The Ancient Graffiti Project uses the epigraphic conventions established by the Epigraphic Database Roma (EDR), which are based on the Krummrey Panciera 1980 system.
Symbol | Meaning |
[abc] | Letters once present, now missing due to damage to the surface or support |
[ – – – ] | Damage to the surface or support; letters cannot be restored with certainty |
a(bc) | Abbreviation; text was never written out; expanded by editor |
âbc | Letters joined in ligature, each letter that is joined to the next letter is indicated by a caret |
[[abc]] | Letters intentionally erased in antiquity |
ABC | Letters whose reading is clear but meaning is incomprehensible |
ạḅ | Characters damaged or unclear that would be unintelligible without context |
+ | Illegible/unclear character |
abc | Characters formerly visible, now missing |
((:abc)) | Description of a figural graffito (used by EDR and AGP) |
(:abc) | Gives standard spelling to explain non-standard text in an inscription (used by EDR and AGP) |
– – – – – – | Lost lines, quantity unknown |
? | Represents Uncertainty |