Dining table donated to the premises of a funerary association

Photogallery

Dining table donated to the premises of a funerary association
Dining table donated to the premises of a funerary association
Section IX. Government and army: other inscriptions

The premises of free associations (collegia) constituted by law to ensure a proper burial for their members, possessed furnishings functional for the activities of the association (meetings, banquets, religious worship established according to an internal calendar), often commissioned by benefactors who were members. This would appear to be the case of Petronia Pelagia, who donated at her own expense (de suo) a round table (mensa rotunda) to the governing board of the association (decuriones) and the entire community (plebs) of those enrolled in the association, which was based on the model of municipal communities. The document introduces us to one of the many institutions that demonstrate the degree of civility and orderly coexistence in ancient Roman society, still economically stable.