BMCR 2026.09.04

A new era of epigraphy: 40 years of epigraphic database Clauss/Slaby

, , A new era of epigraphy: 40 years of epigraphic database Clauss/Slaby. New inscriptions, new readings, new interpretations of Roman inscriptions. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2025. Pp. 480. ISBN 9783119145435.

Review by

Open access

[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review.]

 

This volume constitutes a festschrift for a database which, to my knowledge, is the first time a database has been presented in this way. The ‘Epigraphic Database Clauss/Slaby’ (EDCS), in fact, opens up a new era of Latin epigraphy. Inscriptions for the most part are explained by other inscriptions, and so finding parallel ones is vital. In times of old this was a tiresome and time-consuming job of working through dozens of thick tomes and in the end it could happen that all efforts were in vain. About the same was true for studying social phenomena on the basis of inscriptions. Today, nearly all professional Latin epigraphists start with consulting the EDCS. It contains more than 540,000 entries, which is virtually all Latin inscriptions known up to now (with very, very few exceptions) and a substantial number of Greek ones related to the Roman world.[1] It is not intended to supersede traditional scholarly editions, but to make them manageable. The EDCS is freely available on the internet, easy to use, and you get the desired results in the blink of an eye. If nothing is found, you can reasonably be sure that there was nothing and make an argument out of this absence. While before time-honored specialists with large private card indexes had an advantage, now Latin epigraphy has become more accessible and scholars can concentrate more on evaluating the evidence than collecting it.[2] Usefully, the interface of the database is available in German, English, Spanish, French and Italian.

Since the mid-1980s several databases for Latin inscriptions have been launched, but none reached the completeness of the EDCS. The number two database, Epigraphic Database Heidelberg, has just about 15% of the total. The success of the EDCS was due to two factors. First, the initiator Manfred Clauss followed a pragmatic approach, concentrating on what epigraphists need most, i.e. as many texts (plus references) as possible to be retrieved for parallels. And, Wolfgang Slaby (1948-2024) took care to develop a stable technological repository, a SQL database. Everything else came later: photos were added when available or provided by users, more descriptive categories per item were integrated, and links to other databases were created. Secondly, Manfred Clauss himself spent much of his time and energy updating and curating the data. Errors or duplicates were corrected within days if a user gave notice (experto crede!). There was some criticism, especially by less successful competitors or by computer people complaining that the EDCS didn’t follow the last technological fashion in digital humanities.[3] But it didn’t stop the EDCS being used; today it is accessed some 10-20,000 times a day.

The goal was to keep it alive for the future. But now a solution has been found. While the EDCS was originally hosted by Eichstätt University (Germany), in 2025 it was transferred to Zürich (Switzerland) and will be hosted now by the University of Zürich. Zürich’s Anne Kolb, who was already a member of the editorial board, will take the lead. This change came just in time, as Manfred Clauss died in January 2025, aged 80. The volume under review originally intended to mark the transfer of the EDCS to Zürich, but during preparation it also became something like a collection of papers in memory of Clauss himself.

The volume itself is divided in two parts of unequal length. The first and shorter one strictly relates to the EDCS. Manfred Clauss in one of his last articles gives an overview of the development of the database. Werner Eck, now the doyen of Latin epigraphy, contributes the view of the user and emphasizes the importance of the EDCS for the epigraphist’s practical work, demonstrating this by his own studies of diplomata militaria. A bibliography of the scholarly publications of Clauss is appended; the length (pp. 15-42) tells its own tale.

The much longer second part (pp. 43-456) is the festschrift proper. It comprises 36 articles by 41 authors, written in English, German, French and Italian. In fact, a substantial part of the world’s senior Latin epigraphists (and some younger scholars) has been brought together, and many of them expressly state their desire to do homage to the EDCS and its founders. As usual in this kind of publication, there is no common topic; the authors just were asked to contribute to an ‘anthology’ (p. 385). But apparently the authors were asked for a short contribution in order to avoid too bulky a tome. As a result, all the papers are concise, with an average length of about eleven pages (the shortest only four pages, the longest 20). Hardly any reader will complain about that.

The papers roughly are subdivided into two sections: ‘New interpretations of Roman inscriptions’  and ‘New readings and new Roman inscriptions’. As they are not related to each other, they simply are sorted alphabetically in each section according to the name of the (first) author. Indeed, each paper is focused on a specific, rather narrow theme. As a whole, they are like scattered spotlights in the wide field of Roman epigraphy.

Obviously this is not the place to summarize each of them and perhaps it is not necessary, as some seem to have been written primarily in order to demonstrate the author’s commitment to the celebrated cause. But it may be permitted to single out a few of those which—in my opinion—shed some light on issues of more general importance.

Dan Dana demonstrates by two examples how not so few diplomata militaria were physically made of recycled material. Large bronze sheets with texts of imperial decisions (and much free space), once on public display in Rome, were later discarded, cut into smaller pieces and used for inscribing these new documents, i.e. the diplomas. It also clearly demonstrates that those diplomata were produced in the imperial center, not in the provinces, where the recipients lived.

Günther Thüry highlights the significance of ‘small inscriptions’ (stamps, names of owners on objects, etc.) for the study of ancient literacy, using Noricum as an example. At Noricum, more than 13,000 are known and the total is estimated at about 25,000. The author stresses that these were not taken in account in the influential book of William Harris,[4] who based his statistics solely on monumental inscriptions. This has caused a substantial aberration, as the number of known ‘small inscriptions’ in this region was more than four times higher than that of monumental inscriptions.

Giuseppe Camodeca contributes a new inscription from Puteoli, a dedication made on the occasion of games held February 13th-16th, 46 A.D., which were sponsored by a group of freedmen. He points out that the monument is to be seen as part of a series of similar inscriptions from the early first century A.D., which came to light in the last decades. Whether these games really can be categorized as ludi publici, as the author thinks, is another question.

Jonathan Edmondson studies an inconspicuous fragment from Mérida, Spain, which results in a substantial revision. By comparing it with parallels he can demonstrate that it belonged to a funerary plaque with double epitaph panels. This belonged to a rare but noteworthy type of funerary monument for individuals with social connections.

Silvia Orlandi in a very short contribution presents a new fragment belonging to another, already known fragmentary inscription from S. Sebastiano Fuori le Mura just south of Rome in the Suburbium. This proves the known fragment to have been part of a funerary inscription and it clearly disproves a bold reconstruction by Géza Alföldy (CIL VI 40572) who believed that it was the rest of a major monument in honor of Roman emperors. The case also demonstrates that imagination is not always a reliable guide for the epigraphist. If there are no compelling arguments, it would be wiser to leave questions open and simply wait for new evidence.

Roger S. O. Tomlin edits and comments on the longest curse tablet in Latin known to date. This lead tablet, inscribed on both sides, was found in Uley (Gloucestershire, UK) during the excavation of the local temple of the god Mercury and is a ‘prayer for justice’, according to the terminology of H. S. Versnel. The writer of the text felt cheated out of a lot of money (100,000 denarii), dedicated the lost money to the god, and suggested that Mercury punish his fraudulent adversary. Other texts of this kind are known, but this text records by far the largest sum of money of any recorded. It is not clear, however, whether the writer really adhered to the truth and nothing but the truth.

All in all, this volume offers a colorful bouquet of studies in Roman epigraphy and gives instructive insights into current research projects. Most contributions also demonstrate the usefulness of the EDCS database. It is no magic box producing results on its own, but an important tool in the hands of those knowing (or willing to learn) how to use it, and therefore it normally stays somewhat in the background. For those dealing with Roman inscriptions it is good news that it will remain available in the future and this is worth celebrating.

The volume was produced with care; it also contains 80 illustrations, largely photos of inscriptions (partly in color), printed on art paper—as is the book as a whole—which makes it easy to manage the statements of the authors. Regrettably, there is no index. Admittedly, this would have delayed the publication of the book which came very soon after the event was celebrated. Nevertheless it is a pity that not even new inscriptions and new readings are indexed.

Compared with the prices of other books, this volume is not too expensive, which will please those administrating the funds of libraries. For the general user there is more good news: As the database now is hosted in Switzerland, the Swiss National Science Foundation with its generous financial support made it possible to offer the whole book as an open access publication (CC-BY-NC-ND).

 

Authors and titles

  1. Manfred Clauss, Die Entwicklung der EDCS
  2. Werner Eck, Erinnerung an Manfred Clauss und seine Verdienste um die lateinische Epigraphik
  3. Schriftenverzeichnis und biographische Daten von Manfred Clauss

Part I: New interpretations of Roman inscriptions

  1. François Bérard, Un père sévir augustal et son fils magistrat d’après trois monuments funéraires lyonnais
  2. Christer Bruun, The schola of the Ulpii at Ostia
  3. Laura Chioffi, Gradus, in epigrafi di età repubblicana
  4. Michel Christol, À propos de C. (T.) Atticius Norbanus Strabo, gouverneur de Galatie : les origines et la carrière
  5. Dan Dana, Deux palimpsestes juridiques sur bronze: RMD II 96 et RMD I 271 verso
  6. Dino Demicheli, Ducenarius de numero sagittariorum on an inscription from Salona
  7. Werner Eck, Suffektkonsulnpaare: die Reihenfolge ihrer Namen in Diplomen und munizipalen Fasten
  8. Anne Kolb, Meilensteine und «Meilenzähler» entlang der viae publicae im Imperium Romanum
  9. Christian Laes, Patrueles as cousins in Latin inscriptions
  10. Marc Mayer, Silvia Braito, The Senatorial Family of the Cocceii after Nerva: Some Reflections Regarding CIL XI 5672 = EDCS 23000344 and a New Brick Stamp
  11. Mustafa H. Sayar, Ein Veteran aus der Legio VIII Augusta in der Kolonie Apri
  12. Heikki Solin, Tegularius und Verwandtes
  13. Michael A. Speidel, Titurnius Quartio und Severus’ Parthersieg
  14. Günther E. Thüry, Inschriften als Zeugnisse für Schriftlichkeit und Bildung. Der Fall der Provinz Noricum und allgemeine Perspektiven
  15. Christian Witschel, Statuen von Personifikationen und Gottheiten im spätantiken Stadtraum – die epigraphische Evidenz:

Part II: New readings and new Roman inscriptions

  1. Juan Abascal, Autour de trois inscriptions votives dédiés par militaires en Gallaecia (Hispania citerior)
  2. Radu Ardevan, Zu einer römischen Inschrift aus Smirë (Obermoesien)
  3. Giuseppe Camodeca, Ludi publici per Claudio e il Genius coloniae in una dedica inedita del 46 da Puteoli
  4. Alison E. Cooley, An ash-chest in an English country-garden: EDCS 65000025 revisited
  5. Jonathan Edmondson, Funerary plaques with double epitaph panels from Augusta Emerita (Mérida, Spain)
  6. Rudolf Haensch, Eduard Shehi, Aus verschiedensten Epochen und Schichten. Weitere Inschriften aus Dyrrachium
  7. Marietta Horster, Servi publici – Begriffe, Namen und Lücken. Bemerkungen zu CIL II 3181 und CIL II²/13, 987
  8. Péter Kovács, Supplementum to the Greek inscriptions of Pannonia – New Greek tituli from Sirmium
  9. Winfried Kumpitsch†, Verena Reiter, Wolfgang Spickermann, Celtic divine names in Latin inscriptions from Germania and Raetia. A digital edition
  10. Attilio Mastino, Il Tempio delle Acque di Ain Zaghouan in Tunisia: nuovi inediti epigrafici
  11. Florian Matei-Popescu, Mihaela Simion, Oppressit ruina: A mining accident in Alburnus Maior (Dacia superior)
  12. Krešimir Matijević, Inschriftenabklatsche von Kriegsverlusten aus Castellum Mattiacorum/Mainz-Kastel
  13. Silvia Orlandi, Non una di più, ma una di meno (CIL VI 40572)
  14. Ioan Piso, Die zwei Statuenbasen für Q. Marcius Turbo aus Sarmizegetusa
  15. Marie-Thérèse Raepsaet-Charlier, Révision d’inscriptions latines de Narbonnaise. Mouriès (ILGN, 70) et Glanum (CIL, XII, 999 ; CAG 13/2, p. 304) (Bouches-du-Rhône, France)
  16. Olli Salomies, Zu einigen Stellen der tabula patronatus des J. 335 n. Chr. (AE 1937, 121 = CIL IX 8223 = EDCS-10801485)
  17. Benet Salway, Onomastic observations on two military tombstones from Roman Anatolia
  18. Roger S.O. Tomlin, One hundred thousand denarii, a gift to Mercury
  19. Ekkehard Weber, Eine ungeklärte Inschrift aus Carnuntum
  20. François Wiblé, Une inscription bien énigmatique de Massongex
  21. Rainer Wiegels, Nugae epigraphicae – Anmerkungen zu einigen epigraphischen Zeugnissen aus Biesheim-Oedenburg

 

Notes

[1] Included are also a few inscriptions relating to Rome in Etruscan, Oscan, Celtic, Venetian, Lepontic, Raetian, Punic, Libyan, Hebrew, Palmyrene and Safaitic.

[2] For Greek epigraphy the situation is less comfortable. The largest database, that of Packard Humanities Institute (Searchable Greek Inscriptions), covers far from all, and apparently is no longer updated. The collection of Inscriptiones Graecae (https://telota.bbaw.de/ig/) is limited to modern Greece and Greek inscriptions found in Europe. Papyrologists are better off with Papyri.info, which comprises the texts of almost all published documentary papyri.

[3] See e.g. T. Elliott, in Ch. Bruun and J.E. Edmondson (edd.): The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy, 2015, p. 78-85.

[4] W. V. Harris, Ancient Literacy, Cambridge, Mass. 1989, especially p. 268.