Section XII. Family and society: other inscriptions

Probably placed on display along with inscriptions acquired later than the original nucleus first exhibited in the Chiaramonti Museum, the three walls grouped here form an appendix to nine of the ten walls of Section VIII. Indeed, the inscriptions displayed are also related to the theme of the Latin familia. A house (domus) included both individuals linked by ties of blood and placed under the authority of a pater familias or “father of the family”, and slaves (servi) in the service of their domini (masters) and freedmen (liberti) close associates of the patroni (former masters). Therefore, they include – as indicated by the captions – “epitaphs of husbands and wives”, “epitaphs of brothers, sisters and children raised”, and “epitaphs of former masters, liberti, slaves, or placed by persons of uncertain family relationships”.