FUNERARY INSCRIPTION OF HERIA THISBE, C. 60-70 CE. CAPITOLINE MUSEUMS Heriae Thisbe, / monodiariae, / Ti(beri) Claudi Glaphyri / choraulae actionicae / et sebastonicae (scil. uxori). Terrenum / sacratum long(um) p(edes) X, lat(um) p(edes) X, / in quo condita est, fodere noli / ne sacrilegium committas. "To Heria Thisbe, soloist (singing between acts or at the end of a play), wife of Tiberius Claudius Glaphyrus, prize-winning flautist. She was buried in consecrated ground ten feet long and ten feet wide. Do not dig or commit sacrilege." We have only a few funerary inscriptions related to the very poor (infimum plebs) in Rome, of which this is one. It is dignified and well-carved in rustic capitals whose letter horizontals angle upward to the right. Heria Thisbe got a bit of reflected status from her famous husband, who was victorious in flute competitions. The epitaph carefully specifies the size of her burial plot and warns against disturbing her grave. The overall impression is one of modest dignity - it doesn't vaunt Heria's own talent, but that of her husband, but the decent but not excessive size of her plot suggests that, though poor, she was able to put aside money for a respectable burial.
A #monodiaria was a singer, a soloist, working in the theatre in #Rome to entertain the punters between the acts. For #EpigraphyTuesday we meet one, #Heria #Thisbe, a working woman we would count as one of the poor: but a close look at her #tombstone shows her #dignity. #AncientBluesky 🏺
