Date: Tuesday June 30, 2026 - 16:30–18:00 BST = 17:30–19:00 CEST

Convenors: Chiara Cenati (University of Vienna), Lucia Maria Orlandi (École française de Rome)

Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/live/jSBK3VAVPUI?si=VjeXV6_an-au5SdT

Slides: Slides Session 10

This session presents two case studies drawn from the project MAPPOLA - Mapping Out the Poetic Landscape(s) of the Roman Empire (ERC Starting Grant 2019-2024) and the ongoing project “SIGN-IT – Signacula in Roman and Post-Roman Italy: marking religious and cultural identity (2nd-11th c. CE)” (funded by the EU under the HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions). The former focuses on verse inscriptions, while the latter addresses the digital handling of data from signacula and “breadstamps” (matrices bearing text, graphic and/or iconographic motifs) used to stamp various materials during the Roman and Byzantine periods.

Digital editions of inscriptions present specific challenges when compared to other types of textual editions. Inscribed objects require an integrated approach that combines the transcription of the text with the physical description and its historical and archaeological context. In this sense, the materiality of the object is constitutive of the text itself and must be adequately represented within the digital model. The session traces the full workflow from the formulation of research questions to the design of the publication platform, showing how scholarly objectives shaped technical decisions.

Structure and functionalities of the MAPPOLA database enable users to explore verse inscriptions through socio-historical perspectives, including geographical distribution, layout features, metrical typologies and prosopographical data. In this context, the use of Linked Open Data and controlled vocabularies (see EAGLE and FAIR Vocabularies) play a crucial role in ensuring interoperability and semantic consistency. The SIGN-IT corpus has been developed based on the TEI-EpiDoc schema and the existing standards in metadata enrichment, in order to ensure interoperability with broader epigraphic and sphragistic corpora and to combine a digital edition with a database structure that facilitates queries and quantitative analysis.The overall aim of this session is to offer methodological reflections and concrete workflow examples for building a reusable digital infrastructure devoted to the study of inscribed objects.

• Cenati, Chiara. Le iscrizioni in versi come documenti storici: soluzioni e sfide del database MAPPOLA, in: Evangelisti S., Encoding metrical inscriptions, Bari 2026, 21–28.
• Di Stefano Manzella, Ivan. «Signacula ex aere. Gli antichi timbri romani di bronzo e le loro impronte». L’écriture dans la maison romaine, De Boccard, 2011, pp. 345–78.
• Feugère, Michel. «Signacula ex aere : épigraphie et matérialité». Billet. Le Fil d’ArAr, 19 August 2020
• Santin, Eleonora. Epigrafi metriche on-line: bilancio e prospettive, in: Evangelisti S., Encoding metrical inscriptions, Bari 2026, 11–20.
• Schmidt, Manfred. Carmina Latina Epigraphica, in: Brunn, C., Edmondson, J., The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy, 764–782 https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195336467.013.035
• Epigraphic Object Encoding
• Building a corpus of Roman inscribed bronze seals in Sicily
• Data Modeling in a Digital Humanities Context
• A gentle introduction to data modeling

• Feraudi Gruénais, Francisca, EDEp – Editionstools für eine Digitale Epigraphik, in: Evangelisti S., Encoding metrical inscriptions, Bari 2026, 69–83.
• Heřmánková, P., Kaše, V., & Sobotkova, A. (2021). Inscriptions as data: digital epigraphy in macro-historical perspective. Journal of Digital History, 1(1).
• Prontera, Alessia, I Carmina Latina Epigraphica in Musisque Deoque: uno strumento digitale tra epigrafia e letteratura, in: Evangelisti S., Encoding metrical inscriptions, Bari 2026, 41–47.
• What is XML and why should humanists care? An even gentler introduction to XML

• Gentle introduction to Mark-Up for Epigraphers
• EpiDoc Guidelines
• MAPPOLA and MAPPOLA Database
• Musisque Deoque
• SIGN-IT web-platform (as soon as available)
• EAGLE Vocabularies
• FAIR Epigraphy

Exercise 1: Our goal is to develop the most comprehensive schema possible for describing the object, so that we can anticipate potential scientific questions we have not yet considered. It is important to try and be as exhaustive as possible at this stage, because you never know what might interest you next, nor can you predict what information will be valuable to you in the future!

Have a look at Figures 1-8 of the scientific blog post by Dr Ilenia Gradante, here.

Please identify as many data values (or attributes or categories) related to the stamps (visible and “invisible”, material and abstract) as you can and that you consider important to describe.

Exercise 2: Encode one verse inscription from the database MAPPOLA.

1. Use either Visual Studio Code or Oxygen XML editor (30-day trial available) for the encoding.
2. Download and use the EpiDoc template.
3. Refer to the Text Quick Reference sheet for text transcription elements, and the Structured Data Quick Reference for descriptive and historical features.
4. Make sure to encode the following features, using controlled vocabularies and geographical gazetteers when appropriate:

• provenance
• object type, material, and typology
• layout features
• in the text transcription, encode metrical features using the and elements.
• Add prosopographical markup for all people mentioned in the text

5. For the visualisation, log in to EdEp Editor using the demo account and upload your XML file.