Latin in the Epigraphy
of the Roman Near East
*Introduction
In approaching the complex problems of the role of Latin in the epigraphy
of the Roman Near East, it seems appropriate to begin with by far the most
famous of all Roman inscriptions, thetituluson the Cross. It is, of course, not
typical of what we normally refer to as ‘‘inscriptions,’’ since it was written—
presumably painted—on a non-permanent material, wood, and was thereby
designed for the information of the public over only a short space of time, no
more than a few hours. But it did share with all inscriptions, whether tempo-
rary or permanent, the intended function of making information available
to whoever could read it, or have it read to them. It has moreover an ex-
ceptional importance for students of epigraphy, because it alone, of all the
millions of inscriptions put up in the Roman Empire, is the subject of four
separate reports in literary sources. It also serves as an object warning, as re-
gards the effective transfer of information: for not one of the four reports
coincides exactly with any of the others; and only one of them records even
the elementary fact that the inscription was put up in three languages. The
texts of the relevant passages from the four Gospels are as follows:
καὶἦνἡἐπιγραφὴτῆςαἰτίαςαὐτοῦἐπιγεγραμμένη,ὁβασιλεὺςτῶν
Ἰουδαίων. (Mk. :)
καὶἐπέθηκανἐπάνω τῆς κεφαλῆςαὐτοῦτὴναἰτίαν αὐτοῦγεγραμ-
μένην,οὗτόςἐστινἸησοῦςὁβασιλεὺςτῶνἸουδαίων.(Mt.:)
ἦνδὲκαὶἐπιγραφὴἐπ ̓αὐτῷ,ὁβασιλεὺςτῶνἸουδαίων οὗτος. (Lk.
:)
*First published in H. Solin, O. Salomies, and U.-M. Liertz, eds.,Acta Colloquii Epigraphici
Latini.Helsinki–Sept.(Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum , ), –.