The most fun, came a couple of weeks ago from Ulpiana in the Kosovo:
Here is the text and a rough translation:
GRAVESTONE AT ULPIANA (NEAR GRACANICA, KOSOVO)
DM / AELIA CLEMENTILLA / VIXIT * AN * XVII / SVMME * INTECRTATIS / FEMINAE / AVREL(ius) * MAIOR * EX PRO / TECTORIBUS * DIVINI / LATERIS * CONIVCI /OBSEQUENTISI /MAE * POSVIT
TO THE SPIRITS OF THE DEPARTED
AELIA CLEMENTILLA, WHO LIVED 17 YEARS A WOMAN OF THE MOST FLAWLESS
CHARACTER AURELIUS MAIOR FORMER PERSONAL BODYGUARD OF THE EMPEROR SET THIS UP FOR HIS MOST OBEDIENT WIFE.
At first I thought, why would they send me this, it is just one of a large number of graves stones to women that died too young and were mourned by their husbands in extravagant terms, nothing we had not covered in the course in some detail. - And then I looked at the husband and was intrigued, so what does a Romanist on research leave do under these circumstances? She starts sniffing around (well a bit anyway), so here are my initial thoughts (and if you have any further information about this stone or the two people mentioned, please let me know, especially as I am currently without access to CIL.
Aelia Clementilla was apparently from a Roman family, that had citizenship since the time of Hadrian, and while it might have been awarded as part of Hadrian's visit to the area, there is enough time passed (see below) that any number of other scenarios have led to the family living in Ulpiana. but there is, of course, no way of proving it. She would almost definitely have been a member of the elite, As a Roman lady, you would expect her to marry somewhere around the age of 12-14, so her death at the age of 17, would mean that she was married for a short time. The deaths at that time are frequently due to childbirth.
Research into funerary commemoration has shown that she belongs to the age group that can expect to receive the most lavish praise for her womanly qualities on her gravestone and "SUMMAE INTECR(i)TATIS FEMINAE (watch out for the ligature/mistake)" is thus, if not expected, then at least not surprising, nor is the appellation of a "very obedient wife" in the last two rows.
The stone that is used and the design of the gravestone is very conservative. You find similar stones like that in Dalmatia and Pannonia from the first century AD onwards and it is possible that the design was kept in use as a way of stressing the Roman connections of the family involved, but frankly you may also just find yourself with a stone mason, that could only produce a limited amount of patterns. Her hairstyle, often a good dating indicator is non-committal: a central parting and wavy hair can be found from the Augustan period onwards, so we don't get that much more information about the date of the stone from the image.
It would not have surprised me, however, if the stone had been reused, but the picture that the student provided did not seem to show any evidence of recutting.
So, so far we are left with a stone to a young woman that could have been dedicated from the reign of Hadrian onwards and possibly until the early fourth century.
But, this is where the information about the husband adds a lot of detail.
He is called Aurelius Maior. No praenomen, so this is quite likely to be a late second or third century stone rather than an early second century stone. The Aurelius would support this, as it suggests that his family obtained Roman citizenship during the reign of Marcus Aurelius or possibly slightly later. So we are after 161 and still before the early fourth century.
He is called Aurelius Maior. No praenomen, so this is quite likely to be a late second or third century stone rather than an early second century stone. The Aurelius would support this, as it suggests that his family obtained Roman citizenship during the reign of Marcus Aurelius or possibly slightly later. So we are after 161 and still before the early fourth century.
But he describes himself as "ex protectoribus divini lateris". That is actually a quite unusual title.
The 'Protectores divini lateris' were people closely associated with the emperor, especially the emperor Gallienus. 'Protectores' (without further qualifications) appear in the third century (probably also under Gallienus, but possibly earlier), originally as a new title for the legionary commanders and tribunes that were not senatores, but equestrians, but by the end of the third century 'protector' had become a title to single out centurions awaiting promotion to higher ranks, such as unit commanders.
The protectores divini Lateris became under Gallienus a separate body with this group of equestrian officers. Austin and Rankov in their Exploratio book describe them as "a junior staff... to supplement the senior officers in his consilium"(p.212). This would make Aurelius Maior one of a very select group of men, which you would expect to find in the entourage of the emperor, advising him in matters of warfare or at least available to fulfil his special missions. Definitely, not the average third-century soldier, and not even the average bodyguard, despite the literal meaning of the title. it allows us to date the inscription to the reign of Gallienus or shortly thereafter, but this close association with the emperor does not explain his association with Ulpiana.
When he set up the gravestone to his wife, Aurelius Maior described himself as ex protectoribus, this could just mean 'one of the ...", but that would only make sense, if this was associated with Gallienus' presence in the area, which is possible in the context of the events of 268, Gallienus' campaign of the Goths or Aureolus' uprising in Milan, shortly after. Theoretically, it could also be associated with Aureolus' campaign against the Marciani in 260/1. In which case, there is no need to assume that Aurelius Maior or Aelia Clementilla had any personal connections to Ulpiana. However, ex-protectoribus may suggest that he was retired from active service and had come to Ulpiana for private reasons, what these were, we can only guess at.
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