Notes to Funerary Tablet for Septimia Dionisias

Septimius, -a, -um
of the Septimius family; this is the nomen or gens name of the family who owned and freed Dionisias from slavery. Her master's family name was added to her slave name upon manumission.
Dionisias, -ados f.
belonging to Dionysus; a Greek name, perhaps from her country of origin, it was her only name when she was a slave, given to her by her master. As a freedwoman, it became her cognomen and was added to the feminine form of her master's nomen. She is the subject of the present active participle habens.
ius, iuris n.
right; law, rule (normally).
liberi, -orum m. pl.
children (in connection with their parents); derived from the adjective liber (freeborn).
custodiola, -ae f.
a place of confinement; a tomb.
Peladianus, -a, -um
Peladiane; modifies custodiola. Its reference is unknown, although a location in Rome is a possibility; perhaps a misspelling of Palatina/Palatiana.
aedificiolum, -i n.
a small building.
moni/umentum, -i n.
monument; tomb; memorial.
quot = quod; a relative pronoun, its antecedant is monimento. It is the direct object of fabricavi.
frugalitas, -tatis f.
self-restraint, temperance; small income/fortune; modified by mea.
fabrico (I)
build, construct.
solum, -i n.
foundation, base; ground; ablative after the preposition a(b). Dionisias emphasizes that she has been involved in every stage of the tomb's construction.
coniunx, -iugis f. m.
husband, wife, spouse, signifying a valid Roman marriage; dative of dedication together with mihi and filiis meis.
libertus, -i m.
freedman, former slave.
Titus, -i m.
Titus, a Roman praenomen which may indicate his Italian origin. With Augusti liberto, Dionisias proudly acknowledges her husband's status as an imperial freedman.
Septimius . . .Septimia: her children bear her nomen rather than their father's, probably because they were born before their parents were legally married (i.e., before Titus was freed).
iubeo, -ere, -iussi, -iussum
order, command; the conjunction ne introduces a jussive noun clause, also known as an indirect command, with its verb in the subjunctive: excidat.
excido, -ere, -cidi
fall out, excape, disappear, be lost; subjunctive, followed by de + ablative nomine (here, with legal force indicating ownership, control).
quot = quod conjunction
but, wherefore.
si conjunction
if; introduces a Future More Vivid condition: the conditional clause has its verb in the future perfect indicative (ruperit), while the main clause has its verb in the future indicative (inferet). After si, quis = aliquis.
rumpo, -ere, rupi, ruptum
break; future perfect indicative in a Future More Vivid condition.
praetereo, -ire, -ii, -itum
perish, depart; pass over, omit. Is is unclear whether Dionisias uses praeteriti mei to refer to her death (genitive after legem: "the law of my death") or to an overlooked heir (genitive after quis: "anyone I have omitted as heir"). Either way, it is ungrammatical, though her meaning is clear: she invokes the law forbidding damage or use of her burial property.
poena, -ae f.
punishment; genitive singular following the ablative nomine (here, on account of, for the sake of, by reason of ).
infero, -ferre, -tuli, -latum
furnish, pay; the subject is [ali]quis.
denarius, -ii m.
denarius, a Roman silver coin worth 4 sesterces; in the early Empire a soldier or common laborer earned about one denarius a day. Ɖ is the conventional abbreviation for denarius, here a partitive genitive after milia.
L = quinquaginta, 50.
milia, -ium n. pl.
thousand. This is an impossibly large fine, even for damage to a burial; an exaggeration for effect.
liberta, -ae f.
freedwoman, former slave; dative plural. It is unclear whether this is the conventional dative of dedication at the end of an epitaph listing those with permission to be buried in the tomb (it is so punctuated), or perhaps the penalty is to be paid to the freedpersons who survive.
posteri, -orum m. pl.
descendants; posterity.


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