Latin Literature

*Hadrian's famous institution for the study of Greek *rhetoric and letters in the centre of Rome. In the 4th cent. ce it was the setting for public *declamation in Latin as well. Its location is uncertain.

The study of Latin texts inscribed on durable objects, usually of stone or bronze. It is concerned both with the form of the inscriptions and with their content, and so impinges on many other fields, e.g. art history, palaeography, philology, history, law, religion. It excludes, but cannot ignore, texts on coins and gems; it has a strong interest in Greek inscriptions of the Roman period; it includes some texts written with paint or pen and ink (see e.g. amphorae and amphora stamps, roman).

2. The epigraphist must first decipher all that can be read on the inscribed object, however much damaged it is and then, where possible, propose restorations of what is illegible or lost: processes for which modern techniques, such as computer-enhanced photographs and computerized indices of formulae, are currently supplementing long-standing aids, such as photographs taken in raking lights and squeezes (impressions made with absorbent paper or latex). The resulting text can then be interpreted as a historical document.

Iulius Atticus, probably of Gallic origin, wrote, in *Tiberius' time, the first specialized monograph on viticulture (*Columella, Rust. 1. 1. 14). He apparently aimed to produce *wine in bulk while cutting costs (ibid. 4. 1–2).