Before coming to Berkeley in Fall 2020, I was trained as an ancient historian and epigraphist in Pisa (Scuola Normale Superiore/University of Pisa), Munich (Ludwig-Maximiliens-Universität) and Vienna (ÖAW, Forschungsgruppe Epigraphik). While approaching the Greco-Roman world, I try to combine philological care, spatial and material awareness, and a particular attention for economic, legal, and social realities.
In my dissertation, tentatively titled "Uneven Debts. Public borrowing, regional specificities, and the Greek polis (committee: Profs. E. Mackil, N. Papazarkadas, C. Noreña, T. Hickey). I intend to investigate the phenomenon of public borrowing in the long Hellenistic age (4th cent. BCE - 2nd cent. CE). The subject at hand encompasses a complex web of inquiries. These range from elucidating the significance of public borrowing within the discourse surrounding the ancient economy during the transitional period from the 19th to the 20th century, to comprehending its conspicuous omission in contemporary scholarly discussions. Additionally, there is a need to provide a lucid explication of the concept of public borrowing itself—its inception, nature, and rationale. Furthermore, a comprehensive assessment of its quantitative significance across various centuries is imperative, as well as an exploration of regional disparities and chronological fluctuations. It will be interesting also to contextualize the evidence drawn from the ancient Greek world within the broader history of public debt.
My reasearch is, to a great extent, epigraphic. Since 2021, I have been collaborating as Assistant editor to the Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum (SEG) for the Attica - Peloponnesos - Boiotia section. Under the supervision of Nikolaos Papazarkadas, in the past few years I have been carrying out epigraphic fieldwork research in Athens (Library of Hadrian), Thebes (Archaeological Museum), and Nicopolis (Archaeological Museum, Theater), as well as working on archival material (squeezes, notebooks, schedes) concerning Roman Ephesos and the Kabalis region (Vienna, ÖAW; supervisor: Prof. T. Corsten).
At Berkeley, I have significantly broaden my intellectual horizons. Working with Emily Mackil, I have discovered the potentiality of probabilistic-driven approaches to ancient economy, which I hope to use in my dissertation. Thanks to Susanna Elm, I have developed an interest for late antique cultural history and questions of imperial representation (especially in the work of St. Ambrose). Here, I was also introduced to documentary papyrology by Todd Hickey, with a specific focus on the social and economic history of Roman Tebtunis (the economic activity of the priests, credit market and land in the documentation of elite families, sitologi-accounts).
In Pisa (2017-2019), I have tutored high school students (liceo classico) in Greek and Latin as part of a volunteering program organized by the Scuola Normale Superiore. At Berkeley, I have taught Latin 2 (Fall 2022) and AHMA R1B (Fall 2023) on history writing in the Greek and Roman world.
Publications
Articles:
- Santini F., Papazarkadas N., "In search of the Smyrna fragment of the Athenian Standards decree (IG I-3 1453G)," ZPE 226 (2023): 82-86
- Santini F., "Neue Inschriften aus der Kabalis," Philia 8 (2022): 98-112
- Santini F., Levine N.H., "Psenkebkis, Son of Pakebkis: New and Old Documents from the Center for the Tebtunis Papyri at The Bancroft Library." BASP 59 (2022): 61-83
- Santini F., Gammella M., “La legge efebarchica di Anfipoli. Una difesa della coerenza interna del testo.” Ricerche Ellenistiche 2 (2021): 25-38
- Santini F., “New light on Artemis’ epiphany. The I.Magnesia 65a+75 and 65b+76 dilemma revisited.” ASNP 12.1 (2020): 61-100
- GEI019: Lokroi Epizephyrioi. Tablet from the archive of the Olympieion (2019)
- GEI015: Athens. Kitian merchants acquiring land for a sanctuary (2017)
Edited Volumes:
- (as Assistant Editor) Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Volume LXVIII (2018 [2023])
- (as Assistant Editor) Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Volume LXVII (2017 [2022])
In progress:
- Santini F., "Materiality and Layout of the Leukophryena Epigraphic Dossier in Magnesia on the Maeander--did they matter?" In: D.Amendola, C.Carusi, C.Maltomini, E.Rosamilia (eds.) Layout and Materiality of writing in ancient documents from the Archaic Period to Late Antiquity: A comparative approach. Firenze.
- Santini F., "A Martyr of Civil Wars. Ambrose on the Death of Valentinian II," in: S. Elm, K. Sessa (eds.) War and Community in Late Antiquity. Cambridge.
- Santini F., Zachos K.L., Nero at Nicopolis. A new Inscription with aureae litterae from the Orchestra of the Theater.” In: A. Angeli, N. Papazarkadas, E. Pavlidis, K. Zachos (eds.) The Theater of Nicopolis (Monumenta Graeca et Romana; Brill)
- Santini F., Hofmann V., “Aus der Arbeit an den «Tituli Asiae Minoris» II: Die Statuenehrungen für [Her]ennius Rufus (I.Ephesos 664B)”
Conference Presentations:
"Like Father, Like Son. A New Document on the Accession of Tiberius from Baetica." in: North American Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy (NASGLE), University of Chicago (8-9 January 2024)
"Standardization in the Athenian Empire and Beyond: Imperial Ideologies and the Creation of Common Knowledge." in: Comparative Legal Thought and Practice in the Graeco-Roman World and Early China, SCS-AIA joint annual meeting (Chicago, 4-7 January 2024)
"Aureis litteris figenda. Readability, meaning, and diffusion of (gilded) bronze letters in the East under Nero." in: ASGLE panel - "Epigraphic Texts and Archaeological Contexts", SCS-AIA meeting (New Orleans, 5-8 January 2023)
"Fare diplomazia intorno a una dea: Magnesia al Meandro e Artemide Leukophryene" in: La diplomazia delle città della Ionia d'Asia (Pisa, 15-16 December 2022)
"Two unpublished papyri from the dossier of Patron’s descendants." in: XXXe Congrès international de Papyrologie (Paris, 25-30 July 2022)
"Shaping an epigraphical dossier in Magnesia on the Maeander: the Leukophryena ‘archive’." Layout and Materiality of Writing in Ancient Documents from the Archaic Period to Late Antiquity: A Comparative Approach, in: The International Conference in Classics and Ancient History (Coimbra, 22-25 June 2021)
The Economy of the Greek and Roman world; Greek Diplomacy; Classical and Hellenistic stasis; ancient ephebeia; the public epigraphy of the early Roman empire, Roman Tebtunis; Ambrose and Late Antique imperial representation.
