Maintaining Cultural Balance

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Palmyra was a city at the intersection of empires, histories, and languages. Between the first century B.C.E. and the third century C.E., thousands of inscriptions were commissioned by Palmyrenes in the dialect we call Palmyrene Aramaic—both in the city of Palmyra and throughout the Mediterranean and ancient Near East. Some of these inscriptions are bilingual, including texts in both their native Palmyrene Aramaic and Latin, the language prominently associated with the Roman Empire. These bilingual inscriptions provide a window into the lives and culture of ancient Palmyra, especially into how the Palmyrenes responded to Roman influence and power.

Despite Roman expansion into the ancient Near East, there are few inscriptions marking the concurrent use of both Latin and Palmyrene Aramaic. Twenty bilingual inscriptions (some of them trilingual, with an additional Greek text) are known today, found throughout the reaches of the former Roman Empire, some from as far north as Roman Britain. They appear on funerary monuments, dedicatory altars, and as graffiti. Though few in number, these inscriptions help us understand how the ancient Palmyrenes understood themselves within the Roman Empire, balancing their newfound “Romanness” with their traditional local identity.¹

Of the 20 bilingual Palmyrene Aramaic and Latin texts, nine are found at the city of Palmyra itself; the remainder are spread throughout the former Roman Empire, showing the extent the Palmyrenes moved throughout the Mediterranean. One inscription is found in modern Britain, two in modern Italy, four in modern Romania (ancient Dacia), and four in northern Africa (primarily modern Algeria). These bilingual inscriptions have typically been divided by scholars into two distinct groups: those found at Palmyra and those found abroad. 020According to these studies, the Latin and Palmyrene Aramaic texts have different functions depending on where the inscription was produced. For example, using Latin at Palmyra supposedly showcases an affinity for the Roman Empire while using Palmyrene Aramaic in Rome asserts one’s local Palmyrene identity. While this geographic binary might seem straightforward, the execution of the inscriptions does not reflect this division.

I instead considered the physical appearance of these inscriptions to determine which of the languages of each inscription is intended as the visually primary one. After examining all 20 inscriptions, I determined that the Latin and Palmyrene Aramaic inscriptions found both throughout the Roman Empire and at Palmyra demonstrate an astonishing unity in their display. The Latin texts of these inscriptions are always explicitly fronted, that is, the Latin inscriptions are the visually primary element on all of the inscriptions, regardless of where they were found.

Informed by sociolinguistics and theories of materiality, I argue that some bilingual inscriptions are presented with one text intended as visually primary.² Indications that a text was intended to be visually primary include the respective sizes of a text and its individual letters, the location and relative positioning of texts on an object (i.e., is one text placed above or below the other?), the presence of decorative frames around one of the texts, the relation of texts to other images on the object, the placement of an object in situ, and, finally, the overall quality of the texts as it relates to the execution of the inscription.

The bilingual inscription found in Roman Britain and known as the Regina Inscription (Palmyrene Aramaic Texts [PAT] 246),³ for instance, presents the Latin text as visually primary because the Latin letters are around double the size of those in Palmyrene Aramaic, the Latin text is placed above the Palmyrene Aramaic, and a decorative frame (tabula ansata) surrounds only the Latin text. Such visual primacy of the Latin text is not unique. A trilingual funerary inscription found in the city of Palmyra (PAT 2801) also displays the Latin text as visually primary—presented as the topmost language, followed by Greek, and finally the Palmyrene Aramaic. Though all three texts are framed in a tabula ansata, the Latin letters are larger compared to both their Greek and Palmyrene Aramaic counterparts.

After applying this method to all Palmyrene Aramaic and Latin inscriptions for which I have access to photographs or line drawings, I found that every known inscription presents the Latin as visually primary vis-à-vis the Palmyrene Aramaic (and Greek), regardless of the provenance of the inscription. From Palmyra to Rome and to Roman Britain, Palmyrene Aramaic and Latin bilingual inscriptions—despite varying details—similarly always display Latin as the visually primary text.

This surprisingly wholesale display of Latin as the visually primary element means that we cannot distinguish two forms of display based on provenance. It also has implications for the study of the Roman Near East. Informed by Homi Bhabha’s theory on hybridity, I argue that the physical appearance of these 021bilingual inscriptions forms part of a Palmyrene response to Roman imperialism and correlates to broader ideologies of identity and language. By fronting the Latin parts of these inscriptions, the Palmyrene commissioners mimic larger Roman practice in order to situate themselves in larger Roman imperial structures. And yet, by including the Palmyrene Aramaic text (even as secondary to the Latin one), the Palmyrene commissioner destabilizes and resists assimilation to Roman power and its influence on Palmyrene culture, as it perpetuates the Aramaic language and thereby Palmyrene culture. This appears to be the case whether the inscription was made at Palmyra or in Rome.

My study of bilingual Palmyrene Aramaic and Latin texts shows that these inscriptions display a complicated identity for the Palmyrenes, one that simultaneously accommodates and resists Roman imperialism.

Palmyra was a city at the intersection of empires, histories, and languages. Between the first century B.C.E. and the third century C.E., thousands of inscriptions were commissioned by Palmyrenes in the dialect we call Palmyrene Aramaic—both in the city of Palmyra and throughout the Mediterranean and ancient Near East. Some of these inscriptions are bilingual, including texts in both their native Palmyrene Aramaic and Latin, the language prominently associated with the Roman Empire. These bilingual inscriptions provide a window into the lives and culture of ancient Palmyra, especially into how the Palmyrenes responded to Roman influence and power. Despite […]