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...
A faience (blue-green glassy ceramic) figurine of Anubis, a jackal-headed Egyptian god closely associated with mummification and the realm of death. Anubis had a special role in protecting the dead, and this figurine was likely included in the wrappings of a mummy to...
