EPITAPH OF IULIUS OECOGENES, ROME(?) Alison E. Cooley AEC/ASHL ANChandler.3.109.xml Oxford Ashmolean Museum ANChandler.3.109 AshLI 108

A small rectangular slab of white marble, imitating a tabula ansata (0.102 0.206 0.02) (in a modern mount), with some ornamentation. It is in good condition, with only slight damage to both top corners. The rear is not visible because of the modern mount.

The inscription is inscribed on the front face. There are triangular interpuncts.

 0.026 (line 1); 0.015 (lines 2-3), with tall I 0.016 (line 3). Of unknown provenance, it probably originated from Rome. possibly first century AD (Solin 2003: vol.2, p.1077). It is first recorded by Chandler in Oxford according to CIL, but is in fact listed in the sale catalogue (Langford 1749) for the collection belonging to Christopher Wren, Esq., of Hampton Court (son of Sir Christopher Wren) sold at auction in London as lot 54 on 6th April 1749, after his death. Lot 54 comprised a Greek inscription and seven Latin inscriptions (C3-108; C3-120; C3-122; C3-123; C3-129, C3-133). This lot was bought by Richard Rawlinson: he is listed in the sale catalogue as one of the buyers at the auction, and also himself writes later that year of having bought Latin inscriptions from Mr Wren’s sale (Enright 1956: p.306 - Rawlinson Bod. MS. C 989 f.123, 16 Nov 1749, letter to Bodleian’s librarian). All of these Latin inscriptions are in the Ashmolean as part of the Rawlinson Collection, which was given to Oxford University in 1753, and at first kept in the University Collection in the Bodleian Library (Enright 1956: p.340). At some point it then ended up in the basement of the (Old) Ashmolean Museum on Broad Street (now the Museum of the History of Science) (Munby 2013), since in the archive MS. ‘Marbles sent from Ashmolean Museum’ (p.33, no.161), a list of ancient marbles transferred in Jan. 1888 from the (Old) Ashmolean Museum basement room to the marble rooms of the Randolph Building on Beaumont Street, which had been built alongside the University Galleries. The Ashmolean Museum in its current location was built behind the University Galleries, was opened in 1894, and finally the University Galleries and Ashmolean were amalgamated by statute in 1908. It is currently on display in the Reading and Writing Gallery. Photograph
Caius Iulius Oecogenes vixit annos XL

Gaius Iulius Oecogenes lived for 40 years.

The deceased is of uncertain social status (freeborn, freed, or Junian Latin). The fact that Oecogenes is described as having lived for 40 years may reflect the age-rounding that was common in Latin epitaphs rather than her real age at death, with numbers in multiples of 5 and 10 being over-represented after the ages of 20 and 70 respectively (Hopkins 1966).

Chandler (1763) Part 3, Pl.III.cix, with drawing; CIL VI.3 no.20161 [Hübner] (1886).

Online: EDCS-12200839 [accessed 09/09/15]

Ashmolean Museum Department of Antiquities Marbles sent from Ashmolean Museum Chandler R. 1763 Marmora Oxoniensia Oxford Clarendon Press Enright B.J. 1956 Richard Rawlinson: collector, antiquary, and topographer (Bod. MS. D.Phil. d.1786) Hopkins K. 1966 On the probable age structure of the Roman population Population Studies 20.2 245-64 Langford A. 1749 A catalogue of the genuine and entire collection of medals and statues of Christopher Wren Esq, late of Hampton Court, deceased; together with the collection of drawings of architecture of the late Sir Christopher Wren, his father (London 1749) http://artworld.york.ac.uk R. Stephens The art world in Britain 1660 to 1735 Munby J. 2013 A rare collection: Oxford museums past and present Excalibur: Essays on Antiquity and the History of Collecting in Honour of Arthur MacGregor H.Wiegel and M.Vickers Oxford BAR Int. ser. 2512 75-85 Solin H. 2003 Die griechischen Personennamen in Rom. Ein Namenbuch (2nd edn) 3 vols Berlin De Gruyter