Befund und Realität. Zur Repräsentativität unserer epigraphischen Quellen in der römischen Kaiserzeit

Abstract

The great quantity of surviving epigraphical sources renders it tempting to use them as a representative basis for historical understanding. But it is often ignored that the evidence available may not reflect the epigraphical situation in ancient times, much less the historical reality as a whole. Some categories of inscriptions, such as public inscriptions on wood or the great number of imperial constitutions on bronze, are completely lost to us. Due to this situation, it is necessary to demonstrate, especially in the case of statistical studies, whether a situation is representative or to what extent it is falsified by particular circumstances.