aims to show not only that the concept of olbos can refer to the war dead, but that the whole expression panthales olbos is especially suitable to describe the flourishing fame granted by the Athenian civic community to those who fell in the Persian wars (more specifically, in the battle of Marathon).
This paper is divided into three parts. First, it tries to show, in light of Solon's words in Herodotus' Histories, that the concept of olbos does not entirely refer to the world either of the living or the dead, but points to a condition of prosperity which is intrinsically linked to the concept of teleuté: olbos develops during lifetime but must be kept safe until death. As Herodotus' Solon also shows through the example of Tellus, death on the battlefield is one of the ways by which 5th century Athenians could end life well and acquire the status of olbioi.
Second, the paper shows, in light of both the concept of olbos and the connection between kleos (fame) and floral imagery in epinician poetry, that the panthales olbos of the war dead points to the sphere of the immortal fame, which is constantly revived by the Athenian civic community.
Third, the paper contrasts the panthales olbos of the Athenian war dead in the epigram with the peculiar recurrence of olbos in contemporary Aeschylus’ Persians (472 B.C.), where the Persians’ defeat is depicted in terms of loss of prosperity. I suggest that Aeschylus - possibly reflecting a feature of the Athenian culture of victory of that time - paired, in a significant opposition, the olbos of their own war dead and that of the Persians: the latter ruined, the former flourishing.
This paper is divided into three parts. First, it tries to show, in light of Solon's words in Herodotus' Histories, that the concept of olbos does not entirely refer to the world either of the living or the dead, but points to a condition of prosperity which is intrinsically linked to the concept of teleuté: olbos develops during lifetime but must be kept safe until death. As Herodotus' Solon also shows through the example of Tellus, death on the battlefield is one of the ways by which 5th century Athenians could end life well and acquire the status of olbioi.
Second, the paper shows, in light of both the concept of olbos and the connection between kleos (fame) and floral imagery in epinician poetry, that the panthales olbos of the war dead points to the sphere of the immortal fame, which is constantly revived by the Athenian civic community.
Third, the paper contrasts the panthales olbos of the Athenian war dead in the epigram with the peculiar recurrence of olbos in contemporary Aeschylus’ Persians (472 B.C.), where the Persians’ defeat is depicted in terms of loss of prosperity. I suggest that Aeschylus - possibly reflecting a feature of the Athenian culture of victory of that time - paired, in a significant opposition, the olbos of their own war dead and that of the Persians: the latter ruined, the former flourishing.
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Negli ultimi anni sono stati pubblicati numerosi studi relativi alla cd. stele dei Maratonomachi', rinvenuta nel 1999 nella villa di Erode Attico a Eua-Loukou, nel Peloponneso orientale. La stele, iscritta con il nome della tribù... more
Negli ultimi anni sono stati pubblicati numerosi studi relativi alla cd. stele dei Maratonomachi', rinvenuta nel 1999 nella villa di Erode Attico a Eua-Loukou, nel Peloponneso orientale. La stele, iscritta con il nome della tribù Eretteide, un epigramma costituito da due distici elegiaci, e una lista di nomi, dev'essere datata, su base paleografica, all'epoca della Guerre Persiane. La stele è stata attribuita al polyandrion dei Maratonomachi sul campo di battaglia, e datata più specificamente a ridosso del 490 (Spyropoulos, Steinhauer) o agli anni '70 (Culasso, Petrovic, Tentori Montalto). Nei miei precedenti contributi sul tema ho discusso tali interpretazioni, e suggerito una lettura più sfumata e storicamente contestualizzata della stele, che a mio avviso potrebbe testimoniare due diverse fasi della memoria della battaglia di Maratona. In altri termini, ho esplorato la possibilità che la stele fosse originariamente iscritta solo con il nome della tribù e l'elenco dei caduti, e che l'epigramma sia stato aggiunto qualche tempo dopo il 480/79 (anche se possibilmente dallo stesso lapicida).
In questo articolo discuto lo status quaestionis e confermo la mia interpretazione della stele come frutto dell'agglutinamento di due fasi memoriali diverse. La prima fase, riconducibile all'immediato dopoguerra, è espressa dall'elenco di nomi, con la sua peculiare configurazione che riproduce la disposizione 'sfalsata' della formazione oplitica e richiama il tema della difesa della polis, garantita dal 'muro di soldati' messo in campo a Maratona, mentre la seconda, collocabile dopo la Seconda Guerra Persiana, è espressa dall'epigramma, i cui contenuti appaiono coerenti con la riplasmazione di Maratona nella memoria civica ateniese alla luce degli eventi panellenici del 480/79.
In the last years several studies have been published concerning the stele of the Marathonomachoi, which was found in 1999 in Herodes Atticus' villa at Eua-Loukou, in the eastern Peloponnese. The stele, which is inscribed with the name of the tribe Erechtheis, a four lines epigram, and a casualty list, must be dated, on a paleographical basis, to the time of the Persian wars. The stele has been attributed to the polyandrion of the Marathonomachoi on the battlefield, and specifically dated either in 490 (Spyropoulos, Steinhauer) or in the '70s (Culasso, Petrovic, Tentori Montalto).
In my own previous contributions on the topic I tackled both these interpretations and suggested a more nuanced reading of the stele, which in my view testifies to two different stages of the memory of the Marathon battle. In other terms, I explored the possibility that the stele was originally inscribed only with the tribe name and the list of fallen, and the epigram was added some time after 480/79 (although possibly by the same hand).
In this paper I will discuss the status quaestionis and confirm my interpretation of the stele as attesting to the memory of Marathon both in its immediate aftermath and after the second Persian war. The former is expressed by the list, with its peculiar layout resembling the hoplitic formation and recalling the theme of the defence of the polis, while the latter is expressed by the epigram, whose contents appear to be consistent with how the battle of Marathon was reshaped by the Athenian civic memory in light of the panhellenic events in 480/79.
In questo articolo discuto lo status quaestionis e confermo la mia interpretazione della stele come frutto dell'agglutinamento di due fasi memoriali diverse. La prima fase, riconducibile all'immediato dopoguerra, è espressa dall'elenco di nomi, con la sua peculiare configurazione che riproduce la disposizione 'sfalsata' della formazione oplitica e richiama il tema della difesa della polis, garantita dal 'muro di soldati' messo in campo a Maratona, mentre la seconda, collocabile dopo la Seconda Guerra Persiana, è espressa dall'epigramma, i cui contenuti appaiono coerenti con la riplasmazione di Maratona nella memoria civica ateniese alla luce degli eventi panellenici del 480/79.
In the last years several studies have been published concerning the stele of the Marathonomachoi, which was found in 1999 in Herodes Atticus' villa at Eua-Loukou, in the eastern Peloponnese. The stele, which is inscribed with the name of the tribe Erechtheis, a four lines epigram, and a casualty list, must be dated, on a paleographical basis, to the time of the Persian wars. The stele has been attributed to the polyandrion of the Marathonomachoi on the battlefield, and specifically dated either in 490 (Spyropoulos, Steinhauer) or in the '70s (Culasso, Petrovic, Tentori Montalto).
In my own previous contributions on the topic I tackled both these interpretations and suggested a more nuanced reading of the stele, which in my view testifies to two different stages of the memory of the Marathon battle. In other terms, I explored the possibility that the stele was originally inscribed only with the tribe name and the list of fallen, and the epigram was added some time after 480/79 (although possibly by the same hand).
In this paper I will discuss the status quaestionis and confirm my interpretation of the stele as attesting to the memory of Marathon both in its immediate aftermath and after the second Persian war. The former is expressed by the list, with its peculiar layout resembling the hoplitic formation and recalling the theme of the defence of the polis, while the latter is expressed by the epigram, whose contents appear to be consistent with how the battle of Marathon was reshaped by the Athenian civic memory in light of the panhellenic events in 480/79.
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The stele belongs to a funerary monument erected in the agora of Megara in honour of soldiers fallen in the Persian Wars. The inscription is made of three portions of text: a prose introduction (3 lines plus an extra line word), an... more
The stele belongs to a funerary monument erected in the agora of Megara in honour of soldiers fallen in the Persian Wars. The inscription is made of three portions of text: a prose introduction (3 lines plus an extra line word), an epigram in elegiacs (9 lines, each one corresponding to one verse), and a prose final annotation (one line). According to the introduction, the epigram is a remake, due to the initiative of the archiereus Helladius, of a post-Persian text, which time had damaged. The author was Simonides. According to the final remark in Helladius’ times sacrifices of a bull were still performed in honour of the Megarian war dead. The historical interpretation of the stele is not univocal, concerning both the origin of the epigram (it is not certain whether it was copied from original on the stone, or taken from a literary anthology) and the nature of the monument (whether it was a tomb or a cenotaph). Be it as it may, the inscription attests to the fundamental importance of the memory of the Persian Wars both in the immediate aftermath of the war and several centuries later, when a historical document dating to nearly a millennium before was still perceived as crucial to the civic identity of Megara.
ERRATA CORRIGE: The stele is not lost, as according to the IG and most current bibliography, but is inventoried in the Archaeological Museum of Megara. An errata corrige concerning this matter is forthcoming in AXON 4, 1 (2020).
ERRATA CORRIGE: The stele is not lost, as according to the IG and most current bibliography, but is inventoried in the Archaeological Museum of Megara. An errata corrige concerning this matter is forthcoming in AXON 4, 1 (2020).
Secondo l’opinione invalsa l’uso dei Greci di erigere trofei deperibili sul campo di battaglia avrebbe origini arcaiche; in occasione delle Guerre Persiane, vista l’eccezionalità dell’occasione, i trofei posticci sarebbero stati in un... more
Secondo l’opinione invalsa l’uso dei Greci di erigere trofei deperibili sul campo di battaglia avrebbe origini arcaiche; in occasione delle Guerre Persiane, vista l’eccezionalità dell’occasione, i trofei posticci sarebbero stati in un secondo momento sostituiti con esemplari monumentali. Alcuni studi recenti hanno messo in luce l’assenza di indizi dell’uso di innalzare trofei in età pre-persiana: la storia dei trofei si svilupperebbe allora secondo un percorso inverso, con gli esempi monumentali delle Guerre Persiane a fungere da modello per l’erezione dei trofei deperibili, ampiamente documentati su base sia letteraria sia iconografica proprio a partire dal secondo quarto del V secolo. Sulla scorta di una rinnovata valutazione dell’evidenza documentaria e nel panorama più ampio della commemorazione delle Guerre Persiane nei vari periodi, questo studio colloca i trofei greci entro una cornice ben più variegata e meno lineare rispetto sia al quadro invalso sia a quello più recente: i trofei o, per meglio dire, i victory monuments, delle Guerre Persiane difficilmente possono essere inclusi in una storia dei trofei concepita in termini ‘evoluzionistici’ e si presentano invece come un’esperienza del tutto peculiare nelle pratiche del ricordo della guerra presso i Greci.
Before being accounted for by Herodotus in his Histories, the Persian Wars underwent a multifaceted process of memorialization. As a consequence of the homeostasis of historical memory with contemporary social frames and semantic needs,... more
Before being accounted for by Herodotus in his Histories, the Persian Wars underwent a multifaceted process of memorialization. As a consequence of the homeostasis of historical memory with contemporary social frames and semantic needs, pre-Herodotean and Herodotean narratives about a same event can differ a great deal. This is well exemplified by the development of the historical tradition about the clash fought by Greeks and Persians at Psyttaleia. Reduced to a trivial appendix to the battle of Salamis by Herodotus, it seems instead to have played a prominent role within Athenian contemporary memory, as both literary and epigraphic evidence suggest. This paper first explores the different phases of the memorialization of Psyttaleia; second, it investigates the reasons of its re-shaping, arguing against political propaganda from above and dwelling instead on the deeper mechanisms of collective memory.
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Nicole Loraux’s seminal book L’invention d’Athènes (1981) opened a new way of understanding the Athenian funeral oration. It is a well-known fact that the Athenians exploited the annual logos epitaphios in honor of the war dead to convey... more
Nicole Loraux’s seminal book L’invention d’Athènes (1981) opened a new way of understanding the Athenian funeral oration. It is a well-known fact that the Athenians exploited the annual logos epitaphios in honor of the war dead to convey a patriotic image of the Athenian past, centered on a canonical list of glorious mythic-historical deeds. This list –the so called Tatenkatalog- has been so far investigated in terms of either ‘political propaganda’ or ‘official polis tradition’, where both definitions involve a high degree of historical simplification and, to some extent, falsification. This view, if somehow true as for the 4th century literary version of the list, must be reassessed as for the 5th century catalogue, which in fact is to be considered as a prominent example of ‘intentional history’ (in H.-J. Gehrke’s definition), produced by -and at the same time turned to- the political community itself, as the result of complex identity needs.
Come è noto, L’invention d’Athènes di Nicole Loraux (1981) ha inaugurato una nuova interpretazione dell’orazione funebre ateniese. Ogni anno il logos epitaphios trasmetteva una immagine patriottica degli Ateniesi, incentrata su una lista canonica di eventi gloriosi di natura miti-storica. Questa lista, il cosiddetto Tatenkatalog, è stato sinora indagato in termini di propaganda politica o di ‘official polis tradition’, dunque sulla scorta di paradigmi che implicano una semplificazione, talora falsificazione, della realtà storica. Questa lettura, se in una certa misura valida per la versione trasmessa dalle fonti letterarie di IV secolo, deve essere invece rivista a proposito del catalogo di V secolo, che deve essere invece inteso come un esempio calzante di ‘storia intenzionale’ (secondo la definizione di H.-J. Gehrke), prodotto da –e allo stesso tempo rivolta a- la comunità politica stessa, alla luce di una complessa trama di esigenze identitarie.
Come è noto, L’invention d’Athènes di Nicole Loraux (1981) ha inaugurato una nuova interpretazione dell’orazione funebre ateniese. Ogni anno il logos epitaphios trasmetteva una immagine patriottica degli Ateniesi, incentrata su una lista canonica di eventi gloriosi di natura miti-storica. Questa lista, il cosiddetto Tatenkatalog, è stato sinora indagato in termini di propaganda politica o di ‘official polis tradition’, dunque sulla scorta di paradigmi che implicano una semplificazione, talora falsificazione, della realtà storica. Questa lettura, se in una certa misura valida per la versione trasmessa dalle fonti letterarie di IV secolo, deve essere invece rivista a proposito del catalogo di V secolo, che deve essere invece inteso come un esempio calzante di ‘storia intenzionale’ (secondo la definizione di H.-J. Gehrke), prodotto da –e allo stesso tempo rivolta a- la comunità politica stessa, alla luce di una complessa trama di esigenze identitarie.
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I cd. ‘epigrammi delle Guerre Persiane’ (o ‘epigrammi di Maratona’, a seconda di quale delle due interpretazioni oggi prevalenti si accolga) costituiscono una delle prime forme di memoria degli eventi. Tra i molteplici problemi... more
I cd. ‘epigrammi delle Guerre Persiane’ (o ‘epigrammi di Maratona’, a seconda di quale delle due interpretazioni oggi prevalenti si accolga) costituiscono una delle prime forme di memoria degli eventi. Tra i molteplici problemi interpretativi posti dal monumento, relativamente sia alla sua natura sia ai referenti storici degli epigrammi su di esso iscritti, e dunque all’identificazione dei caduti commemorati, un dato pare indiscusso, vale a dire il riferimento a Maratona del testo inciso nella fascia inferiore del cd. Lapis A.
Quale ‘storia’ relativa a Maratona il testo racconti, è tuttavia incerto. Comunemente edito secondo tentativi di lettura avanzati decine di anni fa, spesso scaturiti da approcci poco sensibili a un orizzonte storico complessivo e alla problematica della memoria pre-storiografica delle Guerre Persiane, il testo epigrafico offre in realtà una rappresentazione della battaglia di Maratona sintetica, non scevra di tratti già narrativi, simile nei suoi contenuti a quella della Stoa Poikile, di poco successiva, e a quella più tardi proposta da Erodoto.
Quale ‘storia’ relativa a Maratona il testo racconti, è tuttavia incerto. Comunemente edito secondo tentativi di lettura avanzati decine di anni fa, spesso scaturiti da approcci poco sensibili a un orizzonte storico complessivo e alla problematica della memoria pre-storiografica delle Guerre Persiane, il testo epigrafico offre in realtà una rappresentazione della battaglia di Maratona sintetica, non scevra di tratti già narrativi, simile nei suoi contenuti a quella della Stoa Poikile, di poco successiva, e a quella più tardi proposta da Erodoto.
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In modern scholarship both war dead and city founders are often included in the list of historical persons receiving hero-cult after death. According to several scholars funeral games play a great part in this interpretation: literary... more
In modern scholarship both war dead and city founders are often included in the list of historical persons receiving hero-cult after death. According to several scholars funeral games play a great part in this interpretation: literary evidence dating to Classical times in fact clearly attests to annual games in honor of both war dead and founders.
The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it traces a fundamental distinction between the case of the founders and that of the war dead: while the former, in some cases actually received a commemorative contest every year, the latter received it only once, at the time of their burial. Second, by contextualizing annual games among other kinds of public rituals addressed to war dead and founders, the article explores their different meanings and functions in terms of civic memory and identity.
The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it traces a fundamental distinction between the case of the founders and that of the war dead: while the former, in some cases actually received a commemorative contest every year, the latter received it only once, at the time of their burial. Second, by contextualizing annual games among other kinds of public rituals addressed to war dead and founders, the article explores their different meanings and functions in terms of civic memory and identity.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the textual tradition of an oracle which is known in its widest form by the scholia vetera to Aristophanes’ Knights 1011-1013 (PW 121; Fo. Q180) and which the sources define either Delphic or... more
The purpose of this paper is to examine the textual tradition of an oracle which is known in its widest form by the scholia vetera to Aristophanes’ Knights 1011-1013 (PW 121; Fo. Q180) and which the sources define either Delphic or chresmological. First, close attention is devoted to its loci paralleli, as well as to its text, with a special focus on epicisms, proverbial expressions, and echoes with other literary oracles. Second, the oracle is contextualized within the textual and dramatic framework of the Knights, which are pervaded by a peculiarly coherent oracular language and plot. Third, it is suggested that the oracle originated in the first historical phases of the Delian League: after having much suffered (the destruction of the city in 480), Athens was now leader of the Greeks, like ‘an eagle in the clouds’.
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This chapter explores the other face of the great naval victory in 480, namely the Persian sack of Athens, and the Athenians’ collective reactions to it. Looking at it through the lens of the modern paradigm of trauma, this paper... more
This chapter explores the other face of the great naval victory in 480, namely the Persian sack of Athens, and the Athenians’ collective reactions to it. Looking at it through the lens of the modern paradigm of trauma, this paper investigates the dark side of the celebrative mood surrounding the great military victory and detects the traces of a collective trauma and the community’s responses to it.
After briefly reviewing the treatment of the Persian sack in extant literature (§1) and setting it in the framework of trauma studies (§2), it focuses on three different types of evidence - sacred spolia (§3), commemoration of the war dead (§4), and post-war theatre (§5) - which allow to look into the Athenians’ reactions, feelings, memories, and fears in the aftermath of the Persian sack, as well as their ways of working through trauma. Based on theoretical and methodological insights from trauma studies themselves, as well as the so-called sociology of disaster, it eventually concludes that the extraordinarily dramatic destruction of the city came to represent an epochal break in the Athenians’ perception of their own history, as well as an anchor of their renewed identity as a civic community (§6).
After briefly reviewing the treatment of the Persian sack in extant literature (§1) and setting it in the framework of trauma studies (§2), it focuses on three different types of evidence - sacred spolia (§3), commemoration of the war dead (§4), and post-war theatre (§5) - which allow to look into the Athenians’ reactions, feelings, memories, and fears in the aftermath of the Persian sack, as well as their ways of working through trauma. Based on theoretical and methodological insights from trauma studies themselves, as well as the so-called sociology of disaster, it eventually concludes that the extraordinarily dramatic destruction of the city came to represent an epochal break in the Athenians’ perception of their own history, as well as an anchor of their renewed identity as a civic community (§6).
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As a recent line of research shows, the modern category of trauma can be usefully taken into account in order to analyse the psychological and social dynamics of war in antiquity: even though it cannot be taken a priori as a universal... more
As a recent line of research shows, the modern category of trauma can be usefully taken into account in order to analyse the psychological and social dynamics of war in antiquity: even though it cannot be taken a priori as a universal phenomenon, the category of war trauma helps us question the ancient evidence from a new perspective and sheds new light on the traumatic consequences of war for veterans and civilians. On the other hand, modern uses of ancient theatre as a means of cultural catharsis for veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, especially in the USA and, to a minor extent, in the UK, compel us to re-consider the civic function of tragedy in the aftermath of wars in Classical Athens. This chapter detects traces of what I propose to call a ‘collective war trauma’ in the representation of Persian wars-related events on the Athenian stage in the near aftermath of the war. More specifically, I will attempt a new reading of Aeschylus’ Persians (472 BC), and connect it with the cathartic function of tragedy that is known by Aristotle. I will conclude that while today Greek tragedy is used in healing veterans’ individual war trauma, ancient theatre worked as a means of collective catharsis, helping the whole civic community to cope with the unprecedented casualties suffered in the second Persian war and in the still ongoing war against the Persians during the’70 s.
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Research Interests:
Il contributo ripercorre gli snodi fondamentali della riflessione multidisciplinare sul rapporto tra memoria e storia. In particolare, esso si sofferma su due concetti e strumenti euristici, quello di ‘mnemostoria’ (coniato di J.... more
Il contributo ripercorre gli snodi fondamentali della riflessione
multidisciplinare sul rapporto tra memoria e storia. In particolare, esso si sofferma su due concetti e strumenti euristici, quello di ‘mnemostoria’ (coniato di J. Assmann) e quello di ‘storia intenzionale’ (introdotto da H.-J. Gehrke), che appaiono utili a porre sotto la lente di ingrandimento alcuni aspetti delle tradizioni orali sull'arcaismo greco, delle forme, dei mezzi e delle modalità della loro costituzione e trasmissione. Alla luce di ciò, esso offre alcuni spunti per una morfologia delle tradizioni storiche greche, con particolare riferimento, da un lato, alla loro pluralità e plasticità, e dall'altro alla loro intrinseca interrelazione con i contesti comunicativi e performativi, nonché spaziali e monumentali in cui prendono forma, si trasmettono e si trasformano.
multidisciplinare sul rapporto tra memoria e storia. In particolare, esso si sofferma su due concetti e strumenti euristici, quello di ‘mnemostoria’ (coniato di J. Assmann) e quello di ‘storia intenzionale’ (introdotto da H.-J. Gehrke), che appaiono utili a porre sotto la lente di ingrandimento alcuni aspetti delle tradizioni orali sull'arcaismo greco, delle forme, dei mezzi e delle modalità della loro costituzione e trasmissione. Alla luce di ciò, esso offre alcuni spunti per una morfologia delle tradizioni storiche greche, con particolare riferimento, da un lato, alla loro pluralità e plasticità, e dall'altro alla loro intrinseca interrelazione con i contesti comunicativi e performativi, nonché spaziali e monumentali in cui prendono forma, si trasmettono e si trasformano.
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The Persian wars have been widely studied in Greek history and historiography, as well as in terms of world military history and cultural reception. Only recently, they have been approached through the lens of mnemohistory, which has... more
The Persian wars have been widely studied in Greek history and historiography, as well as in terms of world military history and cultural reception. Only recently, they have been approached through the lens of mnemohistory, which has called for a more contextualized reading of the ancient evidence and pointed out the changing meaning of each battle in space and time (Yates 2019; Proietti 2021). Following the latter approach, this paper focuses on the battle of Marathon, and explores how its representation, as well as the historical meaning attached to it, developed and changed throughout the 5th century. By investigating the ancient literary, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence it pinpoints at least four stages in its multi-layered process of memorialization, starting from its immediate aftermath to the time of the Peloponnesian war.
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Research Interests:
Recent research demonstrates that the modern category of trauma, and especially that of war trauma, can contribute to a re-examination of postwar psychological and social dynamics in antiquity as well as shed new light on the traumatic... more
Recent research demonstrates that the modern category of trauma, and
especially that of war trauma, can contribute to a re-examination of postwar
psychological and social dynamics in antiquity as well as shed new
light on the traumatic consequences of war for veterans and civilians.
In this paper I detect traces of what I propose to call a “collective war trauma” in the
representation of Persian Wars-related events on the Athenian stage in the
immediate aftermath of the war, thus referring to tragedy as a means of
“cultural catharsis”. The story connected with the Athenians’ desperate
reaction in front of Phrynichus’ Sack of Miletus illuminates the mechanisms,
functions and goals of the tragic representations as a means for the civic community to cope with the impact of war, especially with the dramatic
destruction of Athens.
especially that of war trauma, can contribute to a re-examination of postwar
psychological and social dynamics in antiquity as well as shed new
light on the traumatic consequences of war for veterans and civilians.
In this paper I detect traces of what I propose to call a “collective war trauma” in the
representation of Persian Wars-related events on the Athenian stage in the
immediate aftermath of the war, thus referring to tragedy as a means of
“cultural catharsis”. The story connected with the Athenians’ desperate
reaction in front of Phrynichus’ Sack of Miletus illuminates the mechanisms,
functions and goals of the tragic representations as a means for the civic community to cope with the impact of war, especially with the dramatic
destruction of Athens.
Research Interests:
Explicitly comparative studies which analyse aspects of ancient history with reference to comparanda from the modern world are becoming more and more frequent in historical research. War and its aftermath have always been a favourite... more
Explicitly comparative studies which analyse aspects of ancient history with reference to comparanda from the modern world are becoming more and more frequent in historical research. War and its aftermath have always been a favourite topic of comparative historical research, in the political, military and socio-economic spheres, and, more recently, in relation to collective emotions, psychological reactions and forms of commemoration. Serving, to some extent, as an introduction to the whole book, this essay discusses several case studies concerning the experience of war and post-war (commemoration of war and war dead in public discourse and monumentality; the multimedia representation of war; post-war trauma), which scholars have already approached from a relatively consistent comparative standpoint. Its aim is not to treat each case study in detail, but to comment on them from a methodological perspective, in order to show, through a few relevant examples, the need to avoid perfunctory comparisons between ancient and modern phenomena, and instead to pursue a coherent historical contextualization.
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Research Interests:
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La guerra rappresenta una componente caratterizzante delle società antiche. Ciò è particolarmente vero per Atene in età classica: non soltanto in virtù delle due grandi guerre combattute nel V secolo, le Guerre Persiane e la Guerra del... more
La guerra rappresenta una componente caratterizzante delle società antiche. Ciò è particolarmente vero per Atene in età classica: non soltanto in virtù delle due grandi guerre combattute nel V secolo, le Guerre Persiane e la Guerra del Peloponneso, ma anche e soprattutto del cinquantennio intercorso tra di esse, caratterizzato da uno stato di conflitto pressoché permanente. A fronte della prevalente attenzione dedicata dalla letteratura moderna al versante celebrativo dell’esperienza e del ricordo della guerra, questo studio si focalizza invece sulla partecipazione drammatica e sofferta alla stessa manifestata dalla comunità civica ateniese durante la Pentecontetia.
In particolare, prendendo le mosse dalla letteratura moderna dedicata alla psicopatologia bellica, da un lato, e al filone di ricerca dei cd. trauma studies, dall'altro, questo studio intende in primo luogo individuare alcune tracce del trauma collettivo della guerra per la comunità civica ateniese, in particolare in rapporto ai versanti della distruzione urbana e delle perdite umane. In secondo luogo, esplorare quali sono i coping mechanisms elaborati dalla comunità civica per compensare e superare il trauma della guerra e, allo stesso tempo, fornire ai cittadini nuovi incentivi alla belligeranza, in un'ottica che guarda contemporaneamente al passato e al futuro.
War represents a characterizing feature of ancient societies. This is especially true for Athens in the period between the two Great Wars of the 5th century (the Persian wars and the Peloponnesian war), 50 years of almost permanent conflict. Despite the prevailing attention dedicated by modern scholarship to the celebration of war, this paper deals with the dramatic perception and experience of war by the Athenian civic community during the Pentecontaetia. In light of recent literature concerning the psychopathology of war, on one side, and trauma studies, on the other, this essay aims first at pinpointing traces of collective war trauma within Athenian civic memory, especially concerning urban destruction and human losses. Second, it aims at exploring the coping mechanisms which were developed by the civic community, in order to both balance and win war trauma, and provide citizens with a renovated input to fight, according to a perspective which at the same time looked back to past and forward to future.
In particolare, prendendo le mosse dalla letteratura moderna dedicata alla psicopatologia bellica, da un lato, e al filone di ricerca dei cd. trauma studies, dall'altro, questo studio intende in primo luogo individuare alcune tracce del trauma collettivo della guerra per la comunità civica ateniese, in particolare in rapporto ai versanti della distruzione urbana e delle perdite umane. In secondo luogo, esplorare quali sono i coping mechanisms elaborati dalla comunità civica per compensare e superare il trauma della guerra e, allo stesso tempo, fornire ai cittadini nuovi incentivi alla belligeranza, in un'ottica che guarda contemporaneamente al passato e al futuro.
War represents a characterizing feature of ancient societies. This is especially true for Athens in the period between the two Great Wars of the 5th century (the Persian wars and the Peloponnesian war), 50 years of almost permanent conflict. Despite the prevailing attention dedicated by modern scholarship to the celebration of war, this paper deals with the dramatic perception and experience of war by the Athenian civic community during the Pentecontaetia. In light of recent literature concerning the psychopathology of war, on one side, and trauma studies, on the other, this essay aims first at pinpointing traces of collective war trauma within Athenian civic memory, especially concerning urban destruction and human losses. Second, it aims at exploring the coping mechanisms which were developed by the civic community, in order to both balance and win war trauma, and provide citizens with a renovated input to fight, according to a perspective which at the same time looked back to past and forward to future.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The commemoration of the war dead in ancient Greece is usually investigated on the basis of a rigid classification of both ancient documentary evidence and modern categories. Through two historical examples, different in space and time,... more
The commemoration of the war dead in ancient Greece is usually investigated on the basis of a rigid classification of both ancient documentary evidence and modern categories. Through two historical examples, different in space and time, this paper argues instead that it must be thought in the light of the fluidity and malleability which are intrinsic to the social practices of memory.
Giorgia Proietti focuses on the commemoration of the war dead in Classical Athens. On the one hand, she disputes the common assumption according to which they were honored with a strictu sensu heroic cult and argues instead that they were the recipient of a canonical dead cult, though extended in a civic dimension. On the other hand, she recognizes that they were at the core of a complex web of discursive strategies, which, through time, actually represented them as ‘founding heroes’. The heroic paradigm of the war dead can therefore be grasped only in the light of the fluidity and malleability of the different means of commemoration, notably the level of cultual rituality and that of narration, images and memory.
Elena Franchi advances a new interpretation of the base of a Phocian monument dedicated at Delphi in the IV or III century B.C., commemorating an archaic battle fought against the Thessalians recorded by Herodotus (8.27 ff). This base, which preserves the marks of the statues’ feet and a fragmentary dedication (Syll.3 202B), is likely to be identified with the monument mentioned by Pausanias in 10.1.10, representing the leaders and heroes of that battle. However, most of these leaders and heroes were invented by local post-Herodotean narrative traditions dating to the IV or III century B.C. Hence this monument shows both the Classical and Hellenistic-Roman attitude to reshape the collective memory of an archaic event and the permeability between different means of commemoration.
Giorgia Proietti focuses on the commemoration of the war dead in Classical Athens. On the one hand, she disputes the common assumption according to which they were honored with a strictu sensu heroic cult and argues instead that they were the recipient of a canonical dead cult, though extended in a civic dimension. On the other hand, she recognizes that they were at the core of a complex web of discursive strategies, which, through time, actually represented them as ‘founding heroes’. The heroic paradigm of the war dead can therefore be grasped only in the light of the fluidity and malleability of the different means of commemoration, notably the level of cultual rituality and that of narration, images and memory.
Elena Franchi advances a new interpretation of the base of a Phocian monument dedicated at Delphi in the IV or III century B.C., commemorating an archaic battle fought against the Thessalians recorded by Herodotus (8.27 ff). This base, which preserves the marks of the statues’ feet and a fragmentary dedication (Syll.3 202B), is likely to be identified with the monument mentioned by Pausanias in 10.1.10, representing the leaders and heroes of that battle. However, most of these leaders and heroes were invented by local post-Herodotean narrative traditions dating to the IV or III century B.C. Hence this monument shows both the Classical and Hellenistic-Roman attitude to reshape the collective memory of an archaic event and the permeability between different means of commemoration.
War is a characterizing feature in ancient societies under several perspectives: political, institutional, social, economic, juridical, religious, and cultural. Accordingly, as the first part of this paper illustrates, modern studies in... more
War is a characterizing feature in ancient societies under several perspectives:
political, institutional, social, economic, juridical, religious, and cultural.
Accordingly, as the first part of this paper illustrates, modern studies in
ancient polemology have developed along different, though complementary,
currents: war is analyzed as both a crucial moment within military-political
history and as a socio-economical phenomenon; it is considered in both its
religious and widely cultural implications; and, most recently, it is investigated
as a moment of ‘founding’ relevance concerning the social memory and
collective identity of a given community. Starting from the seminal Cadres
sociaux (1925) by the French sociologist Maurice Halbwachs, the investigation
of collective memory in both ancient and modern communities has in fact
undergone an outstanding theoretical development, which, as the second part
of this paper precisely shows, has exponentially increased the directions of
research within classics and the humanities in general. In the last two decades
so-called ‘memory studies’ have been increasingly applied to the study of
war and conflict. This contribution provides modern bibliography on war, on
memory and on war and memory, and tries to pinpoint main themes on the
study of war and memory for future research.
political, institutional, social, economic, juridical, religious, and cultural.
Accordingly, as the first part of this paper illustrates, modern studies in
ancient polemology have developed along different, though complementary,
currents: war is analyzed as both a crucial moment within military-political
history and as a socio-economical phenomenon; it is considered in both its
religious and widely cultural implications; and, most recently, it is investigated
as a moment of ‘founding’ relevance concerning the social memory and
collective identity of a given community. Starting from the seminal Cadres
sociaux (1925) by the French sociologist Maurice Halbwachs, the investigation
of collective memory in both ancient and modern communities has in fact
undergone an outstanding theoretical development, which, as the second part
of this paper precisely shows, has exponentially increased the directions of
research within classics and the humanities in general. In the last two decades
so-called ‘memory studies’ have been increasingly applied to the study of
war and conflict. This contribution provides modern bibliography on war, on
memory and on war and memory, and tries to pinpoint main themes on the
study of war and memory for future research.
According to recent research, the political and territorial crisis the Peloponnesian League went through in the 2nd half of the IV century BC was due, at least partially, to the awakening of ethnicities, and to consequent impulses for... more
According to recent research, the political and territorial crisis the
Peloponnesian League went through in the 2nd half of the IV century BC was
due, at least partially, to the awakening of ethnicities, and to consequent
impulses for autonomy in the whole of Peloponnese. Messenian ethnogenesis is
particularly apt to be analyzed through modern tools offered by socioanthropological
research on the themes of collective memory and ethnic
identity. This paper discusses how Nino Luraghi’s research on the ancient
Messenians has rejuvenated the debate between the two main traditional
scholarly positions (‘continuists’ and ‘discontinuists’), both of which now seem
inadequate, and how it helps understand how the Messenians conceived, and to
some extent built, their past.
Peloponnesian League went through in the 2nd half of the IV century BC was
due, at least partially, to the awakening of ethnicities, and to consequent
impulses for autonomy in the whole of Peloponnese. Messenian ethnogenesis is
particularly apt to be analyzed through modern tools offered by socioanthropological
research on the themes of collective memory and ethnic
identity. This paper discusses how Nino Luraghi’s research on the ancient
Messenians has rejuvenated the debate between the two main traditional
scholarly positions (‘continuists’ and ‘discontinuists’), both of which now seem
inadequate, and how it helps understand how the Messenians conceived, and to
some extent built, their past.
In the last decades historical reflection on Greek archaism has been relying on some new theoretical and methodological tools which have been developed in the field of both socio-anthropological and medieval historical research, and... more
In the last decades historical reflection on Greek archaism has been relying on
some new theoretical and methodological tools which have been developed in
the field of both socio-anthropological and medieval historical research, and
concern crucial themes such as collective memory and ethnic identity. This
paper tries to draw a brief summary of these new approaches. As for collective
memory, Maurice Halbwachs’ research on collective memory and Ian
Assmann’s notion of cultural memory both emphasize the social, creative and
present-affected character of the past, which is a social construction aimed at
building and expressing collective identities. As for ethnic identity, Friedrik
Barth’s notion of ethnic boundary and Reinhard Wenskus’ Traditionskern
radically refute the 18th century primordialism and imply instead a situational
concept of ethnicity, which is not biologically or culturally permanently
determined, but is borne out of a dynamic process of ascriptions and selfascriptions
between individuals and communities. Similarly, recent models on
Hellenic ethnicity, such as Jonathan Hall’s and Irad Malkin’s, underline the
subjective, negotiable and contextually built nature of ethnic identity/ies in
ancient Greece.
some new theoretical and methodological tools which have been developed in
the field of both socio-anthropological and medieval historical research, and
concern crucial themes such as collective memory and ethnic identity. This
paper tries to draw a brief summary of these new approaches. As for collective
memory, Maurice Halbwachs’ research on collective memory and Ian
Assmann’s notion of cultural memory both emphasize the social, creative and
present-affected character of the past, which is a social construction aimed at
building and expressing collective identities. As for ethnic identity, Friedrik
Barth’s notion of ethnic boundary and Reinhard Wenskus’ Traditionskern
radically refute the 18th century primordialism and imply instead a situational
concept of ethnicity, which is not biologically or culturally permanently
determined, but is borne out of a dynamic process of ascriptions and selfascriptions
between individuals and communities. Similarly, recent models on
Hellenic ethnicity, such as Jonathan Hall’s and Irad Malkin’s, underline the
subjective, negotiable and contextually built nature of ethnic identity/ies in
ancient Greece.
Studies conducted on oral tradition in the last 50 years in the field of cultural anthropology have deeply affected historical research on Greek archaism. The similarity – first pointed out by Oswyn Murray in the 1980s – between oral... more
Studies conducted on oral tradition in the last 50 years in the field of cultural
anthropology have deeply affected historical research on Greek archaism. The
similarity – first pointed out by Oswyn Murray in the 1980s – between oral
tradition in anthropological African societies and in Herodotean historiography
has led to go past the positivistic methodology known as source criticism and
to better understand the way ancient Greeks perceived, preserved and
transmitted their past. This paper first surveys Ian Vansina’s and Jack Goody’s
anthropological studies on the so called homeostasis which characterizes oral
tradition in respect to the present; secondly, it focuses on Hans Joachim
Gehrke’s concept of intentional history, and the tight relation it emphasizes
between collective memory and collective identity. The last part of the paper
describes some case studies (for example, the so-called origines urbis), which
have recently been investigated through the lens of this new methodological
and theoretical approach.
anthropology have deeply affected historical research on Greek archaism. The
similarity – first pointed out by Oswyn Murray in the 1980s – between oral
tradition in anthropological African societies and in Herodotean historiography
has led to go past the positivistic methodology known as source criticism and
to better understand the way ancient Greeks perceived, preserved and
transmitted their past. This paper first surveys Ian Vansina’s and Jack Goody’s
anthropological studies on the so called homeostasis which characterizes oral
tradition in respect to the present; secondly, it focuses on Hans Joachim
Gehrke’s concept of intentional history, and the tight relation it emphasizes
between collective memory and collective identity. The last part of the paper
describes some case studies (for example, the so-called origines urbis), which
have recently been investigated through the lens of this new methodological
and theoretical approach.
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Nuova Antologia Militare (NAM), Year III, Spring 2022, No. 10 Ancient Militasry History
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For the history of Greece, one of the main 'anchor' dates is 480 BCE. In that year, the Persian armies led by king Xerxes occupied large parts of Greece. For the history of Greece, both before and after the Persian wars, the watershed of... more
For the history of Greece, one of the main 'anchor' dates is 480 BCE. In that year, the Persian armies led by king Xerxes occupied large parts of Greece. For the history of Greece, both before and after the Persian wars, the watershed of 480 has developed as one of the main anchors on which the interconnected fabric of relative dates seems to depend. The solidity of this framework is the topic of this conference. The conference brings together specialists in subdisciplines of Greek history and archaeology to share, debate, and test shifting views on the significance of 480 on the chronology of Greek history of the Archaic and Classical periods.
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‘Everblooming prosperity’ (panthales olbos) is a key concept in the last preserved epigram of the so-called ‘epigrams of the Persian Wars’ (IG I3 503/4, lapis C, line 4; ca. 480-470 BC). This expression has been variously interpreted and... more
‘Everblooming prosperity’ (panthales olbos) is a key concept in the last preserved epigram of the so-called ‘epigrams of the Persian Wars’ (IG I3 503/4, lapis C, line 4; ca. 480-470 BC). This expression has been variously interpreted and its attribution to the world of the dead has been particularly hotly debated, with certain scholars denying its reference to the war dead commemorated by the monument. By contextualizing the expression into 5th century literary evidence concerning aims to demonstrate not only that the concept of olbos can refer to dead people, war dead included, but that the whole expression panthales olbos is especially suitable to describe the everlasting fame granted by the Athenian civic community to those who fell in the Persian wars.
War and its aftermath have always been a favourite topic of comparative historical research, in the political, military and socio-economic spheres, and, more recently, in relation to collective emotions, psychological reactions and forms... more
War and its aftermath have always been a favourite topic of comparative historical research, in the political, military and socio-economic spheres, and, more recently, in relation to collective emotions, psychological reactions and forms of commemoration. This paper will discusse some case studies concerning war and post-war (commemoration of the war dead in public discourse and monumentality; sensory, emotional and psychological aspects involved in war-related phenomena; war trauma), which scholars have already approached from a comparative standpoint. Its aim is not to treat each case study in detail, but to comment on them from a methodological perspective, in order to show, through a few relevant examples, taken from both ancient Greek and 20th century history, the need to avoid perfunctory comparisons between ancient and modern phenomena, and instead to pursue a coherent historical contextualization.
Several studies have been published in the last few years concerning the stele of the Marathonomachoi, which was found in Herodes Atticus' villa at Eua-Loukou, in the eastern Peloponnese. The stele, which is inscribed with the name of the... more
Several studies have been published in the last few years concerning the stele of the Marathonomachoi, which was found in Herodes Atticus' villa at Eua-Loukou, in the eastern Peloponnese. The stele, which is inscribed with the name of the tribe Erechtheis, a 4 lines epigram, and a casualty list, has been attributed to the polyandrion of the Marathonomachoi on the battlefield, and dated either in 490 (Spyropoulos, Steinhauer) or in 480/70 (Petrovic, Tentori Montalto). In my own previous contributions on the topic I suggested to question this interpretation, and considered the possibility that the epigram was added later on the stele (although not much later and possibly by the same hand as the list), and therefore that the stele attests to both the memory of Marathon in its immediate aftermath (the list, with its peculiar layout resembling the hoplitic formation), and the memory of Marathon as it was reshaped after 480/79 (the epigram). In this talk I will discuss the relevant status quaestionis, and take the chance to tackle the harsh criticism Tentori Montalto made to my own interpretation of the stele, and his biased misunderstanding of it.
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This is the third annual research workshop of the project Divination and Greek History (Archaic to Classical). Reassessing Greek Oracular Responses, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities, and Research (PRIN 2017). The... more
This is the third annual research workshop of the project Divination and Greek History (Archaic to Classical). Reassessing Greek Oracular Responses, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities, and Research (PRIN 2017). The project is led by Prof. Maurizio Giangiulio (Univ. of Trento) and involves the Universities of Trento, Perugia, Rome (Sapienza), and Campania (Luigi Vanvitelli).
The workshop will take place online (Zoom) on Sept. 11, at 10 am (GMT+2); if you wish to attend, please register here (before Sept. 10, at 12 pm):
https://webapps.unitn.it/form/en/Web/Application/convegni/terzozoom
The programme can be accessed here:
https://webmagazine.unitn.it/evento/lettere/117572/divinazione-e-storia-greca
The workshop will take place online (Zoom) on Sept. 11, at 10 am (GMT+2); if you wish to attend, please register here (before Sept. 10, at 12 pm):
https://webapps.unitn.it/form/en/Web/Application/convegni/terzozoom
The programme can be accessed here:
https://webmagazine.unitn.it/evento/lettere/117572/divinazione-e-storia-greca
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I memory studies sono una disciplina recente, che si ritiene convenzionalmente istituita nel 2008 con l'uscita del primo numero della rivista Memory Studies. Si tratta in realtà di una multi-disciplina e inter-disciplina, che si nutre... more
I memory studies sono una disciplina recente, che si ritiene convenzionalmente istituita nel 2008 con l'uscita del primo numero della rivista Memory Studies. Si tratta in realtà di una multi-disciplina e inter-disciplina, che si nutre dell'apporto di discipline diverse che si interessano alla memoria, come oggetto d'indagine e come prospettiva di ricerca, a partire da molteplici premesse teorico-metodologiche e interessi tematici: la storia, la sociologia, l'antropologia, la letteratura, il diritto, la teoria della cultura, la filosofia, la psicologia, gli studi sui media.
Nella cornice del LIMS, il neonato Laboratorio Interdipartimentale Memoria e Società dell'Ateneo trentino, si svolgerà da maggio a dicembre un primo ciclo di seminari che renderà conto della ricchezza intrinseca della disciplina, che a Trento è coltivata da anni con particolare interesse e vivacità, in particolare dalla cattedra di storia greca del Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia e dal Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale.
Studiose e studiosi provenienti da diversi ambiti disciplinari racconteranno delle loro ricerche, attività ed esperienze attorno al tema della memoria: si parlerà di memoria europea e migrazioni, di tradizione orale e antropologia, di simboli religiosi e immagini professionali, di musei e discorso pubblico, di magia e letteratura. Gli incontri, a cadenza mensile, si svolgeranno in un clima informale di racconto, ascolto e confronto, e sono aperti a tutti gli interessati.
Nella cornice del LIMS, il neonato Laboratorio Interdipartimentale Memoria e Società dell'Ateneo trentino, si svolgerà da maggio a dicembre un primo ciclo di seminari che renderà conto della ricchezza intrinseca della disciplina, che a Trento è coltivata da anni con particolare interesse e vivacità, in particolare dalla cattedra di storia greca del Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia e dal Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale.
Studiose e studiosi provenienti da diversi ambiti disciplinari racconteranno delle loro ricerche, attività ed esperienze attorno al tema della memoria: si parlerà di memoria europea e migrazioni, di tradizione orale e antropologia, di simboli religiosi e immagini professionali, di musei e discorso pubblico, di magia e letteratura. Gli incontri, a cadenza mensile, si svolgeranno in un clima informale di racconto, ascolto e confronto, e sono aperti a tutti gli interessati.
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Aleida Assmann is a Professor of English Literature and Literary Theory at the University of Konstanz and and a leading scholar in the field of cultural memory studies. She has been visiting professor at the Universities of Princeton,... more
Aleida Assmann is a Professor of English Literature and Literary Theory at the University of Konstanz and and a leading scholar in the field of cultural memory studies. She has been visiting professor at the Universities of Princeton, Yale, and Wien. She was awarded several prizes, such as-with her husband Jan Assmann-the Balzan prize for studies on collective memory in 2017 and the Peace Prize of German Book Trade in 2018. In 2021 she was elected a corresponding fellow of the British Academy.
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Today it is widely acknowledged that space is crucial with respect to memory. Some of the most influential concepts in the field of memory studies are based on the connection between space and memory: from Halbwachs' mnemonic topography... more
Today it is widely acknowledged that space is crucial with respect to memory. Some of the most influential concepts in the field of memory studies are based on the connection between space and memory: from Halbwachs' mnemonic topography to Assmann's mnemotopes, from Nora's lieux de mémoire to Zerubavel's social mindscapes. The neologism 'memoryscape', which has been coined in very recent years, summarizes this line of research well. From different disciplinary perspectives and thematic approaches, spanning from the historical to the social sciences, space is more and more acknowledged in actively creating meaning: it works both as an economic principle ruling the mnemonic processes from within, and as an external framework affects and shapes memorializing processes from without.
The awareness of the importance of space within the dynamics of memorialization and commemoration of historical events is also expanding into the field of ancient Greek history. However, this field of investigation is still in its initial phase and is limited in its chronological and geographical horizon (with most contributions to date dealing with Classical Athens, and the Greek Pan-Hellenic sanctuaries). This workshop, which is part of a research project entitled 'Public history in ancient Greece. Archaeology, memory, and mindscapes' which is funded by a Starting grant of the University of Trento (resp. Giorgia Proietti), aims to expand on this exciting research topic, widen its chronological and geographical framework, and advance the debate around the multiple and interwoven issues of memory and space in ancient Greece.
The awareness of the importance of space within the dynamics of memorialization and commemoration of historical events is also expanding into the field of ancient Greek history. However, this field of investigation is still in its initial phase and is limited in its chronological and geographical horizon (with most contributions to date dealing with Classical Athens, and the Greek Pan-Hellenic sanctuaries). This workshop, which is part of a research project entitled 'Public history in ancient Greece. Archaeology, memory, and mindscapes' which is funded by a Starting grant of the University of Trento (resp. Giorgia Proietti), aims to expand on this exciting research topic, widen its chronological and geographical framework, and advance the debate around the multiple and interwoven issues of memory and space in ancient Greece.
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During this inaugural round table, sociological, historical, anthropological, juridical, semiotic perspectives on memory will be brought to the fore. Every speaker will have 4 minutes to answer the question ‘What is memory?’ from their... more
During this inaugural round table, sociological, historical, anthropological, juridical, semiotic perspectives on memory will be brought to the fore. Every speaker will have 4 minutes to answer the question ‘What is memory?’ from their own perspective. Sarah Gensburger (French National Center for Scientific Research) will respond to all the turbo-talks and provide comments. Sarah Gensburger is the current president of the Memory Studies Association, the main international network of memory scholars and memory centers, with which the LIMS is connected.
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https://www.altegeschichte.uni-freiburg.de/forschung/internationales-netzwerk-historiai?set_language=en
https://webmagazine.unitn.it/evento/lettere/71388/5-treffen-des-netzwerks-historiai-antike-geschichtsschreibung-und
https://webmagazine.unitn.it/evento/lettere/71388/5-treffen-des-netzwerks-historiai-antike-geschichtsschreibung-und
Research Interests: Homer, Aristotle, Historiography, Greek Epigraphy, Greek Colonisation, and 13 moreMemory Studies, Vergil, Horace, Thucydides, Diodorus Siculus, Herodotus, Ancient Warfare, Warfare in the Ancient World, Greek Colonization (Magna Graecia and Sicily), Central Greece, Ovid Metamorphoses, Roman history - Roman archaeology - Origins of Rome - Roman Kingship, and Arrian of Nicomedia
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Bernd Steinbock, historian of ancient Greece, reflects on a universal theme Traduzione italiana How did the ancient Greeks deal with the trauma of war? What role did memory play in the processing of trauma? These and other topics were the... more
Bernd Steinbock, historian of ancient Greece, reflects on a universal theme Traduzione italiana How did the ancient Greeks deal with the trauma of war? What role did memory play in the processing of trauma? These and other topics were the subject of the classes that Prof. Bernd Steinbock (University of Western Ontario, Canada) held in Trento as a research fellow and visiting professor invited by CeASUm. We interviewed him for the webmagazine.
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An Interview with Prof. Bernd Steinbock (Western Ontario, Visiting Professor in Trento)