Trasmissione di testi esametrici greci nella Roma di Niccolò V : quattro codici di Demetrio Xantopulo e una lettera di Bessarione a Teodoro Gaza

By means of a full examination of four manuscripts in the hand of Demetrius Xanthopulos (Ambr. D 528 inf., Ambr. D 529 inf., Vat. gr. 25 and Cantabr. CCC 81), the author throws light on the transmission of certain hexameter poems (in particular Quintus’ Posthomerica) at Rome in the time of Pope Niccolò V thanks to the work of Cardinal Bessarion and Theodore Gaza. The article includes a new edition, together with a translation and full commentary, of the famous letter in which Bessarion asks for a transcript of Quintus’s poem (epist. 34 Mohler).