STATE OF THE ART
Currently, no study has focused on the polarity centre/periphery in Tito Livio’s work, despite the increasing interest in the function of literary space in Stories (M. Jaeger, Livy's written Rame, 1997; Urban
Landscape, Monuments, and the Building of Memory in Livy, in Companion to Livy, 2015, 65-77; B. Mineo,
Tite-Live et l 'histoire de Rame, 2006, 45-57). Furthermore, no overviews on geographic aspects of his work have been carried out after M. Girod, La géographie de Tite-Live et la critique moderne (ANRW Il.30.2 [ 1982], 1190-1229).

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The concepts “centre/periphery” are evidently significant to analyze Tito Livio as historian and scholar: sources recall him as representative of the historic and geographic suburb (born in Padova and attached to the city, accused of Patavinitas), yet close to the centre of power; a central figure of Augustan culture, yet in the periphery of the most prominent circles (Maecenas, Palliane). The purpose of this project is to examine the centre/periphery categories in their different interpretations and the role they play in narrating the space-time development of Rome: from a literary point of view, its functionality will be analyzed as a tool of expression, aimed at highlighting (when its development is taken into account) rhetorical and narrative strategies employed by Livio to shape his work. From a historiographic point of view, the centre/periphery categories will be necessary to evaluate Livio’s view of the history of Rome and his Rome-centrism, in light of tradition and Augustan cultural practices. From a historical point of view, the employment of centre/periphery categories will be analyzed in the framework of legal and power relationships both within and outside the civitas. From an archaeological point of view, the tabula picta will be analyzed as a visual medium of the enlargement of Rome’s borders. From a geographic point of view, the analysis of the text will lead to a comprehensive recording, IT cataloguing of places and peoples mentioned in the work, and their lemmatization to build a database as preparatory work for the development of a “Livian atlas”.

SCIENTIFIC IMPACT
The project fills a clear gap in Livio’s exegesis and elucidates some aspects of his work that are still poorly known from a cross-disciplinary point of view. The historic and geographic database, with open access and constantly updated, will combine methods of sciences of the ancient world with cutting-edge digital technologies. By studying one of the most iconic works of the Augustan age, this project will contribute to the understanding of a crucial period for the shaping of today’s European identity, crossing cultural practices that are still relevant today.

The project ended in
2020

National Scientific Coordinator
Gianpiero Rosati (Scuola Normale di Pisa)

Task Groups
Gianpiero Rosati (Scuola Normale di Pisa)
Mario Alberto Labate (Università degli Studi di Firenze)
Alessandro Barchiesi (Università degli Studi di Siena)
Elisa Romano (Università degli Studi di Pavia)
Maria Luisa Delvigo ((Università degli Studi di Udine)
Antonio Stramaglia (Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale)
Gianluigi Baldo ((Università degli Studi di Padova)
Francesco Citti (Università degli Studi di Bologna)
Luigi Galasso (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)
Andrea Cucchiarelli (Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"

Members of Padova's Task Group
Gianluigi Baldo
Monica Salvadori
Maria Veronese
Francesca Cavaggioni
Flavio Raviola