GN054 Epitaph of Secundilla

Type of verse

• Type of verse: Commatic meter
• Verse/line correspondence: No
• Prose/verse distinction: No

Edición epigráfica

Text divided into verses and metric signs

Iacet sub hoc signino dulcissima Secundilla   wqwqq|qq|qww|wqqw

que rapta parentibus reliquit dolorem,   q|qww|qwqw|qqw|qq

ut tan dulcis erat tanqu(am) aromata.   qq|qww|qqw|qww

Desiderando semper mellea uita,   qqw|qq|qq|qww|qw

5        

Translation

Debajo de esta figurilla yace la dulce Secundilla, la que, arrebata a sus padres, dejó dolor puesto que era tan dulce como las hierbas aromáticas. Deseando siempre la meliflua vida la que vivió tres años, seis meses, dieciséis días. Esto para mi flor aromática.

Bibliography

ROMYEU (L.). Discours des antiquités de la ville d’Arles (1574), Bibliothèque Universitaire de Leyde, Manuscrits Occidentaux, fonds Vossius, GGQ1, add. f. 187’ ; DUPRAT, DURAND 1602, 150 (ed. C. Jullian dans RA, 1898, 1, p. 278 d’après des notes d’Albanès) ; VERAN (P.). Musée d’Arles ou réunion de tous les monuments antiques de cette ville (1805), BM d’Arles, ms. 734, p. 395, 399 ; VERAN (J.-D.) Inscriptions d’Arles (1828), BM d’Arles, ms. 742, n°1937 ; HIRSCHFELD, CIL XII, 874 (LEBEGUE (A.). IG XIV, 2475) ; BÜCHELER, CLE, 1851d ; CHOLODNIAK, CSLE, 618a ; BENOIT 1936 ; PIRSON 1901, 78, 138, 217, 224, 301, 320 ; WUILLEUMIER 1934, 468.

Apparatus

Omnes fere antiquiores praemiserunt D(is) ▴ M(anibus) || 3 ut in et non mutandum monet Chol.

Commentary

Dulcis erat is a sequence that appears twice in Ovid: OV. epist. 3, 122 and OV. fast. 6, 661. We have not found other literary parallels. However, it is worth noting that aromata is not used in poetry, although it is very common in the Scriptures.

In epigraphic poetry, we find sub hoc in about ten correct lines, generally followed by titulo or tumulo. Rapta parentibus is a rare variant of rapta patri et matri (cf. for example CLE, 1822, Italy). We can also cite CLE, 2184, Rome: reliquit parentibus luctum. Or: Valeriae uxsori dolore primum reliquit (CLE, 1851c, Italy); sed cito rapuit me, matrique dolore reliquit (CLE, 563, Italy). The epitaphs that evoke the sweetness of a child are numerous, but we can cite CLE, 495 (Rome), where the editor played with the name of the deceased: in tumulo secura Glyconis honesto / dulcis nomine erat, anima quoque dulcior.

The epitaph does not contain a praescriptum. Four lines of prose or awkwardly versified poetry inform about the situation of the remains and the name of the deceased, with an indication of the architectural environment (the term signino must designate an effigy or a representation on the sarcophagus); the pain of the parents after the “abduction” of the young one; the sweetness of her, and undoubtedly the regret that she might experience in life. A subscriptum gives the exact age of the child at the time of death, and two words in Greek seem to provide the signum of the child.

The ancient editors initially doubted the authenticity of this inscription, but Orelli has definitively countered this hesitation: for him, the use of an expression like ταυτα, which is very difficult to imagine, proves the authenticity of the document.

The stylistic qualities of this text are primarily lexical: the terms mellea, aromata, and the signum Aromation emphasize the almost “gustatory” sweetness of the child. The imagery invoked is that of the senses, of gastronomic pleasure so linked to the positive values of life. These words create a surprising contrast with the context of the funeral.

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