1st Edition

Understanding Roman Inscriptions

By Lawrence Keppie Copyright 1991
    160 Pages
    by Routledge

    160 Pages
    by Routledge

    Lawrence Keppie's book offers the non-specialist a comprehensive and enjoyable guide to undestanding the texts of Roman inscriptions, as well as explaining the numerous different contexts in which they were produced.
    Every area of Roman life is covered, including:
    * the emperor
    * temples and altars to the gods
    * imperial administration
    * gravestones and tomb monuments
    * local government and society
    * the army and the frontiers
    * Christianity
    * trade, commerce and the economy
    * the later Roman Empire.
    For each inscription cited, the book provides the original Latin, an English translation and a commentary on the piece's significance. Illustrated with more than 80 photos and drawings, this is the ideal introduction to the most important source for the history and organisation of the Roman Empire.

    Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 The Stonecuttel and his Craft; Chapter 3 Reading Roman Inscriptions; Chapter 4 Dating Roman Inscriptions; Chapter 5 The Survival of Roman Inscriptions; Chapter 6 Recording and Publication; Chapter 7 The Emperor; Chapter 8 Local Government and Society; Chapter 9 The Roads that Led to Rome; Chapter 10 Administration of an Empire; Chapter 11 The Army and the Frontiers; Chapter 12 Temples and Altars to the God; Chapter 13 Gravestones and Tomb Monument; Chapter 14 Trade, Economy and the Business World; Chapter 15 Populusque Romanus; Chapter 16 Christianity; Chapter 17 The Later Roman Empire; Chapter 18 Conclusion: The Value of Roman Inscriptions;

    Biography

    Dr Lawrence Keppie is Senior Curator (Archaeology and History) at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, Honorary lecturer in Classics at the University in Glasgow, and President of the Glasgow Archaeological Society. He has excavated extensively on the Antonine Wall and at other Roman sites in Scotland. Among his publications is the acclaimed Making of the Roman Army: from Republic to Empire (Batsford 1984).

    'Understanding Roman Inscriptions is well named. It is written by a scholar who understands the things, and what is more, his readers will understand them too' - Britannia

    'Dr Keppie ... has done signal service to Roman Studies by this new guide to Roman inscriptions' - Antiquaries Journal

    'Filled with scholarly exposition, informative commentary and common-sense deductions ... All the examples are well chosen.' - Robert K. Sherk, State University of New York