A Roman funerary urn (cinerarium) with a rectangular name plate between lighted torches
Mid 1st century to late 1st century AD
Fine-grained Greek mainland marble
Height (excluding slab): 17cm
Width: 30cm, at top
Length: 20cm, at top
Width: 30cm, at top
Length: 20cm, at top
Inscription: DIS. MANIBVS / SACRVM / C. TVRRANIO THREPTO / LICTORI. VIXIT. ANNIS. LXX / C. TVRRANIVS THALLVS / POSVIT. PATRONO SVO. BENE MER
Dis Manibus sacrum C[aio] Turranio Threpto lictori vixit annis LXX C[aius] Turranius Thallus posuit patrono suo bene mer[enti]
Inscription marks: Lines 1-5: lettercutter’s guidelines visible.
Line 1: 15mm; Line 2: 13mm; Lines 4-5: 13mm; Line 6: 10mm.
Inscription note: A lictor was a magistrate’s attendant.
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: Sacred to the spirits of the departed. To Caius Turranius Threptus, lictor, who lived seventy years, Caius Turranius Thallus set it up for his well-deserving patron.
Dis Manibus sacrum C[aio] Turranio Threpto lictori vixit annis LXX C[aius] Turranius Thallus posuit patrono suo bene mer[enti]
Inscription marks: Lines 1-5: lettercutter’s guidelines visible.
Line 1: 15mm; Line 2: 13mm; Lines 4-5: 13mm; Line 6: 10mm.
Inscription note: A lictor was a magistrate’s attendant.
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: Sacred to the spirits of the departed. To Caius Turranius Threptus, lictor, who lived seventy years, Caius Turranius Thallus set it up for his well-deserving patron.
Museum number: M410
Vermeule catalogue number: Vermeule 325
On display: Catacombs
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