Dometius’s Epitaph from Sixth-Century Narbonne ( IGF 134) and Non-elite Bilingualism in the Late Antique West

Abstract: This article surveys the epigraphic evidence for Greek-Latin bilingualism in Gaul in Late Antiquity. A close reading of IGF 134 provides the starting point for a discussion of the place of Greek in late antique Gaul, especially among non-elite communities. This inscription is a bilingual funerary epitaph for Dometius, a Greek-speaking easterner who moved to Gaul after 490 ce and died in Narbonne in 527 ce. Challenging long-held narratives of the sudden decline of Greek-Latin bilingualism in the West in Late Antiquity, this article emphasizes the enduring political, religious, and cultural ties across the late antique Mediterranean, even beyond the end of western emperorship, and highlights the ways that epigraphic evidence can refine our understanding of the socio-linguistic landscape of Gaul in Late Antiquity.