Funerary inscription for Marcus Valerius Laos, who went by the nickname ‘Africanus’. Marcus grew up in Puteoli, a port town in Italy, but his nickname suggests that his family moved there around the time of his birth from the Roman province of Africa....
This tombstone for the Spurius family is a rare example of a Republican-period inscription from the Bay of Naples, but it shows some facets that became standardized in later tombstones. The grouping of relatives together in a large tomb was a common practice to...
Funerary inscription of Callityche, a hairdresser (“ornatrix”) from the town of Puteoli on the Bay of Naples, in Italy. Callityche was formerly enslaved by Aulus and Gaia Valerius. We don’t know if Callityche, which means “good luck” in...
The Praetorian fleet at Misenum, on Italy’s Bay of Naples, was founded by Augustus in 27 BCE and protected the western Mediterranean from piracy and other naval threats. Lucius Calpurnius Rufus was a scriba—an administrative role within the Roman navy that...
Funerary inscription of Coelia Hagne, a midwife (“obstetrix”) who lived in the area of Puteoli, on Italy’s Bay of Naples, in the 2nd century CE. This monument was dedicated to her by her husband, Marcus. Midwives like Coelia played a vital role in...
Portion of a monumental public inscription preserving only one letter and an interpunct (a dot separating letters and/or words in ancient inscriptions). The edge to the left of the “A.” is straight and the back shows possible traces of attachment,...
Portion of a larger monumental public inscription. This fragment preserves one complete letter and two partial letters from the middle of the honoree’s nomen (family/clan name). Chisel marks are visible on the surface of the stone, revealing how it was first...
Octavian, grandnephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar, was hailed as the bringer of peace and prosperity to the Roman world after a long period of civil and military strife. In 27 BCE, the Roman Senate conferred on him the honorary title of Augustus. Soon after, a...
Polydeukion was one of the favorite pupils of the well-known Athenian sophist and philanthropist Herodes Atticus, who lived in Greece in the 2nd century CE. In the year 147 or 148, the young man met an untimely death, and Herodes commissioned many portraits in his...
