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Inscriptions: Epitaph of Severus by his mother Romula

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Identification

Reference as: MPL02184
Title Epitaph of Severus by his mother Romula
Trismegistos-No. 437812

Object

Provenance and Location

Find Place Arelate
Find Context District of Alyscamps, outside the church of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul-des-Mouleyrès, 1854.
Latitude 0.0
Longitude 0.0
Current Location Arles, Musée départemental Arles antique
Inventory number P571.
Current Location Details Depot.
Vicinity

Object Details

Object Type stele
Material limestone
State of Preservation fragmentary (adjoining fragments)
Dimensions

width: 49.0 cm

height: 102.0 cm

depth: 13.8 cm

Letter Size in cm (min) 1.7
Letter Size in cm (max) 6.6
Execution Technique chiselled
Religion Pagan

Decoration

Decoration and Iconography
Decoration Tags

Verse Layouts

  • Prose Verse PresencePraescriptum + carmen
    Prose Verse Distinction
    • Yes, by bigger lettering in prose
    Layout Types (Prose)
    • Centered
    Layout Types (Verse)
    • Centered
    Scriptio Continua in verse partno
    Abbreviations in verse partno
    Verse Line CorrespondenceNo, but follows metrical subdivisions
    Graphic Signs and Spaces for Easier Carmen Reading
    • To separate words - Interpunction

Text

Function funerary inscription
Language(s)
  • Latin
Verse Type(s)
  • Elegiac couplet
Rhythmisation Quantitative scheme

Inscription & Translations

SEVERO
ROM[]LA hedera M͡A
TER

HOCPIETATISOPVSFECIT
5TIBINATESEPVLCRVM
LECTEQVESOLLICITACONDI
DITOSSAMANV
Severo
Rom[u]la ((hedera)) m͡a-
ter.

Hoc pietatis opus fecit
5tibi, nate, sepulcrum,
lect⸢a⸣que sollicita condi-
dit ossa manu.
Severo Rom[u]la ((hedera)) m͡ater.

Hoc pietatis opus fecit tibi, nate, sepulcrum,
lect⸢a⸣que sollicita condidit ossa manu.
Apparatus

l.6 a

Text follows CIL and CLE. Picture checked by Spalla 2025.

Main Translation

Translation The mother Romula to her son Severus.

She arranged this tomb for you, son, this deed of devotion. And she buried your bones all together with troubled hand.
Citation Fabio Spalla

Other Translations

Prosopographical Information

  • NameSeverus
    GenderMale
    RoleDedicatee
  • NameRomula
    GenderFemale
    RoleDedicator

Further Information

Comment

Dating proposed by Belloc (CLEO). Cholodniak proposes a date to the age of Augustus, while Cansino Arán also prefers the 1st century AD, though they both provide no criteria.

Squeeze

Have Squeeze? no

Dating

Date (From) 1 AD
Date (To) 100 AD
Date (Criteria)
  • palaeography

Bibliography

Images

  • Source: https://institucional.us.es/cleo/index.php/inscripcion/n043 (c) H. Belloc

Editing History

Created 2025-07-13, by Fabio Spalla
Work Status Complete
Import Notice
Revisions
  1. by Fabio Spalla
    at 2025-07-01 07:11
  2. by Fabio Spalla
    at 2025-07-01 07:26
  3. by Fabio Spalla
    at 2025-07-01 07:30
  4. by Chiara Cenati
    at 2025-07-13 15:51
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