The tombstone of Epictes and Numenius
Travertine. About 50—40 BCE. Inv. No. 10490.Rome, Vatican Museums, Gregorian Profane MuseumPhoto by Sergey Sosnovskiy

The tombstone of Epictes and Numenius.

Travertine. About 50—40 BCE.
Inv. No. 10490.

Rome, Vatican Museums, Gregorian Profane Museum
(Roma, Musei Vaticani, Museo gregoriano profano).

Description:
Slab (61 × 184 × 11) made of Tiburtine stone (not Italian marble, as Helbig has), adorned with three figures in the rectangular space on the right: a veiled woman, a togate man and a girl with bulla.

Inscription:

CIL I 3010 = CIL VI 17211
[— — —] M. l. Epictes, | [— — —] M. vel A. l. Numenius, | [— — — (?)] Truphera, | [— — — (?)] Melisse, | [— — — (?)] Europa, || vivit

… Epictes, the freedwoman of Marcus, … Numenius, the freedman of Marcus or Aulus, … Truphera … Melisse … Europa … had lived.

<Epictes(is) Degrassi, but cf. Aepictae (dat.) CIL VI 17211, Aepictas Inscr. Christ. Urbis Romae 4657, Epittas ibid. 8857. Cognomen Numenius: CIL VI 3617, 7052, 9102, 13664, 21489, 29646a, Inscr. Christ. Urbis Romae 15825.>

There was another slab on the left with gentile names and probably the figures of two girls. A boy is said in CIL VI to be depicted between the man and the woman. But a boy hardly corresponds to the inscription. It is really a girl who also could wear the bulla.

Literature:
Described by Michaelis in CIL VI 17204.
About the figures:
A. Giuliano, Catalogo dei ritratti romani del Museo Profano Lateranense, Città del Vaticano, 1957 (Monumenti Vaticani di Arch. e d’Atre 10), p. 1, No. 1; fig. 1a in the 1st table of photos, fig. 1b in the 2nd table of photos (cf. H. v. Heintze Gnomon 32 (1960), p. 153).
P. Arndt, W. Amelung, Photographische Einzelaufnahmen antiker Skulpturen, München 1893 ff., No. 2214.
O. Vessberg, Studien zur Kunstgeschichte der römischen Republik, Lund—Leipzig, 1941 (Acta Instituti Romani Regni Suecae 8), p. 190, 267, fig. 2 in the table XXXI of photos, reproduced from Arndt—Amelung.
B. Schweitzer, Die Bildniskunst der römischen Republik, Leipzig—Weimar 1948, p. 133
Helbig I4 p. 816 ff., n. 1135.
Credits:
(сс) 2008. Photo: Sergey Sosnovskiy (CC BY-SA 4.0).
© 1986. Text: A. Degrassi, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Vol. I, part 2, fasc. 4 (2nd ed.), p. 975.
THE GALLERY OF ANCIENT ART
Keywords: γλυπτική sculptura sculpture sculptural scultura skulptur ρωμαϊκό roman romana romano romani römisch römische römisches römischen römischer romain romaine romains romaines κηδεία funeral funerary funeraria funerario begräbnisskulptur beerdigung funéraire travertine lapis tiburtinus tombstone gravestone headstone relief portrait of the epictes numenius truphera tryphera melissa europa toga married couple husband and wife daughter girl child bulla libertus liberta liberti libertinus libertina libertini freedman freedwoman tunic finger ring dextrarum iunctio gesture cil vi 17204 i 3010 inv no 10490
History of Ancient Rome