Βιβλιοθήκη/bibliotheca : le mot et la chose en Grèce et à Rome

Cavalieri, Marco [UCL]

The purpose of this paper is to draw out the history, based on fontes and testimonia (archeological and epigraphical), of the long, complex and varied forming, but also the development and the functions, of the libraries in the classical world. The biggest part of the text, with regard to the other contributions of this volume, tends to provide a framework to the questions, specifically historical and archeological, that will be approached in a more detailed and targeted way in these proceedings. As so, the aim is to demonstrate, in spite of a common tradition going back to the Greek Hellenistic world, the complex variety of nature of the libraries in Greece and Rome: they are not only places of culture but also of power, propaganda and cult of personality. Besides, the intention is to provide a synthesis in French of the history of libraries during the Antiquity that could satisfy, even if not in a homogeneous way, the requirements of the research and the university teaching.