Research program
Interpreting and communicating. School traditions in the Latin literature produced between III and VI century A.D.
University Co-ordinator
Università degli Studi di FOGGIA -
TRADIZIONE E FORTUNA DELL'ANTICO - FOGGIA(FG)
Research Unit Leader
Marcello MARIN
Description
The objective of the research project is to investigate the permanent essence and the influences of the school traditions on the Latin works produced between III and VI centuries A.D. At the level of scholastic tradition, the research scope envisages the analysis of the commentaries on the great authors of the Latin period who emerge as the custodians of the past exegetic material and as projects based on specific methodological and interpretational criteria adapted from the single author. The study will specifically hinge on the Servian commentary to verify the programmatic statements made in the "praefationes", the applications of allegoric exegesis, the ways and purposes of the quotations of "auctores".Within the context of the Christian literature of III-VI centuries A.D. the research project aims at helping to determine its new nature in the relations of continuity and innovation as opposed to the classical heritage, in the increased role played by the "inventio" based on biblical contents, in the varied aspects of the forms of communication, in the decisive role played for a long time by the rhetoric education shared by the entire ancient world. The research, therefore, wishes to highlight the Christian writers' ability in organizing their discourse according to the principles of scholastic tradition, in verifying how the debates and the pragmatic Christian exegetic praxis do not neglect the instruments and criteria of the classical rhetoric, in underscoring how the same set expressions of the Christian authors invariably reflect their school education. The investigation, which is centred on the combinations tradition/innovation, communicating/receiving, aims at better defining the cultural life in III/VI centuries A.D., by examining specific literary genres and their changes and by verifying circulation trends and the role played by Christian intellectuals vis à vis the traditional values of the pagan culture.Consideration will be given to authors of different ages and regions: Augustine, Priscillian, Ambrose, Gregory the Great, pseudonym writings (the Ps.Cyprianiac "Adversus aleatores") and hagiographic texts. Augustine, who entered into the heart of the relation between "sapientia" and "eloquentia", put forward the age-old question on the role played by traditional rhetoric in a new and original manner; the "De catechizandis rudibus" will be examined for the study it suggests of the models of catechesis, with reciprocal influences between ancient rhetoric and biblical exegesis; furthermore, the analysis will address the "De utilitate ieiunii" from a literary and thematic point of view; in this work rhetorical elaboration merges with sound biblical culture. Another field of investigation will hinge on the output of Priscillian, bishop of Avila, a writer described by ancient sources as eminently learned and versed in humanities and who, at the same time, turns out to be deeply influenced by his continuous contact with the biblical text. Intertextual analysis is gathering prominence with regard to ancient Christian literature; what will be analyzed, in particular, is the intertextuality of Hilary in the "Expositio evangelii secundum Lucam" by Ambrose, so as to continue the search for evidence that the writings by the bishop of Poitiers may have left in the Ambrosian work and the subsequent Christian exegesis. Specific store will be set by the pseudocyprianic writing "Adversus aleatores", where the author maintains theories that can be assimilated to the primacy of Peter and the Roman Church; with regard to this text the purpose is also to analyze the history of editions, particularly the "editio princeps" by Morel (1564).The analysis will be centred on the use made of the Scriptures in hagiographic literature, with respect to the persistence of exegetic and iconographic modules and the scriptural quotations used in the biographies of the bishops of Daunia in order to support and endorse the image of the Saint. The contributions made by the Roman legal tradition in the "Registrum epistolarum" by Gregory the Great will be explored, pointing out the innovations and the changes occurred in the area of terminology, technique and institutions; the frequent cross-references to the "loci" of the "Codex Theodosianus" and "Corpus Iuris" by Justinian and the use made of scriptural passages, either explicit or implicit, are a "Christian" version of the process that will contribute to mark the nature of justice in the Church and future societies.
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