Inscriptions: Epitaph of the slave Iucunda by her mother Nigella

Identification

Reference as:	MPL02224
Title	Epitaph of the slave Iucunda by her mother Nigella
Trismegistos-No.	378866

Object

Provenance and Location

Find Place	Segobriga
Find Context	Near the interior of the northern wall of the circus, 2006.
Latitude	0.0
Longitude	0.0
Current Location	Saelices, Parque Arqueológico de Segóbriga
Inventory number
Current Location Details	Archaeological depot.
Vicinity	[{"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": [38.4751, -4.67948], "id": 814, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/814", "long_id": "MPL00814", "place": "Solia", "text": "[Me donec vivam dolor excruci]abit acerbu[s] [stir\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Solia, bei \u2013 Fuencaliente (Baetica) - HD003968"}, {"coords": [37.9349, -4.05478], "id": 870, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/870", "long_id": "MPL00870", "place": "Urgavo", "text": "Dextera [---] nunc SC[---] hic gracili[---] haec m\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Urgavo \u2013 Arjona (Baetica) - HD027665"}, {"coords": [37.9349, -4.05478], "id": 871, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/871", "long_id": "MPL00871", "place": "Urgavo", "text": "[\u2066 - - - - - - - - - - \u2069] [\u2066 - - - - - - - - - - \u2069\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Urgavo \u2013 Arjona (Baetica) - HD027668"}, {"coords": [37.9349, -4.05478], "id": 872, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/872", "long_id": "MPL00872", "place": "Urgavo", "text": "[\u2066 - - - - - - - - - - \u2069] [---]REDE[---] [---]NINT\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Urgavo \u2013 Arjona (Baetica) - HD027671"}, {"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": [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": [38.0081, -3.36853], "id": 2206, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2206", "long_id": "MPL02206", "place": "Salaria", "text": "Gemina, D(ecii) Pu-blici Subici ser(va), an(norum)\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://institucional.us.es/cleo/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/j8.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of the slave Gemina by the coppersmith Caius"}, {"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"}, {"coords": [39.4883, -1.10044], "id": 2235, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2235", "long_id": "MPL02235", "place": "Requena", "text": "Iu[---]++ +V\u0323[---] S\u0323osi-n\u0323a++g\u0323i f(ilius) Gili-t\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://db.edcs.eu/epigr/bilder/$ZPE_192_306_1.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of a man killed by bandits, dedicated by his son and sons-in-law"}]

Object Details

Object Type	stele
Material	limestone
State of Preservation	fragmentary (adjoining fragments)
Dimensions	width: 57.0 cm height: 184.0 cm depth: 40.0 cm
Letter Size in cm (min)	1.5
Letter Size in cm (max)	7.5
Execution Technique	chiselled
Religion	Pagan

Decoration

Decoration and Iconography	Inscription within moulded frame, l. 1 inscribed above the frame. Above l. 1, moulded frame surrounding a niche topped by an arch, flanked by acroteria shaped as volutes. Inside the niche, portrait of the deceased seated on a chair, wearing a tunica and a stola, holding a cithara in her left hand and playing it with her right hand.
Decoration Tags	Architecture / Acroterion Architecture / Arch Architecture / Moulding Architecture / frame Architecture / niche Architecture / volute Object / Chair Object / Musical instrument Object / Stola Object / Tunica Person / Human figure Person / portrait Person / woman

Verse Layouts

Prose Verse Presence	Verse interrupted by prose
Prose Verse Distinction	Yes, by bigger lettering in prose Yes, by different layout
Layout Types (Prose)	Right aligned
Layout Types (Verse)	Left aligned
Scriptio Continua in verse part	no
Abbreviations in verse part	no
Verse Line Correspondence	Yes
Graphic Signs and Spaces for Easier Carmen Reading	To mark a pentameter in an elegiac couplet (indentation) To separate words - Interpunction

Text

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

Inscription & Translations

Diplomatic Interpretative Verse Visualisation

Above frame:

[]OLETAMISSOSPOSTMORTEMQVAERERENATOS

Epigraphic field:

IVCVNDAE
M⟦V⟧VALERI
VITVLISER
5NIGELLAM͡A͡T͡E͡R(scil FECIT)

FESSATRIBVSLVSTRISANNOPROPENSIORVNO
SVCCVBVIFATISEXSVPERATAMEIS
ESTTVAQVAEPOSSITCONFVNDEREPECTORALE`CTOR´
INMATVRAMEICAVSADOLENDAROGI
10SEDMELIVSCONFECTAPIASEDEQVIESCO
QVAMMEAVIMORBICORPO[]ADISCVTERENT
TVMCLAVI·······NEDVMTOLERABILISVLLI
NVNCSECVRALEVICAESPITECONTVMVLOR
[---]VOSTANGITNOSTRINVNCCVRAPARENTES
15[·······]NIVXCARIORVSQVEVALE
[]ERRALEVISVOBISSINTNVMINAFAVSTA
[---]ILISVATIPHOE͡BVSVTANTEMIHI

Above frame:

[N]olet amissos post mortem quaerere natos.

Epigraphic field:

Iucundae,
M(anii) ⟦V⟧Valeri
Vituli ser(vae).
5Nigella m͡a͡t͡e͡r (scil. fecit).

Fessa tribus lustris, anno propensior uno,
succubui fatis exsuperata meis.
Est tua quae possit confundere pectora, le`ctor´,
inmatura mei causa dolenda rogi.
10Sed melius confecta pia ṣụḅ sede quiesco,
quam mea vi morbi corpo[r]a discuterent.
Tum clavi ṣ+ 7+ nedum tolerabilis ulli,
nunc secura levi caespite contumulor.
[---] vos tangit nostri nunc cura, parentes,
15[. c. 7. co]niux carior usque vale.
[Sit mihi t]erra levis, vobis sint numina fausta,
[---]ilis vati Phoe͡bus ut ante mihi.

Above frame:

[N]olet amissos post mortem quaerere natos.

Epigraphic field:

Iucundae, M(anii) ⟦V⟧Valeri Vituli ser(vae). Nigella m͡a͡t͡e͡r (scil. fecit).

Fessa tribus lustris, anno propensior uno,
succubui fatis exsuperata meis.
Est tua quae possit confundere pectora, le`ctor´,
inmatura mei causa dolenda rogi.
Sed melius confecta pia ṣụḅ sede quiesco,
quam mea vi morbi corpo[r]a discuterent.
Tum clavi ṣ+ 7+ nedum tolerabilis ulli,
nunc secura levi caespite contumulor.
[---] vos tangit nostri nunc cura, parentes,
[. c. 7. co]niux carior usque vale.
[Sit mihi t]erra levis, vobis sint numina fausta,
[---]ilis vati Phoe͡bus ut ante mihi.

Apparatus

l.9 reg., orig. inmatura
l.15 reg., orig. coniux

Text follows Fernández Martínez et al. Picture checked by Spalla 2025.
l. 1: [perd]olet, CLEHisp. [Quae d]olet vel [Quam d[olet], Del Hoyo. [Cor d]olet, Hernández Pérez.
l. 2: Iucu[ndae], Fernández Martínez et al.; CLEHisp.
l. 14: [busti] vos, Fernández Martínez et al. [vivite, q]uos, Binsfeld and Busch. [busti (?)] vos, CLEHisp. [o vos q]uos, Hernández Pérez.
l. 15: [et, mihi me co]niux, Binsfeld and Busch. [atque adeo, co]niunx, CLEHisp. [o mihi me co]niux, Fernández Pérez.
l. 17: [sis fac?]ilis, Fernández Martínez et al. [sit fac]ilis, Binsfeld and Busch; Hernández Pérez. [sit doc]ilis, CLEHisp.

Main Translation

Translation	Above frame: It will be no use to seek for lost children after their death. Epigraphic field: Iucunda, slave of Manius Valerius Vitulus. Her mother Nigella (made this). Weakened after three times five years, closer to another year, I succumbed to my fate, overpowered. This is what could shatter your heart, reader, the lamentable cause of my premature burial. But, now dead, I rest in this gracious abode, more bearable than if my body was torn apart by disease. I had then a tumor intolerable to anyone, but now I am buried under light earth, free from worries. Now, it is up to you, my parents, to take care of my ... And to my very dear husband, farewell! May the earth be light upon me, the gods favour you ... to this poem, as Phoebus was to me.
Citation	Fabio Spalla

Other Translations

Ermattet, der Vollendung dreier Lustren näher kommend als ein Jahr, erlag ich, endgültig besiegt, meinem Todeslos. Es gibt eine Ursache von der Art, dass sie dein Herz, Leser, zutiefst bewegen
kann, die du beklagen musst, <eine Ursache> dafür, dass mein Scheiterhaufen vorzeitig errichtet werden musste. Aber besser ist es für mich, dahingerafft, unten in der schützenden (Toten-)
Wohnung zu ruhen, als wenn meinen Körper Krankheitsanfälle zerstörten. Damals gab es stechende Qualen eines für niemanden mehr erträglichen Geschwürs, jetzt liege ich sicher im Grab, überdeckt von einer leichten Grasnarbe. Lebt weiter, meine Eltern, die jetzt die Sorge für mich berührt, und du mein Gatte, der du mir lieber bist als ich selbst, lebe für immer wohl! Möge mir die Erde leicht sein, mögen euch die Götter gewogen sein, möge Phoebus(-Apollo) dem Dichter geneigt sein – wie er es zuvor mir gegenüber war. (German, A. Binsfeld, S. Busch)
Duele el corazón al echar de menos a los hijos perdidos desde su muerte. A Jucunda, esclava de Manio Valerio Vítulo. Su madre, Nigela. Gravemente enferma a los quince años, y con un año más a cuestas, sucumbí derrotada a mi destino. La lamentable causa de mi muerte prematura es tal que podría turbarte el corazón, lector; pero es preferible estar acabada ya y descansando bajo piadosa morada a que las acometidas de la enfermedad estuvieran destrozando violentamente mi cuerpo: entonces era yo molesta para mí misma e insoportable –no digamos– para los demás; ahora, en cambio, estoy libre de preocupaciones enterrada bajo un ligero césped. ¡Ay de vosotros, padres, a quienes embarga ahora la inquietud por mí! ¡Ay de ti, esposo a quien quiero más que a mí misma, adiós para siempre! Que a mí la tierra me sea ligera, que a vosotros las divinidades os sean favorables, y que Febo sea propicio al poeta como antes lo fue para mí. (Spanish, R. Hernández Pérez)

Prosopographical Information

Name Iucunda
Gender Female
Age Range Subadult (13–20) [expression: Non-canonical, precision: high]
Legal Status Slave
Role Dedicatee
Name Manius Valerius Vitulus
Gender Male
Name Nigella
Gender Female
Role Dedicator

Name	Iucunda
Gender	Female
Age Range	Subadult (13–20) [expression: Non-canonical, precision: high]
Legal Status	Slave
Role	Dedicatee

Name	Manius Valerius Vitulus
Gender	Male

Name	Nigella
Gender	Female
Role	Dedicator

Further Information

Comment

Dating proposed by Fernández Martínez et al.

Squeeze

Have Squeeze?	no

Dating

Date (From)	101 AD
Date (To)	130 AD
Date (Criteria)	palaeography

Bibliography

CLEHisp 00091 - HEp 2015
CLE 04, 02406
C. Fernández Martínez, J. M. Abascal et al., Mors mala solvit. Nuevos CLE hallados en Segobriga (Hispania Citerior), Zeitschr. Pap. Ep. 161 (2007), 47-59 (with Spanish translation of the hexameter and elegiac couplets, and photos, 47, 51) - AE 2007, HEp 2007 🔗 link
AE 2007, 00805 a-b
HEp 2007, 00177
C. Fernández Martínez, De mulieribus epigraphicis. Tradición e innovación, Seville 2010, 105-118, nr. 8 (with Spanish translation of the elegiac couplets and photos, 105) 🔗 link
J. Abascal Palazón, G. Alföldy, R. Cebrián Fernández, Segóbriga, Vol. 5. Inscripciones romanas, 1986-2010, Madrid 2011, 210-214, nr. 220 (with photos) 🔗 link
C. Marks-Jacobs, Zur Ikonographie einer Kitharaspielerin aus Segobriga. In: T. Nogales (ed.), I. Rodà (ed.), Roma y las provincias: modelo y difusión, Vol. 2, Rome 2011, 829-837 (with photos, 830, figg. 1-2) 🔗 link
A. Binsfeld, S. Busch, rosa simul florivit et statim periit∗ – Sklavenkinder in römischen Grabepigrammen. Ein Neufund: Die Stele der Iucunda aus Segobriga. In: H. Heinen (ed.), Kindersklaven - Sklavenkinder. Schicksale zwischen Zuneigung und Ausbeutung in der Antike und im interkulturellen Vergleich. Beiträge zur Tagung des Akademievorhabens Forschungen zur antiken Sklaverei (Mainz, 14. Oktober 2008), Stuttgart 2012, 203-326 (with German translation of the elegiac couplets and photos, tab. 19, fig. 25; tab. 20, figg. 26-27) 🔗 link
J. Del Hoyo, Reseña a Paolo Cugusi. Carmina Latina Epigraphica Hispanica post Buechelerianam collectionem editam reperta cognita (CLEHisp). Faenza, Fratelli Lega, 2012, 252 pp., Habis 44 (2013), 400-405 - HEp 2013 🔗 link
HEp 2013, 00205
R. Hernández Pérez, El epitafio de la citareda Jucunda (AE 2007, 805: Segobriga). Nueva lectura e interpretación, Habis 46 (2015), 187-213 (with Spanish translation and photos, 189, 193, 195, 197) - AE 2015, HEp 2014-2015 🔗 link
AE 2015, 00665
HEp 2014-2015, 00322
CLEO CU4 🔗 link
EDCS-46400787 🔗 link
MQDQ 🔗 link

Images

Epitaph of the slave Iucunda by her mother Nigella.
Source: CLEO CU4 (c) J. M. Abascal Palazón

Editing History

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

Revisions

by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-09-02 15:11
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-09-02 15:40
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-09-02 16:36
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-09-02 16:37
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-09-02 16:38
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-09-02 16:39
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-09-03 07:34
by Chiara Cenati
at 2025-09-08 13:35
by Chiara Cenati
at 2025-09-08 13:36

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