The course aims to provide students with an in-depth knowledge of Late-Antique and Early-Medieval Italian history; to present the anthropological, cultural and religious context of that long transitional era; and to give an account of the main primary sources, both written and material, at the basis of the scientific analysis of the centuries in question.
scheda docente
materiale didattico
Timetable: Monday, 12-3 pm (Aula 2 ex Italianistica); Tuesday, 9 am-12 (Aula 2 ex Italianistica)
Start date: October 27, 2025
Title of the course: Late-Antique Italy: Culture, Religion, History (“Le guerre lo portarono in Italia, dalle rive del Danubio e dell’Elba […]. Veniva dalle selve inestricabili del cinghiale e dell’uro; era bianco, coraggioso, innocente, crudele, leale al suo capo e alla sua tribù, non all’universo”, Jorge Luis Borges)
The course will focus on Late-Antique and Byzantine Italy. After a few introductory lectures on the history of the peninsula between the 4th and 5th centuries (fall of the Pars Occidentis of the Roman Empire, reign of Odoacer, Gothic period), the Byzantine presence in Italy will be accounted from the outbreak of the Greek-Gothic war (535) until the Norman conquest of Bari (1071). Individual lectures will be devoted to the main exclaves of the basileia ton Romaion in our peninsula: Genoa and Liguria, Venice and the North-East, Ravenna and Romagna, the Roman Duchy, Naples, Apulia and Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia. One part of the course will be specifically dedicated to Byzantine Rome (6th-8th centuries), i.e. its cultural, political, linguistic, religious, and urban evolution. A guided tour of a significant monument of Byzantine Rome will be an integral part of the course.
- S. Cosentino, (ed.), A Companion to Byzantine Italy, Brill, Leiden – Boston 2021, pp. 360-538.
- G. Ravegnani, I bizantini in Italia, il Mulino, Bologna 2004.
Programma
First semesterTimetable: Monday, 12-3 pm (Aula 2 ex Italianistica); Tuesday, 9 am-12 (Aula 2 ex Italianistica)
Start date: October 27, 2025
Title of the course: Late-Antique Italy: Culture, Religion, History (“Le guerre lo portarono in Italia, dalle rive del Danubio e dell’Elba […]. Veniva dalle selve inestricabili del cinghiale e dell’uro; era bianco, coraggioso, innocente, crudele, leale al suo capo e alla sua tribù, non all’universo”, Jorge Luis Borges)
The course will focus on Late-Antique and Byzantine Italy. After a few introductory lectures on the history of the peninsula between the 4th and 5th centuries (fall of the Pars Occidentis of the Roman Empire, reign of Odoacer, Gothic period), the Byzantine presence in Italy will be accounted from the outbreak of the Greek-Gothic war (535) until the Norman conquest of Bari (1071). Individual lectures will be devoted to the main exclaves of the basileia ton Romaion in our peninsula: Genoa and Liguria, Venice and the North-East, Ravenna and Romagna, the Roman Duchy, Naples, Apulia and Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia. One part of the course will be specifically dedicated to Byzantine Rome (6th-8th centuries), i.e. its cultural, political, linguistic, religious, and urban evolution. A guided tour of a significant monument of Byzantine Rome will be an integral part of the course.
Testi Adottati
MANDATORY TEXTS:- S. Cosentino, (ed.), A Companion to Byzantine Italy, Brill, Leiden – Boston 2021, pp. 360-538.
- G. Ravegnani, I bizantini in Italia, il Mulino, Bologna 2004.
Bibliografia Di Riferimento
ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY: - S. Cosentino, Storia dell'Italia bizantina (VI-XI secolo): da Giustiniano ai Normanni, Bononia University Press, Bologna 2008. - P. Delogu, Roma all’inizio del medioevo: storie, luoghi, persone (secoli VI-IX), Carocci, Roma 2022. - J. Herrin, Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe, Princeton University Press, Oxford – Princeton 2020. - S. Origone, "Liguria bizantina: 538-643", in C. Scholz - G. Makris (hrsgg.), Polypleuros nous: Miscellanea für Peter Schreiner zu seinem 60. Geburtstag, München 2000, pp. 272-289. - G. Ravegnani, Andare per l’Italia bizantina, il Mulino, Bologna 2016. - R. Santangeli Valenzani (a cura di), Roma altomedievale. Paesaggio urbano, società e cultura (secoli V-X), Carocci, Roma 2023. - V. von Falkenhausen, Studi sull’Italia bizantina, a cura di M. Di Branco – L. Farina, Viella, Roma 2022.Modalità Erogazione
In personModalità Frequenza
Optional. The students who cannot attend the course are invited to contact the teacher to arrange a specific programme.Modalità Valutazione
Oral exam