INHABITANTS

 

The Inhabitants section includes funerary epigraphs specially to freedmen, ex freed slaves, coming especially from Alba Fucens and Marruvium territory (not only from S. Benedetto, but also from Pescina, Lecce dei Marsi and Ortona).

The high number of writing errors found in many  inscriptions is a sign of poor literacy, both for the clients and craftsmen executors: in some cases one might even suspect that the stonemason was copying mechanically the model without understanding it, being he himself illiterate.

Normally the dedicator indicates the relationship that binds him to deceased, mostly with the addition of a second epithet stereotypes crystallized in use (‘very dear’, ‘very sweet’) of a very inflated recognition of merit, often specifying the age of the deceased at the time of death or, in in the case of spouses, the length of the married life.

It is not unusual to find precise indications about who will be able to use the grave among the descendants, but who is also found specifies’ this sepulchral monument will not pass to the heiress, betraying concern of the freedman who, forced to have his former master as heir, he wants avoid that he can also dispose of his tomb and introduce strangers into it.

 

The children

1 – Limestone funerary stele with arched top and pseudoacroteri angular. II century. A.D. (via Valeria – Alba Fucens).

 

Children and young people

2 – Stele in mutilated limestone of the summit. I-II century. A.D. (via Valeria – Alba Fucens).

 

3 – Tabula of marble recomposed from two pieces. Characters of the first century. A.D. (Alba Fucens).

 

4 – Limestone block, originally inserted in a wall, with inscription within the frame. Characters of the II-III century. A.D. (Avezzano).

 

Husband and wife

5 – Limestone funerary stone, in two juxtaposed pieces, mutilated at the top. II-III century. A.D. ( Via Valeria- Alba Fucens).

 

6 – Limestone funerary stele, with arched top and pseudoacroteri angular. II century. A.D. (Alba Fucens)