Speaker
Description
Epigraphy is one of the most neglected aspects of numismatics. Starting from a complete, albeit brief, examination of studies on coin legends undertaken so far, this work aims to catalogue and analyze inscriptions related to the issues of Magna Graecia and Sicily. The island of Sicily, controlled by different powers over the centuries first, Carthaginians, and next Greeks and Romans, has a rather complex linguistic history: the differences between the Euboean-Attic dialect and the Doric dialect are compounded by the influence of Oscan and of the Sicelian substrate. The determining factor is not limited to the linguistic aspect alone, the iconographic component also played a part: in fact, some coin issues testify to a close link between the type and the legend. Finally, this analysis will offer an in-depth look at the types and cases of the declension used in relation to the issuing mints.
