Rome and the East
to which these priceless new texts primarily refer, the area of the Euphra-
tes around and upstream from its confluence with the Chabur, overlaps in
a very significant way with that covered in the very rich documentary ma-
terial from Dura-Europos. This material too provides ample evidence of the
co-existence of Latin, Greek, and Semitic languages, and of the social, cul-
tural, economic, and religious role of soldiers of the Roman army within a
civilian environment. It is only necessary to mention, by way of illustration,
the Greek deed of sale of.., with signatures of witnesses in Latin, in
which a veteran of Cohors III Augusta Thracum purchases an orchard on the
banks of the Chabur. This papyrus, like the other documents on papyrus and
parchment, was included in a masterly volume of theFinalReports, published
in .^14 But, in the context of a volume on Latin epigraphy, it is neces-
sary to stress that the inscriptions of Dura, a unique combination of Latin,
Greek, Aramaic, Syriac, Safaitic, Palmyrene, and Middle Persian, have never
been revised or collected since their initial publication by Franz Cumont and
by others in the various reports of the excavations between the two world
wars.^15 Nor does it seem that there are any plans to carry out this work. Yet
these texts, including graffiti and painted inscriptions, represent a unique
historical and linguistic resource which it remains very difficult to use; more-
over they urgently require systematic revision, because many of the, often
hazardous, identifications of the buildings found by the excavators depend
on the relations of inscription and structure. Without a proper collection
and re-assessment of the inscriptions a critical evaluation of what we really
know of Dura as a city cannot be undertaken.^16
Euphrate (IIIes. après J.-C.) I. Les petitions (P.Euphr.à),’’JS(): –; ‘‘II. Les actes
de ventes-achat (P.Euphr.à),’’JS(): –; ‘‘III. Actes divers et letters (P.Euphr.
à ),’’JS(): –.
. C. Bradford Welles, R. O. Fink, and J. Frank Gilliam, eds.,The Excavations at Dura-
Europos, Final ReportV.:The Parchments and Papyri(); the deed of sale of.. is
no. .
. For the inscriptions of Dura, see F. Cumont,Fouilles de Doura-Europos(–)
(), –;Excavations at Dura-Europos, Preliminary ReportsI–IX (–); Mesnil du
Buisson,Inventaire des inscriptions palmyréniennes de Doura-Europos(); R. N. Frye, J. F. Gil-
liam, H. Ingholt, and C. B. Welles, ‘‘Inscriptions from Dura-Europos,’’YCS (): .
Note also C. B. Welles, ‘‘The Population of Roman Dura,’’ inStudies in Roman Economic and
Social History in Honor of A. C. Johnson(), , and G. D. Kilpatrick, ‘‘Dura-Europos:
The Parchments and Papyri,’’GRBS (): (the best available survey of linguistic
co-existence there).
. See F. Millar, ‘‘Dura-Europos under Parthian Rule,’’ in J. Wiesehöfer, ed.,DasParther-