Dated inscriptions
Dated inscriptions
The layout of the twenty-four walls of the Christian Lapidarium, arranged by Giovanni Battista De Rossi in the loggia of the Lateran Palace courtyard, with far-sighted attention to educational aspects, was substantially respected when the collection was reorganised within the Vatican Museums. Following the first three spaces which are reserved for "sacred inscriptions", this layout provides for a vast selection of "selected epigraphs", grouped on the basis of different criteria: the walls from IV to VII, in particular, including part of the sector currently on display to the public, are dedicated to the chronological sequence of the "dated" inscriptions. The indication of the current year, according to a practice widespread during the Roman age, required mention of the pair of "consuls" (principal urban magistrates) in office, a mandate which indeed lasted one year.