Conceptions and Sources
outunderMaximinusthattheChristiansshouldsacrificeandnotbe
allowed to resign the service, endured very many torments and suc-
ceededinleavingtheserviceunderthegovernorDiogeneswhilekeep-
ingtheChristianfaith.AfterstayinginLaodiceaforashorttimeIwas
bythewilloftheall-powerfulGodinstalledasbishop.Fortwenty-five
yearsIadministeredmybishopricwithmuchhonour,builtthewhole
churchfromthefoundations,andalsoallthesurroundingornamenta-
tion,consistingofporticoesandtetraporticoesandpaintingsandmo-
saics and a fountain and gateway, and fitted it all with dressed stone,
andinawordwitheverything.Beingabouttodepartfromhumanlife,
I have made for myself a plinth and tomb, on which I have had the
foregoinginscribedtothegloryofthechurchandmyfamily.TheLatinWorld
TurningawayfromthecentralareasofGreekculture,itisworthnotingthat
theregionofwhichthemostcompleteandthoroughlyeditedcollectionof
Greek inscriptions has been made is present-day Bulgaria.^94 Butwhenwe
cometotheLatin-speakingworlditmustbestressedthatalthoughinmany
areasinscriptionsareofprimeimportance—sometimesaslimitingcasesin
thewaydiscussedearlier—theyrarelyrisetoeitherthecomplexityofcon-
tentorthedensityofconcentrationfoundintheinscriptionsoftheGreek
cities. In the history of Rome for example, though, as we saw, public in-
scriptionshadbegunevenintheregalperiod,neithertheinscribingoflaws
orregulationsnorthepresentationoninscriptionsofindividualcareersbe-
cameamajorfeatureuntilquitelateintheRepublic.Thecareerinscription,
givingaman’spublicofficesingreatdetail,isadistinctivephenomenonof
theimperialperiod.NonethelesstheRepublicaninscriptionsofRomeand
ItalyareprimedocumentsforthehistoryoftheLatinlanguage,astheyare
alsoforitsorthographyandspelling,andmustthereforebestudiedonthe
stones orat any ratewith the aid of photographs.^95 The relatively fewex-
. G.Mihailov,Inscriptiones Graecae in Bulgaria Repertae(Sofia,;rev.);II(Sofia,
);III.(Sofia,);III.(Sofia,);IV(Sofia).
. The main Latin inscriptions of the Republic, except for the laws andsenatus con-
sulta,arecollectedbyA.Degrassi,InscriptionesLatinaeLiberaeReipublicae(Florence,;rev.
);II(Florence,);InscriptionesLatinaeLiberaeReipublicae;Imagines(Berlin,),with
excellentphotographs.Itisunfortunatethatnotalltheearliestinscriptions,i.e.,thoseof
theregalperiod(e.g.,theLapisNiger;seetextton.above),areincluded.Fortextsand
linguisticdiscussions(butnophotographs),seetheexcellentLoebvolumeofB.H.Warm-