The Modern Methods and Approaches of Prosopography (A Researcher’s Workshop)

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2022.3.710

Keywords:

prosopography, method, research, reconstruction, biography

Abstract

Referring to the reconstruction of the biography of Aelius Donatus, a Roman grammarian of the fourth century and the author of the grammatical treatise Ars Grammatica, this paper demonstrates the methods and techniques of prosopographic research. The author explains what methods to choose for a specific case and how they can work in relation to the reconstruction of Aelius Donatus’ biography. Also, the author demonstrates how with the help of such methods, a general approach and methodology, historical information can be selected, compared, and systematised; how, based on the analysis of vast prosopographic material, one can draw conclusions regarding the lifetime, activity, and occupation of a person, with no exact information preserved about their life. The author examines the importance of prosopography as a scholarly approach to the study of history, namely, social history, and the discussion about what prosopography is. The research employs and studies methods of exclusion and selection of sources, information search using electronic text databases, methods of comparative and textual analysis, interpretation of the text and relevant contexts, as well as their comparison, selection, and coordination of the information received, etc.

Author Biography

Maya Petrova

Dr. Hab. (History), Leading Researcher, Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

32a, Leninsky Ave., 119334, Moscow, Russia.

ORCID 0000-0002-0789-6781

beionyt@mail.ru

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Published

2022-08-08

How to Cite

Petrova, M. (2022). The Modern Methods and Approaches of Prosopography (A Researcher’s Workshop). Quaestio Rossica, 10(3), 939–954. https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2022.3.710

Issue

Section

Modi studiorum