Latin on Stone brings together epigraphy scholars on both sides of the Atlantic, highlighting both their research in the field of ancient Latin inscriptions and the electronic technology of which they make use. These interdisciplinary essays reflect a contemporary reality, in which the possibilities and necessities of using modern electronic aids for research on ancient inscriptions can produce very differing results. Databases are an ideal means of making primary sources accessible and allowing scholars to draw well-founded conclusions in a short space of time, but their usefulness depends, of course, on the quality and accuracy of the data entered into them. The trend towards cooperation has been increasingly evident, in Latin epigraphy at least, over the last few years. Alongside these complex synergies, on the rise are interdisciplinary associations based on web-based data transfer. All of the new visions and achievements discussed in the volume can only be fully realized, however, if the traditional roots of epigraphy are maintained. Rather than being blinded by a sort of "electronic madness," scholars must recall the rich heritage of epigraphic transmission as a source of information that has yet to be exhausted. This volume is not only a plea for an increased use of modern (electronic) technology but also a warning against putting trust solely in such technology. It should come as no surprise, given the continuing process of globalization, that the contributors are drawn from both Europe and America. Each scholar is engaged in an attempt not only to scrutinize epigraphic culture afresh, but also to search for common denominators among such a variety of material. Their efforts will increase the diversity of the cross-linking of, and the search possibilities in, the data provided by epigraphic source material. It is a matter of strengthening, increasing, and contextualizing both the epigraphic sources and the data decoded from them.

Praised in The Atlantic Monthly as an "engrossing narrative," Nuns tells the fascinating stories of the women who have lived in religious communities during some of the most tumultuous years in European history. Drawing particularly on the nuns' own words, Silvia Evangelisti reveals their ideals and achievements, frustrations and failures, and their attempts to reach out to the society around them. She explores how they came to the cloister, how they responded to monastic discipline, and how they pursued their spiritual, intellectual, and missionary activities. Indeed, nuns often found a way to contribute to their communities by creating charities and schools, while a few exceptional women made names for themselves for their artistic talents or for establishing new convents. This book features the individual stories of some of the most outstanding historical figures, including Teresa of Avila, who set up over seventeen new convents. Evangelisti shows how these women were able to overcome some of the restrictions placed on women in their societies at large. In doing so, she provides a fascinating and rarely seen glimpse into their intriguing world.

The period spanning the 15th to the 17th centuries saw an unprecedented interest in childrearing and the family. Renaissance humanist thought valued the education of children while promoting the family as a mirror of a well-ordered society, based on class, gender, and age hierarchies. Protestant and Catholic reformers and state-sponsored disciplinary measures further reinforced authority within the family, with marriage seen as a primary instrument for moralizing sexual customs. The proliferation of printed books and artworks representing the family popularized models of domestic life across Europe and its newly acquired colonies. At the same time, high mortality, repeated wars, poverty, increased migration, and geographical mobility severely undermined these idealized notions of family and childhood, giving rise to a wide range of unconventional and highly unstable households. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Early Modern Age presents essays on family relationships, community, economy, geography and the environment, education, life cycle, the state, faith and religion, health and science, and world contexts.