Language and Cultural Interactions in the Roman World: The Impact of Inscriptions is the title of a conference that takes place at Groningen, March 6-7, 2025. Organizers include Valentina Vari (Sapienza Università di Roma – University of Groningen), Caroline van Toor (University of Groningen), Dr Saskia Peels-Matthey (University of Groningen), and Prof. Dr Onno van Nijf (University of Groningen).

Language and Cultural Interactions: Background

Inscriptions constitute immediate evidence of this interaction between conquerors and the local populations in the ever-expanding territories of Rome.  While onomastics aid the identification of the various sociocultural groups that erected the monuments, language and linguistic choices reveal insights into the mutual relations of these groups. Inscriptions are not simply the outcome of cultural interaction. Rather, the groups that produced them used them for anchoring the new (intercultural contact) with what was already familiar. In this way, inscriptions constitute a means to manage the common ground and thus negotiate intercultural relations.

With “common ground” we mean the domain of knowledge that different parties share, negotiate, and update during the communication act. Unlike speech events, the information provided by inscriptions is fixed, and can not be updated per a specific interlocutor. However, inscriptions also aim to resonate within a specific cultural context, for example through the use of specific words, a certain language, or even the monument itself. Despite being immovable objects, inscriptions interact with the passers-by creating perpetual mechanisms of inclusion or exclusion.

As such, comparative approaches to inscriptions may show the impact of cultural interaction on the epigraphic record. They also show insights into the (changing) nature of the relations between the parties involved. Such approaches are:

a. the choice of a new or old language.

b. the social position of its users.

c. the context in which users chose to use this language.

d. changes in such choices over time.

This applies to the people mentioned in the inscriptions and the relationship between the commissioner(s) and the possible audience of the texts. Thus, how the inscriptions could function is an important factor in our evaluation of the use of the language(s).

A closer look at the language can also reveal user preference for self-representation. The use of a foreign language by a non-native speaker may reveal more intricate aspects of cultural interaction. Local populations may have adopted Latin and Roman epigraphic habits as an elite legitimization tool. Also, the Romans might have used languages other than Latin aiming to anchor into local practices. In both examples, it is possible to find signs of non-native competence (misspellings, errors, anomalous palaeographical features). Syntactic irregularities or translations of idioms or formulae may point to different ethnic identities or preferences on behalf of the inscribers. Since it is hard to know whether certain choices were made consciously,  cultural interaction takes place on different levels and can be blurry.

We aim to explore the topic of cultural interaction through the lens of inscriptions. The conference focuses on how the choice of language functioned in its original context as a way to manage the common ground, and thereby the mutual relations, of the parties involved. The Roman provinces and the Italian Peninsula, roughly between the 3rd c. BCE and the 3rd c. CE, constitutes the spatial and temporal scope of this conference.

Questions addressed include, but are not limited to:

  • How can inscriptions help us to better understand cultural interaction in the ancient world?
  • How can linguistic choices and linguistic change express cultural identity and changing reflections on them?
  • How do inscriptions negotiate social and cultural relationships? How did this happen considering the language, scripts, and overall appearance of the inscribed monument?
  • To what extent can we distinguish deliberate acts of communicative anchoring from accidental uses of language and form?
  • How can we document the appearance and use of a new language in the epigraphical record, and develop in a certain community or region?
  • How do local languages interfere with new languages, like Latin, and vice versa? What does that tell us about the interaction between the users of these languages?
  • What is the relationship between the inscribers and the audience of inscribed monuments? Who would be able to see the monument?
  • How do Roman and local traditions merge on monuments and how we may interpret these changes?

We invite both junior and senior scholars to submit an abstract to present a paper at the conference. Please submit your proposals of no more than 500 words no later than Monday, October 21st, 2024. We intend to publish the proceedings of the conference. Proposals as well as any questions can be sent to [email protected] (Valentina Vari) and [email protected] (Caroline van Toor).

For further content concerning ancient languages see here.