Graphic Display: Form and Meaning in Greek and Latin Writing

The issue of graphic display has particular relevance to the category of ancient magical inscriptions, although it is typically not seriously studied or theorized. For some categories of magical inscriptions, graphic display is not significant: in binding curses inscribed on rectangular strips of lead, linear arrangement of text bears little connection to the purpose of the spell, rather mundanely mirroring rectangular confines of the epigraphic field.

Titles are so fundamental to modern documents that a piece of writing without an identifier is considered incomplete, and yet little systematic attention has been paid to the evolution of document titles in Greek epigraphy. While scholars have made great strides toward an understanding of how archives and their users functioned in the Greek Mediterranean (Sickinger 1999; Rhodes 2001a and 2001b), the mechanics of consulting an archive consisting of non-portable documents remains relatively unexplored.

The Hellenistic period was a time of radical experimentation for the Greek alphabet. One of the most striking new uses of the alphabet was the technology of alphabetization, the process of arranging items in lists according to alphabetical order. Yet, outside of the preliminary study of Daly 1967 and brief discussions of individual examples (notably Mahaffy 1891–1893; Segre 1935; Turner 1955; Robert 1976; Paton and Hicks 1990; Battistoni 2006; Ellis-Evans 2012), the history of this technology and of its uses across different types of objects has received little attention.

Some of the earliest inscribed objects in athletic sanctuaries are athletic equipment. These early dedications come from the “field sports” of the pentathlon: specifically, the discus and the halma (i.e., the haltēres, or jumping weights). These sports were suitable for providing dedications since their equipment was of a semi-permanent nature. Examples of inscribed haltēres and discuses have come to light (e.g., SEG 59-388; SEG 49-346; SEG 40-357; Lazzarini 834, 835; Olympia IV no.

The paper aims to explore the changes in graphic design on a distinct but largely overlooked category of inscription, so-called tesserae nummulariae. Previous study has subordinated their presentation to analysis of the texts. However, the form and orientation of the inscriptions have the potential to shed light on the production, reception and perhaps even the function of these tesserae. Moreover, a variant type has emerged from ongoing excavations at Magdalensberg (Austria), which provides a rare opportunity to examine how cultural preferences dictated changes in graphic design.