Second student workshop (September 2023)

The second student workshop of the Index 2.0 project was held at the University of Lodz on 19 September 2023

The workshop received funding from the Vice-Rector for Research, dr hab. Łukasz Jan Korporowicz, prof. UŁ, the Vice-Rector for International Relations, prof. dr hab. Łukasz Bogucki, and the Head of the Department of Roman Law of the University of Lodz, prof. dr hab. Anna Pikulska-Radomska. Guest report by mgr Szymon Pokrywka (University of Szczecin), who was one of the workshop participants.

Giuseppe Di Donato (Edinburgh Napier) speaking to the participants of the second Index 2.0 workshop in one of the computer labs of the University of Lodz

A long time has passed since interpolationism flourished as one of the main currents of romanistic studies. Nor do the subsequent disputes over its legitimacy and usefulness echo even remotely today. Only the three-volume monumental Index interpolationum, authored by Ernst Levy, Ernst Rabel, Ludwig Mitteis, is still impressive and awe-inspiring. It summarises many years of work by a host of great scholars who "hunted" for interpolations in the Justinian’s Digest. However, the shorthand form in which the Index was written (a complex system of abbreviations) may bore the skeptical researcher today, while the layman may reject it altogether. The abbreviations, which were still understandable to law students in Krakow or Lviv at the beginning of the 20th century, today resemble Egyptian hieroglyphics.

In order to restore respect for the efforts and achievements of past generations of Romanists, as well as to better align possible contemporary research on interpolations with the rapidly "digitising" world, the international Index 2.0 project has been launched. Its goal is to create an ever-growing online database in which both ancient and contemporary findings will be placed. Structurally, the database resembles popular search engines that have been created for papyri or inscriptions. Achievements to date and plans for the future were presented at the Index 2.0 workshop held on 19 September 2023 at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Lodz.

The workshop, organised for the second time (the first edition was held at Royal Holloway in Egham), was also attended by scholars supporting their younger colleagues with their knowledge and experience. Speakers included dr. hab. Łukasz Korporowicz, a researcher on the reception of Roman law in the United Kingdom and, in his spare time, Vice-Rector for Researchat the University of Lodz. Prof Maciej Jońca came from Szczecin. Valuable remarks were also made by a well-prepared young scholar of ancient texts (historian and classical philologist), namely Julien Danneau, an MA student of Belgium's Université Catholique de Louvain and the project’s research assistant. However, the meeting did not have the character of a debate, but of a workshop, so its target audience was primarily students of the University of Lodz.

The class was divided into five sessions. At the beginning, participants were introduced to the topic of research on interpolationism, its history, and tradition. The first to speak was Dr Giuseppe di Donato, who discussed the history of the creation of the Digest, presented its structure, and explained what the Index interpolationum is. This was followed by a lecture entitled Interpretation, reinterpretation, and misinterpretation of Roman law sources in the House of Lords by Dr habil. Łukasz Korporowicz. In it, he showed how amazing the ways of reception of Roman law in the modern world can be. He was followed shortly by a speech by Dr Joanna Kulawiak-Cyrankowska. Her argument concerned approaches for identifying interpolations in the texts of the Digest. This part of the meeting was crowned by the first samples of practical exercises. During them, those present were able to personally "hunt" for interpolations. The previous efforts of the participants were summarised by Prof Maciej Jońca.

Session two was chaired by Dr Marton Ribary. The speaker focused on the technical aspects related to the construction and operation of "Index 2.0". For, as already mentioned, the creators of the project intend to digitise the Index interpolationum by creating a composite database containing the already decoded text of individual passages of Justinian’s Digest (in the content proposed by a given interpolationist). This will create a platform that allows free and easy reading of the contents of the Index interpolationum. Its users will be able to search for information important to them based on specific criteria (eg author, keyword, etc). The creators of the project aimto create a forum for discussion for contemporary romanists in the process.

The last of the aspects of the project raised above seems crucial. Well, one of the most serious problems that faced the developers of the project is decoding the thoughts contained in Index interpolationum. They decided to solve it by building a community whose members would decipher the data and then enter it into the database using the appropriate form. In Lodz, this task was entrusted to class participants. Dr Marton Ribary introduced them to the latest version of the form and provided them with instructions on how to use it. The next two sessions of the workshop were strictly practical. Participants worked in groups of two under the guidance of the organisers. The workshop ended with a discussion, during which the participants shared their observations on the data entry process and possible developments of the project. Comments included clarity of the user interface, available commands, and incentivising contributors. Issues related to data security and the aesthetics of the platform were raised as well.

It is difficult to forecast what the further fate of Index 2.0 will be. However, there is no doubt that this is a completely new direction for Romanist research. If its creators will succeed in achieving at least part of their goals, the contribution to the analysis of the texts contained in the Digest" will be enormous. There is, however, a certain risk in the way these intentions are implemented. Putting the handling of the data in the hands of a spontaneously built community may involve a reduction in the quality of the entries. It also seems a real challenge at the moment to build mechanisms for mutual "control" of users or monitoring of entries by project organisers with such a large amount of data.

However, these are not unsolvable problems. They had been and are faced by all developers of such platforms. The workshop was a success. The optimism of the project coordinators is contagious. In turn, my personal experience is that the experiment they proposed actually engages and it is not unfounded to compare it to video games, which I enjoy greatly.

From left to right: Julien Danneau (Louvain), Bartłomiej Jasianek (Lodz), Krystian Stacherski (Lodz), Maciej Jońca (Szczecin), Sari Albaaja (Lodz), Szymon Pokrywka (Szczecin), Giuseppe Di Donato (Edinburgh Napier), Joanna Kulawiak-Cyrankowska (Lodz), Adam Mordzak (Lodz), and Marton Ribary (Royal Holloway)