Elective course. Late Roman Art and Epigraphy 2900-HAMC-EL-LRARTE

The course situates inscribed art objects within broader developments, such as the transformation of imperial and senatorial representations, Christianization of the empire and religious competition, development of liturgical spaces and devotional practices, the debates over images and inscriptions, growth of pilgrimage networks in the Mediterranean and the Holy Land, administration and bureaucracy as cultural producers, classical Roman epigraphic habits In relation to medieval East Roman, Armenian, Persian, and early Islamic inscriptional cultures. Students will learn to read inscriptions as performative artifacts: carved, stamped, cast, woven, inscribed, or painted onto surfaces for audiences ranging from emperors to soldiers monks, and pilgrims. We will give equal attention to objects meant to visually impress—such as silver missoria, marble sarcophagi, “consular” diptychs, and mosaic floors—and to those meant to be handled, used, or worn, including stamped pottery, bread seals, reliquaries, pilgrimage tokens, magic bowls, bronze weights, textiles, jewelry, and glassware. The course underscores the dynamic tension between serial production (factory stamps, molds, seals, weights, lamps, coins) and unique elite commissions (imperial and aristocratic monuments and pieces, luxury metalwork, church inscriptions).

Exploring audience (embodied) engagement, we will consider how inscribed object were seen, touched, kissed, traced, read aloud, processed toward, and even ingested symbolically (through Eucharistic vessels or blessed bread stamps). In addition to Latin and Greek, the course will briefly introduce students to Coptic, Syriac, Jewish, Armenian, Middle Persian, and early Arabic inscriptional worlds. Although philological mastery is not required, students will learn to recognize multilingual epigraphic cultures and their exchange networks, as well as the role of translation, bilingualism, and script choice as visual strategies of authority and identity.

Methodologically, the course draws on epigraphy, art history, archaeology, philology, paleography, religious studies, and digital humanities. We will discuss modern approaches including the visual turn, material turn, ritual studies, spatial turn, and object-biography methods. Students will practice autoptic analysis—direct visual study—and will introduce digital epigraphic tools such as EpiDoc, online corpora, and art historical databases. Field trip (in person or virtual) to a local museum will introduce students to handling inscriptions, studying letterforms, identifying tools and restorations.

Over the semester, we will ask key questions:
• How do inscriptions operate as images, ornaments, and objects of authority?
• What kinds of literacies—visual, verbal, ritual—did inscribed objects require?
• How did artisans, patrons, church leaders, and emperors use inscriptions to shape memory and identity?
• What do everyday inscribed items reveal about the experiences of artisans, worshipers, and ordinary users?
• How does the study of inscriptions challenge traditional hierarchies between “major” and “minor” arts?
• In what ways do inscriptions reveal cultural connections, provincial agency, and regional artistic languages beyond Rome and Constantinople?

Students will be introduced to basic principles of interpreting inscriptions: formulaic language, abbreviations, chronology, titulature, dating systems, and the relationship between script, ornament, and material. They will develop practical skills including:
• identifying inscription types and functions
• recognizing common letterforms and abbreviations
• analyzing layout, carving techniques, and material choices
• situating objects within ritual, architectural, and social contexts
• producing well-documented object analysis reports

By the end of the course, students will gain a foundational understanding of the artistic and inscriptional cultures of late antiquity and early medieval states, while acquiring transferable skills in visual literacy, critical analysis, and cultural-historical interpretation. Through seminar discussions, object-based learning, student presentations, and final writing assignment, participants will engage deeply with the ways text and image co-produced meaning at a moment when the ancient world was transforming into the medieval.

Ultimately, this course positions inscribed objects in their role of shaping late antique society—not merely reflections of authority or belief, but tools that constructed political legitimacy, mediated sacred space, forged communal identities, and materialized sanctity. It invites students to see writing not only as record, but as a powerful form of art.