In Rome, during the late Republic, it became increasingly usual for those who had undertaken the construction of a building, whether as civic magistrates ex officio or as private individuals, to ensure that their achievements would be remembered by having the building inscribed with a record of what they had done. The practice became commonplace in the provinces of the Empire, on civic buildings, in military forts and on private funeral monuments. Sometimes, surviving inscriptions can be related to archaeological remains of the buildings to which they belonged. More often they cannot be so related; but even then, they may provide valuable information about the nature of building construction and who was responsible for it.