Legere enim et non intellegere neglegere est. Riflessioni sull’uso dei nessi nell’epigrafia latina

The use of ligatures in Latin epigraphic documents seems apparently linked to the organization of paginated text or mere aesthetics. In fact, it is perhaps possible to observe that in some cases this expedient aimed to encrypt, synthesize or highlight the epigraphic message, attracting or diverting the reader’s attention and transferring the epigraphic communication on several levels. The essay intends to examine some of these documents between the pagan and the Christian age, highlighting the trends related to the geographical and cultural context in which the inscription was exposed, to the support and class of inscriptions, to particular morphemes