A Roman Fleet Soldier’s Gravestone from Scarbantia (TRHR 38)

Abstract

In his paper the author deals with a funerary verse epitaph from Scarbantia (Sopron) published by him earlier (TRHR 38). Based on his new restoration, the gravestone (stela) was erected to a veteran by his wife who served earlier as fleet soldier. He was most probably called Britto. Several vulgar Latin phenomena can be observed in the inscription that was erected in the second half of the third century or at the very beginning of fourth c. The type of the metrical formula resiste viator et lege can be found in several Pannonian verse inscriptions. Based on the pieces of information given in the problematical parts of lines 2 and 3 that concern the wife, at least one line is missing at the beginning of the text and she erected the grave monument and the funerary epitaph to herself as well.