Abstract
The Iso-Polites project will offer a new Italian translation of Isocrates’ Opera omnia in the light of the “New Oxford Isocrates” and it will be dedicated in same time to the drafting of a systematic commentary on the Against the Sophists, the Encomium of Helen and the Letters. We are certain that the widest reading and knowledge of Isocrates' thought can guarantee today a decisive improvement both on the philological and cultural level, and on the educational and social level with regard to the programmatic awareness of a “poetics of the citizen”. We are convinced that the rediscovery of Isocrates, strengthened also by the “New Oxford Isocrates”, is now indispensable and should be exploited in an unitary project. Translating and observing the Opera omnia of Isocrates from a mature and reliable philological point of view will allow to understand and to make available not only to the scientific community the value of a literary protagonist of the ancient world: not only an outstanding voice within the Greek literary production, but also a fundamental author for the development of Western thought. In fact Isocrates gave a unique contribution to the idea of citizenship, based on a strong cohesion and interlacement between politike techne and paideia, politics and education.
Results achieved
The PRIN 2022 project Iso-Polites. Isocrates for a New Idea of Citizenship promoted the study of the corpus of Isocrates through a philological, literary-historical, and cultural approach, with the aim of deepening our understanding of the role of paideia, rhetoric, and civic education in the thought of the Athenian orator, while highlighting its continuing relevance to contemporary debates on education, citizenship, and political communication. Funded by the European Union within the framework of the PRIN 2022 programme, the project received a total grant of €107,686, allocated between the Research Unit at the University of Tuscia (€60,843), where the Principal Investigator was based, and the Research Unit at the University of Sassari-Bologna (€46,843). During the course of the project, the Head of the latter Unit took up a position at the University of Bologna, which consequently replaced the University of Sassari as the administrative host institution. Research activities focused on several major works of the Isocratean corpus, with particular attention to Against the Sophists, the Encomium of Helen, and the Letters, producing original results both in terms of literary-historical interpretation and in the reconstruction of Isocrates' political and educational thought. The project also contributed to the training of early-career researchers through the funding of research fellowships, participation in international conferences, seminars, and scientific publications. The Bologna Research Unit concentrated its work on the Isocratean letters, regarded as a privileged source for investigating the relationship between intellectuals, political power, and civic education. Within the framework of the project, a research fellowship was awarded to Dr Antonio Mura to investigate Isocratean epistolography, with particular attention to the role of the intellectual in Athenian political life and to forms of educational and political communication in the fourth century BCE. The main scientific outcomes of the fellowship include a new Italian translation of Epistle II to Philip, accompanied by a historical-philological introduction and commentary. The research also resulted in a scholarly article on Epistle II to Philip, currently under double-blind peer review and forthcoming with Giappichelli Editore (Turin, 2026). The first results of this research were presented at the project's final international conference, Isocrates: A Corpus of Texts for Education, held at the University of Tuscia (23–24 February 2026), in a paper entitled Isocrates between Translation and Exegesis: Some Passages from Epistle I to Philip, which will be published in the conference proceedings. The fellowship also resulted in the paper Macedonian Laconism: Strategies and Reasons for the Exaltation of Sparta in Isocrates' First Epistle to Philip, presented by Antonio Mura at the Celtic Conference in Classics (Universidade de Coimbra, 15–18 July 2025) within the panel Laconism in and beyond Athens. The revised and expanded version will appear under the title A Changing Paradigm for New Hegemonies: Isocrates' Sparta and the Rise of Macedonia in the volume Laconism Beyond Athens, edited by Luke N. Madson and Matteo Zaccarini (Classical Press of Wales, forthcoming 2027). Another output of the fellowship is the paper Il giudizio di Isocrate sulla commedia ("Isocrates' View of Comedy"), presented by Antonio Mura at the "Andrea Blasina" Greek Certamen (University of Sassari, 10 May 2025), which will be included in the proceedings of the Maggio Isocrateo seminar (see below). Alongside these activities, the Research Unit pursued further investigations into the cultural and literary significance of Isocratean epistolography, highlighting its role in the construction of paideia, the definition of intellectual identity, and the transmission of civic models. Within this framework, Margherita Erbì's paper From Political Advice to the Care of the Philoi: Isocrates' Letters as a Prelude to Epicurus' Epistles? explores the relationship between Isocrates' letters and the subsequent Hellenistic philosophical epistolary tradition, with particular attention to their reception in Epicurean epistolography and to the educational function of the letter. This contribution will also appear in the proceedings of the Maggio Isocrateo seminar. Beyond the achievements of the individual research units, the project produced significant collective outcomes through the close collaboration between the two teams, in terms of scientific advancement and in the dissemination of research and the development of international scholarly networks. Among the project's most significant achievements was the strengthening of the international network of Isocratean studies. Members of both research units played a key role in founding the Societas Isocratica (SocIsoc), officially established in July 2025 during the biennial conference of the International Society for the History of Rhetoric (ISHR), held in Copenhagen (22–25 July 2025). The new international scholarly society now provides a stable institutional framework for Isocratean studies and will ensure continuity in research activities, editorial initiatives, and international collaborations initiated by the project. Particular attention was devoted to the dissemination of research results through seminars, national and international conferences, school outreach, and public engagement activities. Major initiatives included the seminar Isocrates: Epideictic Rhetoric and the Great Hormē in Plato's Phaedrus, held at the University of Sassari (10 June 2024); the seminar series Maggio Isocrateo (Isocrates in His Context; Isocrates: A Dialogue between Schools; Beyond Isocrates), hosted by the University of Tuscia (13, 21, and 28 May 2025); and the project's final international conference, Isocrates: A Corpus of Texts for Education, organised by the DIKE Department of the University of Tuscia (23–24 February 2026). The project also promoted study days and outreach activities in secondary schools, during which researchers presented the aims and results of their work, fostering dialogue between universities, schools, and society. The activities carried out within the project have already generated, and will continue to generate, scientific publications, edited volumes, and conference proceedings. Among the principal editorial initiatives are the international volume The Many Faces of Helen: A Paradigm between Literature, Rhetoric and Philosophy, forthcoming from Karl Alber Verlag (2026); the proceedings of the Maggio Isocrateo seminar, currently in preparation for publication in the Quaderni della Tuscia series (no. 2, University of Tuscia), edited by G. D'Alessandro, D. De Sanctis, and M. Vallozza for Giappichelli Editore (forthcoming 2026); and the proceedings of the international conference Isocrates: A Corpus of Texts for Education, which will collect the papers presented at the project's concluding conference. A fundamental role in communicating the project's activities was played by the Iso-Polites blog (2023–2025), which continuously documented the progress of the research, scientific and outreach initiatives, and the principal results achieved, promoting open access to the project's outputs and their dissemination within the scholarly community. Overall, Iso-Polites has made a substantial contribution to the renewal of Isocratean studies by strengthening the dialogue between philology, cultural history, the history of education, and reflections on citizenship. Through the integration of research, training, dissemination, and international cooperation, the project has produced lasting results. It has consolidated Isocrates' position as a central figure in the history of paideia and Western political thought while enhancing the international visibility of Italian scholarship in Classical Studies.Dettagli del progetto
Responsabile scientifico: Margherita Erbì
Strutture Unibo coinvolte:
Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Italianistica
Coordinatore:
Università degli Studi della Tuscia(Italy)
Contributo totale di progetto: Euro (EUR) 21.698,39
Contributo totale Unibo: Euro (EUR) 21.698,39
Durata del progetto in mesi: 24
Data di inizio
12/12/2023
Data di fine:
28/02/2026
