7. Tabula Ansata
'To the Departed Spirits. To Euhemeria.'
Dis | Manib(us) | Euhemeriae
This striking but simple memorial inscription was carved from a single piece of white marble. The fragment missing on the left side is currently in the Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney. The text is well cut although the letter forms are of different sizes, particularly in the first line. The terminal E in Euhemeriae was cut into the inner border as the stonemason ran out of room to fit it in cleanly. In the second line, manib is an abbreviation for manibus. Dis Manibus ‘to the departed spirits’ and its abbreviations were commonly added to Roman funerary memorials during the Imperial Period. The di manes, spirits of the dead, were worshipped collectively at the festivals of the Feralia, Parentalia and Lemuria, and some scholars believe that the manes represented an individual’s soul, perhaps explaining why dis manibus was often followed by the name of the deceased individual on funerary memorials. However, its use could also be a continuation of the practice of worshipping the di manes collectively at graves.
The distinctive shape of this marble memorial is a known as tabula ansata, literally a ‘handled tablet’. Beginning in the Augustan period, the text of many columbaria inscriptions were framed by lateral triangular brackets (ansae), a design that was originally used on Greek inscriptions. The name Euhemeria (εὐημερία) is Greek, and translates to ‘fine weather’ or ‘prosperity’. As this woman possessed only a cognomen of Greek origin, she was most likely a slave.
The red colouring used to highlight the lettering and borders on this and many other Roman inscriptions was extracted from cinnabar, mined not only for its pigment, but also its mercury content. In his Natural History (33.36-9), Pliny records that cinnabar was worth 50 sesterces per pound, so it was sometimes cut with goat’s blood or sorb apples by unscrupulous merchants. The pigment was often used for sacred purposes, including the painting of the face of Jupiter at festivals and for covering the bodies of triumphant generals.