![FUNERARY INSCRIPTION OF TUTILIA RUFA, C. 200 CE. EPISCOPIO, OSTIA ANTICA
TVTILIA L(uci) F(ilia) RVFA SIBI ET
L(ucio) TVTILIO PATRI ET SEIAE
MATRI [---]
[---] ARBITRATV
L(uci) SCRIBONI CINNAE FABIAE PSYCHE
H(oc) M(onumentum) H(eredem) N(on) S(equitur)
This inscription, found along the via Ostiensis in 1822, says "Rutilia Rufa (made this) for herself, her father Lucius Tutilius, her mother Seia [and a name that has been chiselled away], through the arbitration of Lucius Scribonius Cinna and Fabia Psyche. This monument does not pass to the heirs." The inscription already suggests tension among the family, because arbitration via a lawyer (presumably Scribonius) and a woman (a family friend? Probably also a freedwoman) was necessary merely to produce the monument, and the initials H M H N S strips the family's heirs of any rights to move or add their names to the inscription. I would hazard that Rutilia Rufa argued with the person named in the erased part and had the initials added. This points to a brother, normally the legal heir, theoretically another Lucius Tutilius. Without knowing who was in the right, what remains with the reader is a story of familial hatred.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:y2ps7or6drwz3yuvelv6glai/bafkreidz63sb2fd7b3zfkxod53j2uupymswyauwtut545xclzunblcpkza)
FUNERARY INSCRIPTION OF TUTILIA RUFA, C. 200 CE. EPISCOPIO, OSTIA ANTICA TVTILIA L(uci) F(ilia) RVFA SIBI ET L(ucio) TVTILIO PATRI ET SEIAE MATRI [---] [---] ARBITRATV L(uci) SCRIBONI CINNAE FABIAE PSYCHE H(oc) M(onumentum) H(eredem) N(on) S(equitur) This inscription, found along the via Ostiensis in 1822, says "Rutilia Rufa (made this) for herself, her father Lucius Tutilius, her mother Seia [and a name that has been chiselled away], through the arbitration of Lucius Scribonius Cinna and Fabia Psyche. This monument does not pass to the heirs." The inscription already suggests tension among the family, because arbitration via a lawyer (presumably Scribonius) and a woman (a family friend? Probably also a freedwoman) was necessary merely to produce the monument, and the initials H M H N S strips the family's heirs of any rights to move or add their names to the inscription. I would hazard that Rutilia Rufa argued with the person named in the erased part and had the initials added. This points to a brother, normally the legal heir, theoretically another Lucius Tutilius. Without knowing who was in the right, what remains with the reader is a story of familial hatred.
#EpigraphyTuesday finds us in front of the #bishop's palace or #Episcopio of #OstiaAntica, the port of #Rome, where a somewhat disturbing #tomb #inscription of the #Severan period hints at a family disagreement tilting into hatred and a private damnatio memoriae. #ClassicsBluesky 🏺 +ALT
