Epigraphy time.^11 Palmyra,wherethelocalbranchofAramaicwasclearlythemainlan-
guage of ordinary speech, produces public inscriptions in either Greek or
Palmyrene(heavilyimpregnatedwithGreek,andafewLatin,loan-words)
orinparalleltexts,throughoutthethreehundredyearsofitshistory.^12 The
Semitic-languageepigraphyoftheclassicalperiod,takeninallitsbranches
fromthewesternMediterraneantoAfghanistan,isasufficientlyimportant
parallelphenomenontoGreekandLatinepigraphytodeserveaspecialem-
phasishere.^13 Inthisareatoothereisanexcellentrunningsurvey,the‘‘Bul-
letind’épigraphiesemitique’’publishedbyJ.TeixidorinthejournalSyria.
TheGeographyofLanguages
Thereisnoneedtocatalogueherethesubstantialrangeofevidence—largely
from inscriptions—for the multiplicity of languages used in the Graeco-
Romanworld;thoseattestedintheRomanEmpirearesurveyedinauseful
recentvolume.^14 Butitisworthemphasisinghowcomplexandinteresting
aworldisrevealedforinstancebythelate-Phrygianinscriptionsoftheim-
perialperiod,allwrittenintheGreekalphabet,^15 ortheneo-Punicinscrip-
tionsfromAfricawrittennotonlyinthelocalvarietyoftheSemiticalpha-
betbutsometimes(aswehaveseen)inLatincharactersorinGreekones.^16
BycontrasttheepigraphicremainsofCelticfromFranceareallwrittenin
LatinorGreekcharacters,andnotraceofanon-classicalscriptsurvives.^17 In
thisinstancetheveryfactofcomposingatextforinscriptionmustsurelybe
regardedasaborrowingfromGraeco-Romanculture.
. E.g., M. G. Guzzo Amadasi,Le inscrizioni fenicie e puniche delle colonie in Occidente
(Rome,),,no..
. Forexamples,seeJ.B.Chabot,Choix d’inscriptions de Palmyre(Paris,),andnote
M.G.BertinelliAngeli,Nomenclatura pubblica e sacra di Roma nelle epigrafi semitiche(Genoa,
).
. ThestandardcollectionisCorpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum(CIS)(Paris,–).Note
alsoG.A.Cooke,A Textbook of North-Semitic Inscriptions(Oxford,),andH.Donnerand
W.Röllig,Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften^3 I–III(Wiesbaden,).
. G.NeumannandJ.Untermann,eds.,Die Sprachen im römischen Reich der Kaiserzeit,
BeiheftederBonner Jahrbücher().
. O.Haas,Die phrygischen Sprachdenkmäler(Sofia,).
. Forthisphenomenon,see,e.g.,H.G.HornandC.B.Rüger,eds.,DieNumider(Bonn,
),.
. Forarelativelyrecentexample,seethediscussionbyK.H.Schmidt,‘‘TheGaulish
InscriptionofChamalières,’’Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies():.