Epigraphy and the Historical Sciences

Edited by John Davies and John Wilkes

A British Academy Publication

Proceedings of the British Academy

Emphasises the value of inscriptions for the study of classical antiquity
Up-to-date information about many current themes in the study of Graeco-Roman history

Epigraphy and the Historical Sciences

Edited by John Davies and John Wilkes

A British Academy Publication

Proceedings of the British Academy

Description

By far the largest single source of new information about the ancient Greek and Roman world is provided by the flow of newly discovered inscriptions, which presents both a challenge and an opportunity. In order to interpret any inscription we need to be able to apply the knowledge that we already have. On the other hand, inscriptions present the opportunity to gain new knowledge about virtually every aspect of the mix of cultures and societies which we call Graeco-Roman antiquity. This book therefore emphasises the importance of the two-way connections and contributions which link epigraphic studies with the historical sciences as a whole.

Epigraphic information is helping to reshape and extend our knowledge of the religious life, the languages, the populations, the governmental systems, and the economies of the Graeco-Roman world. New techniques and technologies are helping to make epigraphically based information more accessible, whether in terms of public display or in terms of the ever-widening possibilities of information technology. The act of looking at the Graeco-Roman world through the window provided by the epigraphic record offers a distinctive gaze of unique and exceptional value.

Epigraphy and the Historical Sciences

Edited by John Davies and John Wilkes

A British Academy Publication

Proceedings of the British Academy

1. Introduction, DENIS FEISSEL (translated by John Davies)
Part 1. EPIGRAPHY AND RELIGION
2. Epigraphy and Greek Religion, Robert Parker
3. Epigraphy and Roman Religion, JOHN SCHEID (translated by John Davies)
Part 2. EPIGRAPHY AND LANGUAGE
4. Greek Epigraphy and the Greek Language, GEORGE PETZL (translated by Stephen Mitchell)
Part 3. EPIGRAPHY AND THE ANCIENT POPULATION
5. Inscriptions and identities of rural population groups in Roman Asia Minor, CHRISTOF SCHULER (translated by Stephen Mitchell)
6. Epigraphy and demography: birth, marriage, family and death, WALTER SCHEIDEL
Part 4. EPIGRAPHY AND GOVERNMENT
7. Epigraphy and the display of authority, JOHN MA
8. From document to document: inscribing Roman official documents in the Greek East, ALISON COOLEY
Part 5. DISPLAY AND PEDAGOGY
9. Epigraphy and the media, ISABEL RODA DE LLANZA (translated)
Part 6 EPIGRAPHY AND ECONOMICS
10. Greek epigraphy and ancient economics, ALAIN BRESSON
11. Epigraphy and the economy of the Roman Empire, GIOVANNI SALMERI (translated by John Davies)
Part 7 EPIGRAPHY AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
12. Introduction, SILVIO PANCIERA (translated by John Davies)
13. Latin epigraphy and the IT revolution, JOHN BODEL
Part 8 SCHLUSSREDE
14. Listening to stones. Orality and emotions in ancient inscriptions, ANGELOS CHANIOTIS

Epigraphy and the Historical Sciences

Edited by John Davies and John Wilkes

A British Academy Publication

Proceedings of the British Academy

Author Information

John Davies is Emeritus Professor of Ancient History and Classical Archaeology, University of Liverpool.

John Wilkes is Emeritus Professor of Greek and Roman Archaeology, University College London

Contributors:

JOHN BODEL is W. Duncan MacMillan II Professor of Classics and Professor of History at Brown University, Providence RI. He Also directs the U.S. Epigraphy Project.
ALAIN BRESSON is Professor of Classics and Associate Member in the Department of History, University of Chicago.
ANGELOS CHANIOTIS was Senior Research Fellow in Classics at All Souls' College, Oxford (2006-10), and currently holds the Professorship for Ancient History and Classics at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.
ALISON COOLEY is Reader in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick.
JOHN DAVIES was Rathbone Professor of Ancient History and Classical Archaeology at the University of Liverpool, 1977-2003. He is now Emeritus Professor.
DENIS FEISSEL is Directeur de recherche au Centre national de la recherche scientifique and Directeur d'études à l'École pratique des hautes Études, Paris.
JOHN MA is Tutorial Fellow in Ancient History at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and Lecturer in Ancient History in the Faculty of Classics at the University of Oxford.
SILVIO PANCIERA was Professor of Latin Epigraphy at the Sapienza Univeristy of Rome from 1973 to 2006, and is President of EAGLE (Electronic Archive of Greek and Latin Inscriptions).
ROBERT PARKER FBA is Wykeham Professor of Ancient History at the University of Oxford and was President of the British Epigraphical society from 2003 till 2010.
GEORG PETZL was Professor and member of the Institut für Altertumskunde at the University of Köln from 1989 till 2006.
ISABEL RODÀ DE LLANZA has been Professor of Archaeology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona since 1993, and since 2007 has been Director of the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology.
GIOVANNI SALMERI is Ordinary Professor of Latin Epigraphy and History of Greek Historiography at the University of Pisa.
JOHN SCHEID
WALTER SCHEIDEL is Dickason Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University.
CHRISTOF SCHULER is Director of the Kommission für Alte Geschichte und Epigraphik des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts at München.
JOHN WILKES is Emeritus Professor of Greek and roman Archaeology, University College London.