Carmina Latina Epigraphica, 1

The purpose of this edition is to take up Buecheler's admirable sylloge of Carmina Latina Epigraphica (1895-1926, 3 volumes). Since 1926 many new Latin metrical inscriptions and graffiti have been discovered, which greatly increased the number of epigraphic poetic texts previously known. These inscriptions have to be collected in order to be easily found, known and noticeable; the present sylloge aims at this outcome. An essential apparatus criticus with textual, historical, metrical, linguistic, and stylistic notes (approximately as in Buecheler's edition) accompanies the edition of the texts. The texts are collected in three sections; the first and major section includes the carmina epigraphica whose metrical nature is undoubted, the second includes the commatica and the texts of dubious nature, the third one the aliena. In sections one and two the texts are arranged essentially according to the diatopic distribution and, inwards, to the chronological one. A concise preface focuses the most important questions in the field of the Latin metrical epigraphy. Many indexes conclude the work in two volumes, comprising about 1600 texts.