Abstract
The project aims at casting new light on the process of decision-making and generation of consensus in the ancient cities, based on the practice of public speaking in antiquity. It will conduct a novel study of selected public speeches from classical Athens to Late Antiquity in diachronic and comparative perspective. It will bring together both Greek and Roman historians, who will work not only on ancient oratory, but also on the ‘fictive’ speeches contained in the works of ancient historians and on monologues from theatre plays. At the centre of investigation there are the rhetoric strategies used to persuade audiences and the forms of interaction between public speakers and audiences in the different contexts and venues in which communities gathered in antiquity, namely, the assembly, the courts, the councils, the theatre, the battlefield and so on. Drawing on the advances made in the fields of psychology (studies on emotions), discourse analysis (framing analysis and paradigm narrative) and sociology (discursive new-institutionalism), this project aims at 1) a new understanding of the dynamics regulating political communication and the interaction between speakers and audience; 2) a thorough picture of rhetoric strategies and patterns of communication that are typical of public speeches in antiquity and eventually found their place in today’s political arenas; 3) a new awareness of the ‘blurring of boundaries’ between different rhetoric genres, overcoming the divisions traditionally attributed to Aristotle; 4) a new understanding of the way consensus was generated and political decisions were made, detecting both elements of continuity and change in different historical periods and areas. Three research units (RUs) will work in close cooperation. RU1 in Milan will work on public speakers and their audiences, focusing on different venues of delivery (and different audiences). Two subprojects will focus on classical Athens, one on the late Republic and Early Empire, one on the mid-imperial age in the Greek world, one on Late antique’s oratory in Athens and Gaza. RU2 in Siena will deal with responsibility and motivation: one sub-project will focus on prosecutions against public speakers in Classical Athens, while the other subproject will focus on motivational speeches pronounced by generals to the troops. RU3 in Bologna will focus on theatricality and performances. One subproject will be on public speeches by ‘demagogues’ in Thucydides, one will focus on monologues from theatre plays and ‘rhetoric transfers’ from theatre to oratory in the classical and post-classical period, one subproject will be on the satire of power in Lucian. Results will be disseminated by public webinars open to the broader public, events addressing local students’ and theatre associations, workshops and international conference with publications in English and in Open Access, a website and a forum of discussion.
Results achieved
The project cast new light on the process of decision-making and generation of consensus in the ancient Greek and Roman cities, based on the practice of public speaking in antiquity. It produced a novel study of selected public speeches from Classical Athens to Late Antiquity in a diachronic and comparative perspective. It brought together both Greek and Roman historians, who worked not only on ancient oratory, but also on the ‘fictive’ speeches contained in the works of ancient historians and on monologues from theatre plays. At the centre of the investigation were the rhetorical strategies used to persuade audiences and the forms of interaction between public speakers and audiences in the different contexts and venues in which communities gathered in antiquity, namely the assembly, the courts, the councils, the theatre, the battlefield, and others. Drawing on advances in the fields of psychology (studies on emotions), discourse analysis (framing analysis and narrative paradigms), and sociology (discursive new institutionalism), the project achieved: - a new understanding of the dynamics regulating political communication and the interaction between speakers and audiences; - a comprehensive picture of rhetorical strategies and patterns of communication that were characteristic of public speeches in antiquity and that ultimately found their place in modern political arenas; - a new awareness of the ‘blurring of boundaries’ between different rhetorical genres, overcoming the divisions traditionally attributed to Aristotle; - a new understanding of the ways in which consensus was generated and political decisions were made, identifying both continuities and changes across different historical periods and geographical areas. The three research units (RUs) worked in close cooperation. RU1 in Milan investigated public speakers and their audiences, focusing on different venues of delivery and the corresponding audiences. Two subprojects examined Classical Athens; one focused on the Late Republic and Early Empire; one on the Greek world of the Middle Imperial period; and one on Late Antique oratory in Athens and Gaza. RU2 in Siena examined responsibility and motivation: one subproject focused on prosecutions against public speakers in Classical Athens, while the other investigated motivational speeches delivered by generals to their troops. RU3 in Bologna focused on theatricality and performance. The project's results were disseminated through 3 public webinars open to a broad audience, events aimed at local schools and theatre associations, 3 research workshops, 1 international conference, plus participation by the project members to several international conferences and workshops. The project members have published articles on peer-reviewed journals of the relevant fields, book chapters in edited volumes, and monographs.Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Matteo Zaccarini
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Beni Culturali
Coordinator:
Università degli Studi di MILANO(Italy)
Total Unibo Contribution: Euro (EUR) 121.515,00
Project Duration in months: 24
Start Date:
30/11/2023
End Date:
28/02/2026
