CHILD’S EPITAPH, ROME Alison E. Cooley AEC/ASHL ANChandler.3.123.xml Oxford Ashmolean Museum ANChandler.3.123 AshLI 122

A rectangular slab of white marble (in a modern mount) (0.147 0.295 0.02), probably originally in a columbarium. Two circular marks with traces of metal and oxidisation occur half way up in the border on right and left sides of the front surface. The rear is roughly finished. It is in a good condition, with slight chipping along the bottom edge.

The text is inscribed inside a frame consisting of a border made up of two lines, within which is a repetitive decorative pattern of small leaf-like motifs. The text is elegantly carved, with attention paid to its layout: line 2 is centred. Simple interpuncts occur throughout except at line ends. Guiding lines for the stonecutter are clearly visible.

 0.022 (lines 1-2); 0.018 (line 3) Of unknown provenance, it probably originated from Rome. first century AD (when Sp. f. most commonly found in inscriptions: Rawson 1989: p.37). 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 54 on 6th April 1749, after his death. Lot 54 comprised a Greek inscription and seven Latin inscriptions (also C3-108; C3-109; C3-120; C3-122; 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 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 it is included in the archive MS. ‘Marbles sent from Ashmolean Museum’ (p.35, no.175), 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. The epitaph is currently on display in the Reading and Writing Gallery. photograph
Quintus Munatidius Spuri filius Gallus vixit annos V dies XLV

Quintus Munatidius Gallus, son of Spurius, lived 5 years and 45 days.

This brief epitaph for a five-year old commemorates a child who was most likely freeborn but illegitimate (Rawson 1989): his parents would not have been in a legally-recognised marriage at the time of his birth. He would have taken his name from his mother, who would have been a Munatidia

Chandler (1763) Part 3, Pl.IV.cxxiii, with drawing; CIL VI.3 no.22643 [Hübner] (1886)

Online: EDCS-13200930 [accessed 12/11/15]

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 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 Rawson B. 1989 Spurii and the Roman view of illegitimacy Antichton 23 10-41