Roman funerary urn (cinerarium) with a garlanded front flanked by heads of Jupiter Ammon.
Pentelic marble, with restorations in Luna marble
Height (including feet): 34cm, maximum
Height (body): 20cm
Width (lid): 30cm
Length (lid): 22.5cm
Inscription: P. MALITVS ATIMETVS / POST. PATRONI. MORT / VIX. ANN. I. M. XI. V. A. XXXV / IVLIA. SYSTASI / CONTVBERNA. SVO. EEC
P[ublius] Malitus Atimetus post patroni mort[em] vix[it] ann[is] I m[ensibus] XI v[ixit] a[nnis] XXXV Iulia Systasi<s> contuberna[lis] suo fec[it]?
Inscription marks: Lines 1-5: 9mm.
Inscription note: Line 5: the first E of EEC is likely to be a mistake for F. The final E appears to have an upright stroke between the two lower horizontals.
Solin dates this inscription to the first century A.D.
We are grateful to Dr. Charlotte Tupman, a scholar of epigraphy (the study of inscriptions) undertaking postdoctoral research at King’s College London, who took squeezes of the inscriptions on antiquities in the Museum in 2007, for her transliteration, translation and notes/bibliography of the inscription on this piece.
Inscription translation: Publius Malitus Atimetus lived one year eleven months after the death of his patron. He lived 35 years. Iulia Systasis his companion set it up(?).
Museum number: M404
Vermeule catalogue number: Vermeule 333