Academia.eduAcademia.edu

Latin epitaphs

description148 papers
group37 followers
lightbulbAbout this topic
Latin epitaphs are inscriptions in the Latin language found on tombstones or memorials, typically commemorating the deceased. They often reflect cultural, social, and religious beliefs of the time, serving as historical documents that provide insights into the practices and values of ancient Roman society.
lightbulbAbout this topic
Latin epitaphs are inscriptions in the Latin language found on tombstones or memorials, typically commemorating the deceased. They often reflect cultural, social, and religious beliefs of the time, serving as historical documents that provide insights into the practices and values of ancient Roman society.

Key research themes

1. How do Latin sepulchral inscriptions articulate and evolve concepts of the soul and immaterial afterlife in pagan and Christian contexts?

This thematic area focuses on the philological and semantic analysis of key Latin terms—anima, spiritus, mens—that denote the immaterial parts of human beings continuing after death, exploring their usage and conceptual development in Latin epitaphs from the Carmina Latina Epigraphica corpus. Understanding these terms reveals how notions of the soul and afterlife were represented across pagan and Christian funerary texts, highlighting continuities and subtle differences in religious thought and funerary poetics in the Roman world.

by Tad Ga
Key finding: Analyzing approximately 1,400 funerary inscriptions within Buecheler's collection, this study finds the term 'anima' occurs about 80 times, 'spiritus' 20 times, and 'mens' just thrice, establishing these as predominant words... Read more
Key finding: Confirming and expanding on earlier work, this paper provides philological evidence that both pagan and Christian inscriptions emphasize the dichotomy between the immaterial 'anima/spiritus' and the physical 'corpus/caro'. It... Read more
Key finding: This philological and literary analysis positions early Roman verse epitaphs as crafted poetic artifacts that simultaneously memorialize the deceased and activate a commemorative dialogue with living audiences. It places... Read more

2. What role do material features of Latin funerary epitaphs play in facilitating ongoing interaction between the living and the dead?

This research theme investigates how the physical design and interactive elements of Latin epitaphs—including libation conduits (infundibula) and epigraphic inscriptions framed as direct address—enable ritual engagement between visitors and the deceased. It sheds light on the performative and sensory dimensions of commemorative practices in Roman funerary culture, emphasizing the role of epitaphs as mediators of social memory and as dynamic thresholds for communication beyond death.

Key finding: This overview examines the dialogic nature of Latin epitaphs, including those addressed directly to the viator (traveler) on Roman roads. It elucidates how epitaphs functioned as performative, spoken texts meant to be read... Read more
Key finding: This paper examines Giovanni Pontano’s funerary tempietto in Naples, characterizing it as a 'written building' where inscribed texts supplant figural arts, creating a printed gallery of maxims (sententiae) on the exterior... Read more

3. How do Latin epitaphs reveal social identity, professional roles, and cultural perceptions in Roman society?

This theme explores Latin epitaphs as sources illuminating the social status, gender roles, professions, and cultural values of the deceased, particularly marginalized or specialized groups such as mime actresses or soldiers. It considers epitaphs not only as memorials but as performative assertions of identity and honor within Roman social frameworks, offering insights into how commemoration articulates power, gender, and socio-professional narratives.

Key finding: Through detailed analysis of epitaphs for mime actresses like Claudia, Arete, and Ecloga, this study reveals how these inscriptions assert professional pride and social authority, countering ancient literary stigmas. The... Read more
Key finding: This epigraphic study reports the only complete Latin funerary inscription for a miles of Legio VI Ferrata, excavated near the legionary base at Legio. The inscription exhibits formal imperial metrological characteristics... Read more
Key finding: Surveying extensive Late Antique epitaphic material from North Africa, this work demonstrates regional variations and evolving funerary customs, noting a shift from individual/familial to collective representation in... Read more

All papers in Latin epitaphs

Pubblicazione di tre frammenti epigrafici inediti da Forum Popili
The sixth book of Virgil's Aeneid stands out from the text because it is the crystallization of the structural and allusive procedures that organize the text. The narrative of the founding myth of the Temple of Apollo in Cumae and the... more
by Ilir Culaj and 
1 more
A Latin inscription was discovered in the village of Guri i Kuq, located in the municipality of Rahovec in western Kosovo. The discovery site lies approximately 2 kilometers from the village of Çifllak, where archaeological excavations... more
Junto a esculturas fúnebres situadas en iglesias y conventos extremeños, encontramos animales que custodian al finado. En la Baja Edad Media comienzan a colocarse esculturas de animales -perros y leones-en las esquinas de los sarcófagos o... more
Le prime parole pronunciate da Guido da Montefeltro alluderebbero, secondo Benvenuto da Imola, a un problema di natura poetica (Inf., xxvii 19-24): …« O tu a cu' io drizzo la voce, e che parlavi mo lombardo dicendo "Istra ten va, piú non... more
Of Giorgio Vasari's many collections, probably the least known is his collection of artists' epitaphs. If Giorgio Vasari's Vite may be regarded as a kind of collection, a collection of biographies in his first edition of 1550 which he... more
Representaciones antitrinitarias de la historia eclesiástica: el caso de la Medulla historiae ecclesiasticae (ca. 1685) de Benedykt Wiszowaty 712 Pablo Toribio Die poetische Stilmittel im lateinischen OEuvre Vasyl' Dovhovyčs 720 Myroslav... more
del medioevo spetta a certi recessi dei territori africani conservare il latino e le fedi cristiane rispetto a nuove capitali ormai islamiche. E tra punico e romano, romano e vandalo o bizantino, e prima ancora tra mauro, numida e punico... more
Written in Latin cursive, e Ostracon by Hr El Araïs is presented as a text written in ink on a ceramic shard. is document gives us an idea of the socio-economic and even legal relationships between the members of the local society that... more
Gli Autori sono responsabili del contenuto dei loro saggi. Tutti i contributi editi nella rivista sono stati sottoposti a riesame paritario e valutati conformemente agli standard scientifici internazionali. È vietata la riproduzione... more
Conference: "The Museum reflects: the poetics of representation and contemporary challenges." University of Florence SAGAS Department, 24 –25 Jan 2025. Organized by the scientific committee of the “Le Voci del Museo”. Collana di... more
Provenienza come best practice. La musealizzazione del sapere e della diaspora: le collezioni delle congregazioni mechitariste a Vienna e Venezia Isabel Hufschmidt Storica d'arte, Vienna
Pages 655-656 of "Research in the Humanities at the American Academy in Rome (2023–2024)"
An interactive tombstone at Pisa and other notable Roman epitaphs
Library of Congress Control Number: 2024947299 Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische... more
Dans la Rome antique, faire vivre la mémoire d’un·e défunt·e réclame toute l’attention des vivant·e·s : lire les textes gravés sur les tombes, les prononcer, voilà ce qu’on attend d’un·e lecteur·trice, lors de diverses fêtes. Mais... more
realizada en el ámbito del Humanismo, contiene una colección de epitafios dedicados tanto a personajes ilustres del Renacimiento del ámbito literario y político como a otros personajes desconocidos. Nuestro propósito es presentar dichos... more
In Roman funerary commemoration, the dead could communicate with the living through the medium of the words inscribed on their monuments, provided these words were read. The reader had a crucial role to play in the transmission of... more
È vietata la copia, anche parziale e con qualsiasi mezzo effettuata Ogni riproduzione che eviti l'acquisto di un libro minaccia la sopravvivenza di un modo di trasmettere la conoscenza L' Editore si dichiara disponibile a regolare... more
A: Exprimere e verbo tironibus utile lecta. T: Dummodo ne patriae laedatur norma loquelae; quae semper nostris stricte observanda theatris. A: Vertendine artem poteras exponere paucis? T: Intellecta mihi perspectaque verba Menandri inde... more
La integración como objetivo y aspiración, la tendencia a la síntesis y al eclecticismo, aparece como rasgo fundamental en las obras y vida de Isidoro de Sevilla, tanto a nivel teórico, como práctico. Esta peculiaridad distintiva supone... more
Graver son épitaphe, préparer son lieu d’enterrement dans les provinces romaines d’Afrique à partir des inscriptions mentionnant l’expression se uiuo fecit et ses variantes. Les motifs, la monumentalité de la tombe comme autocélébration... more
Dante’s articulate and sometimes critical attitude towards the academic community is evident in several of his works, specifically in Paradiso. To understand the actual extent of this ‘antiacademic’ attitude, this study considers the... more
The famous inscription of Lutatia Lupata, from Mérida (roman Augusta Emerita) is reexamined, where she, the deceased, is represented with a stringed musical instrument. Here attention is focused on the Latin term alumna that appears in... more
This paper aims to analyze four epitaphs written by the humanist Pope Pius II, also known as Enea Silvio Piccolomini, within his epigrammatic production. The paper begins with an introductory section that attempts to disambiguate... more
Fedro realiza a lo largo de su obra un esfuerzo consciente y prolongado por obtener un lugar, que cree merecido, como recreador latino del género fabulístico. A partir del epílogo del L. II de sus Fábulas, el poeta da cuenta de un cambio... more
The Chigi I.VI.203 manuscript, preserved at the Vatican Library, whose tradition seems to date back to Ciriaco d'Ancona, devotes several pages to the inscriptions of Milan. The analysis of these pages allows on the one hand to question... more
I manoscritti Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 5990 e Padova, Biblioteca Universitaria, 1084 testimoniano in due anepigrafe recollecte la medesima lectura virgiliana. Erano finora stati considerati frutto... more
Copyright © 2023 CSIC. Este es un artículo de acceso abierto distribuido bajo los términos de la licencia de uso y distribución Creative Commons Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0)
This note examines the significance of Gylippus at Aen. 12.271-83 and argues that Virgil's narrative is an epitaphic gesture alluding to Nicander of Colophon, Anth. Pal. 7.435 and other epigrams from Anth. Pal. 7. Virgil's bilingual... more
Il calamo della memoria-VII. Raccolta delle relazioni discusse nell'incontro internazionale di Trieste, Biblioteca Statale, 29-30 settembre 2016 a cura di Lucio Cristante e Vanni Veronesi [Trieste]: Edizioni Università di Trieste,... more
Isidoro de Sevilla expone en su Chronica una serie de interesantes noticias sobre los inventores de la música basándose en el Chronicon de Jerónimo. Entre estas noticias destaca una por su ubicación, su contenido y su originalidad, ya que... more
The majority (twenty-nine) of the inscriptions come from the city of Rome and its environs. Of the remaining twenty, seventeen were discovered in other parts of Italy. Fourteen of these are from central Italy, conquered by the Romans and... more
With over 4,000 surviving documents, Latin inscriptions in verse are not only an important element of the Roman practice of epigraphy, they are also the sole poetic genre with a continuous attestation for over 1,000 years, from across the... more
Download research papers for free!