Inscription Database

Enter the number of the inscription record in one of the following formats:

• HD004711
• 004711
• 4711

Alternatively you can search for all records by entering the asterisk.

ID number of Trismegistos reference number. Note: not all EDH Database records have a TM reference number.

Boundaries of the ancient provinces / Italic regions:

• As a rule the boundaries are those of the mid 2nd century AD (most inscriptions date from this period). Exception: Moesia inferior: boundaries of 3rd century AD (according to CIL III Suppl. tab. IV)
• The provinces of Late Antiquity are not used, but assigned geographically to the above mentioned provinces / regions.

Choosing multiple options will find all records that belong to at least one of chosen countries.

Search with Entry or Choice (Autocomplete)
Spelling:

• guidelines:
  R.J.A. Talbert, Barrington atlas of the Greek and Roman world (Princeton 2000)
  CIL
• Ancient variants of the name (e.g. in the case of colonies): one of them is included in the findspot field in brackets, so that both variants can be found.e.g.: Colonia Iulia Augusta Philippensium bzw. Philippi: "Colonia Iulia Augusta Philippensium (= Philippi)"
  This is not applicable in cases, where the variants are contained within the name by one word, which is precisely the same word. e.g.: Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthus bzw. Corinthus: "Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthus"
• The ancient findspot name of removed inscriptions is made clear by "(ancient findspot), from", whereas the modern findspot name regularly corresponds to the genuine findspot; the respective names of ancient province / region or modern country correspond in these cases to the ancient and modern findspot
  e.g.: modern findspot: Szombathely (Country: Hungary) = ancient fundort: Roma, aus? (Province / Italic Region: Latium et Campania)

Autocomplete is ordered by number of hits (shown in brackets), not alphabetically (first 20 hits); case-insensitive. If none of autocomplete entries is chosen (=> no number of results at the end of string like " (352)", if necessary remove it by hand) then the entry is truncated automatically (front & back).

Politically independent municipality or city (cf. in contrast: town or city quarter of a politically independent municipality or a city = "find spot (village, street, etc.)")
Search by means of entry or choice.Spelling:

• In the language of the country. Preference is given to the Guidelines in J.C. Bartholomew, The Times atlas of the world (London 1987) or the geographical database GeoNames.
  In the case of Arabic names translitteration according to DIN 31635 the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft (DMG) (in Text and Photographic database these have not been carried out completely).
• Accents and Umlaute are ignored.

Note: Since the territory areas of ancient and modern findspots are normally not identical, it is possible, that several names of modern findspots correspond to one ancient findspot or territory. Genuine lack of clarity, which unfortunately often cannot be solved, results from imprecise findspot documentation.
Autocomplete is ordered by number of hits (shown in brackets), not alphabetically (first 20 hits); case-insensitive. If none of autocomplete entries is chosen (=> no number of results at the end of string like " (352)", if necessary remove it by hand) then the entry is truncated automatically (front & back); special characters/diacritics (äöüé...) are ignored.

These are the special rules for citation for abbreviations, volume and year information as well as the counting of numbers:"

• Année Épigraphique:
  AE year, number (always 4 digit); e.g.:
  AE 1983, 0825
  AE 2001, 1720
  AE 1969/70, 0384
• Corpora
• journals
• other publications

For lists of abbreviations see:

• Journals
• Corpora
• Other Literature

Dating by years.

Move the sliders until you have defined the time span you are searching for.

without the option "extended":

• precise year
• periods, which include the complete specified time span, or years / periods, which lie within the specified time span
• Jyears / time spans, which do not lie before or after a specified year

With option "extended":

• specific single year: finds all time spans, which are and are within the specified years, as well as years / time spans, which lie beyond the start date or before of this specified year
• time span: finds furthermore time spans, which only partially overlap with the specified time span

Name (including filiation), Tribus and Origo of a person named in the inscription

spelling:

• as found and preserved in the inscriptio
• include supplements, but without resolution of abbreviations
• Emperors: the nomenclature "Imperator Caesar ... Augustus" is only indicated in the database for the Julian / Claudian emperors; "without Epithets (Pius, Felix, Invictus) or victory names (Parthicus maximus etc.)

Nomen / Nomina of a person named in the inscription.

Here one can search for the occurrence of a nomen independent of case, spelling and state of preservation on the inscription bearer.

spelling:

• Always in the nominative irrespective of the case in the inscription.
• correct spelling without brackets
• In the case of the emperors up to and including Nero Caesar is treated as a part of the name.

Resolution of abbreviations and supplements / erasures are not indicate by round or square brackets ( ), [ ], [[ ]], [[[ ]]], but through:

• * = resolved
• + = supplemented
• ++ = erased, but still readable
• +++ = erased and no longer readable

Praenomen / Praenomina of a person named in the inscription
Here one can search for the occurrence of a cognomen independent of case, spelling and state of preservation on the monument.

spelling:

• Abbreviated form, irrespective of the spelling in the inscription. The abbreviations are based for the most part on R. Cagnat, Cours d'épigraphie latine (Nachdr. der 4. Aufl., Paris 2002) 39. 42.
• Written in full are the praenomina, which are not abbreviated or not listed in Cagnat (e.g. Cossus, Faustus, Paullus).
• In the case of the emperors up to and including Nero Imp. (always abbreviated in this way) or Αὐτοκράτωρ (not abbreviated) is treated as a part of the Praenomen.

Supplements / Erasures are not indicated with the use of square brackets [ ], [[ ]], [[[ ]]], but through:

• + = supplemented
• ++ = erased, but still readable
• +++ = erased and no longer readable

Cognomen / Cognomina of a person named in the inscription

Here one can search for the occurrence of a cognomen independent of case, spelling and state of preservation on the monument.

spelling:

• Always in the nominative irrespective of the case in the inscription.
• correct spelling without brackets
• In the case of the emperors up to and including Nero Augustus is treated and a part of the name.

Resolution of abbreviations and supplements / erasures are not indicate by round or square brackets ( ), [ ], [[ ]], [[[ ]]], but through:

• * = resolved
• + = supplemented
• ++ = erased, but still readable
• +++ = erased and no longer readable

Supernomen of a person named in the inscription

spelling:

• In the nominative irrespective of case in the inscriptionexcept:
  "signo" + Genitive and
  "qui et" / "quae et" + case as it is in the inscription
• correct spelling without brackets

Resolution of abbreviations and supplements / erasures are not indicate by round or square brackets ( ), [ ], [[ ]], [[[ ]]], but through:

• * = resolved
• + = supplemented
• ++ = erased, but still readable
• +++ = erased and no longer readable

Here one can search for cases where the indication of the tribe independent of spelling and state of preservation is to be found on the monument.

Pseudotribes are not entered!

Geographical information concerning the origin of a person named in the inscription

spelling guide:

• usually as it is in the text of the inscription
  (e.g. "Alba Pompeia", "natione Surus domo Hemesa", "ex Italia / τῶν ἐξ Ἰταλίας", "ex provincia Asia civitate Focia")
• in the nominative only when adjectives are used (e.g. "Ulisitanus", "Emeritensis", "Ῥωμαῖος")
• correct spelling without brackets

Designation of resolutions and supplements / erasures:

• * = resolved abbreviation
• + = supplied
• ++ = erased, but still readable
• +++ = erased and no longer readable

Social status of a person named in the inscription

Multi-select:

• finds all inscriptions with persons, who belong to at least one of the chosen categories.
• with option "with reference to the same person": finds only those inscriptions with persons, for which all the chosen categories apply.

Inscriptions, which have an explicit mention of a profession

• e.g. "negotiator", "sagarius", "actor", "educator"
• not: offices, military ranks

Age in years of a person named in the inscription

Note: The search does not take account of the fields "months", "days", "hours"; i.e. a search for persons with an age of <= 5 years also finds persons, who were 5 years and 3 months old.

Age in months of a person named in the inscription

Note: The search does not take account of the fields "Jahre", "days", "Stunden"; i.e. a search for persons with an age of <= 7 months also finds persons, who were 2 years and 7 months old.

Age in days of a person named in the inscription

Note: The search does not take account of the fields "years", "months", "hours"; i.e. a search for persons with an age of <= 10 days also finds persons, who were 33 years 10 months and 10 days old.

Age in hours of a person named in the inscription

Note: The search does not take account of the fields "years", "months", "days"; i.e. a search for persons with an age of <= 11 hours also finds persons, who were 12 years 7 months, 9 days and 11 hours old.

Present location of the depicted monument. Search through Entry or Choice (autocomplete).
Entry:

• In the language of the country. Preference is given to the Guidelines in J.C. Bartholomew, The Times atlas of the world (London 1987) or the geographical database GeoNames.
  In the case of Arabic names transliteration according to DIN 31635 the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft (DMG) (in Text and Photographic database these have not been carried out completely).
• Accents and Umlaute are ignored.

Autocomplete is ordered by number of hits (shown in brackets), not alphabetically (first 20 hits); case-insensitive. If none of autocomplete entries is chosen (=> no number of results at the end of string like " (352)", if necessary remove it by hand) then the entry is truncated automatically (front & back); special characters/diacritics (äöüé...) are ignored.

Large political administrative unit within the country.

Spelling as in the language of the country.

Contains extra explanations concerning the other database fields.

Multi-select:

• finds all monuments, which belong to at least one of the chosen categories.
• with Option "with reference to the same monument": finds only those monuments, for which the chosen categories are pertinent.

Inscriptions with names of military units

Inscriptions with geographical names

Examples:

• Names of provinces, cities, rivers, mountains
  >(e.g. "quaestori provinciae Siciliae", "domo Brixiae", "curator alvei Tiberis", "montis Amani"; not: "IIIIvirum viarum curandarum")
• Divine epithets
  (e.g. "Genio Noricorum", "Isidi Norei(ae)"; not: "Genio loci")

Inscriptions, which include information relevant to social, economic and legal history
Examples:

• Social history:
  collegia
  "patronus coloniae ..."
  "adlectus inter patricios"
  "donis militaribus donatus"
• Economic history:
  Measures, weights, distances (e.g.: "ex argenti pondo C", "in agro pedes ... in fronte pedes ...", "milia passuum XXIII")
  sums of money, property (e.g.: "ex HS ...", "de suo", "de sua pecunia", "ex aere conlato")
  Buildings, Building works
• Legal history:
  City laws
  Military diploma
  "ex testamento"
  "decreto decurionum"
  "loco concesso a ..."

Multiple types per inscription:
= Monuments with multiple inscriptions or texts, which contain diverse material (e.g. Honorific inscription and Assignation inscription or Votive inscription and Building inscription)

• the specific type, which is the most obvious, is entered into the database;
  the other one is noted in the field "Commentary"
• such inscriptions cannot at present be searched for with multi-select

In general inscriptions in the following languages are entered into EDH:

• Latin (exception: purely Latin inscriptions, which are not written with Latin or Greek letters, but with e.g. Punic ones)
• Greek (only inscriptions included in L'Année Philologique)
• Latin-Greek
• Latin and Latin-Greek in combination with other languages

Field "Language"

• The entry is made according to the language of the text of the inscription, not according to the letters, in which it was written.
• It is not noted in the Field "Language", when individual letters differ from the letters of the inscription; if they are Latin or Greek, they are entered directly into the text of the inscription; furthermore as in the case of letters from other languages this is noted in the field "Commentary".

Presentation of the text of the inscription:

• Only Latin and Greek letters are entered; letters of other languages are only entered in the field "Language" and noted in the field "Commentary".

Epigraphic documents with metrical texts or text parts.
The specific metre is identified and stated in the field "Commentary".

Multi-select

• finds all monuments, which belong to at least one of the chosen categories.
• Multi-select with the option "with reference to the same monument": finds only those monuments, for which all the chosen categories apply.

Letters positioned on / between pre-drawn / pre-scratched guidelines.

Hederae used as word separation marks (not as an element of general ornamentation).

Greatest preserved height in cm.

Entry of decimal numbers using either a point or a comma.

Greatest preserved width in cm.

Entry of decimal numbers using either a point or a comma.

Greatest preserved depth in cm.

Entry of decimal numbers using either a point or a comma.

Height of fully preserved letters in cm.

Decimal numbers: Entry using either a point or a comma

In the case of inscriptions with more than one line with differing letter heights a span is entered in the database;e.g.: first line: 6 cm, last line: 3,5 cm -> Entry: 6-3.5

Epigraphic monuments with any kind of decoration.

Also categorised as decoration are:

• hederae (indicating word break or simply as decoration)
• signs of the cross

More elaborate (e.g. representational) decoration is described more extensively in the field "Commentary".

Tip: hederae (indicating word break) may be searched for specifically in Engraving technique.

Provisional indicates records which have at least:

• Information on findspot
• a literature reference
• the text of the inscription

The entries and the text of the inscription are in these cases not fully checked.