Studi Veronesi (Jul 2024)
A Roman funerary altar with military reliefs from Verona
Abstract
The authors analyse a little-known funerary monument dating to the Roman imperial period preserved in the Museo Maffeiano, in Verona. The analysis of its lithotype indicates that the altar comes from the territory of this city, while the dedicatory inscription specifies that a freedman erected it for himself and his patronus. The first section contains an examination of the decorative apparatus carved on the altar's sides, where one can notice depictions of belts and offensive weapons of different typologies. The second section analyses the inscribed text, which, despite its simplicity, offers abundant food for thoughts. Of particular interest is the fact that the weapons and the inscription seem to belong to different periods. Therefore, it could be the case these kinds of weapons continued to be produced over a longer period than traditionally thought, or perhaps the stonecutter merged different models to create a symbolic composition wherein adherence to reality had little importance.
