The Use of Real or Imagined Inscriptions in Late Antique Literature

Abstract

AbstractChapter 2 gathers the literary evidence for the late antique reading and appropriation of ancient inscriptions, complementing earlier research on the use of inscriptions in Greek and Roman literature. Some authors, such as Agathias of Myrina and Kosmas Indikopleustes, copied down real, centuries-old inscriptions with remarkable attention to detail; others, such as the anonymous authors of hagiographies or theosophical texts, invented inscriptions to make a point. One of our key examples in this chapter, the Life of Abercius, drew on at least one real ancient inscription: the famous grave stone of Abercius himself. The precise way it was used in this hagiography, however, requires a re-evaluation of the materiality of the stone and its local context. These textual sources not only indicate that older epigraphic material was of interest to late antique writers, they also show the variety of lenses through which inscriptions were interpreted. While some authors were interested in what inscriptions communicated about the past, others were preoccupied with the future, as epigraphic material took on a new, prophetic role for both pagans and Christians.