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; while it cannot date the tombstone exactly, in combination with the style of letter formation it places it not earlier than the Augustan period.

Claudia
the nomen indicates that she was a former slave of a member of the Claudian family. A simple epitaph on stone discovered in the Campus Martius and published as CIL6.15545 records the death of a Claudia Piste, a freedwoman of the imperial family, either during the reign of Claudius or Nero; the identification is tempting though not certain.

Piste, es, f.
her name, from the Greek adjective pistos, -e, -on which means faithful, true, trustworthy, is in the genitive case, dependent on diis manibus.

Primus, i, m.
The husband and author of this epitaph. Despite the fact that he uses only a single name (usual for family birth rank), Primus may have been neither a slave nor a freedman. His name is the 5th highest in occurrence among the cognomina reported in a research study of Roman citizen names in Greece (see Kajanto in Companion Bibliography). Not to be overlooked as a possible explanation is the artful composition throughout of the commemorator: he may be insisting on using the name he used with Piste and making allusion to the fact that he was first in her life as she was in his. Note that he joins only two words together on line 3: Primus and coniugi.

coniunx, -is, m., f.
one who is united in marriage; spouse, wife; husband; the indirect object of [fecit hoc monumentum]. By way of emphasis, Primus not only repeats coniunx twice in the poem tht follows, but he closes the last line of verse with coniugium, marriage. He seems to be making a point of their free status, as otherwise he would have had to use the word contubernalis, tentmate, the term used to designate a union of slaves, since Roman slaves were forbidden by law to marry.

optumae: this spelling of optimus was used down to the Augustan period; it is in the dative case, agreeing with coniugi.

sanctus, -a, -um
sacred; when used of character, pure, innocent, good. Primus praises Piste for qualities conventionally admired in Roman matrons: optumae, sanctae, piae, benemeritae.

benemeritus, -a, -um
having deserved well; well-deserved. In classical Latin this was normally written as two words; it is found as one in catacomb burials alternatively with the present participle benemerens.

[fecit hoc monumentum] Primus has not included this formulaic phrase of dedication, often abbreviated or omitted from tombstone inscriptions; it is understood from his use above of the dative coniugi.

aequus, -a, -um
equal, fair, impartial. One is tempted to translate this adjective with stamina as a transferred epithet. It has been suggested that the -os ending of the word is actually a Greek adverbial ending (appropriate if they both originated in Greece). The statement may be about humans in general having unequal terms of life, but it is more probably about Primus and Piste. While the meaning is clearer if non is translated with the verb statuistis, placing it as the first word in the line allows Primus to acknowledge that they were aequos in affection but non aequos in length of life and suffering (Primus' life has been disordered by grief, Piste's by death).

Parcae, arum f. pl.
the Fates. Originally Parca, the goddess of birth (from the Latin parere to give birth), she became the Parcae (Nona and Decima, perhaps in reference to birth term, and Morta, perhaps signifying a stillborn fetus) when she was assimilated into the Greek sister goddesses of fate. The Moirai (from the Greek word for share, portion) gave humans their allotment of life: Lachesis plucked a tuft of wool from her distaff, Clotho spun the wool into the life-thread, Atropos ended life by cutting the thread.

statuo , -ere, -statui, statutum
determine, appoint, decide, prescribe (with double accusative); translate with non.

stamen, -inis n.
warp (on a loom); the thread of life.

compositus, -a, -um
ordered, tidy; matched; untroubled by emotions. The reference is clearly to Piste and Primus.

sedes, sedis m.
home; home of the dead, grave.

amitto, -ere, -missi, -missum
lose; let go. Repetition of the sad adjective-noun combination (see line 3), here as an ablative absolute.

moror, -ari, -atus sum
delay, stay. This is a dactylic pentameter (5 feet) line which uses the caesura and spondaic first half of the line to underscore its meaning.

si…essem ... debuit: a present contrary to fact condition with the si clause in the pluperperfect subjunctive. In the conclusion (apodosis) of a contrary to fact condition, the use of the indicative mood expresses what was intended.

contingo, --ere, -tigi, -tactum
touch; attain; read contigerun[t], the form is shortened perhaps through mispronunciation.

vivo: a shortened form of vivont/vivunt; until the middle of the first century CE, words containing -vu were often spelled -vo, perhaps to avoid the confusion of -vv.

perdo, -dere, -didi, -ditum
destroy, ruin; waste; lose.

totus, -a, -um
whole, entire, complete; ie., Piste, in reference to her as an adult, perhaps.

nec: translating this as et nihil vitae, a partitive genitive (see first word in line 6), and understanding [novae] vitae (which balances totam vitam above), gives sense to this compressed phrase. If in fact this interpretation is correct, then Primus' misery for the loss of Piste is increased by his not having a child; in that case Piste may have died in pregnancy or in childbirth or for some other reason (youth, inability) she never was able to produce their child.

nascor, nasci, natus sum
spring forth, arise, be born. The poet underscores his serious meaning by making the first 2 1/2 feet spondaic, ending them with a strong caesura, and then beginning again with a full hexameter line.

perago, -ere, peregi, peractum
bring to a conclusion, finish. Primus returns here to directly address the Parcae.

crudelis, -e
hard-hearted, cruel, because Piste was taken from him so early in her/their life.

perago, -ere, peregi, peractum
bring to a conclusion, finish. Primus returns here to directly address the Parcae.

pensum, -i n.
a measure of wool to be spun; weight. The Parcae plucked an amount of wool to work into the thread of life, different in amount for each person.

rumpo, -ere, rupi, ruptum
break; sever. The verb may refer to the tuft of wool (pensa) or the threads (stamina) spun from the wool.

deficio, ere, -feci, fectum
fail, run short, cease

primus, -a, -um
first, earliest, foremost. Primus takes this opportunity to insert his name once again.

munus, -eris n.
gift; office; service; use. Spinning the cycle of each person's life is the task given to the Parcae.

fusus, -i m.
spindle , a rounded rod of wood used to twist into thread the tuft of wool and on which the thread is wound as it is spun

iniustus, -a, -um
unjust, severe. Primus rebukes the Parcae. Translate dare as a complementary infinitive with the adjective iniustae.

ter
thrice, three times.

deni, -ae, -a
ten each. Is Primus wishing that the Parcae had given them 30 years of married life (ie., they were only married three years)? Or is he wishing that Piste had had three times ten years of life instead of the merely three and ten years she had (ie., tredecim)?

decipio, -cipere, -cepi, -ceptum
deceive; deprive; cheat: translate deceptus [sum]. Note how the three long syllables at the opening of the line emphasize his melancholy and give weight to his meaning.

premo, -ere, pressi, pressum
press down on; afflict

egestas, -atis f.
necessity; want; extreme poverty, ie., his need for Piste is added to his sorrow for her death (fatum).

fero, ferre, tuli, latum
endure, bear, carry. Future perfect tense.

Primus Pistes: the poet joined their names in two spondaic feet in the center of the line, interrupting the hexameter and making it hypermetric. In this way, at least on her monument their union continues unbroken.

lugeo, -ere (2), luxi, luctum
mourn, lament over, grieve over; read lugea[m] as either hortatory subjunctive or as future.

coniugium, -i, n.
union, marriage; husband; wife. Primus insists upon this legal bond, giving it added weight by making it the last word of his poem eulogy. Does he protest too much? Is he newly married? Is it the defining moment of his life? We may never know.

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