Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

Epigraphy 

nomenoninitself.^121 Somebranchesofitalsocanandshouldbeconsidered
asminor(but,inbulk,veryextensive)literarygenres,whichprovideawhole
rangeofdeliberatelycomposedproseandversetosetagainsttheremainsof
ancient literature surviving in the manuscript tradition. But the extent of
thelatter,howeverinexhaustibleitsinterest,canonlyincreasemarginally,
largely through the publication of papyrus fragments. Epigraphy provides
ourmostdirectaccesstoancientsocietyandculture,andshowseverysign
ofbeingabletoaddindefinitelytothestockofavailabletexts.Itthusrepre-
sentsthebestguaranteewehavethatourunderstandingoftheancientworld
needneverbestatic.

. ComparethefundamentalessaybyR.MacMullen,‘‘TheEpigraphicHabitinthe
RomanEmpire,’’AJPh():.