| Publications [#235169] of Mary T. Boatwright
Journal Articles
- Boatwright, MT, Agrippa’s Building Inscriptions,
Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, vol. 189
(2014),
pp. 255-264
(last updated on 2024/04/24)
Abstract: The building inscriptions of M. Vipsanius
Agrippa, Augustus’ colleague and confidant
(64/63–12 BCE), have not been assessed as a
group, particularly not with regard to their
appearance and materials. About a dozen
building inscriptions of Agrippa survive.
Found from Mérida, Spain, to Olympia, Greece,
they present numerous difficulties. Most are
now quite fragmentary and all seem to have
been so terse originally as to confound their
chronology. They are often dated by Agrippa’s
known movements in Rome’s territories,
although an emperor or close associate of the
imperial family did not have to be in situ to
initiate or complete construction of a public
building. The building inscriptions have also
been used to substantiate theories about
Agrippa’s – and Augustan – interest in
urbanization, regional development, and the
like. This paper turns directly to the
inscriptions themselves. Their comprehensive
survey as artifacts, focusing on physical
aspects and arranged chronologically when
possible, disentangles some problems related to
individual inscriptions and the buildings
they identified. The examination of this
corpus, moreover, illuminates both the public
persona of Agrippa, and epigraphic practices
in and outside of Rome during the
transformation from Republic to Principate,3
contributing to our understanding of
self-representation and public benefaction in
this pivotal period.
Keywords: Latin epigraphy • Agrippa • Roman public building
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