ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the possibilities and problems of analysing mobility through epigraphy by studying the large differences. It discusses three different sets of inscriptions, all pertaining to Near Eastern mobility: a series of Greek epigrams, a set of inscriptions from the city of Bostra, and a series of inscriptions from Rome that document soldiers from the Near East who were stationed there. All three sets pertain to Near Eastern mobility in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. On the basis of an analysis of the names which are preserved in the epigraphy of the Roman period, Maurice Sartre attempted to analyse the ethnic background of the population of Bostra. Epigrams were written in large numbers they offer stylised but also highly individualised vignettes that make it possible to reconstruct patterns of mobility in some detail. The potential for inscriptions to elucidate regional patterns of mobility and migration is well known.