A01.031.0.pdf

placed in the appendices given the many outstanding
uncertainties surrounding their social
status, ethnic origin or even their identification
with persons known to have existed. 29
Although the fragments are highly ambiguous,
we considered it worthwhile to include them in
the catalogue. When the beginning of the name
is preserved, it appears in the alphabetical
sequence. Otherwise, the names are included at
the end.
2. The geographical and chronological
framework of the catalogue
The names have been divided into geographical
units that are arranged alphabetically
(Achaia, Arcadia, Argolid, Corinthia with
Sikyonia, Kleonaia and Phleiasia, Eleia).
Within each unit the material is organised by
city, but with clear distinctions drawn between
those inscriptions which were found in the
urban centre, and those which derive from the
surrounding territory. For practical reasons,
we have used the ancient geographical boundaries,
even though scholarly opinion diverges
on their exact location.
As for the chronological framework, we had
chosen initially to cover the period from the
second century B.C. to the third century A.D.
But as work progressed it was judged necessary
to include also those few names from the period
after Constantine, since personal names
from late antiquity are particulary interesting -
both on account of morphological developments,
and for the manner in which they mirror
the new social situation across the empire in
which Christianity's consolidation played a catalytic
role.
3. The organization of the entries
The formula used in the lemma for each
name is as follows: a. Name of the person as it
appears in the text in bold capital letters, in the
nominative, b. Bibliography for the inscription
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
41
or other source, c. Date. d. Description of the
stone, its decoration and the condition of the
text. e. Find spot of the stone and its current
place of preservation, f. Transcription of the
text, either partial or entire, in lower case letters.
g. Ethnic origin, social position and cursus
honorum of the person, h. Comments i.
Personal relations through both kinship and
marriage.
a. The selection and presentation of individuals
Our selection of names was not done
mechanically by having recourse to pre-existing
corpora or indices of inscriptions. Instead,
our method required the careful examination of
each inscription and the comparison of all previous
publications. In instances where ambiguities
persisted, the stone itself was consulted.
This procedure, though time-consuming, bore
fruit in the form of many new corrections. 30
The names in each region are presented in
strict numerical and alphabetical sequence,
according to the Latin alphabet, and are written
in bold upper case. We have retained the exact
form of the name as it appears in the sources so
that both the structure and peculiarities are recognizable.
Fathers, part of whose name is
attested tin their offspring's filiation, are also
listed. Some individuals bear a Roman name
whose order follows the conventions of Greek
personal names, i.e. idionym + patronym, such
as Κλαύδιος 'Αρτεμιδώρου or 'Απολλόδωρος
Λουκίου. The use of a simple Roman name
(praenomen or nomen or cognomen) in the
early empire - mainly for reasons of fashion -
is not related to the adoption and spread of
nomina simplicia during the later empire, especially
after Constantine. 31
b. Bibliography
The bibliography is selective and critical. It
includes the most representative publications,
those with photographs or facsimiles, and those