DamSym: Leveraging AI and NLP to Analyze the Legacy of Nicea in Greek and Latin Patristic Texts.

In the context of early Church council studies and the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, analyzing Greek and Latin patristic texts presents linguistic and historical challenges. Advanced Artificial Intelligence techniques applied to linguistic datasets offer new insights into the reception and interpretation of such texts.
This presentation introduces DamSym, a computational tool designed to retrieve semantically similar sentences in both languages, aiding the study of thematic transmission and evolution in ancient literature. The first part outlines the tool’s methodology, focusing on its architecture and the use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and AI to handle ancient text complexities.
A case study on the Council of Nicaea and its aftermath demonstrates DamSym’s application in tracing how Nicene theological concepts evolved over time. By surpassing verbatim matching, this approach identifies authors, perspectives, and conceptual cores. The presentation highlights how digital tools enhance our understanding of Church councils' legacy and impact.