ABSTRACT
Epigraphic curves drawn on the bases of 32,062 inscriptions from the Eastern Mediterranean document divergent epigraphic cultures in this area. Two epigraphic maxima can be identified in the region as a whole: in the second c. CE and in the third c. BCE. The shapes of particular epigraphic curves are influenced by various factors occurring in broadly defined geographical areas and various epochs. They are also dependent on the pre-Greek epigraphic habit, on the moment of urbanization and Hellenization, on the relative status and constitution of a polis, and on the organized Roman presence in a given city or region.
