The structure of votive inscriptions from Roman Liburnia

Abstract

The authors analyse the structures of votive inscriptions from Roman Liburnia and their spatial distribution. Splitting up the text structures into constituent elements resulted in the identification of eight groups, depending on both the order of these elements and their combinations. By examining and analysing the structures of texts, it is the aim of this article to determine which scheme(s) would be most typical for the region and whether some particular regional features exist, and, if so, to see what they look like, which elements are the commonest among them, and what do the rarely used elements and formulas tell us about them. The analysis has shown that votive texts from Liburnia display a diversity of combinations and occurrences of textual elements that vary according to the region in which they were set up; thus, the wealthier and more Romanised regions show a greater tendency towards more elaborate structures. The military environment of the legionary camp in Burnum stands out for its above average mentioning of the dedicator’s service, while in other, less Romanised regions inscriptions with simple structures dominate.

Keywords

• roman period
• liburnia (province of dalmatia)
• epigraphy
• votive inscriptions
• textural structure