Epigraphy asamajorexpressionofthenewimperialideology,whilerecallingthatthe
onlycontemporaryobserver from whom we have a surviving mention of
it,Lactantius(De mortibus persecutorum,–),sawtheedictastheworkof
Diocletianalone,andregardeditasatotalfailure.
Withthatwemayleavethisminuteselection,inevitablyquiteunrepre-
sentative,ofthatvastnumberofinscriptions(certainlyfarmorenumerous
inGreekthaninLatin)whichcanbereadlike—orevenas—literarytexts,
andwhichhaveasufficientlyfullandcomplexcontentforthemtoforma
focusofstudyinthemselves.Thatstudyitself,however,wouldhavetocon-
sistofextendedexplorationsofthewidercontextfromwhichthesedocu-
mentscomeandtowhichtheyrefer.Inconsequence,noclearlinecouldor
shouldbedrawnbetweenthisapproachandwhatmust,obviouslyenough,
bethenormalone,thestudyof inscriptionsingroups.Thevitalquestions
are,firstly,whattypesofgroupsand,secondly,whatarethelimitsandnature
ofthequestionswhichcanbeaskedofthem?
HandlingInscriptionsinBulk
Two preliminary points must be made. If the activity of increasing our
knowledgeandunderstandingofthepastisvalidatall,theneveryscrapof
information,fromacoupleoflettersscratchedonasherdonwards,poten-
tiallyhasaplaceinsomewiderframeworkofunderstanding.Hencecomes
thevalueoftheapparentlythanklesstaskofproducingreportsandpublica-
tions of endless archaeological and epigraphic finds,which at the moment
donotseemtohaveanyintelligiblecontextortomaketheslightestcontri-
butiontounderstanding.Thatmayrequireseveraldifferentlevelsorstages
ofwork,notnecessarilybythesameperson:astudyofscriptandgrammar
intheLatinofawesternprovince;ananalysisofthelinguisticpatternspre-
vailingthere;broaderconclusionsonthenatureof‘‘Romanisation.’’Or,just
occasionally, someonewith the energyand vision of a Rostovtzeff may be
able to gather up a whole mass of disparate fragments of information and
combinethemtoformanintelligiblepattern.
But for the ordinary student of the ancient world who is not going to
becomeanepigraphisthimself,butwhoseesthatthepublishedinscriptions
providebothanextraordinarilyprivilegedandimmediatemeansofaccess
tothelifeofantiquityanda(literally)inexhaustiblemassofdata,thechoice
of an area or theme, and the construction of questions which the inscrip-
tionswillactuallyanswer,areall-important.Thereare,itistrue,veryfew
aspectsoflifewhicharereferredtonowhereinthehundredsofthousandsof
survivinginscriptions.Ifitwereareasonableoradequateobjectivetocata-