„This book is largely based on my doctoral dissertation which was successfully defended in the summer of 2008 at the Faculty of Classics, Cambridge University. Some of the topics covered by this dissertation were further explored in a number of studies published during the next ten years in various journals and proceedings volumes; some of their results are also included here.

During my doctoral studies, I was generously supported by the Trinity College Cambridge which granted me an Eastern European Research Bursary. The College also provided some of the financial support needed for different documentation stages abroad by awarding grants from the Eddington Fund and Rouse Ball Fund. At the same time, the Corbett Travel Award, Walston Studentship, Henry Carrington Koe Studentship and Henry Arthur Thomas Studentship, all awarded by the Faculty of Classics, provided financial support for a series of documentation stages in Italy and to participate in a series of conferences in the United Kingdom, Hungary and Croatia.” (from the „Foreword”)