Establishing, Displaying and Strengthening Group Identity by Making Offerings and Producing Texts: Some Case Studies from Ostia's Guilds

This paper will focus on the offerings made within some collegia of Ostia. Considering both the content and the layout of inscriptions recording offerings, I will examine whether they reveal any features distinguishing a guild identity and how such features were expressed. In short, my research aims first to elucidate the connections between the given object, the text recording the offering, the group within which the gift was made and the honoured gods or emperors. Ultimately, I will try to assess to what extent these offerings recorded by a text reflect a 'group style'. Did they contribute to establish, display and strengthen a group identity?