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Today's visitors to Pompeii and Herculaneum encounter a vast profusion of written evidence. Painted announcements stand alongside inscribed notices and monumental stone inscriptions. The content is as varied as the conditions of creation and situations that once confronted the ancient reader. This demonstrates in singular fashion the interconnections between the context, action, content, and materiality of the texts.

To honor the 20th year of his reign, Emperor Constantine was given what may be the most precious gift of his lifetime: a codex of artistic panegyrics and odes dedicated to him by the poet Optatianus. Optatianus' poems showcase the poetic talent of their creator and go beyond the classical confines of a panegyric: they form a literary invitation to an intellectual bond between laudator and laudandus.

The process of transformation which saw the Byzantine Empire and the world of the Early Middle Ages develop from the Late Antique Imperium Romanum led to changes in all areas of life. The central topic of this volume of international contributions is the question of how the historiography of the period confronted these changes.

Between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD Rome underwent a process of transformation which profoundly marked the urban, social, and religious structure of the city. Examing the memory of saints, this study inspects a central field in which this structural change took place. The main themes are, on the one hand, the connection between memoria and various group identities, and, on the other, the specific Christian concept of remembrance, which inturn formed an important prerequisite for the change from a city of late Classical Antiquity to an early medieval city.

During his short reign in the 4th century, Emperor Julian II, known as the Apostate, attempted to combat Christianity philosophically and to set up a pagan Neo-Platonic doctrine as a counter-programme. The volume presents a collection of papers on the general relationship between Platonism and Christianity, on Julian's character and his philosophical programme and on individual writings in which the Emperor sets out his own position and his critique of Christian thought.

Considering Greek statue inscriptions from the archaic and early classical periods, this book emphasizes inscription practices without losing sight of issues of semantics. The analysis focuses on the layout and graphical or ornamental features of the inscriptions. With this approach, for the first time questions of aesthetics and materiality, which were previously examined only for the statues themselves, are also brought to their inscriptions

Focusing on the rule of Heraclius (610–643), this study examines the development of the Byzantine monarchy at the threshold between antiquity and the Middle Ages. It shows how the reigning Emperor responded to the domestic and external political challenges that endangered his rule and brought the Byzantine Empire to the brink of collapse.

Daily life in Late Antiquity was heavily influenced by the tradition of Roman games. This is the first comprehensive study of the world of games in Late Antiquity, with special attention to specific forms of games in the provinces. Using both documentary and archeological sources, the author suggests new regional and chronological differentiations in the development of games.

How did a Late Roman emperor stay on the throne? His position was always precarious, and in contrast to a modern hereditary monarch he could always lose power or even his life to a usurper. The Eastern emperors resided in Constantinople from 395 to 624 without a break. This book shows how they sought the support of the army, the populace, the clergy and the capital`s elite, how they gained it, and how they sometimes lost it. The result is a new picture of the socio-political system of Constantinople and of the Late Roman Empire in general.

This volume focuses on twelve of the so-called Carmina minora by the late ancient poet Claudius Claudianus (ca. 370–404 CE), which describe of different kinds. Nature, art, and the concordia discors that characterises both play a special role in the textual analyses. Together with distinctive intra- and intertextual references, they are understood as key aspects of Claudian's poetics.

Esta contribución es una versión revisada, actualizada y sustancialmente ampliada del artículo del autor publicado bajo el título «La cultura epigráfica de la Hispania romana: inscripciones, auto-representación y orden social» en las dos ediciones del volumen Hispania. El legado de Roma, editadas por M. Almagro-Gorbea y J. M. Álvarez Martínez et alii en los años 1998 y 1999. El objetivo del estudio es dar una vista general de la historia de la cultura epigráfica de los romanos en la Península Ibérica a lo largo de casi mil años, con especial atención a problemas epigráficos tratados por el autor durante más de cuarenta años, de lo que resulta que en primer lugar se traten las inscripciones de la Hispania citerior, mientras que los epígrafes de la Baetica y de la Lusitania aparecen solamente de forma colateral. En el Imperio romano se conocen más de 400.000 inscripciones latinas. Unas 25.000 de ellas proceden de la Península Ibérica, donde su cantidad aumenta continuamente por nuevos hallazgos. Sin embargo, también la revisión de inscripciones conocidas ya desde hace mucho tiempo puede ofrecer nuevos conocimientos importantes. Entre los hallazgos epigráficos más recientes se encuentran documentos de gran importancia como la lex Irnitana, el nuevo fragmento de la lex Ursonensis, la Tabula Siarensis, el Senatus consultum de Cnaeo Pisone patre o últimamente el edicto de Augusto encontrado en El Bierzo y la lex rivi Hiberiensis. Para orientarse en la gran masa de la inscripciones de Hispania está justificada una nueva edicion del volumen II del Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (último fascículo aparecido: CIL II2, Pars XIV, Conventus Tarraconensis, Fasc. 2, Colonia Iulia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco, 2011). La más antigua inscripción lapidaria de la Hispania romana y de todo el Occidente romano es la inscripción dedicada a Menrva, es decir, a Minerva, en Tarraco durante la segunda guerra púnica. Son pocas, relativamente, las inscripciones hispanas pertenecientes a la época republicana, principalmente a sus últimos decenios; su concentración más importante se observa en Carthago Nova. Como consecuencia de la fundación de colonias y municipios bajo el reinado de Caesar, y en particular de Augusto, tuvo lugar un incremento notable de la cultura epigráfica de Hispania. Buenos ejemplos para el nacimiento y la difusión del epigraphic habit ofrecen, entre otras ciudades, Saguntum y Segobriga. En los fora de estos municipios, establecidos bajo Augusto, se encuentran inscripciones pavimentales con letras de bronce que fueron doradas, en consonancia con la difusión de esta nueva técnica epigráfica de la época augustea para glorificar la nueva aurea aetas; los fora y los demás edificios públicos se llenaron con inscripciones honorarias, grabadas en el pedestal de la estatuas de los emperadores, de los representantes del gobierno romano y de los miembros de las élites locales. Con frecuencia se pusieron monumentos sepulcrales, no sólo de los miembros de las capas superiores, sino también de los estratos sociales dependientes de la aristocracia, incluso de sus libertos y esclavos que, como los estratos inferiores de la sociedad romana en general, imitaban los métodos de la autorepresentación de sus dueños. La cultura epigráfica se difundió en época augustea y julio-claudia no solamente en la parte oriental de la Hispania citerior y en la Baetica, es decir, en las zonas de fuerte romanización de la Península Ibérica, sino también en el interior y en el noroeste de Hispania. En época flavia y trajanea tuvo lugar en Hispania una verdadera "explosión epigráfica«: en esta época el número de inscripciones aumentó en muchas ciudades y en sus territorios de un modo sorprendente, y aparecieron nuevos tipos de monumentos epigráficos. En Tarraco, por ejemplo, de las aproximadamente 1.600 inscripciones de la ciudad, sólo unas 100 se fechan en época republicana, augustea y julio-claudia; el resto es posterior, y la mayor parte pertenece a la época flavia y antonina; desde el reinado de Vespasiano se observa, entre otras cosas, la producción en masa de pedestales para estatuas con inscripciones honorarias, anteriormente desconocidas. Se puede hablar casi de una "revolución cultural«. El motivo para este cambio radical del epigraphic habit fue el cambio en la mentalidad de las élites y, siguiendo los comportamientos de ellas, también de grandes masas de las capas inferiores. Para Tácito, Hispania fue ya en época de Tiberio in omnes provincias exemplum; con la proclamación de Galba como emperador se cumplió la antigua profecía de que un día Hispania presentaría al dominus rerum; la extensión del ius Latii a todas las comunidades de Hispania por Vespasiano significó que el país llegó a ser una región casi como Italia; y el ascenso de muchos hispanos en el orden senatorial y con Trajano y Adriano hasta el poder supremo produjo en las élites hispánicas la sensación de que eran verdaderos romanos. Las inscripciones tenían que expresar su romanidad, su poder y su esplendor – un comportamiento que dio motivo también a muchos estratos inferiores para imitar el epigraphic habit de las élites según sus propias posibilidades. Sin embargo, desde mediados del siglo II la representación epigráfica de las élites sociales empezó a cesar. Desde la época de Marco Aurelio y Comodo, la costumbre de erigir monumentos honorarios para los miembros de las capas superiores acabó casi de forma general, y en muchas ciudades, entre ellas centros urbanos con un patrimonio epigráfico considerable en épocas precedentes y con una estructura social tan diferente como, por ejemplo, Saguntum, Segobriga o Segovia, el epigraphic habit desde finales del siglo II prácticamente desapareció. En una ciudad con una tradición epigráfica tan grandiosa como Tarraco, en el siglo III sólo muestra una continuidad la cultura epigráfica sepulcral. Por cierto, en los siglos III y IV los emperadores también recibieron obligatoriamente estatuas honorarias con inscripciones en su pedestal, pero desde mediados del siglo III estos pedestales fueron, no solamente en Tarraco, monumentos anteriores reutilizados (como evidentemente también las estatuas). El retroceso general del epigraphic habit en una ciudad anteriormente tan rica como Carthago Nova, antes que en otras ciudades, se explica por una parte por las grandes dificultades económicas que afectaron a muchas ciudades hispanas ya a mediados del siglo II, pero por otra parte también por el cambio de la mentalidad de las élites, que perdieron su interés en la autorepresentación con monumentos caros y que presentaban su rango social sobre todo en manifestaciones públicas. En algunas ciudades hispánicas la cultura epigráfica continuó también en época tardoimperial como una cultura epigráfica cristiana. El nucleo principal de la epigrafía cristiana en la Península ibérica fue Tarraco, con unas 140 inscripciones, no sólo en los siglos IV y V, sino también bajo el dominio visigodo hasta la invasión árabe a comienzos del siglo VIII. Las inscripciones cristianas, incluso las visigodas, casi sin excepción funerarias, conservaron todavía elementos de la tradición epigráfica anterior y, con ésta, de la cultura romana, pero su objetivo principal fue expresar la fe cristiana. ; This contribution is a revised, updated and considerably expanded version of the author's article published under the title «La cultura epigráfica de la Hispania romana: inscripciones, auto-representación y orden social» [«The epigraphic culture of Roman Hispania: inscriptions, self-representation and social order»] in the two editions of the volume Hispania. El legado de Roma, [Hispania. The legacy of Rome] edited by M. Almagro-Gorbea and J. M. Álvarez Martínez et alii in 1998 and 1999. The objective of the study is to give a general overview of the history of the epigraphic culture of the Romans in the Iberian Peninsula over almost a thousand years, with special reference to epigraphic problems that the author has been studying for more than forty years, which show first of all that the inscriptions relate to Hispania citerior, while epigraphs appear in Baetica and Lusitania only incidentally. More than 400,000 inscriptions are attributed to the Roman Empire; some 25,000 of them come from the Iberian Peninsula, where the number is continually growing as a result of new finds. However, reviewing inscriptions that have been known for a long time can also yield important new information. Amongst the most recent epigraphic finds are documents of major importance such as the lex Irnitana, the new fragment of the lex Ursonensis, the Tabula Siarensis, the Senatus consultum de Cnaeo Pisone patre and recently the edict by Augustus found in El Bierzo and the lex rivi Hiberiensis. A new edition of volume II of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum is justified to classify the vast number of inscriptions in Hispania (the last supplement to appear is: CIL II2, Pars XIV, Conventus Tarraconensis, Fasc. 2, Colonia Iulia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco, 2011). The oldest lapidary inscription from Roman Hispania and the whole of the Roman West is the inscription dedicated to Menrva, i.e., to Minerva, in Tarraco during the second Punic war. There are relatively few Hispanic inscriptions belonging to the republican era, and those that are known belong mainly to its final decades; the most important concentration is from Carthago Nova. As a result of the foundation of colonies and municipia under the reign of Caesar, and more particularly that of Augustus, the epigraphic culture in Hispania increased considerably. Good examples showing the origin and extension of the epigraphic habit can be seen in Saguntum and Segobriga, amongst other cities. In the fora of these municipia, established under Augustus, there are pavement inscriptions with gilded bronze lettering. They reflect the spread of this new epigraphic technique developed in the Augustan period for glorifying the new aurea aetas; the fora and the other public buildings were filled with honorary inscriptions, carved in the pedestals of statues of emperors, representatives of the Roman government and members of the local elites. Tomb monuments were frequently erected, not just for the members of the upper echelons, but also for members of the social strata dependent on the aristocracy, including their freedmen and slaves who, like the lower classes of Roman society in general, imitated their master's methods of self-representation. The epigraphic culture spread in the Augustan and Julio-Claudian period not only in the eastern part of Hispania citerior and Baetica, i.e. in heavily Romanised parts of the Iberian Peninsula, but also in the interior and the northwest of Hispania. In the Flavian and Trajanic period a real «epigraphic explosion» took place in Hispania: in this period there was a surprising increase in the number of inscriptions in many cities and their territories, and new types of epigraphic monuments appeared. In Tarraco, for example, only 100 of the approximately 1600 inscriptions in the city date to the Republican, Augustan and Julio-Claudian period; the rest are later, and most belong to the Flavian and Antonine period; from Vespasian's reign onwards we can see, amongst other things, the mass production of pedestals for statues with honorary inscriptions, which was not previously seen. It could almost be called a «cultural revolution». The reason for this radical change in the epigraphic habit was the changing mentality of the elites and that of the great masses of the lower ranks who emulated them. For Tacitus, Hispania was already in omnes provincias exemplum in the time of Tiberius; when Galba was declared emperor the ancient prophecy that one day Hispania would represent the dominus rerum was fulfilled; Vespasian's extension of the ius Latii to all the communities of Hispania meant that the country became a region almost like Italy; and the rise of many Hispanics to the senatorial order and, in the case of Trajan and Hadrian, even becoming emperor, gave the Hispanic elites the impression that they were true Romans. Inscriptions had to express their 'Romanness', their power and their splendour – conduct that also encouraged the lower classes to imitate the epigraphic habit of the elites as far as they could. However, from the mid-second century onwards the epigraphic representation of social elites declined. From the time of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus the custom of erecting honorary monuments for members of the upper echelons ceased almost entirely and from the end of the second century the epigraphic habit practically disappeared from many cities, including towns such as Saguntum, Segobriga and Segovia with very different social structures that had previously had a considerable epigraphic heritage. By the third century Tarraco, a city that had had an impressive epigraphic tradition, produced only tomb inscriptions. It is true that in the third and fourth centuries the obligatory honorary statues with inscriptions on their pedestals were dedicated to emperors, but from the mid-third century onwards these pedestals come – not only in Tarraco – from previous monuments that were reused (as the statues evidently were too). The general decline of the epigraphic habit in a city such as Carthago Nova, which had once been so rich, even before it fell out of favour in other cities, is explained on one hand by the major economic difficulties already affecting many Hispanic cities by the mid-second century, and on the other by the changing mentality of the elites, who lost interest in depicting themselves with expensive monuments and instead displayed their social rank mainly by funding public spectacles. In some Hispanic cities the epigraphic culture endured into the late imperial era as a Christian epigraphic culture. The main focal point of Christian epigraphy in the Iberian Peninsula was Tarraco, with about 140 inscriptions, not only in the fourth and fifth centuries, but also under Visigoth rule before the Arab invasion at the beginning of the eighth century. Christian inscriptions, including those of the Visigoths, were almost without exception funerary and still preserved elements of the earlier epigraphic tradition and, with it, Roman culture, but its main intention was to express the Christian faith.

From the 6th to 11th centuries, the prohibition of marriage between relatives (incest) often headed the agenda of legislative assemblies and can be seen as a key topic of this age. The reasons for this unique development have occupied ethnologists, sociologists and historians for quite some time. This book is the first to trace the radical expansion of marriage prohibitions across epochs and advances the thesis that this development came about as a result of the decline of power in Antiquity and the changing functions of legislation.

This study examines from multiple disciplinary perspectives the phenomenon of how knowledge was transformed and transmitted between late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. The essays explore the ways that excerpting, compiling, and selective transmission resulted in a reduction of complexity.