An Introduction to Greek Epigraphy of the Hellenistic and Roman Periods from Alexander the Great Down to the Reign of Constantine (323 B.C.-A.D. 337)


Book Description

" In short, this is a reference work of the best kind. For the beginner, it is indispensable. And for those who already know something about its subject matter, the book is in many ways useful, informative, and interesting. We all owe a debt to the author] for undertaking this significant project, and for completing it so well." - Michael Peachin, Classical World " . . . provides invaluable road maps for non-epigraphers faced with passages of inscribed Greek." - Graham Shipley, Bryn Mawr Classical Review Greek inscriptions form a valuable resource for the study of all aspects of the Greco-Roman world. They are primary witnesses to society's laws and institutions, religious habits, and language. This volume provides students with the tools to take advantage of the historical value of these treasures. It examines letter forms, ancient names, and ancient calendars, knowledge of which is essential in reading inscriptions of all kinds. B. H. McLean discusses the classification of inscriptions into their various categories and analyzes particular types of inscriptions, including decrees, honorary inscriptions, dedications, funerary inscriptions, and manumissions. Finally, McLean includes special topics that bear upon the interpretation of specific features of inscriptions, such as Greek and Roman administrative titles and functions.




Greek and Latin Inscriptions in the Konya Archaeological Museum


Book Description

The city of Konya (ancient Iconium) has long been one of the most important Anatolian centres. In the late first century BC it was refounded as a Roman colony, and the centuries of the Roman Empire were among the most prosperous for the region. This volume provides texts and commentaries for the 231 Greek and ten Latin inscriptions now housed in the city's archaeological museum. The collection comprises 92 inscriptions from Konya itself and 149 from the surrounding region, nearly two thirds of them previously unpublished. Almost two hundred further inscriptions from Konya are listed and indexed at the end of the volume, so that for the first time there is a complete index of all people known from the ancient city of Iconium. The texts here shed an irreplaceable light on city and country society around a major centre from the early Roman to the Byzantine period, and the photographs at the end of the volume illustrate most of the characteristic inscribed monuments for the first time.







Morphology


Book Description




The So-called Nonsense Inscriptions on Ancient Greek Vases


Book Description

As the first extensive survey of the ancient Greek painters’ practice of writing nonsense on vases, The So-called Nonsense Inscriptions on Ancient Greek Vases by Sara Chiarini provides a systematic overview of the linguistic features of the phenomenon and discusses its forms and contexts of reception. While the origins of the practice lie in the impaired literacy of the painters involved in it, the extent of the phenomenon suggests that, at some point, it became a true fashion within Attic vase painting. This raises the question of the forms of interaction with this epigraphic material. An open approach is adopted: “reading” attempts, riddles and puns inspired by nonsense inscriptions could happen in a variety of circumstances, including the symposium but not limited to it.




A. D. Momigliano


Book Description

Using pagan prose fiction produced in Greek and Latin during the early Christian era, Bowersock investigates the complex relationship among perceived and presented "historical" and "fictional" truths. Bowersock's superb lecturing style is successfully transferred into writing with force and eloquence, as he weaves accounts from a wide range of sources into his text, illuminating social attitudes of the period and persuasively arguing that fiction of the period was influenced by the emerging Christian Gospel narratives. In the second half of the first century emerges a new kind of fiction including outlandish tales of travel, romance and comic novels. Bowersock concentrates on secular literature, illuminating not only its literary motifs, but also reconstructing the societal context as one engrossed in fabrications and all kinds of revisions or rewriting. Using these less familiar materials as his points of reference, he reads into familiar Christian material, making linkages and casting new light on familiar subjects, as well as providing some provocative interpretations of familiar Christian texts. Bowersock uses close historical and literary analyses of specific passages of works, and pays attention to larger and more general issues and questions around the relationship between fiction and history and how we read them. This book will be of basic intellectual concern to all raised in the environment of Christian belief. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1995. Using pagan prose fiction produced in Greek and Latin during the early Christian era, Bowersock investigates the complex relationship among perceived and presented "historical" and "fictional" truths. Bowersock's superb lecturing style is successfully tra




Epigraphy of Art


Book Description

Ancient Greek vase-paintings offer broad-ranging and unprecedented early perspectives on the often intricate interplay of images and texts. This book investigates both epigraphic technicalities of Attic and non-Attic inscriptions, and their broader, iconographic and sociocultural, significance.




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