Notes to Septimia Stratonice Inscription

sepulchrum/sepulcrum, -i n.
tomb, grave. The formula Dis Manibus, introduced during the Augustan period and lapsed from use by the 2nd century CE, is absent from the surviving portion of the stone.
Acilius, -i m.
the nomen of male members of the gens Acilia. Marcus could be a freedman, as his cognomen (conjectures: IS[idorus] and IS[io]) is not among the known names of the Acilii, an ancient and distinguished Roman family with patrician and plebeian branches: Manius Acilius Glabrio had consular command of the Aetolian War (191 BCE); a descendent of that name, co-consul in 91 CE with Trajan, was forced by Domitian to fight animals in the arena, then was exiled and executed in 95 CE; M. Acilius Priscus was duovir for Ostia during the Flavian period.
cedo, cedo, -ere, cessi, cessum
yield, resign the possession of.
donatio, -onis f.
gift; donation; ablative of means.
Stratonice, -es f.
Stratonike, a famous ancient Macedonian name meaning victorious army/army victory. Her full name suggests her origin in Greece and, even though the epitaph lacks the formula of freedman status (master's praenomen + l[iberta]), she was probably a freed slave of the gens Septimia, a wealthy and distinguished plebeian family which originated in Leptis Magna and produced the Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211 CE).
sutrix, sutricis f.
shoemaker. The relief provides evidence for the conjectured letters which otherwise could not be substantiated.
amica, -ae f.
female friend; girlfriend, mistress. To these possibilities Rawson adds "de facto spouse" ("Roman Concubinage and Other de facto Marriages" TAPA 1974.283). It is not possible to determine whether Stratonice and Acilius had a close friendship or an intimate relationship, but this gift of a shared family burial is an unusual one for a patron to give to a client.
carissimus, -a, -um
dearest.
ob, preposition + accusative case
on account of.
benefactum, -i n.
service, good deed.
dimidius, -a, -um
half. The word is conjectured on the strength of parte and the identification of one other burial.
pars, partis f.
share, part.
Fortunatianus, -i m.
cognomen. The praenomen of Marcus' son is missing and unknown; the first part of the nomen is secure, as he is Marcus' son and therefore belongs to the Acilii. The conjectured middle letters of the cognomen fit in the space available; in addition both Fortunatus and Fortunatianus appear as cognomina of the Acilii.


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