CROSSREADS

Multilingualism and multiculturalism were characteristic of ancient Sicily, at the crossroads of the Mediterranean. Historians have traditionally prioritised a Helleno- and Romanocentric narrative, derived from the texts of Greek and Roman literature. The EU-funded CROSSREADS project instead focuses on the thousands of texts produced by the island’s inhabitants between the 7th century BCE and the 7th century CE on a wide range of durable materials – the practice of epigraphy. By bringing together these texts in an integrated digital online corpus the project will deliver the first in-depth account of the interplay of linguistic and textual material culture on the island, exploring historical linguistics, writing systems, and the materiality of the texts, opening up new readings of the social, cultural and economic history of the island in antiquity.