From chronography to liberal imperialism

This paper assesses the relationship between modern epigraphical publication and the deployment of inscriptions in the historiography of archaic and classical Greece down to the middle of the nineteenth century. I shall explore the motivations that led historians of Greek antiquity, before the twentieth century, to consult inscriptions, paying attention to the ways in which the media through which they were available was influential upon their deployment in the reconstruction of the past: what difference, I shall ask, did the appearance of a comprehensive corpus dedicated to Greek inscriptions make, and how far did it serve to ?normalize? the image of hitherto prestigious inscriptions?

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Historiography · Literature · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · History