Ricerc@Sapienza

The paper deals with the question of the creation of a Christian literary language in verse inscriptions, discussing selected samples from different regions of Late Antique Mediterranean (IMÉG 61 Bernand, Egypt; SGO 14/06/03 Lycaonia; IC II 24, 13 = 80 Bandy, Crete; SEG 37, 1547 Syria). Their authors, with a different degree of ability, display the intention of employing a ‘new’ poetic language, mingling elements from classical paideia with quotations from Scriptures and from Christian poets (like Gregory of Nazianzus).