Carnuntum and Epigraphy

Inscription Examples

Figure 1

"Gable-end" type stele click to enlarge

The upper triangular area suggests the gable of a building with projections on the upper corners as in the memorial to Lucius Poblicius in Rome but on a much smaller and less expensive scale.

Figure 2

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Eight year Petilliena Ingenua's parents valued her in a special way. Their daughter was memorialized on a tablet that seems to duplicate the form of official documents that were attached to walls to publicize them. Girls did not usually have much status in the paternalistic but her father's family history is published here. Most funeral monuments at Carnuntum had a recessed lower section for the inscription.

Figure 3

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The family was the basic unit of Roman society and the importance of children to the future and the responsibility of the heir to memoralize the person is a recurring theme. The heir, or the person mentioned in the will was responsible for this duty. Fratres or brothers in arms might pay for the stone out of their pay or from the funds of the deceased.

Figure 4

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This well preserved altar displays the characteristics Lawrence Keppie discusses.

Figure 5

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This altar-shaped artifact does not have the recessed top, or bolsters, but does have Jupiter Best and Greatest in abbreviated form and can be dated to the consulship of Silvanis (Silvanis COS).