TOMBSTONE OF M. CLAUDIUS ARTEMIDORUS, C. 100-125 CE. BATHS OF DIOCLETIAN
M(arco) Claudio / Artemidoro / lictori / Rufonia / Nereis uxor et / M(arcus) Claudius / Silvanus et / M(arcus) Cominius / Rufonianus / fili
"To Marcus Claudius Artemidorus, lictor. Rufonia Nereis, (his) wife, and Marcus Claudius Silvanus and Marcus Cominius Rufonianus, (their) sons (set up this monument)." This tombstone was found at Casal Morena in the territory of Grottaferrata in the Alban Hills outside of Rome, and has a simple form like a temple front with a triangular pediment containing a wreath. Lictors were low-level public servants and Artemidorus was probably a Claudian freedman of Greek origin. His job was to precede a magistrate, carrying the fasces, a bundle of sticks like the ones on either side of the inscription. This bundle could contain an axe if carried outside the pomerium, and could be used with lethal force if the magistrate so wished it. Our man's wife was also a Greek freed slave from the household of the Rufonii, and the name of Artemidorus' younger son, Rufonianus, suggests that he was adopted into the family.
Lictor? I never even touched 'er! For #EpigraphyTuesday we're looking at a #tombstone dedicated to a #lictor, a man who carried around a #fasces, a symbol of state policy and a mobile execution kit, as Corey Brennan describes it. He and his family must have lived outside #Rome. #AncientBluesky 🏺