Le iscrizioni di attori, danzatori e musici. I protagonisti della scena parlano di sé

The author of a written text intends to communicate something; consequently, it is possible to derive important indications from ancient inscriptions about how the society of the time intended to represent itself, its values, models and beliefs. With this assumption in mind, this article reflects on the ways in which, in epigraphic documents, actors, dancers and musicians chose to present themselves to their contemporaries, what they considered important about their activity, what they preferred to keep quiet about, which values they showed respect for and which, if any, they claimed as their own and exclusive to themselves. This analysis was also conducted considering the fact that most of the information comes from funerary contexts and thus from a sphere that is, by its very nature, private; there are very few honorary inscriptions, almost all of which were made to honour pantomime dancers.