Ἕτερον Βυζάντιον

Greek and Byzantine Venice

Seminar in Ancient Greek, Venice, February 22-28, 2026

Rogerus Byzantinus and Schola Humanistica in collaboration with the association Veneto Nostro- Raixe Venete.

Ἕτερον Βυζάντιον is a seminar in Ancient Greek dedicated to Venice — daughter, rival, and heir of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire. “And though all the nations of the earth flow into your city,” wrote Bessarion in a famous letter to Doge Cristoforo Moro, “it is especially the Greeks who do so, for when they come here by ship, they first land in Venice: they feel themselves bound to you by such a strong tie that, when they disembark in your city, they have the impression of entering a second Constantinople.” What was Bessarion thinking of? Of the close political and commercial relations that had always bound, for better or worse, the Venetians to the Byzantines? Of the domes and golds in which Venice seems to mirror Constantinople? Of a kinship between Venetian and Greek customs? These and other questions will guide us on this journey through the Byzantine and Venetian worlds.

With this series of lessons, which will take place in Venice from February 22 to 28, 2026, Rogerus Byzantinus and Schola Humanistica offer an immersion in the Greek–Roman, Venetian, and Byzantine world. Our adventure will begin with Homer, Alcman, and Euripides, the earliest witnesses to the bond between the Veneti and the Greeks. We will read the descriptions by Strabo and Procopius of the lagoons of the Upper Adriatic and of cities like Ravenna, built on water.We will then turn to some of the most important Greek texts devoted to Venice and its ties with the Second Rome. We will read excerpts from works written in Greek during a crucial period in European history, when the looming advance of the Turks against the Byzantine Empire and the final conquest of Constantinople gave rise to an intense exchange of knowledge between Greek scholars and Italian humanists — a “migration” of Greek learning to the West.

We will study passages from the works of Bessarion, Michael Apostolius, Musurus, Forteguerri, and Guarino. We will read Pietro Bembo’s oration to the Venetian Senate, which, in an Attic style reminiscent of Isocrates, urges his fellow citizens to come to Constantinople’s aid against the Turkish advance. We will explore the poem that Francesco Filelfo dedicated to Mehmed II, praised as the greatest ruler of all time — who, if only he were to convert to Christianity, would deserve dominion over the whole earth. We will also read the law of Aldus Manutius’ New Academy, in which the rule was to speak only in Ancient Greek. All of this will be enriched with exercises designed to advance participants’ active command of Ancient Greek, during which we will engage with authors such as Lucian of Samosata, Pseudo-Aristotle, and Manuel Chrysoloras.

SCHEDULE PROGRAM