Palladas in context: Epigrams and Society in Late Antiquity

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The aim of this proposal is to improve our knowledge of history, context and history of text of the Greek and Latin epigrammatic production of beginning Late Antiquity (4th-5th cent. AD), in general and, more particularly, in relation to Palladas of Alexandria and to the epigrammatic codex P. Ct. YBR inv. 4000: reconstruction of the context, in which Palladas lived, and of the circles, in which he was active; understanding of the ways, in which the epigrams of Palladas were published and transmitted; reconstruction of text and context of the epigrams of the P. Ct. YBR inv. 4000, and of the relations between the epigrams of Palladas and those of the new codex. My project should give a new image of such epigrammatic production, and demonstrate, that other pagan poets lived in the same period. Palladas' life and his environment should be more precisely defined, as well as those of other contemporary epigrammatists (Ausonius, Gregory of Nazianzus, authors of the Epigrammata Bobiensia, Eutolmius Scholasticus) and their relations with Palladas. The project will also give a better image of the textual history of the Greek Anthology (AG). Palladas' epigrams involve important figures such as the mathematician, astronomer and philosopher Hypatia; her father, the astronomer and mathematician Theon; Hypatia‘s student Synesius, one of the most prominent writers of the period; the patriarchs Timotheus († 385) and Theophilus († 412). Reconstructing all the relations between Palladas and all these and other (e. g. the rhetorician, philosopher and statesman Themistius) historical figures is therefore extremely necessary, as well as the more general context. Only in this way it will be possible to understand, when and where he lived. At the end, this research will improve our understanding not just of Palladas' epigrams, but also of the entire context, thus giving us a more precise image of the Pagan and Christian circles of the time. Finally, I will try to reconstruct text and context of the P. Ct. YBR inv. 4000. This last part of the project will offer new insights about history and everyday life in the Egypt of the 3rd - 4th century AD.