LibGuides: Coins and Inscriptions: Inscriptions

Introductory guides

Saxa Loquuntur is a website with links to a range of online guides and reference works in the field of Latin and Greek epigraphy.

The following introductory works are also available through the Library:

Reading Roman Inscriptions by John Rogan
Call Number: Main Library CN590 .R64
ISBN: 0752439529
Publication Date: 2006
Guides the reader through the steps necessary for deciphering Roman inscriptions found in British museums.
Greek Inscriptions by B. F. Cook
Call Number: Main Library CN350 .C77
ISBN: 0520061136
Publication Date: 1987
Introduces a wide variety of Greek inscriptions on stone slabs, pottery, bronzes, and other small objects, from simple names to more complicated texts, some in local dialects with distinctive alphabets.
Epigraphic Evidence by John Bodel (Editor)
Call Number: ebook
ISBN: 9780415116237
Publication Date: 2001
Epigraphic Evidence is an accessible guide to the responsible use of Greek and Latin inscriptions as sources for ancient history. It introduces the types of historical information supplied by inscriptional texts and the methods with which they can be used. It outlines the limitations as well as the advantages of the different types of evidence covered. Epigraphic Evidence includes a general introduction, a guide to the arrangement of the standard corpora inscriptions and individual chapters on local languages and native cultures, epitaphs and the ancient economy amongst others.

Printed corpora of ancient inscriptions

The following are the major series of printed corpora of Greek and Latin inscriptions held by the University Library. They are given with their conventional scholarly abbreviation in brackets and their location in the Library:

Inscriptiones Graecae (IG): Research Reserve f CN 360.I6
Tituli Asiae Minoris (TAM): Research Reserve f CN 1155
Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua (MAMA): Research Reserve per q DG11.J8
Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum (SIG): Research Reserve DF 12 D
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL): Research Reserve f CN 520.C6 C
Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae (ILS): Main Library PA 6118.I6D4

N.B. If you need to consult any of the series held in the Research Reserve, you can make arrangements with the Library staff to use them in the Allport Room.

There are now many open access websites which have digitised images of selected items from these corpora. It is worth trying a search on Google using any of the above titles.

Online corpora

Searchable Greek Inscriptions - Packard Humanities Institute
Epigraphic Database Heidelberg
Epigraphik Datenbank - Clauss-Slaby