"Hoc satis in titulo..."

This study looks at the funerary inscriptions that are reproduced verbatim in Roman elegy. Through an analysis of quoted inscriptions in the elegies of Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid, the author places these inscriptions into their literary and societal context. While it has often been assumed that the primary motive for including such inscriptions is to achieve a permanent memorial for the dead, this study argues that the inscriptions instead serve a series of functions that are typical for their specific elegaic context, and that distinguish them from inscriptions in other genres.