Inscriptions: Epitaph of the slave Martialis by his conservi Deuter and Seques

Identification

Reference as:	MPL02222
Title	Epitaph of the slave Martialis by his conservi Deuter and Seques
Trismegistos-No.	231799

Object

Provenance and Location

Find Place	Colonia Clunia Sulpicia
Find Context	Coruña del Conde, calle Resurreción, reused in a wall of the house of A. Langa.
Latitude	0.0
Longitude	0.0
Current Location	Coruña del Conde, in situ
Inventory number
Current Location Details
Vicinity	[{"coords": [41.7823, -3.36805], "id": 2222, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2222", "long_id": "MPL02222", "place": "Colonia Clunia Sulpicia", "text": "[Mar]tialis a\u0361n(norum) XXII h(ic) ((hedera)) s(itu\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://institucional.us.es/cleo/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bu2.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of the slave Martialis by his conservi Deuter and Seques"}, {"coords": [41.7823, -3.36805], "id": 952, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/952", "long_id": "MPL00952", "place": "Colonia Clunia Sulpicia", "text": "[\u2066 - - - - - - - - - - \u2069]at gratus venanti lo[c]us\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Colonia Clunia Sulpicia \u2013 Huerta de Rey (Hispania citerior) - HD045395"}, {"coords": [39.8853, -2.81302], "id": 2224, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2224", "long_id": "MPL02224", "place": "Segobriga", "text": "Above frame: [N]olet amissos post mortem quaer\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://institucional.us.es/cleo/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/cu4-scaled.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of the slave Iucunda by her mother Nigella"}, {"coords": [39.8112, -2.14935], "id": 2226, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2226", "long_id": "MPL02226", "place": "Valeria", "text": "Above frame: D(is) M(anibus) s(acrum). Within fra\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://cil.bbaw.de/ace/resources/PH/0020001-0025000/PH0022762.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of the charioteer Aelius Hermeros by his father Hermia, a public slave"}]

Object Details

Object Type	block
Material	limestone
State of Preservation	incomplete
Dimensions	width: 48.5 cm height: 36.5 cm depth: unknown
Letter Size in cm (min)	2.5
Letter Size in cm (max)	3.5
Execution Technique	chiselled
Religion	Unknown

Decoration

Decoration and Iconography	Inscription within moulded frame.
Decoration Tags	Architecture / frame

Verse Layouts

Prose Verse Presence	Praescriptum + carmen
Prose Verse Distinction	No distinction
Layout Types (Prose)	Left aligned
Layout Types (Verse)	Left aligned
Scriptio Continua in verse part	no
Abbreviations in verse part	yes
Verse Line Correspondence	No, 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)	Dactylic pentameter
Rhythmisation	Quantitative scheme

Inscription & Translations

Diplomatic Interpretative Verse Visualisation

[]TIALIS
A͡NXXIIH hedera S hedera E
DEVTERET
SEQVES
5CONSERVO
D hedera SPFC

QVILEGISDIQ:SITTIBI
TERRALEVIS

[Mar]tialis
a͡n(norum) XXII h(ic) ((hedera)) s(itus) ((hedera)) e(st).
Deuter et
Seques
5conservo
d(e) ((hedera)) s(ua) p(ecunia) f(aciendum) c(uraverunt).

Qui legis, diq(as): sit tibi
terra levis.

[Mar]tialis a͡n(norum) XXII h(ic) ((hedera)) s(itus) ((hedera)) e(st). Deuter et Seques conservo d(e) ((hedera)) s(ua) p(ecunia) f(aciendum) c(uraverunt).

Qui legis, diq(as): sit tibi terra levis.

Apparatus

l.4 reg., orig. Seques
l.7 reg., orig. diqas

Text follows ERClunia. Picture checked by Spalla 2025.
l. 1: halis, Hinojal.
l. 2: VXXII h.s e, Hinojal.
l. 3: druteret, Hinojal.
l. 4: se que . s, Hinojal.
l. 7: oui fcidio . sit . tibi, Hinojal.

Main Translation

Translation	Martialis, twenty-two years old, lies here. Deuter and Seques took care to make this with their won money, for their fellow slave. You who are reading this, say: "May the earth be light on you".
Citation	Fabio Spalla

Other Translations

Marcial, de 22 años, aquí está sepultado. Deuter y Secuens cuidaron de erigirlo por su cuenta a su compañero de esclavitud. Tú que lees di: séate la tierra leve. (Spanish, P. de Palol, J. Vilella)

Prosopographical Information

Name Martialis
Gender Male
Age Range Adult (21–60) [expression: Canonical, precision: high]
Legal Status Slave
Role Dedicatee
Name Deuter
Gender Male
Legal Status Slave
Role Dedicator
Name Seques
Gender Male
Legal Status Slave
Role Dedicator

Name	Martialis
Gender	Male
Age Range	Adult (21–60) [expression: Canonical, precision: high]
Legal Status	Slave
Role	Dedicatee

Name	Deuter
Gender	Male
Legal Status	Slave
Role	Dedicator

Name	Seques
Gender	Male
Legal Status	Slave
Role	Dedicator

Further Information

Comment

Dating proposed by Del Hoyo Calleja (CLEO). De Palol and Vilella (ERClunia), and Crespo Ortiz de Zárate and Ávila (CIRPBurgos) propose a dating to the broad 2nd century AD, though without criteria. Cugusi (CLEHisp) considers a dating uncertain.

Squeeze

Have Squeeze?	no

Dating

Date (From)	71 AD
Date (To)	130 AD
Date (Criteria)	palaeography

Bibliography

ERClunia 00066 (with Spanish translation and photo; also on alternative dating)
CIRPBurgos 00108 (also on alternative dating)
CLEHisp 00111 (also on uncertain dating)
CLE 02427
V. Hinojal, Apuntes acerca de las ruinas de Clúnia, Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones 21, 3 (1913), 226. 🔗 link
P. De Palol, Tres inscripciones de esclavos procedentes de Clunia. In: E. Ripoll Perelló (ed.), Miscelánea arqueológica, Vol. 2. XXV aniversario de los cursos internacionales de prehistoria y arqueología en Ampurias (1947 - 1971), Barcelona 1974, 128-129, nr. 1 - AE 1974 🔗 link
AE 1974, 00356
S. Crespo Ortiz de Zárate, Las formas de dependencia personal en el convento jurídico cluniense durante la época romana. Estudio de las fuentes. In: Estudios en homenaje a don Claudio Sánchez Albornoz en sus 90 años, Vol. 3, Buenos Aires 1983, 485-486, nr. 6. 🔗 link
J. Gómez Santa Cruz, La Meseta Superior hispana durante la época Antonina (siglo II d.C.), Valladolid 1993, 289, nr. 37. 🔗 link
CLEO BU2 (also on dating) 🔗 link
EDCS-08200053 🔗 link
HD012195 🔗 link
HEpOl 12371 🔗 link
MQDQ 🔗 link

Images

Epitaph of the slave Martialis by his conservi Deuter and Seques.
Source: CLEO BU2 (c) J. Del Hoyo Calleja

Editing History

Created	2025-09-08, by Fabio Spalla
Work Status	Complete
Import Notice

Revisions

by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-08-30 12:36
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-08-30 13:18
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-08-30 13:19
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-08-30 13:20
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-09-03 07:37
by Chiara Cenati
at 2025-09-08 13:04

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