Vatican Museums

The deceased, Sabina, died at the age of just 18 years, during 15 of which she lived as a virgo “virgin”, “unmarried”, followed by three with her husband after a marriage contracted at a very early age, as occurred frequently in the ancient world. Her Christianity may be hypothesised only from the location of the slab in the catacombs, because the textual data offer no reference. Notable, however, is the formula comprising the initials D(is) M(anibus), which according to pagan religious customs would consecrate the tomb to the Manes (benevolent spirits of the dead residing in the afterlife), making it inviolable as a res religious “religious item” protected by law. The idea of ensuring such protection to the tombs was accepted by Christians, who therefore used the formula, albeit rarely, in their epigraphs. For the same reason, it also appears in Jewish inscriptions. The marble of the slab, reused, is known as “Greco scritto” on account of its characteristic veins and blackish spots that resemble letters of the alphabet, and came from the ancient city of Hippo Regius (Algeria) and the Hasançavuslar quarry in Turkey.