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Inscriptions: Epitaph of the freedman Caius Gavius Celer

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Identification

Reference as: MPL02232
Title Epitaph of the freedman Caius Gavius Celer
Trismegistos-No. 212136

Object

Provenance and Location

Find Place Mogontiacum
Find Context Parish of Zahlbach, site of the Roman cemetery, 1804.
Latitude 0.0
Longitude 0.0
Current Location Mainz, Landesmuseum Mainz
Inventory number S 59
Current Location Details External depot.
Vicinity

Object Details

Object Type stele
Material limestone
State of Preservation incomplete
Dimensions

width: 58.0 cm

height: 77.0 cm

depth: 19.0 cm

Letter Size in cm (min) 3.5
Letter Size in cm (max) 6.5
Execution Technique chiselled
Religion Pagan

Decoration

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

Verse Layouts

  • Prose Verse PresencePraescriptum + carmen
    Prose Verse Distinction
    • Yes, by bigger lettering in prose
    • Yes, by different layout
    Layout Types (Prose)
    • Centered
    Layout Types (Verse)
    • Justified
    Scriptio Continua in verse partno
    Abbreviations in verse partno
    Verse Line CorrespondenceNo, just uses all available space
    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


CGAVIVS
CLCE
...ANNXXI
HSE

5FIDVSVIXSISTI
SINECRIMINE
GAVI    HOCTIB.
PROMERITIS:SIT
TIBITERRALEVIS

C(aius) Gavius
C(ai) l(ibertus) Ce
ḷẹṛ, ann(orum) XXI,
h(ic) s(itus) e(st).

5Fidus vixsisti,
sine crimine,
Gavi. ( vac. 2) Hoc tibị
pro meritis: sit
tibi terra levis.
C(aius) Gavius C(ai) l(ibertus) Ceḷẹṛ, ann(orum) XXI, h(ic) s(itus) e(st).

Fidus vixsisti, sine crimine, Gavi.
( vac. 2) Hoc tibị pro meritis: sit tibi terra levis.
Apparatus

l.5 reg., orig. vixsisti

Text follows López Sánchez. Picture checked by Spalla 2025.
l. 7: Gavi, <vitae> hoc, López Sánchez.

Main Translation

Translation Caius Gavius Celer, freedman of Caius, lies here at the age of twenty-one.

Gavius, you lived without guilt, trustworthy. This is for your merits: may the earth be light upon you.
Citation Fabio Spalla

Other Translations

Prosopographical Information

  • NameCaius Gavius Celer
    GenderMale
    Age RangeAdult (21–60) [expression: Canonical, precision: high]
    Legal StatusFreedman / Freedwoman
    RoleDedicatee

Further Information

Comment

Dating proposed by Knebusch. Lazzaro proposes a dating to the mid-1st century AD. <vitae> is suggested by López Sánchez to complete the hexameter, since the space may have been left empty by the stonecutter by mistake.

Squeeze

Have Squeeze? no

Dating

Date (From) 101 AD
Date (To) 200 AD
Date (Criteria)
  • palaeography

Bibliography

Images

  • Epitaph of the freedman Caius Gavius Celer.

    Epitaph of the freedman Caius Gavius Celer.

    Source: Ubi Erat Lupa 27090 (c) Mainz - Landesmuseum. Photo: Ortolf Harl

Editing History

Created 2025-10-10, by Fabio Spalla
Work Status Complete
Import Notice
Revisions
  1. by Fabio Spalla
    at 2025-09-15 08:17
  2. by Fabio Spalla
    at 2025-09-15 08:53
  3. by Fabio Spalla
    at 2025-09-15 08:53
  4. by Chiara Cenati
    at 2025-10-08 14:23
  5. by Fabio Spalla
    at 2025-10-10 08:31
  6. by Chiara Cenati
    at 2025-10-10 10:36
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