Graeco-Roman cities were the domain of the written word. Everywhere, from monumental avenues to public buildings, from marketplaces to entry gates, from sanctuaries to private houses, even in the necropoleis flanking the routes leading to the urban centres, inscribed texts met the eyes of every passerby.
By focusing on the inscriptions both as textual sources and as embodied manufacts in a geographical, chronological, and historical context, this course will provide the students with an introduction to Greek and Latin Epigraphy. During the classes, we will study a wide range of inscribed texts, their physical and technical features, the circumstances of their production and crafting, the issues related to their intended audience, and their broader social, cultural, economic, and political meanings. On the one hand, we will learn how to provide a critical edition of an epigraphic text; on the other, we will enquire how we can use monumental and funerary inscriptions alongside ostraca and graffiti as proxies to reconstruct socio-economic phenomena, political imbalances of power, cultural developments linked to diverse levels of literacy, and even matters related to human (self-)representation in public and private contexts. By studying the fluctuations of the Mediterranean epigraphic habit over the longue durée, we will finally face the long-standing question: why does the epigraphic culture ‘fade’ during Late Antiquity?
With this course, students will learn how to approach epigraphic sources from a critical perspective and to engage with diverse typologies of material texts to investigate ancient societies in original and ever-new ways.
In addition to the suggested bibliography, Greek and Latin literary, visual, and documentary evidence inherent to the themes at hand will be provided in advance of each class and will be read and discussed collegially with the students. The class will be held in English, and knowledge of Greek and Latin may be helpful. All sources will be accompanied by a translation and will be commented together.
Additional tools – such as Catalogues, Sourcebooks, and Databases – will be discussed in the context of the classes, and further readings can be provided if needed, in response to specific interests and questions raised by the students.
Suggested Readings (selected chapters)
• Bruun, Christer – Edmondson, Jonathan (eds.) (2015), The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy, Oxford
• Cook, Brian (1987), Greek Inscriptions, London
• Angliker, Erica – Bultrighini, Ilaria (eds.) (2023), New Approaches to the Materiality of Text in the Ancient Mediterranean. From Monuments and Buildings to Small Portable Objects, Turnhout
• Cousins, Eleri (ed.) (2022), Dynamic Epigraphy. New Approaches to Inscriptions, Oxford
• Bolle, Katharina – Machado, Carlos – Witschel, Christian (eds.) (2017), The Epigraphic Cultures of Late Antiquity, Stuttgart
- Trainer/in: Eugenia Vitello