A HUSBAND’S EPITAPH, ROME Alison E. Cooley AEC/ASHL ANChandler.3.118.xml Oxford Ashmolean Museum ANChandler.3.118 AshLI 117

A plain rectangular marble plaque (0.296 0.253 0.035). The rear is smoothly finished, whilst the sides remain rough. It is in a good condition, in a modern mount.

The text is inscribed on the front surface. The overall quality of the stonecutting is rather poor. The first line is squashed in at the top of the stone, and overall the lettering is unevenly cut, with variations in height. There are several errors in the spelling (line 2, COIVCI for CONIVGI).

 0.019 (line 1); 0.022 (line 2); 0.026 (line 3); 0.024 (line 4); 0.021 (lines 5-7), with taller B 0.026 in line 7; 0.032-0.026 (line 8) Of unknown provenance, it probably originated from Rome. possibly second or third century AD (DM formula and onomastics: Solin 2003, vol. 1: p.555). It is first recorded 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 64 on 6th April 1749, after his death. Lot 64 comprised seven marble inscriptions (also C3-110; C3-113; C3-117; C3-128; C3-132; C3-134). 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). It is included in a list of antique marbles transferred from the Ashmolean Museum basement room to the marble rooms of the Randolph Building in January 1888 (Archive MS. ‘Marbles sent from Ashmolean Museum’ p.34, no.170). It is currently in a storeroom. photograph
dis manibus Feroca coniucgi Paridi conum oq uo bvixit annos XXI decessit a annos XXXXVI VLIIX mensibus IIII coniugi bene merenti faciendum curavit

To the spirits of the dead. Feroca saw to this being set up for her well-deserving husband Paris, with whom she lived for 21 years. He died aged 46, 4 months, 8 days.

COIVCI (lapis) CONO (lapis) BIXIT (lapis) The final A seems to be in error, anticipating ANNOS on the next line. the letters VLIIX are squeezed in between the other lines; one possible interpretation is that V is a correction for the months (should be VIIII rather than IIII), and that L IIX should be amended to d(iebus) IIX, with the L representing an unfinished letter D, but given the poor quality of stonecutting and literacy evident in the rest of this inscription, this is far from certain. Alternatively, VIIIX may be an error for VIXIT.

This is a poor quality epitaph, but this should not necessarily be taken to indicate a late date rather than a limited budget on the part of the commemorator. Nevertheless, the word decessit is more usually accompanied by a date, to recall the date of death, and is typical of Christian epitaphs. There may be confusion here between using decessit to indicate date of death and vixit to indicate the number of years lived.

Chandler (1763) Part 3, Pl.III.cxviii, with drawing; CIL VI.3 no.17890 [Hübner] (1886)

Online: EDCS-00600888 [accessed 29/10/15]

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) 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 Solin H. 2003 Die griechischen Personennamen in Rom. Ein Namenbuch (2nd edn) 3 vols Berlin De Gruyter