A Critical Edition of The Cistellaria of Plautus

The Cistellaria is a Plautine comedy written at the end of the third century B. C.; we have no modern connnentary an nor an edition of this important play. The applicant has already begun to work an the commentary, and has also done some work an the edition which is the ultimate aim of this project. This edition will appear in the Editiones Sarsinates at Urbino, a series whose editors aim at replacing the famous but outdated editio Teubneriana of Ritschl and his pupils (Cesare Questa is the general editor of the modern series). For the work an the original manuscripts at least orte trip to Rome will be necessary and another orte to Milan for looking at difficult passages in the two most important medieval codices. In addition, the applicant will have to travel to Urbino several (at least three) times to discuss the findings with the general editor and the other specialists there. Especially important for this project is the deciphennent of the relevant parts of the Ambrosian palimpsest (of the 5th century), which for about 270 lines of the Cistellaria is the codex unicus. By the use of modern technology (multispectral photography, followed by computer-assisted digital reworking of the images of the manuscript pages) orte will certainly arrive at much better results. Structure of the project 1. lt will have to start off with the work of fotoscientifica (Parm a) an the Ambrosianus. 2. These digital images have to be studied with the help of a specialist for palimpsests / majuscule writing. 3. The finding of this endeavour will provide the basis for a central part of the text edition; there will be close cooperation with Urbino (two trips, at least). first year 4. A trip to Rome and to Milan for checking the important medieval codices by autopsy. 5. Preparation of the definitive edition, again in close cooperation with Urbino. 2nd year Modern technology of the kind described above has not yet been used in the case of the Ambrosianus; this project is a first initiative, hopefully leading to its further application in similar cases. Several other projects (partly with the help of fotoscientifica like Rinascimento virtuale) are working very successfully at the moment. The applicant has edited texts of Roman and Greek drama, and is amply qualified for such work. He has got a lot of training in reading manuscripts and other editorial work.