Welcome!

On this site you find a data base that records almost all Latin inscriptions. The texts are based on the decision of the EDCS editors. The texts are presented without abbreviations and completed where possible. The presentation of the texts is kept as simple as possible. Beside the commonly used indications for resolution, completions and erasures as few special characters as possible have been used. The abbreviations give the references for the publications used.

Is there a after the line of the publication found, you are guided by clicking to another database, frequently with photos.

There are links [847.661] to the following 36 databases.

The following journals are evaluated.

You can contact me at email@manfredclauss.de

Statistics

By now 804.781 sets of data for 519.109 inscriptions from 22.232 places with 190.801 pictures have been recorded.

The statistical data for publications indicate which volumes (with how many texts per volume as far as the Latin inscriptions are concerned) are recorded completely in the data base.

The statistical data for provinces give an overview on the categorized provinces and inscriptions. Provinces set in bold are complete.

Advice for users

All texts are presented without abbreviations and completed. Only very few special characters have been used:

( )	resolution of abbreviated texts, insertion of missing letters
[ ]	addition
[ 3 ]	blank within a line
[ 6 ]	a blank line
]	blank of unknown length at the beginning
[	blank of unknown length at the end
[[ ]]	erasure
<e=F>	correction (example: f<e=F>cit for FFCIT)
<<TEXT>>	Here texts are listed that have been created to fill erased passages - especially in the time of the Severan dynasty.
<<[[ ]]>>	This text has been erased and then carved again; often leg. III.
{ }	canceled letters
/	division of lines
*	The * indicates an inscription that is thought to be forged or modern. With the CIL the * is in front of a number (CIL 06, *03231), by other publications the * stands behind the number (RIB-03, 03534*).
+	+ in front of a number of the AE, AEA, ILCV or at other places indicates to bibliographical references, with other publications to comments given under the number indicated.

Text taken from the CIL are listed under the number of their first mentioning, later corrections are added and noted there; this applies also for corrections of inscriptions of the CIL from the AE and other newer publications.

database enquiry

You can search the data base for records, province, place,date, inscription genus/personal status and texts. All entries have a wildcard character on the right and left side. The number of each record must have five digits: e. g. CIL 02, 00125. The notations used for the provinces are listed in a field on the right side next to the box for the provinces. Under the box "Choice of provinces" you have the possibility to choose several provinces. For the entries of place names and provinces case sensitivity is required; do not use umlaute, accents or special characters. You will find modern and/or ancient place names; under the ancient place name you will often find more texts. The search results can be listed by record or provinces.

Information for the search text:

You can search any terms separated with % - also in combination with a record/province/place - or for two of those. If you are looking for two terms you can chose if both terms should be in the inscription ("and"), just one at a time ("or") or exclusively one (text 1) and the other not (text 2); e. g. all inscriptions with "Dis" without those having "Dis Manibus". All terms you search for have a wildcard character on the right and left side as well. In addition to that you can place your own wildcard character. The sign % replaces any number of signs. You can also use "_" (underscore), that replaces exactly one sign. Two underscores "__" replace exactly two signs (vi__it will find vixsit, vixxit, viscit). You can explicitly search for a phrase at the beginning/the end of the inscriptions. For the beginning place "^ " (that is ^ with a blank) in front of the phrase you are looking for, for the end add " ^" (that is blank and ^) at the end. If you are looking for a very specific word like "et", enter "blank et blank" as the search text.

Greek texts are marked with "GR". These inscriptions can be found by "GR". For many european provinces these inscriptions are linked with Searchable Greek Inscriptions and Epigraphic Database Roma, where the greek texts are obtainable.

Further abbreviations concern the "ETR" (etruscan linked with Epigraphic Database Roma,), "HEBR" (hebrew), "PALMYR" (palmyrenian), "IBER" (iberian) "OSK" (oscan) and "PUN" (punic) texts.

Search for inscription genus/personal status

After having finished recording almost all Latin inscriptions we started to categorize the texts by the type of inscription and the social role of people mentioned.

In the box "Type of inscription/Personal status" you can choose categories and combine them with "et" or "vel". When there is no mark at "et" or "vel", "et" is set by default. "et" means that the marked conditions must meet all in an inscription; "vel" means only one of the marked conditions must meet. In the second searchfield "and not" you can choose categories to be excluded in the query.

The following categories are recorded:

titulorum distributio:

• tituli honorarii [also emperors but no miliaria]

• tituli operum [inscriptions on a building or mentionig a building or an object; not "fecit", "posuit", no tituli sepulcrales; explicitly mentioned "monumenta" and "titula" but not "HMHNS"; "locus" but not "LDDD"; miliaria are registered here if an object like "pons" is mentioned]

• tituli sacri [inscriptions dedicated to a deity or mentioning a deity; not "DM"; no divi in the filiatio of an emperor]

• tituli sepulcrales

• carmina

• defixiones

• diplomata militaria

• miliaria

• inscriptiones christianae

• leges [legislative documents such as birth registers, testaments, purchase contracts, fasti]

• senatus consulta

• sigilla impressa [here serially produced inscriptions such as brick-, pottery- or amphora-stamps are recorded. These inscriptions are only partially analyzed]

• termini

• tesserae nummulariae

• signacula [metal stamp]

• signacula medicorum

• litterae erasae

• litterae in litura

• tituli fabricationis

• tituli possessionis [also rings, weights, private notices on bricks, mostly graffiti and dipinti]

virorum/feminarum distributio:

• tria nomina [no emperors]

• viri

• Augusti/Augustae [no specification to the name, no consular dates, no epithets of troops or deities (as "Mercurio Augusto"), no statements of "servi/liberti Augusti" or "evocati Augusti"]

• liberti/libertae [without formulae as "libertis libertabusque"]

• milites

• mulieres

• nomen singulare

• praenomen et nomen [with mulieres this means forms like "Iulia C(ai) f(ilia) "]

• officium/professio

• ordo decurionum [also magistrates of vici or pagi; without "d(ecreto) d(ecurionum) "]

• ordo equester

• ordo senatorius [no consular dates]

• reges

• sacerdotes christiani

• sacerdotes pagani [also "cultores", but no "pontifex maximus"]

• servi/servae

• seviri Augustales

• "GR" [the Greek inscriptions are not evaluated]

Search for material

The material is entered according to the following types: aes, argentum, aurum, corium, cyprum, ferrum, gemma, lapis, lignum, musivum, opus figlinae, os, plumbum, steatitis, sucineum, tectorium, vitrum

Issuing by corpora

In this box you can enter single volumes; their texts will be issued in numeric order. Please note that in this case a wildcard character will only be placed automatically on the right hand side.

Search entries: no solutions

In this case the database offers the opportunity to search for abbreviations in all texts. Thus the input b() m() will have the result (among others) b(ene) m(erenti) with the appropriate inscription. Please note that in between the abbreviated words a blank is set. Such terms are exceptional that include more than one abbreviation within a single word, such as b()f(), which results (among others) in b(ene)f(icarius). You can also search for the special character |().

Search entries: wrong spelling

You can also search for wrong spellings: Examples such as eiius, menus, deposicio or Pudes, for Pudens, can be found.

Dating

The dates - for the moment 127.438 - are taken from publications or other databases, unless they are not basing on informations of the text itself. Christian inscriptions without details are dated 301 to 500.

The following schema underlies the specification:

• -250 to -201

• -200 to -151

• -200 to -101

• -150 to -101

• -100 to -1

• -50 to -1

• 1 to 50

• 1 to 100

• 31 to 70

• 51 to 100

• 71 to 130

• 101 to 200

• and so on

• a special year: 111 to 111

Thanks

Finally I thank all those who have supported this data base and helped creating it.

You can contact me at email@manfredclauss.de