Palladas in context: Epigrams and Society in Late Antiquity

• Applicant: Luca Benelli
• Subject Area: Greek and Latin Philology
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 398096084

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

The aim of the project is to gain a better knowledge of the context and textual history of Greek and Latin epigrammic poetry in early Late Antiquity (4th-5th century AD), with particular reference to the poet Palladas and to P. Ct. YBR inv. 4000. 4000. The aim is thus to reconstruct the context in which Palladas lived and the circles in which he was active; to reconstruct the text and the context of the epigrams of P. Ct. YBR inv. 4000 and the connections between Palladas and them. My study is intended to give a new picture of the epigrammatics of the time and to prove that other pagan poets lived in the same period. Palladas' life and environment will be better defined, as well as that of other epigrammatists (Ausonius, Gregory of Nazianzus, authors of the Epigrammata Bobiensia, Eutolmius Scholasticus) and their connection with Palladas. The project will also provide a new picture of the textual history of the Anthologia Graeca (AG). Palladas' epigrams take us to late antique Alexandria and involve well-known personalities, e.g. the astronomer and philosopher Hypatia; her father, the astronomer and mathematician Theon; Hypatia's pupil Synesios; the patriarchs Timotheos († 385) and Theophilos († 412). The reconstruction of the relationships between Palladas an d all these and other attested personalities is urgently needed. Only in this way will it be possible to determine when and where he really lived. In the end, this contribution will be important not only with regard to Pallada, but also to its entire context. Finally, my project aims to reconstruct the text and context of P. Ct. YBR inv. 4000. This will provide new insights into late antique Egypt.

Publications

• Osservazioni sul P. Ct. YBR inv. 4000 e sulla sua attribuzione a Pallada di Alessandria, ZPE 193, 53-63
  Benelli, Luca
  
• The Age of Palladas. Mnemosyne, 69(6), 978-1007.
  Benelli, Luca
  
• Notes on the Text, Date and Authorship of the Triphis Poem of P.CtYBR Inv. 4000, ZPE 208 (2018), 112-116.
  Benelli, Luca
  
• Per la datazione di Pall. AP 11.378, ZPE 206, 53-56
  Benelli, Luca
  
• New evidence for the dating of Palladas and Eutolmius Scholasticus Illustris. Cuadernos de Filología Clásica. Estudios griegos e indoeuropeos, 33, 281-343.
  Benelli, Luca