 previous article in this issue | next article in this issue  |
Preview first page |
Document Details : Title: A Persistent Misunderstanding about a Gravestone Subtitle: Varus and the Monument of M. Caelius Author(s): STEURES, Dé C. Journal: BABESCH Volume: 100 Date: 2025 Pages: 147-151 DOI: 10.2143/BAB.100.0.3294526 Abstract : While reading The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy, I see that the misunderstanding of Marcus Caelius’ gravestone as a cenotaph still persists. Harald von Petrikovits has offered the same emendation that will be proposed here, but his emendation has generally not been accepted. I argue his case anew. It will be argued in this article that the words BELLO VARIANO (‘in the war under Varus’) in its inscription cannot refer to the Varus Battle of AD 9 in the Teutoburg Forest; and that the words OSSA INFERRE LICEBIT (‘it will be allowed to bring in the bones’) do not refer M. Caelius’ bones; in other words, that it was not a marker on a cenotaph but on Caelius’ actual grave. Moreover, it will be argued that one word in its inscription has been missing ever since the gravestone turned up largely undamaged in the seventeenth century on the Fürstenberg in Birten-Xanten, near the camp Vetera 1. A new reading and its translation are proposed at the end of this article. |
|
