n.A quotation used as an opening of a book, chapter, or section of a document, typically to set a tone or introduce a theme.An inscription, especially on a monument or building.
Citations
Sickinger 1999, p. 232 One of the characteristic features of ancient Athenian democracy was its habit of displaying certain types of state documents on stone stelai – large rectangular slabs of marble. . . . Epigraphists who spend their time studying inscriptions have traditionally assumed that these stone documents were copies of other, original records housed in archival collections. . . . One difficulty with this traditional view is the failure of Athenian sources to acknowledge the existence of archival originals.
