Latin Inscriptions In The Kelsey Museum

The Latin inscriptions in the Kelsey Museum are among the best primary sources we have for documenting the lives of the lower classes in the Roman world. They provide unique evidence of the details of Roman daily life, including beliefs, occupations, families, and attitudes toward death. The 400 entries in this volume include all of the Latin inscriptions on stone or metal in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan; they represent the largest, and arguably the most important, collection of Latin inscriptions in the Western Hemisphere. The collection is notable not just for its size but for the fact that almost all the inscriptions were acquired by purchase for their scholarly and educational value to the members of the university community. Because of this, the collection is also an important testimony to a seminal phase in the development of the study of Classics at the University of Michigan. For the first time ever, this project makes the Latin inscriptions of the Kelsey available in one volume and has provided an opportunity to reexamine some texts that have not been edited in over a century. The commentaries for this edition have benefited from a wealth of recent scholarship resulting in some amended readings and reidentification of texts. Steven L. Tuck is Assistant Professor of Classics at Miami University of Ohio. The Kelsey Museum Studies series, edited by University of Michigan professors Elaine Gazda, Margaret Cool Root, and John Pedley, is designed to publish unusual material in the Museum's collections, together with reports of current and past archaeological expeditions sponsored by the University of Michigan.

This book advances our understanding of the place of Latin inscriptions in the Roman world. It enables readers, especially those new to the subject, to appreciate both the potential and the limitations of inscriptions as historical source material, by considering the diversity of epigraphic culture in the Roman world and how it has been transmitted to the twenty-first century. The first chapter offers an epigraphic sample drawn from the Bay of Naples, illustrating the dynamic epigraphic culture of that region. The second explores in detail the nature of epigraphic culture in the Roman world, probing the limitations of traditional ways of dividing up inscriptions into different categories, and offering examples of how epigraphic culture developed in different geographical, social and religious contexts. It examines the 'life-cycle' of inscriptions - how they were produced, viewed, reused and destroyed. Finally, the third provides guidance on deciphering inscriptions face-to-face and handling specialist epigraphic publications.

Scholars working in a number of disciplines – archaeologists, classicists, epigraphers, papyrologists, Assyriologists, Egyptologists, Mayanists, philologists, and ancient historians of all stripes – routinely engage with ancient textual sources that are either material remains from the archaeological record or historical products of other connections between the ancient world and our own. Examining the archaeology-text nexus from multiple perspectives, contributors to this volume discuss current theoretical and practical problems that have grown out of their work at the boundary of the division between archaeology and the study of early inscriptions. In 12 representative case-studies drawn from research in Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean, and Mesoamerica, scholars use various lenses to critically examine the interface between archaeology and the study of ancient texts, rethink the fragmentation of their various specialized disciplines, and illustrate the best in current approaches to contextual analysis. The collection of essays also highlights recent trends in the development of documentation and dissemination technologies, engages with the ethical and intellectual quandaries presented by ancient inscriptions that lack archaeological context, and sets out to find profitable future directions for interdisciplinary research.

A catalogue of the largest known collection of brick stamps outside Italy

"One of nine volumes published ... to celebrate the Eleventh International Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy at Rome in 1997, [it] ... attempts to register all ancient Greek and Latin inscriptions in museum, university, and private collections in the United States. " -- Back cover.

This is a much-needed textbook for students of epigraphy and an up-to-date reference work for scholars. Central to the work are its photos. Professor Gordon presents 100 Latin inscriptions arranged in chronological order and illustrated by the best available photographs. The inscriptions, which range in date from the sixth century B.C. to A.D. 525, are collated with standard texts and are accompanied by translations and full annotation. They are preceded by an original introduction dealing with important aspects of Latin epigraphy and followed by several appendices on such special topics as Roman numerals. The photographs of these inscriptions reveal the close relationship between Latin inscriptions and our present-day type fonts by way of the humanistic hand of fifteenth-centry European scholars. This book will be of interest not only to students and scholars of epigraphy but to those interested in the history of typography as well.

The perfect guide for anyone who wishes to understand the Latin inscriptions they discover on their travels, and gain a fresh insight into the lives of everyday Romans. Latin inscriptions can appear daunting - a jumble of letters without any structure or meaning. However, once their formulaic style is explained, most are easy to read. Requiring no prior knowledge of Latin, this book will teach readers how to decipher inscriptions and will demonstrate how even the smallest detail scan help us to reconstruct the daily life of ordinary Romans. Whilst surviving literature often relates only to the lives of those wealthy enough to afford books, inscriptions were texts intended to be seen and used by all. As a result, they shed light on the lives of those less visible in the archaeological record - the poor,women and slaves. Illustrated with the best examples of inscriptions from the British Museum's Roman collection, this book will explore what it meant to put up a public inscription and how they became standardised to ensure Romans from all over the Empire could read them.

If Indiana Jones had relied on trains . . .