Papers by Antonio Pistellato
Num. 40 (n.s.) – Giugno 2022 – Fasc. 1
Giustino: Storie Filippiche. Florilegio da Pompeo Trogo. Premessa di G. Traina; Saggio introd., n... more Giustino: Storie Filippiche. Florilegio da Pompeo Trogo. Premessa di G. Traina; Saggio introd., nuova trad. e note di A. Borgna. Santarcangelo di Romagna: Rusconi Libri 2019, 701 pp.
Le Monnier Università, 2018
Il volume raccoglie e offre al lettore i contributi di undici specialisti, variamente impegnati s... more Il volume raccoglie e offre al lettore i contributi di undici specialisti, variamente impegnati sul fronte della poesia epigrafica, convenuti a Venezia nel maggio 2012 nell'incontro di studi Memoria poetica e poesia della memoria per trattare, secondo le rispettive esperienze e metodologie, il tema comune della formazione e della continuità di una tradizione espressiva e letteraria nell'ambito delle scritture esposte dall'Antichità all'Umanesimo.
Antichistica, 2022
This book is a collection of essays in honour of Giovannella Cresci Marrone, Professor of Roman H... more This book is a collection of essays in honour of Giovannella Cresci Marrone, Professor of Roman History at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, on the occasion of her retirement on 1 October 2021. The volume explores Giovannella’s interests through the eyes of a group of colleagues, who, over the years and since the very beginning of her academic career, have shared with her significant experiences in a professional and personal capacity. The essays cover the main domains of Giovannella’s scientific research: epigraphy and regional history, ancient writing cultures, historiography and political history, from the Greek classical period to the uses of the past in the twentieth century. Specific attention is given to the multiple patterns through which different areas of Italy were incorporated into the Roman world and to the scrutiny of several key figures of ancient history, such as Themistocles, Alexander the Great, Caesar, and Augustus, as well as their receptions. They also consider ...
The paper pivots on the concept of orbis in relation to the space of Roman conquest, and on its d... more The paper pivots on the concept of orbis in relation to the space of Roman conquest, and on its development in the course of a rather condensed historical period. Under Augustus, the defeat of Varus at the Teutoburg Forest (9 CE) marked a watershed. Under Tiberius, the worldwide Empire envisaged in Augustan Rome was further frustrated by the death of Germanicus in the East (19 CE). Albinovanus Pedo and Manilius provide clues as regards the development of a dual concept of orbis. Velleius Paterculus provides further evidence of a reassessment of the concept of orbis in this period. Mirroring the complex relationship between Rome and Parthia, the idea of orbis alter had enduring fortune. At a given point, it changed, as Paulinus of Nola used it in a Christian perspective between the 4th and 5th centuries CE.
Giornale Italiano di Filologia - Bibliotheca, 2021
The contribution elaborates on the peculiarity of Perioch. 49,21-27 concerning Andriscus, the so-... more The contribution elaborates on the peculiarity of Perioch. 49,21-27 concerning Andriscus, the so-called Pseudo-Philippus. Scholarly interpretations on the passage will be resumed, as mainly polarizing on opposing views of its content. Subsequently, on a philological level, a comparative analysis of the text in the light of Livy’s extant books and of external parallels will show that the vocabulary employed is Livian to a substantial extent. Furthermore, on a narrative level, Jal’s en passant concession («tout au plus» comm. ad loc.) about the possible interest of Livy’s epitomiser (and of his readers) in the histoires merveilleuses opens the way to as thorough an investigation as possible into literary parallels – both Greek and Latin – chronologically close to the Periochae, that invite to reassess the outstanding problem of the peculiarity.
The Intellectual Climate of Cassius Dio, 2022
Starting from the topic of Antonine-Severan dynastic change and continuity, this paper elaborates... more Starting from the topic of Antonine-Severan dynastic change and continuity, this paper elaborates on the controversial problem of emperors' use of the name "Antoninus" as seen in the Historia Augusta, and offers a reassessment of it through a comparative analysis with Cassius Dio’s Roman History. In Dio’s work the nomen Antoninorum issue is omitted or just alluded to, but a political role played by the name Antoninus in the transition from the Antonines to the Severans seems to be genuine. Dio adds indirect but significant clues to confirm it. On the one hand, he pays unparalleled attention to the meaning of the nomen Augustum, which focuses on the legitimacy issue. On the other hand, through reticence he mirrors the political and intellectual climate of his own time. As a distinguished member of the Severan Senate and as a historian, Dio preferred not to treat explicitly a topic that was still "hot" when he was finishing his work.
This paper compares Josephus AJ 18.65-84 and Juvenal 6.522-547, both addressing Isiac and Jewish ... more This paper compares Josephus AJ 18.65-84 and Juvenal 6.522-547, both addressing Isiac and Jewish issues, and elaborates on the hypothesis that the coincidences existing between the two, instead of being incidental, are significant. Given Josephus’ and Juvenal’s chronological proximity, and partially contemporaneous presence at Rome, both of them may depend on the use of common background material, whose first diffusion dates back to the age of Tiberius and which shares some features of the Romance of Alexander. The possibility is contextualized within the broader literary panorama concerning Egyptians and Jews, and is explored through a detailed analysis of the texts taken into account.
Cassius Dio the Historian, 2021
The paper pivots on Cass. Dio 61.17-3-5, where a pseudo-triumph takes place in Rome in 59 CE, amo... more The paper pivots on Cass. Dio 61.17-3-5, where a pseudo-triumph takes place in Rome in 59 CE, among other initiatives promoted by the emperor Nero in memory of his mother Agrippina’s death. Cassius Dio reports all of them as a demonstration of Nero’s disparaging approach towards the main orders - senatorial families in particular. Dio reports senators of the most distinguished Roman families parading before the eyes of foreign people. The peculiar historiographical representation is analyzed from two perspectives. On the one hand, rhetorical and literary aspects are highlighted, in order to place this piece of narrative within Dio’s account of Neronian Rome, with the support of passages from Dio and parallel sources. On the other hand, political and ideological aspects are taken into account, and Dio’s agenda is considered in the light of some basic issues concerning the senatorial identity between Commodus and Septimius Severus - and under the emperors in general. As a direct witness of the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries, and as an historian looking back to the Julio-Claudian emperors, Dio reflects the need to elaborate on the key-issue of the role played by the senatorial order in a state ruled by the princeps.
Cahiers du Centre Gustave Glotz, 2006
* La sezione intitolata « Protagonismo femminile nella X Regio : un possibile esempio di liberali... more * La sezione intitolata « Protagonismo femminile nella X Regio : un possibile esempio di liberalitas civica ? » è di Sara Nicolini, mentre quella intitolata « Praefectura T[aruisanorum] ? Risvolti amministrativi di un'integrazione problematica » è di Antonio Pistellato. La parte introduttiva è invece comune.
Cassius Dio’s account of Caligula’s principate pivots on the divide between Caligula’s ‘democrati... more Cassius Dio’s account of Caligula’s principate pivots on the divide between Caligula’s ‘democratic’ debut and his later decline into despotism. As Dio reports, the murder of the emperor in 41 CE polarised the Senate on the question of whether to abolish the Principate or to confirm it. It is likely that Dio’s interest in such a crucial passage depends on his own experience of the end of Commodus and the accession of Pertinax in 192-193 CE. The underpinning of his political thought is Stoic: when the relationship between the princeps and the Senate collapses, the solution is not so much ‘republicanism’ as a ‘republican spirit’, to be intended as a fruitful cooperation between the two.
A. Kemezis – C. Bailey – B. Poletti (eds.), The Intellectual Climate of Cassius Dio: Greek and Roman Pasts. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2022
Starting from the topic of Antonine-Severan dynastic change and continuity, this paper elaborates... more Starting from the topic of Antonine-Severan dynastic change and continuity, this paper elaborates on the controversial problem of emperors' use of the name "Antoninus" as seen in the Historia Augusta, and offers a reassessment of it through a comparative analysis with Cassius Dio’s Roman History. In Dio’s work the nomen Antoninorum issue is omitted or just alluded to, but a political role played by the name Antoninus in the transition from the Antonines to the Severans seems to be genuine. Dio adds indirect but significant clues to confirm it. On the one hand, he pays unparalleled attention to the meaning of the nomen Augustum, which focuses on the legitimacy issue. On the other hand, through reticence he mirrors the political and intellectual climate of his own time. As a distinguished member of the Severan Senate and as a historian, Dio preferred not to treat explicitly a topic that was still "hot" when he was finishing his work.
G. Baldo; L. Beltramini (eds), Livius Noster. Tito Livio e la sua eredità, Turnhout: Brepols, 2021
The contribution elaborates on the peculiarity of Perioch. 49,21-27 concerning Andriscus, the so-... more The contribution elaborates on the peculiarity of Perioch. 49,21-27 concerning Andriscus, the so-called Pseudo-Philippus. Scholarly interpretations on the passage will be resumed, as mainly polarizing on opposing views of its content. Subsequently, on a philological level, a comparative analysis of the text in the light of Livy’s extant books and of external parallels will show that the vocabulary employed is Livian to a substantial extent. Furthermore, on a narrative level, Jal’s en passant concession («tout au plus» comm. ad loc.) about the possible interest of Livy’s epitomiser (and of his readers) in the histoires merveilleuses opens the way to as thorough an investigation as possible into literary parallels – both Greek and Latin – chronologically close to the Periochae, that invite to reassess the outstanding problem of the peculiarity.
Paulo maiora canamus. Raccolta di studi per Paolo Mastandrea, 2021
This paper sets out to elaborate on the persistence of the republican ideal in imperial Rome thro... more This paper sets out to elaborate on the persistence of the republican ideal in imperial Rome through the lens of historiography. The investigation – which is meant to be part of a wider workplan – is divided in two parts. Firstly, it focuses on what is believed to be a key-factor of such persistence: Cicero’s elaboration of the ideal government of the Roman state in his De re publica. Secondly, it highlights significant testimonies focusing on two momentous events of the third century, notably from the Historia Augusta, which suggest the persistence of Cicero’s assessment: the rise of Pupienus and Balbinus and the death of Maximinus (238), and the rise of Tacitus (275).
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Papers by Antonio Pistellato