It collects the Latin and Greek inscriptions testifying to immigration from Syria (in a large sense) into northern Italy (Aquileia, Ravenna, Concordia) from the 1st cent. B.C. to the early 6th cent. A.D. A chronologically arranged catalogue of 116 persons specifies their provenance, names and occupations. The article points out that Syrian immigration occurred in several waves rather than being a continuous stream and that the view that is was commercially motivated for the greater part is a prejudice.
