ISic000340: Funerary inscription for Lucius Cassius Hermes

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
ISic000340
Language
Latin
Text type
funerary
Object type
plaque
Status
No data
Links
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

Physical description

Support

Description
A rectangular marble plaque, intact on all sides (minor chipping to the lower edge), finished on the reverse.
Object type
plaque
Material
marble
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 37 cm, width: 27.5 cm, depth: 2.8 cm

Inscription

Layout
Latin text over seven lines. Line 1 is centred, lines 2-7 maintain the left margin. There is some compression of the letters lower right.
Text condition
No data
Lettering

Letter heights
Lines 1-7: 24-31mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: Not measuredmm

Provenance

Place of origin
Catina
Provenance found
Found, together with (inv.393), in 1736 in a Roman tomb in the area of Porta Aci / Porta di Jaci, now Piazza Stesicoro.
Map

Current location

Place
Catania, Italy
Repository
Museo Civico di Catania , 568
Autopsy
Display, Voci di pietra no.19
Map

Date

End 1st century CE or 2nd century CE (so Korhonen) (AD 75 – AD 200)
Evidence
No data

Text type

funerary

commentary

The deceased is a Roman citizen. The Greek cognomen, ‘Hermes’ suggests that he or one of his ancestors was either a Greek Sicilian or a freed slave. The phrase optimus virorum is unusual and so is the last line: abbreviations are very common in Latin epigraphy, but they are not always easy to resolve - epigraphers solve them by comparing with other texts, but this does not have an exact parallel.

This inscription was found in or near the same tomb as ISic000378. The style of the inscriptions is similar, but the form of the letters is not identical, and the texts were engraved by different people. They could be approximately contemporary. It is impossible to know if Tyche and Hermes were related.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

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