Epitaph with a threat to violators of the tomb

Photogallery

Epitaph with a threat to violators of the tomb
Epitaph with a threat to violators of the tomb
Section XIII. Inscriptions with various content

Claudia Monime, who commissioned the stele, had this epitaph (titulum) written (scripsit) in memory (memoriam) of her twenty-five year-old son Fulvius Epagathus, and added a warning phrase, of a type fairly recurrent in burial epigraphs: “whoever wishes to remove this engraved stele, will suffer this pain”, that is will be the victim of the same offence as the one committed. The violation of tombs, especially of extinct families, was a common event in ancient history; it was carried out in order to loot the grave goods, or to reuse the building or burial space. The status of property consecrated to the gods of the underworld (res religiosa) was of little or no value. The phenomenon was combated by the law and punished with increasing severity over time, passing from fines to forced labour and eventually the death penalty in the most serious cases or in the event  of banditry, but was never entirely eliminated.