ISic000216: Funerary Inscription for Rustia Asterin

I.Sicily with the permission of the Assessorato Regionale dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana - Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana
ID
ISic000216
Language
Latin
Text type
funerary
Object type
plaque
Status
No data
Links
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • Text from autopsy

Physical description

Support

Description
Marble plaque in two fragments. Surface of inscription has degraded, with each piece stored separately and with two levels of surface degradation on each. Fragment break in upper left corner, but together plaque is whole and relatively square (top edge slants slightly upwards to the right). Rear is relatively flat, but for slight protrusion on right. Photo and text of Bivona (1994) suggests it was intact at that time.
Object type
plaque
Material
marble
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 20 cmwidth: 24 cmdepth: 4 cm

Inscription

Layout
Three lines of Latin text, not centred, but slightly over to right. Use of hederae in line three.
Text condition
No data
Lettering

Letter heights
Line 1: 37-41mm
Line 2: 28-32mm
Line 3: 24-27mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Thermae Himeraeae
Provenance found
The place, date, and circumstances of the discovery are unknown, but the piece is assumed to come from Termini Imerese

Current location

Place
Termini Imerese, Italy
Repository
Museo Civico Baldassare Romano , 12
Autopsy
Antoniou, 2022-07-13. In the Depositi of Museo Civico Baldassare Romano, room 1, scaffold 1, shelf 4.
Map

Date

Mid 3rd century CE (Ferrua) (AD 201 – AD 300)
Evidence
No data

Text type

funerary

commentary

The gens Rustia is well-attested elsewhere in Sicily, and elsewhere in the empire. The cognomen, Asterin, is of Greek origin, but is found elsewhere in the empire in Latin. Ferrua (1941) considers Asterin to be a shortened version of Asterium, and a version of the latin Stellina. Ferrua posits that Rustia was a freedmwoman.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
7/24/2025