Digital Approaches to the Inscriptions of the Eastern Necropolis of Iulia Concordia: from Autoptic Analysis to TEI-based Edition
PROJECT OVERVIEW
This website was developed as part of the MA Thesis in Digital and Public Humanities at Ca' Foscari University of Venice by Leonardo Battistella.
Its purpose is to provide a digital visualization of the encoded inscriptions from the Eastern Necropolis of the ancient city of Iulia Concordia (modern-day Concordia Sagittaria).
The inscriptions are encoded in XML files according to TEI/EpiDoc standards, resulting in a born-digital critical edition enriched with structured metadata, interpretive transcriptions, and scholarly commentaries.
Each record is rendered as an HTML webpage, automatically generated from its corresponding XML source file using a Python script and the saxonche library to apply XSLT transformations.
Each entry provides the archaeological and historical context of the inscription, an interpretive transcription featuring Krummrey-Panciera diacritical marks, an English/Italian translation, prosopographical data, and palaeographic or historical commentaries.
ENTRIES 
Epigraphic records are divided in 10 main sections, roughly in the order present in the Supplementa Italica serie nuova, as in the following table:
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Metadata Grid | A grid containing the most relevant data, showing the current location and external resources, with links to other databases and projects. |
| Inscription Details | This section provides further details on the inscription, including findspot and place of origin (which are the same for all sarcophagi from the Eastern Necropolis), chronology with dating criteria, and autopsy information. |
| Physical Description | This section provides information on the monument type, material, dimensions, and a palaeographic commentary. |
| Image | A zoomable photograph of the inscription. |
| Transcription | An interpretative transcription with Krummrey-Panciera diacritical marks is provided [Krummrey-Panciera conventions]. The transcription is generated from XML files encoded according to TEI/EpiDoc standards [EpiDoc]. EpiDoc elements are converted into their corresponding diacritical marks through an XSLT stylesheet [SupplIt]. |
| Apparatus Criticus | The critical apparatus is based on the Supplementa Italica serie nuova standard [SupplIt]. Variant readings are provided line by line, ordered by the corresponding line number, in majuscule, similarly to a diplomatic edition. |
| Translation | A translation into English as faithful as possible to the original text, with the inevitable limitations. |
| Commentary | The commentary provides historical, linguistic, palaeographic, and prosopographic context. Relationships with other inscriptions are also discussed. |
| People | Prosopographic records of the individuals mentioned in the inscription. |
| Bibliography | Previous editions of the inscription are listed in this section as short citations. Each short citation links to the Bibliography page, where the full reference is provided. |
PROSOPOGRAPHIC RECORDS
The People webpage hosts records of individuals mentioned in the inscriptions.
Information such as the onomastic series, origin of the name, gender, and occupation is provided. If the individual was a soldier, his rank and military contingent (numerus) are also reported, where attested.
The following formulae are used for the roles in the prosopographic records, according to what is written in the inscriptions:
- deceased: the individual was buried in the sarcophagus.
- dedicator: the individual commissioned the sarcophagus for someone else.
- dedicator/deceased: the individual commissioned their own sarcophagus while still alive. There can be more than one dedicator, especially in the case of a double burial.
- dedicator & deceased: the individual dedicated a sarcophagus for someone else, and was later buried in another one.
- dedicator (restoration): the individual restored an already existing sarcophagus.
- mentioned: the individual is mentioned in the inscription but did not play any role in the burial.
Particular attention was also given to the relationships between individuals. Each record clearly states any relationship, with a link to the corresponding prosopographic record.