Rome and the East
These two brief sketches of two aspects of the complex linguistic and epi-
graphic map of the Roman Near East can be no more than suggestive of the
riches which remain still largely unexplored. Theepigraphicuse of Aramaic
and its dialects evolved, throughout the region, in step with that of Greek,
which was always the dominant language, and with that of Latin. If Latin
always played a smaller role, it was not a negligible one, if only because all
of the Near East was at all times a military area, in which the influence of
the Roman army was profound. But for us to understand these mutual so-
cial, cultural, and linguistic influences more fully, the most urgent task is the
reactivation of the epigraphic heritage of Dura-Europos.