07.12.25: The most haunting image from Rome …

Rome was awash with statues and frescoes. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of the grandiose ‘look how wonderful we are’ ones, but I am taken by the simple ones that reflect more everyday life and, in this case, sad death. Of all the images I’ve ever seen from Rome, this one is, for me, the most haunting.

[ll1-2] MARTIALI . VERN(AE) / DVLCISSIMO . QVI │ To Martial, sweetest house-born slave, who

[l3] VIXIT . ANN(IS) . II . M(ENSIBUS) . X . D(IEBUS) . VIII │ lived for two years, 10 months, 8 days

[l4] TI(BERIUS) . CLAVDIVS . VITALIS │ Tiberius Claudius Vitalis

[l5] B(ENE) M(ERENTI) FECIT │ for the well-deserving one he (i.e. Vitalis) made (it)

Martiālī vernae dulcissimō quī vīxit annīs duōbus, mēnsibus decem, diēbus octō. Tiberius Claudius Vītālis bene merentī fēcit. │ Sweetest Martial, a house-born slave, who lived two years, ten months, and eight days. Tiberius Claudius Vitalis made this monument for him, well deserving.

[i] fēcit: (s)he made (it); this is a common way of ending funerary inscriptions noting the name of the person who organised and, presumably, financed the memorial; the same also occurs in inscriptions marking the construction of large building projects.

[ii] verna, -ae [1/m]: a child born of a slave and, therefore, the property of the master. He could have been the master’s son although that is not acknowledged because only a first name is given.

[iii] It isn't necessarily the case that the little lad lived for the exact period of time indicated; there can be various reasons for that including lack of birth records and no birth dates at all for the children of slaves. However, such 'precision' in the inscription can simply emphasise that he was precious for every moment he was alive.

He was clearly held in great affection for this memorial to be sculpted for him, but 2000 years later those lifeless eyes and expressionless face still stare at you: poor kid.