The Paleography of Latin Inscriptions in the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Centuries in Italy

Abstract

The inscriptions of Christian, Lombard and Carolingian Italy have been collected and studied continuously almost from the date of their execution until the present day. This accumulation of secondary sources over a period of a thousand years has rendered the complication of the subject extreme.The history of the clarification and scientific arrangement of Christian epigraphy in Italy begins with the work of de Rossi in the second half of the last century. He separated, and was therefore able to co-ordinate, the study of the inscriptions themselves, and the study of the collections of inscriptions. The first collection of Roman inscriptions possibly dates back to the end of the V century, and was of classical material; the collections of Christian inscriptions begin in the VII century.