Through words and images employed both by individuals and by a range of communities across the Graeco-Roman worlds, this book explores the complexity of multilingual representations of identity. Starting with the advent of literacy in the Mediterranean, it encompasses not just the Greek and Roman empires but also the transformation of the Graeco-Roman world under Islam and within the medieval mind. By treating a range of materials, contexts, languages, and temporal and political boundaries, the contributors consider points of cross-cultural similarity and difference and the changing linguistic landscape of East and West from antiquity into the medieval period. Insights from contemporary multilingualism theory and interdisciplinary perspectives are employed throughout to exploit the material fully.

Alex Mullen is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. She was previously Lumley Research Fellow at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and Affiliated Lecturer at the Faculty of Classics. Patrick James is a Research Associate at Jesus College, Cambridge, and an Assistant Editor for the Cambridge Greek Lexicon Project. He teaches Latin and Greek language and linguistics for the Faculty of Classics.