The transition from Republic to Principate in Sicily: an epigraphic perspective

Book section : Chapter

This paper considers the value of epigraphic evidence for assessing the nature of the social and political change on the island of Sicily in the period after c.49 BCE and the Roman civil wars, through to the early Roman Empire. The discussion makes use of the data generated by the ERC Crossreads project (grant agreement nr. 885040) and available in the I.Sicily corpus. The first section considers different methodological uses of epigraphic evidence and its use to date, broadly (1) inscriptions as a source of specific historical and institutional data, (2) quantitative analysis as a measure of cultural or linguistic change, (3) the application of socio-linguistics. Quantitative analysis to date for the period in question is briefly summarised in the second section.
The remainder of the paper considers the epigraphic culture of the coloniae and other Sicilian settlements in more detail, combining the insights of socio-linguistic analysis with improving datasets. Case-studies are presented of material from the coloniae of Syracusae and Tauromenium, illustrating the increasing complexity of the emerging picture in this period of transition. The coloniae have been the primary focus of study in most recent work, and so the final part of the paper considers examples from other communities which did not undergo such radical population transformation in this period. A re-examination of the problem of civic status on the island in this period, especially the status of municipium, is followed by analysis of several examples combining analysis of language, typology, form and material, to illustrate future lines of interpretation. Overall, it is argued that the impact of Latin, and Latin epigraphic practices was sudden and substantial, as has long been recognised, and particularly in the coloniae, but it was also not as rapid or as complete as has often been assumed. It is clear that a much more complex picture needs to be elucidated, reflecting complicated social and political choices on the ground, and that in turn the use of epigraphic evidence for the period needs to be more sophisticated and nuanced.

Authors: Prag, JRW

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Edizioni Quasar
• Host title: La Sicilia fra le guerre civili e l'epoca giulio-claudia. Atti del I Convegno Internazionale, Palermo, 19-21 maggio 2022, Museo Archeologico Regionale “Antonino Salinas”
• Series: Convegni di archeologia siciliana
• Place of publication: Rome
• Publication date: 2024-06-10
• Edition: 1
• EISBN: 9788854914940
• Language: English
• Keywords: epigraphy; Roman Sicily; acculturation; socio-linguistics; multi-lingualism
• Subtype: Chapter