Chapter From Texts on Walls to Walls of Text: The Layout of Late Antique Greek Documents Inscribed on Architecture
Late Roman documents inscribed in Greek on wall space in Asia Minor look surprisingly different from earlier Greek documentary inscriptions also inscribed on walls, which were often carved with the text subdivided into neat and orderly columns. By contrast, some late antique documents were carved in...
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| フォーマット: | Online |
| 言語: | 英語 |
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Firenze University Press
2025
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| オンライン･アクセス: | ONIX_20250801T173835_9791221504569_317 |
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| _version_ | 1869531559643578368 |
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| author | Sitz, Anna M. |
| author_browse | Sitz, Anna M. |
| author_facet | Sitz, Anna M. |
| author_sort | Sitz, Anna M. |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | Late Roman documents inscribed in Greek on wall space in Asia Minor look surprisingly different from earlier Greek documentary inscriptions also inscribed on walls, which were often carved with the text subdivided into neat and orderly columns. By contrast, some late antique documents were carved in continuous lines stretching for metres, and they incorporate disparate visual features, such as kalends dates in Latin cursive letters. Rather than assume that such mise en page and visual characteristics represent the “decline” of classical epigraphic traditions, I trace the dissolution of the older, columnar formatting in documentary inscriptions on architectural wall space and the development of new layouts in Asia Minor, beginning in the Roman imperial period and accelerating in Late Antiquity. I argue that the aesthetic change can be summarized as follows: earlier Greek and Roman inscriptions appear as “texts on walls,” that is, discrete columns of texts written upon a pre-existing wall space. In the late Roman period, inscriptions fill up larger wall spaces without division, transforming these architectural surfaces into “walls of text.” These late antique inscribed documents become visually inseparable from their architectural writing bearers, acting as an “inscribed skin” and adding texture to the buildings. In some cases (e.g. Hagios Polyeuktos in Constantinople), architects or building teams clearly planned space for inscriptions early in the construction process. These changes correspond with the wider aestheticization of inscriptions in the late Roman period. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-163449 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Firenze University Press |
| publisherStr | Firenze University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1634492025-08-02T05:09:18Z Chapter From Texts on Walls to Walls of Text: The Layout of Late Antique Greek Documents Inscribed on Architecture Sitz, Anna M. inscribed dossiers text and architecture Late Antiquity epigraphic aesthetics Mylasa. Late Roman documents inscribed in Greek on wall space in Asia Minor look surprisingly different from earlier Greek documentary inscriptions also inscribed on walls, which were often carved with the text subdivided into neat and orderly columns. By contrast, some late antique documents were carved in continuous lines stretching for metres, and they incorporate disparate visual features, such as kalends dates in Latin cursive letters. Rather than assume that such mise en page and visual characteristics represent the “decline” of classical epigraphic traditions, I trace the dissolution of the older, columnar formatting in documentary inscriptions on architectural wall space and the development of new layouts in Asia Minor, beginning in the Roman imperial period and accelerating in Late Antiquity. I argue that the aesthetic change can be summarized as follows: earlier Greek and Roman inscriptions appear as “texts on walls,” that is, discrete columns of texts written upon a pre-existing wall space. In the late Roman period, inscriptions fill up larger wall spaces without division, transforming these architectural surfaces into “walls of text.” These late antique inscribed documents become visually inseparable from their architectural writing bearers, acting as an “inscribed skin” and adding texture to the buildings. In some cases (e.g. Hagios Polyeuktos in Constantinople), architects or building teams clearly planned space for inscriptions early in the construction process. These changes correspond with the wider aestheticization of inscriptions in the late Roman period. 2025-08-02T05:09:17Z 2025-08-02T05:09:17Z 2025-08-01T16:00:38Z 2024 chapter ONIX_20250801T173835_9791221504569_317 2612-7997 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/104867 9791221504569 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/163449 eng Edizioni dell’Istituto Papirologico «G. Vitelli» open access image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/104867/1/43369.pdf Firenze University Press 10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9.18 10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9.18 2ec4474d-93b1-4cfa-b313-9c6019b51b1a 9791221504569 11 Florence open access |
| spellingShingle | inscribed dossiers text and architecture Late Antiquity epigraphic aesthetics Mylasa. Sitz, Anna M. Chapter From Texts on Walls to Walls of Text: The Layout of Late Antique Greek Documents Inscribed on Architecture |
| title | Chapter From Texts on Walls to Walls of Text: The Layout of Late Antique Greek Documents Inscribed on Architecture |
| title_full | Chapter From Texts on Walls to Walls of Text: The Layout of Late Antique Greek Documents Inscribed on Architecture |
| title_fullStr | Chapter From Texts on Walls to Walls of Text: The Layout of Late Antique Greek Documents Inscribed on Architecture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chapter From Texts on Walls to Walls of Text: The Layout of Late Antique Greek Documents Inscribed on Architecture |
| title_short | Chapter From Texts on Walls to Walls of Text: The Layout of Late Antique Greek Documents Inscribed on Architecture |
| title_sort | chapter from texts on walls to walls of text the layout of late antique greek documents inscribed on architecture |
| topic | inscribed dossiers text and architecture Late Antiquity epigraphic aesthetics Mylasa. |
| topic_facet | inscribed dossiers text and architecture Late Antiquity epigraphic aesthetics Mylasa. |
| url | ONIX_20250801T173835_9791221504569_317 |
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