Inscriptions: Epitaph of Philocalus by his mother Aucta and sister Adventa

Identification

Reference as:	MPL00927
Title	Epitaph of Philocalus by his mother Aucta and sister Adventa
Trismegistos-No.	229027

Object

Provenance and Location

Find Place	Carthago Nova
Find Context	Found during construction works for the Malecón pier, 1739. Then preserved in the Royal Depot.
Latitude	0.0
Longitude	0.0
Current Location	Lost
Inventory number
Current Location Details
Vicinity	[{"coords": [37.6028, -0.987953], "id": 927, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/927", "long_id": "MPL00927", "place": "Carthago Nova", "text": "Mater, si posse[m], fili vice mortis s[---]. Nunc \u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph of Philocalus by his mother Aucta and sister Adventa"}, {"coords": [37.6028, -0.987953], "id": 928, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/928", "long_id": "MPL00928", "place": "Carthago Nova", "text": "Argentaria C(ai) f(ilia) Faustil(la) octavos cum i\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Carthago Nova \u2013 Cartagena (Hispania citerior) - HD037645"}, {"coords": [37.6028, -0.987953], "id": 929, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/929", "long_id": "MPL00929", "place": "Carthago Nova", "text": "C(aius) Licinius C(ai) f(ilius) Torax hospes consi\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Carthago Nova \u2013 Cartagena (Hispania citerior) - HD037760"}, {"coords": [37.6028, -0.987953], "id": 930, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/930", "long_id": "MPL00930", "place": "Carthago Nova", "text": "M(arcus) Oppius M(arci) f(ilius) fore(n)sis ars hi\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Carthago Nova \u2013 Cartagena (Hispania citerior) - HD037778"}, {"coords": [37.6028, -0.987953], "id": 931, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/931", "long_id": "MPL00931", "place": "Carthago Nova", "text": "Filiola\u0323[m] amisit pa[trem], materque sequtast ips\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://institucional.us.es/cleo/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/mu5-scaled.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of the household slave Salviola"}, {"coords": [37.6028, -0.987953], "id": 932, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/932", "long_id": "MPL00932", "place": "Carthago Nova", "text": "Sicinia C(ai) f(ilia) Secunda filia cum matre est \u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Carthago Nova \u2013 Cartagena (Hispania citerior) - HD037805"}, {"coords": [37.6028, -0.987953], "id": 933, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/933", "long_id": "MPL00933", "place": "Carthago Nova", "text": "[Q(uintus) Lusius] L(uci) f(ilius) Seni[ca] [molle\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Carthago Nova, bei \u2013 Cartagena, bei (Hispania citerior) - HD037944"}, {"coords": [37.6028, -0.987953], "id": 2219, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2219", "long_id": "MPL02219", "place": "Carthago Nova", "text": "Vinuleia L(uci) l(iberta) Calena. Heic sitast. F\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://cil.bbaw.de/ace/files/PH0001333.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of the freedwoman Vinuleia Calena by her daughter"}, {"coords": [37.6028, -0.987953], "id": 2220, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2220", "long_id": "MPL02220", "place": "Carthago Nova", "text": "Sei quaer\u0323i\u0323s\u0323 nomen, [co]n\u0323s\u0323i\u0323s\u0323-te et percipe\u0323 \u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://institucional.us.es/cleo/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/mu13b.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of of the freedwoman Pontiliena"}, {"coords": [37.6028, -0.987953], "id": 2227, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2227", "long_id": "MPL02227", "place": "Carthago Nova", "text": "\|A Plotia L(uci) et F\u0323ufiae l(iberta).- Prune ha\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://db.edcs.eu/epigr/bilder/$CIL_02_03495.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of the freedwoman Plotia"}, {"coords": [39.4704, -0.376813], "id": 860, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/860", "long_id": "MPL00860", "place": "Valentia", "text": "Pius pr(a)eclarus doctor alacer facundus Iustinian\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Elogium from Valentia \u2013 Valencia (Hispania citerior) - HD024284"}, {"coords": [39.4704, -0.376813], "id": 861, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/861", "long_id": "MPL00861", "place": "Valentia", "text": "Constructu(m) p[---cu]rrunt fastigium quis[--- a?]\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Building/dedicatory inscription from Valentia \u2013 Valencia (Hispania citerior) - HD024287"}, {"coords": [39.4704, -0.376813], "id": 862, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/862", "long_id": "MPL00862", "place": "Valentia", "text": "[\u2066 - - - - - - - - - - \u2069] [b?]ona liq[uet?] [---]l\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Inscription from Valentia \u2013 Valencia (Hispania citerior) - HD024293"}, {"coords": [38.8428, 0.107511], "id": 935, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/935", "long_id": "MPL00935", "place": "Dianium", "text": "C(aius) Iul(ius) H[---] sibi et Co[rneliae] Sphr[a\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Dianium \u2013 Denia (Hispania citerior) - HD039492"}, {"coords": [38.8428, 0.107511], "id": 938, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/938", "long_id": "MPL00938", "place": "Dianium", "text": "M(arcus) Acilius Eros h(ic) s(itus) e(st), pistor.\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://institucional.us.es/cleo/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/v7.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of the baker Marcus Acilius Eros by his freedmen and freedwomen"}, {"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	slab
Material
State of Preservation
Dimensions	width: unknown height: unknown depth: unknown
Letter Size in cm (min)	0.0
Letter Size in cm (max)	0.0
Execution Technique	chiselled
Religion	Pagan

Decoration

Decoration and Iconography
Decoration Tags

Verse Layouts

Text

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

Inscription & Translations

Diplomatic Interpretative Verse Visualisation

MATERSIPOSSE[]
FILIVICEMORTISS[---]
NVNCIACISHOCTVMV
LO:SITTIBITERRALEVIS

5AVCTAZENONLMATERPHI
LOCALOADVENTASOROR
DESVO(scil. FECERVNT)

Mater, si posse[m],
fili vice mortis s[---].
Nunc iacis hoc tumu-
lo: sit tibi terra levis.

5Aucta, Zenon(is) l(iberta), mater, Phi-
localo, Adventa soror,
de suo (scil. fecerunt).

Mater, si posse[m], fili vice mortis s[---].
Nunc iacis hoc tumulo: sit tibi terra levis.

Aucta, Zenon(is) l(iberta), mater, Philocalo, Adventa soror, de suo (scil. fecerunt).

Apparatus

Text follows Hernández Pérez and Gómez Font.
l. 1: Mater . s . i. possa ....., CIL; Beltrán. si poss[em], CLE; Cholodniak; Cenati and González Berdús and Kruschwitz. si poss[em, lubens], ILER; CartNova.
l. 2: mortis . s ....., CIL; Beltrán. morte s[ubirem], CLE; Cholodniak; Cenati and González Berdús and Kruschwitz. mortis s[uccumberem], ILER. morti s[uccumberem], CartNova.
l. 3: iacis, CIL; Beltrán; Cenati and González Berdús and Kruschwitz.
l. 5: Aucia, CIL; Beltrán. Au[t]ia, ILER. Auc[t]a, CartNova.
ll. 5-6: Philocal[e F]aden[ti]a, ILER. Philoca[lo F]aden[i]a, CartNova.
l. 6: Adent, CIL; Beltrán.

Main Translation

Translation	Mother, if I could, I would gladly submit myself to death, instead of your son. Now you lie here in this tomb: may earth rest lightly on you. Aucta, freedwoman of Zeno, the mother, for Philocalus. Adventa, the sister, (sc. had this made) from her own (money).
Citation	C. Cenati, V. González Berdús, P. Kruschwitz

Other Translations

Si yo que soy su madre pudiese, soportaría la muerte en vez de mi hijo. Ahora descansas en esta tumba; que no te pese la tierra. (Spanish, C. Fernández Martínez)
Yo, la madre, si hubiese podido, en vez de mi hijo [---]. Pero ahora que yaces en este túmulo, que la tierra te sea ligera. Aucta, liberta de Zenón, la madre, y Adventa, la hermana, [erigieron] a sus expensas [este monumento] a Filócalo. (Spanish, R. Hernández Pérez, X. Gómez Font)

Prosopographical Information

Name Aucta
Gender Female
Legal Status Freedman / Freedwoman
Role Dedicator
Name Adventa
Gender Female
Role Dedicator
Name Philocalus
Gender Male
Role Dedicatee

Name	Aucta
Gender	Female
Legal Status	Freedman / Freedwoman
Role	Dedicator

Name	Adventa
Gender	Female
Role	Dedicator

Name	Philocalus
Gender	Male
Role	Dedicatee

Further Information

Comment

Dating proposed by Hernández Pérez and Gómez Font. Abascal Palazón and Ramallo Asensio (CartNova) propose a dating to the third quarter of the 1st century AD, based on the formula "sit tibi terra levis" and on the dating of other inscriptions found in the area of Malecón.

Squeeze

Have Squeeze?	no

Dating

Date (From)	51 AD
Date (To)	150 AD
Date (Criteria)	formulae

Bibliography

CIL 02, 03453
CLE 01194
ILER 05778
CartNova 00096 (also on alternative dating)
J. Cholodniak, Carmina sepulcralia latina epigraphica, Petersburg 1904, 116, nr. 308. 🔗 link
A. Beltrán, Las inscripciones funerarias en Cartagena, Arch. Esp. Arq. 23, 81 (1950), 392-393, nr. 16 (with Spanish translation) 🔗 link
S. Mariner Bigorra, Inscripciones hispanas en verso, Madrid 1952, 20, 37, 54, 104. 🔗 link
M. Albertos, Nuevos antroponimos hispanicos, Emerita 32 (1964), 214 (on the name Adenta), 226 (on the name Aucia). 🔗 link
J. Mangas Mangarrés, Esclavos y libertos en la España romana, Salamanca 1971, 348, 392. 🔗 link
J. Abascal Palazón, Los nombres personales en las inscripciones latinas de Hispania, Murcia 1994, 456 (on the name Philocalus) 🔗 link
C. Fernández Martínez, Poesía epigráfica latina II, Madrid 1999, 28, nr. 1194 (Spanish translation of the elegiac couplet) 🔗 link
R. Hernández Pérez, Poesía latina sepulcral de la Hispania romana: estudios de los tópicos y sus formulaciones, Valencia 2001, 24-26, 242. 🔗 link
R. Hernández Pérez, X. Gómez Font, Carmina Latina Epigraphica Carthaginis Novae, Valencia 2006, 68-71 (with Spanish translation; also on dating) 🔗 link
C. Cenati, V. González Berdús, P. Kruschwitz, Ceterum censemus Carthaginem Novam esse legendam: Roman poetry as cultural history, Exemplaria classica. Journal of classical philology 28 (2024), 127-128, nr. 16 (with English translation) 🔗 link
CLEO MU8 🔗 link
EDCS-05502836 🔗 link
HD037639 🔗 link
HEpOl 9540 🔗 link
MQDQ 🔗 link

Images

Editing History

Created	2025-10-19, by Eric Andreas Kunz
Work Status	Complete
Import Notice	Imported from Epigraphische Datenbank Heidelberg at 2024-07-11T12:10:56, ID there: HD037639

Revisions

by Unknown
at 2024-07-11 12:10
by Eric Andreas Kunz
at 2024-08-12 17:53
by Eric Andreas Kunz
at 2024-08-12 17:54
by Anna Pokorny
at 2025-01-29 15:33
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-09-22 09:00
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-09-22 09:02
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-09-22 09:03
by Chiara Cenati
at 2025-10-19 12:45
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-10-19 13:41
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-10-19 13:42
by Chiara Cenati
at 2025-10-19 14:10

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