Funerary Inscription for Arrenia Dynamis

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Funerary Inscription for Arrenia Dynamis

Place of OriginPozzuoli (ancient Puteoli), Bay of Naples, Italy

Date2nd century CE

DimensionsH. 9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm); W.12 3/8 in. (31.4 cm)

Mediummarble

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of Carl B. Spitzer

Object number

1943.2

Not on View

DescriptionRectangular marble plaque inscribed in Latin. Inscribed "D M ARRENIAE DY- / NAMIDI / Q ARRENIUS VIC- / TOR LIB BENE / MERENTI F"

Label TextThis funerary plaque served as a permanent marker to commemorate the deceased, Arrenia Dynamis. The inscription was set up by a Quintus Arrenius Victor, who may have once owned Arrenia as a slave - the abbreviation "LIB" suggests she was a liberta, or a freedwoman. The inscription begins with “D M,” invoking the Dis Manibus, the spirits of the dead, a common practice in Roman funerary tradition. The inscription was found in 1907 in Pozzuoli (ancient Puteoli), during agricultural works close to the so-called Cave of the Sibyl on lake Avernus. It was published in 1910 alongside another funerary inscription, in which Q. Arrenius Victor is honored by Arrenia Mellita, who is specified as his wife.Published ReferencesAurigemma, Stefano, Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, vol. 7, 1910, pp. 191-192.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Notizie degli Scavi (official announcement of new finds in Italy), 1910.