Written Space in the Latin West, 200 Bc to Ad 300

by Sears, Gareth; Keegan, Peter; Laurence, Ray

• ISBN13: 9781474217088
• ISBN10: 1474217087
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2015-01-29
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

This volume explores the creation of 'written spaces' through the accretion of monumental inscriptions and non-official graffiti in the Latin-speaking West between c.200 BC and AD 300. The shift to an epigraphic culture demonstrates new mentalities regarding the use of language, the relationship between local elites and the population, and between local elites and the imperial power. The creation of both official and non-official inscriptions is one of the most recognisable facets of the Roman city. The chapters of this book consider why urban populations created these written spaces and how these spaces in turn affected those urban civilisations. They also examine how these inscriptions interacted to create written spaces that could inculcate a sense of 'Roman-ness' into urban populations whilst also acting as a means of differentiating communities from each other. The volume includes new approaches to the study of political entities, social institutions, graffiti and painting, and the differing trajectories of written spaces in the cities of Roman Africa, Italy, Spain and Gaul.

Author Biography

Gareth Sears is lecturer in Roman History at the University of Birmingham, UK.

Peter Keegan is a Senior Lecturer in Roman History at Macquarie University, Australia.

Ray Laurence is Professor of Roman History and Archaeology at the University of Kent, UK.

Table of Contents

1. 'Written Space' - Laurence and Sears
2. Writing In Roman Public Space - Corbier
3. Writing In Public Space: The Meaning of Graffiti - Laurence and Senna-Garrafoni
4. The Political Graffiti of the Late Roman Republic - Hillard
5. Slaves and Children in a Roman Villa: Writing and Space in the Villa di San Marco at Stabiae - Laurence, Baldwin and Moulden
6. Convergence and Commentary: Writing at the Locus Celeberrimus -Newsome
7. Reconstructing the Epigraphic Culture of Funerary Space in the Roman City - Keegan
8. Looking at Inscriptions in Roman Baths - Cooley
9. Text, Space, and Movement: Discovering the Platea in Epigraphy - Trifilo
10. Inscribed in the City: How Did Women Enter Written Space? - Hemelrijk
11. Calendars: Time in Written Spaces - Hannah
12. A New Era? The Function of Severan Inscriptions in Africa - Sears
13. The City as Preferred Epigraphic Space: The Case of Aquitania - Esmonde-Cleary
14. Writing Politics in the Western Mediterranean - Revell
15. Afterword - Keegan.