Practical Epigraphy Workshop 2025: Corinium Museum, Cirencester, 25th-27th March

The Practical Epigraphy Workshop 2025

The 2025 Workshop was held the Corinium Museum with fourteen participants, eight of whom are reading for an undergraduate degree and six for a postgraduate degree, and eight of whom are UK students as opposed to two from the EU and four from the rest of the world (US, Australia, and Ukraine). The majority of participants worked on Latin inscriptions while, for those working on Greek inscriptions, Charles Crowther brought with him an excellent array of squeezes, as ever chosen with meticulous care to match with the specific interests of the applicants. The practical aspects of recording inscriptions were dealt with by Roger Tomlin (drawing—though the remit has increasingly included digital methods), Henning Schulze (photography) and Charles Crowther (squeeze-making). The chance arrival of some lead documents allowed us to include an additional session on inscriptions made in this medium and also on the problems of curating such objects (a choice between prioritising the integrity of the object or modifying this chemically to preserve the integrity of the text). The sun shone upon us (literally) making our explorations of Roman Cirencester during the early evening, between the Museum closing its doors and dinner, very pleasant. Proceedings closed with a visit to Chedworth Roman villa. Our thanks, as ever, to the dedicated team of instructors, Chloe Colchester, for helping with the administration of the course, and to Oliver Turney for his invaluable assistance with teas, coffees, lunches and much more. We are also most grateful to the British Epigraphy Society and to the Craven Committee for their generosity in supporting the Workshop, and to Emma Stuart and Caroline Morris at the Corinium Museum for hosting us. The Workshop has always proven in equal measure both hard work to organise but immensely rewarding to deliver. At the conclusion of fourteen iterations, we have worked with and, we hope, inspired 214 budding epigraphers.

-Dr Peter Haarer, Keble College, Oxford

Attendees at Corinium Museum (H.Schulze, University of Lincoln)

Attendees at Corinium Museum (H.Schulze, University of Lincoln)

BES Summer School in Greek and Latin Epigraphy 2015

The BES London Summer School in Greek and Latin Epigraphy

The BES London Summer School in Greek and Latin Epigraphy took place between 3-7 August 2015, in collaboration with the British Museum and the Institute of Classical Studies. 24 participants from 10 different countries, representing 22 different institutions and 14 nationalities met for a week’s intensive study of classical epigraphy. The highlight of the School was the work with lapidary inscriptions in the British Museum. The participants produced in pairs, and under supervision of a number of BES members, new or improved editions of a selection of the BM’s epigraphic material, such as epitaphs (including for Margarita, the dog ...), decrees and honorific inscriptions.

In addition to the hands-on training on the inscriptions in the BM, leading UK based epigraphers spoke to the School on such diverse topics as Pompeian graffiti, provincial epigraphies, the display of imperial pronouncements, Louis Robert and the editing of Greek inscriptions, the development of the discipline, digital epigraphy, epigaphic manuscripts, and linguistic practices on stone. Discussion continued over drinks and dinner on four evenings of the School. And the participants’ work on the inscriptions will form part of the BM’s new editions of the inscriptions.

The Summer School was generously supported by the Institute of Classical Studies, the Classical Association, and AIEGL. Our Report provides further impressions from the Summer School!