A FREEDWOMAN’S EPITAPH, ROME Alison E. Cooley AEC/ASHL AN1937.828.xml Oxford Ashmolean Museum AN1937.828 AshLI 142

A small rectangular plaque of white marble, intact, imitating a tabula ansata (0.072 0.13 0.028). There are holes for attaching the plaque to right and left of the front surface, in the centre of its ‘handles’. It is neatly finished on all sides.

It is inscribed on the front face, with the text contained within a border made up of two lines. There are interpuncts in the form of dots. Line 2 is roughly centred.

 The letters are rather irregular in height: 0.017 maximum (line 1); 0.014 maximum (line 2). Traces of red paint remain on the letters Pincian Gate, Rome probably first century AD (Solin 1996: vol. 1, p.10). This epitaph was found in 1906 on land owned by the Fossati family, in the area of the Pincian Gate, and was originally part of a double plaque from a columbarium which was part of the funerary commemoration that extended along the via Salaria. By 1915, the complete plaque had entered the collection of the University of Philadelphia (Rolfe 1916), where it was still recorded as being in 1933 by CIL (Bang 1933). According to the Ashmolean Museum Dept of Antiquities Accessions Register 1937.828, it was presented to the museum by W.H. Buckler. Photograph Photograph
Tettea Titi liberta Salvia

Tettea Salvia, freedwoman of Titus.

TELLEA (CIL); Tetti(a) A(uli) l(iberta) (EDCS); TETI A L (Gatti; Rolfe).

The format of the plaque suggests that it originally belonged in a columbarium. The name of the deceased has been variously identified as Tetia A.l. Salvia (Solin 1996: vol. 1, p.10). It was originally attached on a double plaque along with the epitaph of A. Tettius A. l. Malchio, but appears to have become separated from it.

Gatti (1906a) p.251; Gatti (1906b) p.336; Rolfe (1916) p.174; CIL VI 38965 (Bang 1933); Ashmolean Museum Dept of Antiquities Accessions Register 1937.828

Online: EDCS-23102614 [accessed 09/03/15]

Gatti G. 1906 II. Roma. Nuove scoperte nella città e nel suburbio NSc 245-52 Gatti G. 1906 Notizie di recenti trovamenti di antichità in Roma e nel suburbio BCAR 34 315-39 Rolfe J.C. 1916 Latin Inscriptions at the University of Pennsylvania AJA 20.2 173-174 Solin H. 1996 Die stadtrömischen Sklavennamen Stuttgart Steiner