Classics, Love, Revolution

Abstract The intervention: Capra and Graziosi address the impact of post-truth politics, the new nationalisms, and gender inequality on the practice of scholarship, taking inspiration from an unlikely find: a tale posing as the work of the imaginary ancient author Aristaeus of Megara, but actually written by the Neapolitan revolutionary and classical scholar Luigi Settembrini (1813–76). The Neoplatonists, a joyous and explicit tale of love between men, as well as between men and women, long remained censored and unpublished to protect the reputation of Settembrini, a founding father of the Italian nation. Offering the first English translation, Capra and Graziosi set this tale in dialogue with Settembrini’s incomplete Memoirs, his Dialogue on Women, his translation of Lucian (written while serving a life sentence in an infamous island prison), his political pamphlets, and several unpublished materials, written by both Settembrini and his wife, the indomitable Gigia Faucitano. Through their historical and literary analysis Capra and Graziosi demonstrate the revolutionary and reparative potential of classical scholarship, arguing that a commitment to social justice and an investment in classical antiquity can—and even should—be rooted in an egalitarian practice of love. Classics, Love, Revolution: The Legacies of Luigi Settembrini demands a reassessment of the history of Italian sexuality, revolutionary thinking, and classical scholarship—while telling an adventurous story of love and resilience along the way.