Notes to Funerary Inscription by Furia Spes

anima, -ae f.
soul; spirit; breath. This is an unusual addition to the formulaic heading Dis Manibus.

sanctus, -a, -um
sacred, divine, holy; pious; pure.

colo, -ere, colui, cultum
revere, honor; cultivate; protect; inhabit. A gerundive (a verbal passive adjective meaning required to be, must be) which may be either in the dative case or the genitive; if the former, the line is a statement complete in itself; if the latter, it is an objective genitive with dis manibus in the next line.

Di Manes, m. pl.
the spirits of the dead, the divine spirits. This phrase in the dative case is regularly found at the head of funerary inscriptions from the end of the 1st century BCE through the 2nd century CE.

S[acrum]:
the sense is hoc monumentum est sacrum dis manibus.

coniunx, -iugis m.f.
spouse, consort; wife, husband; understand dedit or fecit or posuit.

ut + the indicative
since (= ex quo tempore).

cognovi:
supply eum.

obligo (1)
bind together; put under obligation. The masculine plural is used because the subjects are puer [et] puella ( i.e., as young boy and girl they were committed to each other).

amori = amore, an infrequently found ablative form.

pariter (adverb)
equally; in a like manner. Furia Spes emphasizes their mutual affection.

quo = eo.

tempori:
Furia Spes uses the dative here to differentiate the length of time they spent together from the amount of time she feels they ought to have been given (see tempore in the following line).

manus, -us f.
hand (as an agent of force).

disseparo (1)
part, divide (a Latin verb of the late period, which helps to date the inscription).

peto, -ere, petivi, petitum
beseech, beg; pray; seek, look for; the following subjunctives depend on this verb: habeatis and vellitis.

Manes, ium m. pl.
ghosts, shades of the dead; despite the feminine ending, sanctissimae must modify Manes.

commendatus, -a, -um
valued, distinguished; commended.

habeo, -ere. habui, habitum
consider, regard, treat; have, hold, possess.

volo, velle, volui
wish, want; be willing; determine. Vellitis, a less common spelling of velitis that is found in some inscriptions, is a subjunctive form dependent on peto.

indulgens, -entis (superlative form)
indulgent, kind; here the gender for Manes is correct.

hora, -ae f.
hour, time. Spes either hopes to have a dream of her husband or a vision of his spirit.

suadeo, -ere, suasi, suasum + dative
advise, urge, recommend; the infinitive is in indirect statement after vellit with me as the subject.

vellit: the subject is her husband, Sempronius. Translate as an independent subjunctive, either optative or jussive: may he/let him wish; be willing; determine.

ut + subjunctive in an indirect command after suadere.

dulce/dulciter adverb
pleasantly, sweetly, kindly; comparative in form, as is celerius.

aput: a less common spelling of apud frequently found in inscriptions, probably reflecting colloquial pronunciation.

pervenio, -ire, -veni, -ventum
come to, reach, arrive; attain to.



Close this window after each use.