14. The Memorial of Julia and Faleria
‘Julia Galatia, freedwoman of Gaius, wife of Epaphroditus, lived 30 years’
‘Faleria Syntyche, freedwoman of Lucius, mother of Lucius Falerius Maritimus’
[I]ulia G(aii) L(iberta) Galatia | Epaphroditi | Coniunx | [V]ix(it) Ann(os) XXX Faleria L(ucii) L(iberta) | Syntyche Mater L(ucii) Faleri Maritimi
This marble memorial tablet is an example of a double inscription set up for two freedwomen. It is decorated with a single palm branch in the centre and a simple leaf border. Julia Galatia, commemorated on the left hand side of the tablet, was the coniunx, the wife, of a man named Epaphroditus. She may have been given her cognomen Galatia by her owner Gaius, perhaps because she came to Rome as a slave from Galatia.
Epaphroditus is a Greek name meaning ‘charming.’ Faleria Syntyche was also a freedwoman, but from the household of a man named Lucius. She was the mother of a son named Lucius Falerius Maritimus. Although Maritimus has three names (the tria nomina), there is not enough information on this inscription to determine whether he was freeborn or had been manumitted (freed). He does share the nomen of his mother and her patron, and was probably a member of the familia, perhaps even Lucius Falerius’ son.
The iron bolt on the right side of the tablet is probably a modern attachment, used in Lowther Castle. A similar bolt was found on Secundio’s memorial, below. This double inscription was discovered within the Aurelian walls, between 1731-33 by Ficoroni, in the vicinity of the Via Appia and the Via Latina.