Slab with epitaph of Stercoria

Photogallery

Slab with epitaph of Stercoria
Slab with epitaph of Stercoria
Section XVI. Christian inscriptions, II

Engraved in the middle of a “tabula with handles”, the inscription begins with the name of the dedicant, Chalcedonía (transcribed as Chailcedonía), the same as that of the Greek colony of Bitinia (Turkey). The name of the deceased, Stercoria, from “stercus”, “dung”, belongs to a group of names with somewhat unpleasant meanings, including Iniuriosus, “outrageous”, and Asellus, “donkey”, which some scholars mistakenly define as “names of humiliation”, considered to have been chosen by Christians as a sign of humility. In reality, among pagans, there existed a similar category of names, such as Brutus, “brute”. The family link between the two women is indicated twice through the use of the word filia, “daughter”, engraved both in the epigraphic space and on one of the two “handles”. The other includes a figurative element: a palm branch, of uncertain decorative or symbolic value (possibly victory over death).