Classica et Mediaevalia

Die Epistola de lamentabili statu Francie: Eine prosimetrische Allegorie aus der Zeit des Hundertjährigen Krieges

Thomas Haye — 2023-02-27

The so-called Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) gave rise to a large number of Latin texts in contemporary France lamenting the political, military and social situation. Among them is the hitherto unedited Epistola de lamentabili statu Francie, which was ap- parently written soon after the defeat at Agincourt (1415). The text, arranged as an allegorical vision, describes the negative consequences of the inner-French conflicts and calls for an end to them. From a formal point of view, the text is impressive for its prose, which largely approximates metrical poetry.

Crito's Social Circles in Plato's Crito

Yosef Z. Liebersohn — 2023-04-27

In this paper I identify and discuss three different circles concerning Crito’s social relations: the internal circle of those who know him well; the external circle of those who are Crito’s fellow citizens but who do not know him well; and the third circle which is the polis with its laws. Crito uses – both consciously and unconsciously – different stratagems in dealing with these different circles. The speech of the Laws is Socrates’ attempt to allow Crito to see his actual behavior, as if reflected in a mirror. In fact Crito harms his friends, cheats his fellow citizens and destroys the polis.

Universalization and Its Limits: An Anthropological Perspective on Cultural Interaction in the Roman Empire

Kristian Kanstrup Christensen — 2023-10-28

This paper employs an anthropological framework to understand the inter- action between imperial culture and local traditions in the Roman world by introducing the model of universalization and localization, designed by Redfield and Marriott for the study of Indian village communities. This model is applied to evidence for provincial languages supplemented with an analysis of a corpus of material culture to illuminate how constraints to communication, transportation and education affected cultural interaction. It demonstrates that while Roman imperialism spread shared practices across wide areas, due to the aforementioned conditions provincial populations were often only partially able to access them.

The History of Lucan Scholia and Gerbert Of Aurillac’s Copy of the Bellum Civile (Ms. Erlangensis 389, = E)

Alessio Mancini — 2023-10-28

The importance of the very rich paratext of Lucan’s manuscript Erlangensis 389 has so far been greatly underestimated; a new comprehensive analysis of its exegetical materials, along with our updated knowledge of the vicissitudes of the manuscript itself, provides a better understanding of its role in the history of Lucan scholia and allows for several improvements in the text of the Commenta Bernensia and the Supplementum ad- notationum super Lucanum.

Inventing Patron Saints: The Cult of St Fulk between Civic Reality and Historical Fiction

Luca Ricci — 2023-10-28

Seventeenth-century sources attest the cult of English pilgrims in southern Lazio. Focusing on the case of Fulk, I argue that the seventeenth-century tradition is supported neither by the literary accounts nor by topographical analyses. Instead, Fulk’s cult, based on Peter Deacon’s twelfth-century Vita Fulconis, was central in processes of civic formation. Changing religious attitudes in the twelfth/thirteenth century are linked with lay sainthood. An English pilgrim coming back from the Holy Land, through the sanctuary on Mount Gargano, brought great prestige to the urban centre vis-à-vis other urban centres, having visited and, thus, been a witness to some of the greatest places in Christendom.

Mythological References in Ausonius’ Epistolary

Chiara Di Serio — 2023-10-28

Ausonius’ letters constitute a specimen of the way he employs references to Greek mythology. The process by which Ausonius reworks mythological material fol- lows patterns that were already well established in the Latin literary tradition of re-working Greek sources. The recycling of such material is not only proof of his technical prowess, but also demonstrates his ability to perform precise thematic choices. Frequently, the use of mythology is part of the metaliterary and metapoetic discourses tackled by Ausonius while addressing his friends as recipients of letters. The analysis of individual letters reveals how the poet used mythological references for two main purposes. The first is to elevate the tone and content of the discourse, employing a series of artificial comparisons with mythical characters and events. Brief mythological references used to formulate playful numerical periphrases are also worth noting here. The second aim is encomiastic, namely the celebration of his friends, the recipients of his letters, who are transferred from everyday reality to the higher level of the mythical dimension and the superhuman sphere.