The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the w ...

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

. Public and personal inscriptions throw light on all aspects of Roman life and history. The ''Corpus'' continues to be updated in new editions and supplements. CIL also refers to the organization within the

Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (german: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften), abbreviated BBAW, is the official academic society for the natural sciences and humanities for the German states of Berlin ...

responsible for collecting data on and publishing the Latin inscriptions. It was founded in 1853 by

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th centur ...

and is the first and major organization aiming at a comprehensive survey.

Aim

The ''CIL'' collects all Latin inscriptions from the whole territory of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

, ordering them geographically and systematically. The earlier volumes collected and published authoritative versions of all inscriptions known at the time—most of these had been previously published in a wide range of publications. The descriptions include images of the original inscription if available, drawings showing the letters in their original size and position, and an interpretation reconstructing abbreviations and missing words, along with discussion of issues and problems. The language of the ''CIL'' is Latin.

Beginnings

In 1847 a committee was created in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

with the aim of publishing an organized collection of Latin inscriptions, which had previously been described piecemeal by hundreds of scholars over the preceding centuries. The leading figure of this committee was

(who wrote several of the volumes covering

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

).See the CIL site under External links below. Much of the work involved personal inspections of sites and monuments in an attempt to replicate the original as much as possible. In those cases where a previously cited inscription could no longer be found, the authors tried to get an accurate reading by comparing the versions of the published inscription in the works of previous authors who had seen the original. The first volume appeared in 1863.

Current status

The ''CIL'' presently consists of 17 volumes in about 70 parts, recording approximately 180,000 inscriptions. Thirteen supplementary volumes have plates and special indices. The first volume, in two sections, covered the oldest inscriptions, to the end of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

; volumes II to XIV are divided geographically, according to the regions where the inscriptions were found. The other volumes cover other topics. Volume XVII, for instance, is entirely devoted to

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

s. A volume XVIII is planned, which will contain the ''Carmina Latina Epigraphica'' (Latin verse inscriptions). A two-volume "Index of Numbers", correlating inscription numbers with volume numbers, was published in 2003. The

(BBAW) continues to update and reprint the ''CIL.''

Index

List of volume with the date of first publication. * Vol. I: ''Inscriptiones Latinae antiquissimae ad C. Caesaris mortem'' (1893) * Vol. II: ''Inscriptiones Hispaniae Latinae'' (1892) * Vol. III: ''Inscriptiones Asiae, provinciarum Europae Graecarum, Illyrici Latinae'' (1873) * Vol. IV: ''Inscriptiones parietariae Pompeianae, Herculanenses Stabianae'' (1871) * Vol. V: ''Inscriptiones Galliae Cisalpinae Latinae'' (1872) * Vol. VI: ''Inscriptiones Urbis Romae Latinae'' (1876) * Vol. VII: ''Inscriptiones Britanniae Latinae'' (1873) * Vol. VIII: ''Inscriptiones Africae Latinae'' (1881) * Vol. IX: ''Inscriptiones Calabriae, Apuliae, Samnii, Sabinorum, Piceni Latinae'' (1883) * Vol. X: ''Inscriptiones Bruttiorum, Lucaniae, Campaniae, Siciliae, Sardiniae Latinae'' (1883) * Vol. XI: ''Inscriptiones Aemiliae, Etruriae, Umbriae Latinae'' (1888) * Vol. XII: ''Inscriptiones Galliae Narbonensis Latinae'' (1888) * Vol. XIII: ''Inscriptiones trium Galliarum et Germaniarum Latinae'' (1899) * Vol. XIV: ''Inscriptiones Latii veteris Latinae'' (1887) * Vol. XV: ''Inscriptiones Urbis Romae Latinae. Instrumentum domesticum'' (1891) * Vol. XVI: ''Diplomata militaria'' (1936) * Vol. XVII: ''Miliaria Imperii Romani'' (1986)

References

Bibliography

External links

* *
Arachne CIL Open Access Project
Retrieved 25 January 2021. {{Authority control Latin inscriptions Latin epigraphy Archaeological corpora Textual scholarship