Biography
I came to St Andrews in 2016 after research fellowships at Magdalen College Oxford and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. I hold a BA and an MA in Classics from the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa (2006, 2008), and a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford (2012). Between 2010 and 2013 I worked as an assistant editor for the Oxford Dictionary of Medieval Latin.
Research areas
My main project is an edition of and commentary on Terence's Heauton Timorumenos, which I am preparing for the Cambridge 'Orange Series', thanks to the support of a Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship and a British Academy Mid-Career Research Fellowship.
The commentary aims to develop a new interpretation of Terence, focusing on his key role in the integration of Greek culture and the creation of a literature for the rising power of Rome. These are research areas in which I am particularly interested, and which I am also investigating through a project on the special relationship between Pergamene Culture and Rome (with Thomas Nelson and Stefano Rebeggiani), and a commentary of Lucretius DRN 4 (under contract with Lorenzo Valla).
I have a strong expertise in the history and variation of Latin, both as the language of Rome, written and spoken, and as the lingua franca of Europe until the 16th century, and beyond. This developed in particular during the preparation of my first book (Oxford 2015), focusing on the verb 'to be' in Latin, and also through work for the Oxford Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, and translations of medieval andRenaissance texts. I'm currently nurturing this expertise with an edited volume on Early Latin language (with James Adams and Anna Chahoud, forthcoming with CUP).
I am also very interested in (ancient) philosophy of language and theory of fiction. The first interest led to a chapter on Caesar's linguistic 'ideology', and a volume, co-edited with Barney Taylor, focusing on the key question about the relation between language and reality (Cambridge 2019). The second interest developed with chapters and articles on ancient theory of (Roman) comedy, and realism in particular.
These interests extend well beyond the ancient world, and have converged into a series of works on modern literature, including essays on Oscar Wilde’s Happy Prince and John Henry Newman’s Callista, and above all articles on Tolkien's works and poetics, stemming from a collaboration with the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts at the University of St Andrews (ITIA).
PhD supervision
- Marco Gay
Selected publications
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Language and nature in the classical Roman world
Pezzini, G. (ed.) & Taylor, B. (ed.), Jun 2019, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 240 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Terence and the verb 'to be' in Latin
Pezzini, G., 30 Jul 2015, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 355 p. (Oxford classical monographs )Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Gasparo Contarini, The Republic of Venice
Pezzini, G. & Sabetti, F., 2019, University of Toronto Press.Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Oxford Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources: Fascicules XV–XVII (salvator - Z)
Pezzini, G. (ed.), Howlett, D. (ed.), Ashdowne, R. (ed.), Thakkar, M. N. A., Sneddon, S. (ed.), Korn, K. (ed.) & White, C. (ed.), 2013, Oxford University Press.Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Terence and the speculum uitae: ‘realism’ and (Roman) comedy
Pezzini, G., 9 Apr 2019, (Accepted/In press) In: Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. In press, p. 0Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
The lords of the West: cloaking, freedom and the divine narrative in Tolkien's poetics
Pezzini, G., 1 Oct 2019, In: Journal of Inklings Studies. 9, 2, p. 115-153Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Comic lexicon: searching for 'submerged' Latin from Plautus to Erasmus
Pezzini, G., Oct 2016, Early and Late Latin: Continuity or Change?. Adams, J. N. & Vincent, N. (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 14–46 33 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Classics Scholars: between Theory and Practice
Pezzini, G. (ed.) & Rebeggiani, S. (ed.), 2013, Fabrizio Serra Editore.Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Caesar the linguist: the debate about the Latin language
Pezzini, G., Dec 2017, The Cambridge companion to the writings of Julius Caesar. Grillo, L. & Krebs, C. (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 173-192 20 p. (Cambridge companions to literature).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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The early Lucilius and the language of the Roman palliata
Pezzini, G., Mar 2018, Lucilius and Satire in Second-Century BC Rome. Breed, B. W., Keitel, E. & Wallace, R. (eds.). Cambridge University Press, p. 162-183 22 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter