Latin Funerary Inscriptions | Epitaphs for Women
Cosconia Calityche
By Elisabeth Campbell and Matthew Roller
Measurements: Height: 9.2 cm, Width: 19.2 cm, Thickness: 2.3 cm
Material: Marble
Date/Culture: Roman, 1st century BCE (10 BCE)
Provenance: Porta Salaria, Rome, Italy
Translation
“Cosconia Callityche lived 18 years; she was given over to death on the day before the Ides of July [July 14]; she was buried on the Ides [July 15] when Iullus Antonius and [Fabius Maximus] Africanus were consuls [10 BC].”
Description
This columbarium plaque marked the burial niche of a young woman named Cosconia Calityche. It mentions her age at time of death, and – somewhat unusual – also the date of her burial. It is also unusual for burial inscriptions to actually mention the year of death. Most inscriptions have to be dated by their style of writing, but this one gives us a definite date – the year 10 B.C.E.
References
H.L. Wilson, “Latin Inscriptions at the Johns Hopkins University VI,” American Journal of Philoloy 32 (1911), 166-187, 167-169.
The inscription is described in the US Epigraphy Project hosted by Brown University.