Classical and Oriental Studies
E. Calandra, M. Di Fazio, M. Gorrini, P. Rondini
Main research topics include: the ancient pre-and protohistoric settlement of the Italian peninsula; ancient Greek and Roman sculpture; the methodology of archaeological research; the historical topography of Italy and the ancient Mediterranean; religion and worship in the ancient world; the history of classical studies, art history, and art criticism; and the role of antiquity in the history of European culture.
The field activities currently underway are as follows: Castione della Presolana (BG), locality “Castello”, Iron Age settlement with prehistoric phases; Parco Nazionale delle Incisioni Rupestri, locality Naquane, Capo di Ponte (BS), UNESCO Site n. 94, excavation inside the park (in collaboration with Direzione Regionale Musei – Lombardia); Livorno Ferraris (VC), extensive survey; Roma, Esquilino, survey, documentation and excavation at the Arch of Gallienus and in the archaeological area of S. Vito; Villa Adriana, Tivoli, excavation and non-invasive investigations for the reconstruction of the so-called Plutonium (in collaboration with Oxford University, prof. Milena Melfi); Villa Adriana, Tivoli, study of classical and Egyptian sculptures and furnishings; Fondi (LT), archaeological excavation in the pre-Roman locality of Pianara and survey of the settlement's structures; Pofi (FR), study of the materials of the pre-Roman necropolis and survey in the area (in collaboration with l’Università di Leiden, prof. Martina Revello Lami).
Regarding these activities, several agreements are underway with interested Superintendencies, Museums, and Municipalities.
F. Bordone, A. Canobbio, F. Gasti, V. Mastellari, G. Mazzoli, F. Montana, S. Rocchi, E. Romano
Our research encompasses a broad chronological span, extending from the 9th century BC through the Renaissance and into more recent periods. With regard to Greek literature, particular attention is devoted to: archaic and Hellenistic poetry; the theatre and historiography of the 5th and 4th centuries BC; rhetoric; the historiography and scholarship of the Hellenistic and Imperial periods. In the Latin literature, our principal areas of inquiry include: archaic poetry; the literary production of the middle and late Republic; scientific prose of the Augustan and early Imperial ages; occasional poetry and epistolary writing of the Flavian and Trajanic periods; the Carmina Latina Epigraphica; the archaizing prose of the 2nd century; the tradition of historiographical breviaries; Christian culture in its dialogue with pagan culture; encyclopaedism from Antiquity to the Middle Ages; the reception of Classical Antiquity in modern and contemporary contexts.
Some of these topics are pursued within nationally funded research projects (PRIN) (ParaText. Text and Explanation in manuscripts of ancient Greek poetry) and through collaborations with research groups at both the national (Centro Studi di Fortuna dell’Antico di Sestri Levante) and international levels (Kommentierung der Fragmente der griechischen Komödie; Lexikon der Gegenstände aus der griechischen Komödie; Réseau européen: Le phénomène littéraire aux premiers siècles de notre ère; GIRPAM - Groupe International de Recherche sur la Poésie de l’Antiquité tardive et du Moyen-Âge; Spain-Europe. Intellectual networks in the development of antiquarianism and epigraphy (1480-1570)), as well as within the university (Centro di Ricerca Interdipartimentale Multimediale sul Teatro Antico).
At the University of Pavia, classical philologists are likewise engaged in the organization and promotion of scholarly conferences (e.g.: Didimo Calcentero tra Alessandria e Roma; Greek New Comedy beyond Menander; Grato animo; XVI Giornata Ghisleriana di Filologia Classica), summer schools (e.g.: La letteratura erudita nella Grecia antica), and numerous publishing initiatives, among which:
M.E. Balza, L. D'Alfonso, M. Giorgieri, C. Mora
The faculty members offer annual courses in the history, art history, and archaeology of Ancient Southwest Asia (ASWA) both at the undergraduate and master’s levels – in Italian within the MA in Classical and Oriental Antiquity (Antichità classiche e orientali), and in English within the MA in The Ancient Mediterranean World. Courses devoted to the languages, scripts, and literatures of the ASWA are also taught in Italian at both undergraduate and master’s level within the Classical and Oriental Antiquity program. The teaching offer is enriched by the presence of visiting professors. In recent years, courses within the Oriental Studies curriculum at Pavia have been taught by the Assyriologist Yoram Cohen (Tel Aviv University), the Assyriologist and Semiticist Jonathan Valk (University of Helsinki) and the Assyriologist Daniel Fleming (New York University), Jesse Casana (Darmouth University), Nancy Highcock (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University) e Rocco Palermo (Bryn Mawr College). Professor Lorenzo d’Alfonso is member of the Board of the Ph.D. Program in History, which offers opportunities to pursue research on ASWA topics at the PhD level. Teaching activities are closely connected to an intense research environment focusing on the history, languages, and archaeology of Anatolia and Syria, pursued both through individual initiatives and as part of broader national and international projects. Research conducted by Maria Elena Balza, Mauro Giorgieri, and Lorenzo d’Alfonso covers a wide chronological and thematic range, from the political and cultural history of Hittite and post-Hittite Anatolia to the administration and material culture of Late Bronze Age Syria, as well as the study of writing systems, seals, and the visual dimension of ancient communication.
A national research project (PRIN – Progetti di Ricerca di Interesse Nazionale), coordinated at the University of Pavia by Clelia Mora, was recently completed: Ancient Anatolia: Imperial Policies and Local Cultures between the 15th and 7th Centuries BC. Issues of Ethnicity, Urban and Territorial Organization, Tradition and Innovation, with the participation of Maria Elena Balza, Mauro Giorgieri, and Lorenzo d’Alfonso. A second national research project (PRIN), coordinated by Mauro Giorgieri, is currently underway (2023-2026): Plurilingualism in Hittite Anatolia. Fabio Bastici, active in both research and teaching within the MA program, also collaborates in this project.
Lorenzo d’Alfonso has directed the excavations at the citadel of Niğde Kınık Höyük (Cappadocia, Turkey: 2011-2025), within an international archaeological project involving the Universities of Florence, Pavia, New York University, and Dokuz Eylul (Izmir). From 2021-2024 he has directed a UNIPV-NYU research project at the site of Porsuk Zeyve-Höyük (Cappadocia, Turkey), focusing on the Iron Age occupation of the site within the French archaeological project led first by Claire Barat (Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France, France) and from 2024 by Eric Jean (Hittite University of Çorum, Turkey). Two active projects are now underway. In 2024 Lorenzo d’Alfonso started excavating Tell Semhani near Latakia (Syria), in collaboration with Muhammed Redwan. This is the excavation of a small village of the Bronze Age in the vicinity of the main site of the region, Ras Shamra Ugarit. The excavations aim at reconstructing the rural landscape and life ways of a Bronze Age rural community. In 2025 a new project started at the excavations of Türkmen Karahöyük (Konya, Turkey), led by M. Massa (Bilkent University Ankara) and J. Osborne (ISAC – Chicago University), with the goal of investigating the Late Bronze to Iron Age transition at the site. This is so far the largest mound site of Turkey, possibly preserving the remains of the Hittite capital of Tarhuntassa, the Iron Age main site of Parzuta (Prisuwanda) – Bit Burutas, and the city of Barata attested on the Tabula Peutingeriana.
L. Capponi, C. Carsana, R. Scuderi, P. Tozzi, L. Troiani, C. Zizza
forthcoming:
links:
“L’utopie politique et la cité idéale”
EDR - Epigraphic Database Roma - (EAGLE: Electronic Archives of Greek and Latin Epigraphy)
GIEFFRA, Groupe International d’Etudes sur les Femmes et la Famille dans la Rome Antique.