PLATINUM

The Project ‘Extending PLATINUM’ is led by M.C. Scappaticcio and aims to provide a digital FAIR output to the research results achieved by the ERC-funded PLATINUM project (‘Papyri and LAtin Texts: INsights and Approaches’, ERC-StG 2014 no. 636983 – P.I.: M.C. Scappaticcio). During its entire lifetime (2015–2022), PLATINUM was aimed and succeed to offer a new, enhanced, multidisciplinary approach to Latin texts on papyrus in a bid to examine their potential and provide new insights into their philological, linguistic, literary, historical (both economic and social) and cultural contribution and value, so as to: (1) supply the scholarly community with an updated corpus and philological reference tool, taking the form of a paper publication in 6 vols, forthcoming with ‘Cambridge University Press’, and being available for databases; (2) afford a new understanding of the textual transmission of Latin classics and seek to assess their impact in various parts of the Roman Empire; (3) make a significant contribution to our knowledge of practices used for learning Latin and for education in the language, especially in the provinces of the Late Antique Roman Empire; (4) produce new research results with regard to linguistic aspects of diachronically marked Latin, particularly in multilingual (and multicultural) contexts; and (5) promote knowledge of Roman ‘micro-history’ (and so of history in general) and culture. The original main aim of the project was to reconstruct the circulation of Latin language and literature and its reflection on Roman society and culture through Latin texts on papyrus. This aim was accomplished, but – more remarkable – the results we got opened new windows in research and made us interrogate on wider matters, as the impact of Rome in the Eastern world and, viceversa, the impact of Eastern (languages, literatures and) cultures on Rome within a multicultural Mediterranean reality. Collecting all the Latin texts on papyrus represented the basis of the new Corpus of Latin Texts on Papyrus (CLTP), the main output of PLATINUM’s research. The 6-vols Corpus of Latin Texts on Papyrus (CLTP) is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press (June 2025). The Project ‘Extending PLATINUM’ will provide a digital interoperable platform of the text-editions provided in the forthcoming CLTP. This will stimulate further researches concerning the impact of Latin papyri on Roman history, language, literature and culture.