Inscriptions in the private sphere in the Greco Roman world When one thinks of inscriptions produced under the Roman Empire public inscribed monuments are likely to come to mind. Hundreds of thousands of such inscriptions are known from across the breadth of the Roman Empire preserved because they were created of durable material or were reused in subsequent building. This volume looks at another aspect of epigraphic creation from handwritten messages scratched on wall plaster to domestic sculptures labeled with texts to displays of official patronage posted in homes: a range of inscriptions appear within the private sphere in the Greco Roman world. Rarely scrutinized as a discrete epigraphic phenomenon the incised texts studied in this volume reveal that writing in private spaces was very much a part of the epigraphic culture of the Roman Empire. Contributors are: J.A. Baird Francisco Beltrán Lloris Rebecca Benefiel Angela Cinalli Mireille Corbier Peter Keegan Elisabeth Rathmayr Karen Stern Claire Taylor Antonio Varone Andrew Wallace Hadrill and Mantha Zarmakoupi Inscriptions in private spaces Andrew Wallace Hadrill PART 1. GRAFFITI AND THE DOMESTIC SPHERE. Private graffiti : scratching the walls of houses at Dura Europos Jennifer A. Baird Graffiti in a house in Attica : reading writing and the creation of private space Claire Taylor The spatial environment of inscriptions and graffiti in domestic spaces : the case of Delos Mantha Zarmakoupi The culture of writing graffiti within domestic spaces at Pompeii Rebecca R. Benefiel PART 2. DISCOURSES OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE. Newly discovered and corrected readings of iscrizioni privatissime from the Vesuvian Region Antonio Varone Honos clientium instituit sic colere patronos : a public private epigraphic type : tabulae of hospitality and patronage Francisco Beltran Lloris The significance of sculptures with associated inscriptions in private houses in Ephesos Pergamon and beyond Elisabeth Rathmayr PART 3. PLACE AND SPACE. Painted and charcoal inscriptions from the territory of Cyrene : evidence from the underworld Angela Cinalli Harnessing the sacred : hidden writing and private spaces in Levantine synagogues Karen B. Stern Graffiti as monvmenta and verba : marking territories creating discourses in Roman Pompeii Peter Keegan Writing in the private sphere : epilogue Mireille Corbier