| CSAD Newsletter No. 9, Winter 2002 |
The current level of interest in Attic epigraphy was reflected by a successful one-day colloquium held on March 8, 2000. A programme consisting of ten papers and a large international audience packed into the Canadian Archaeological Institute in Athens confirm that Athens is the place not only to study the epigraphical culture of the ancient polis but also to keep up to date with the latest academic research. Papers were presented by students from Canada, Greece, Britain, Israel and the USA and covered topics from Archaic through to Roman periods.
Onomastic questions held centre stage. Sean Byrne's study of names explored the different fashioning of Latin and Greek names in Athens before and after 86 B.C. David Jordan, co-organiser of the colloquium, focused on one particular name, Pasion, that appears on an unpublished lead tablet and argued that this was the Pasion made famous in the Demosthenic corpus.
The context in which inscriptions are found and were set up was also an important theme and was touched on in a number of papers, including Catherine Keeling (on the Acropolis dedications), Stephen Lambert (on an erasure in IG ii2 410), Angelos Matthaiou (on the topography of Apollo Delios in Athens) and Graham Oliver (on the location of IG ii2 448).
Religion is never far from epigraphy and the demes of Attica continue to provide a wealth of material which requires further thought. Androniki Makres who investigated the role of sophronistai in the Hebe cult at Aixone (IG ii2 1199) and Eran Lupu on the meaning of maschalismata found on the lex sacra of Phrearrioi both made contributions to the richness of the epigraphic material in rural Attica.
Epigraphy has been keeping pace with the developments of technological innovation and a leading exponent and champion of electronic applications - or e-epigraphy - is John Traill who spoke on his own research programme, Athenians, which has been using computer technology for three decades. Virtual epigraphy was also the subject of the final paper presented by Malcolm Wallace who explored the world of lost inscriptions in his quest for The Thirty Years Peace in literary sources.
For those who were not able to be in Athens, a publication of the proceedings from the conference should appear shortly. For further information, please e-mail: caia@hol.gr.
Graham Oliver
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