Vatican Museums

“Consecrated to the Manes Gods. The child Torquatianus, a good son, always obedient to his parents, lived eight years, nine months and thirteen days; equally the other child Laetianus, also a good son obedient to his parents, lived five years, six months, six days. The parents Gaianus and Eucharis built (the tomb) for their sweetest sons who did not deserve this of you”, children “who fell ill with the same disease on 11 September (and) of whom one lived until September 21 and the other to the 29^th of the same month”. This epitaph is moving and full of humanity, because dictated by the affection that parents, of servile status, had for their two “moppets”, who both met a tragic death at an early age. The text is notable not only for the singularity of its style and content, but also for the shape of the characters, typical of the cursive handwriting used in wax tablets.