Axon Epigraphic Record

1. ID, Author, Date and Title

Each record (exportable in PDF) is divided into fields concerning different aspects of the inscription, and has an identification number, automatically generated. If you want information about our Authors, please consult the short descriptions that appear in the ‘About us’ page.
The record includes the publication date.

Fig. 1: First section of an Axon record

2. Abstract

The relevant information on the inscription is summed up in an abstract, in which the keywords are highlighted. The keywords are indexed and searchable, and they are arranged by categories (each marked by a colour):

  • Personalities
  • Gods and heroes
  • Place, regions, peoples
  • Geographical names (rivers, lakes, mountains, etc.)
  • Political and institutional lexicon
  • Other keywords
  • Ancient sources

Fig. 2: Following sections of the Axon record

3. Object type

The first information provided is the Object type (you can find the 'Object types' drop-down list in our Tools).
Then it is possible to specify the Material (see the 'Materials' drop-down list) and other details such as: dimensions of the object (always in cm), width, height and depth (or diameter, in the case of a round object).
Finally, information on the state of preservation is provided.

4. Chronology

Here is provided the date of the document by exact year, if possible, or by time span. For further information see the 'Search by chronology' function or browse our database through the Catalogue. Along with the dating accepted by the author, alternative dating(s) are pointed out in square brackets.

5. Type of Inscription

Here you can find the classification of the type of document, based on Margherita Guarducci's work in Epigrafia Greca (1967-1978), which still is a reference work for university teaching of Greek Epigraphy in Italy and abroad. Further details on the different typologies can be found in our ‘Type of Inscription' drop-down list and following the links to the entries in the EAGLE Europeana controlled vocabularies.

6. Discovery

This section provides information about the year and circumstances in which the document was found (if known), as well as the modern Country, the ancient Region and City (with the ancient and modern name), and further details about the exact location of the discovery (if available).
For further information about the ancient Region, see the ‘Regions’ drop-down list and follow the link to the Pleiades portal, which provides the location of the area according to the Barrington Atlas, as well as the connection to several digital resources on ancient topography and other relevant topics.
If known, the (ancient) city name is linked with the corrisponding Pleiades entry. An icon on the right of the field points out if the link to Pleiades is available. This allows to display the place via GoogleMaps.

7. Preservation Place

This section provides information about the place where the inscription is stored today, in the following order: Country (modern); City (modern); Authority or Institution (and inventory number, if any). If the document is located in the archaeological context where it was found, it is indicated as 'in situ'.

8. Script

In this section you can find information on the layout, letter shape and dialect (if the documents predate the introduction of the Attic-Ionic alphabet).
The information is provided in the following order:

  • Text structure: it specifies whether the text is prose (epigraphic), text in verse or other. If the inscription is metric, details are given about the meter.
  • Technique: it describes the writing technique, if engraved, painted or other.
  • Alphabet (colour): the information is provided only for archaic and early classical documents. It refers to the colours A. Kirchhoff used to distinguish the different alphabets (Studien zur Geschichte des griechischen Alphabets, Gütersloh 1887).
  • Local alphabet: this information is provided only for early classical inscriptions. It corresponds to the categories L.H. Jeffery defined in her Local Script of Archaic Greece.
  • Local letter forms: this section indicates the shape of each special letter in the inscription, followed by the name of the letter and, in some cases, further descriptions. The special letters can be a search criterion in the Database.
  • Letter size: this paragraph provides information about the size of the letters in centimetres.
  • Line spacing: it provides the average distance between the lines in centimetres.
  • Palaeography: this section provides, if relevant, the text layout (e.g. it is specified if it is stoichedon).
  • Arrangement: it is clarified whether the inscription is left-to-right or right-to-left or boustrophedon (bi-directional: right-to-left and left-to-right, or vice versa).
  • Language: it provides information on the dialect in which the text is written (if it is previous to the dissemination of the koine).

Fig. 3: Information about the Script

9. Lemma

In the Lemma are collected all the editions of the inscription, ordered as follows:

  • editio princeps (the first publication of the document)
  • other editions, and the notices in the epigraphic bulletins, such as the SEG (Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum), and the BE (Bulletin épigraphique). The editions are arranged in a lemma genetico, which reproduces the hierarchy of the editions. It lists the autonomous editions, which generally derive from an autopsy of the document and often offer new readings of the document. Each autonomous edition is followed by the dependent editions (namely the editions that accept the autonomous one, in square brackets).

At the end of the lemma are eventually listed the publications which, although not true editions of the document, contain suggestions, readings and interpretations relating to it. These will be accounted for in the Apparatus (see section below).
The edition proposed in the epigraphic record is in bold. If the Author offers a new edition, no edition is marked in the lemma. The editions are quoted with the author-date system or with the SEG abbreviation (updated with the GrEpiAbbr). You can see the complete reference both in the bibliography and by placing the cursor on the abbreviation itself.
The word ‘Vidi' may appear before the lemma: it indicates that the Author personally examined the document.

Fig. 4: Lemma, Text, Apparatus and Translation

10. Text

The Greek text is returned in standardised way. The Leiden Conventions are used.

11. Apparatus

In this section the alternative readings of the document are collected, line by line and word by word. Only the readings that differ from the edition adopted are indicated in the apparatus. Authors are indicated, conventionally, with the surname only. If the same author has edited two or more editions his surname will be followed by the year to differentiate them.
The meaning of every abbreviations is clarified in the bibliography below or by placing the cursor over each abbreviation.

12. Translation

The Author of the record provides his own translation of the text in Italian or English. If the record is in English, we recommend the following standard: to retain Latinised spellings in common use (e.g. Pindar, Bacchylides); to transliterate other names following the Greek spelling (e.g. Hagesidamos, Damophilos). An analogous approach applies to the rendering of names of specific magistrates, institutions, etc.
The following are the conventions accepted:
γ+κ / γ+γ = ng, e.g. angelos, syngeneia etc.
γ+ χ= nch, e.g. synchrisis etc.
κ = k
θ = th
ξ = x
ου = ou
ρ = rh (for the letter rho at the beginning of a word or after another rho) e.g. parrhesia, rhesis
υ = y
φ = ph
χ = ch
breathing = h
Long and short vowels are not graphically distinguished.

13. Bibliography

Structure of the Bibliography section:

  • The first entries are the corpora. The abbreviations (in bold and followed by the bibliographical reference) are those used by the SEG, updated with the GrEpiAbbr list. A list of the publications collected by us can be consulted and printed from the 'Bibliography' drop-down list.
  • Following the complete bibliographical references of the other publications cited in the Axon record, in the lemma and in the apparatus or in the commentary in the journal Axon (for further information about our journal, see below). The titles of scientific journals are consistent with the APh (Année Philologique) standard. In some cases, some abbreviations, not present in the APh, are needed. The list of all abbreviations adopted, followed by the full title of the journal, can be consulted and printed from the 'Journals' drop-down list.

If the publication is open access, a link to it is provided.

14. Links

It contains internal cross-references to database records, but also any external links to other digital editions of the document (if accessible without subscription by users) or to images hosted on other sites.

15. Figures

It contains, if available, figures or fac-similes of the inscription (or apographes) provided by the Author.

The journal AXON. Greek Historical Inscriptions

Each digital record is associated with a commentary on the palaeographic, linguistic, historical, institutional, cultural and contextual aspects of the document. The record and the commentary are published together in the AXON journal after two double blind reviews; each publication has a DOI code. The journal, provided with ISSN, is published every six months and can be freely consulted through the website of our publisher, Edizioni Ca’ Foscari Digital Publishing.

Database and journal Axon

Fig. 5: The link from the record to the journal

The record is connected to the commentary in the journal through a link.
The commentary in the journal is a research output independent from the database record, once published. On the contrary, the digital record can be modified even after publication in case the Author presents to the Editorial Staff well-founded reasons for an update (e.g. new discoveries on the document, new interpretative hypotheses, etc.). In the event that such updates are so relevant as to partially (or completely) modify the interpretation of the document, it is possible to publish a short supplementary commentary in the 'Updates' section of the journal.

How to cite

Because of the connection between the Database and the Journal, it is recommended to cite each publication both with the number, year and pages of the Journal and with the database record id.
EXAMPLE
Valerio, F. (2017). «Coppa di Nestore». Axon, 1(1), 11–17 (IDAxon 12).