Latin Funerary Inscription of Q. Caecilius Hilarus and Caecilia Eleutheris

Marble Latin Funerary Inscription of Caecilius Hilarius, physician to Caecilia Metella. Excellent condition. Thin crack from right-of-center bottom to middle of fourth row of inscription. Portion of concrete attached to back when brought to museum; this was determined to be modern. Modern paint spots on surface and some rust spots. Rectangular shaped slab of marble of even thickness. The front is framed with a border roughly 2.5 cm. wide, comprised of a flat surface, a groove, a curve with a raised border, and a deep groove bordering the inscription. The first four lines are aligned close to the left frame; the fifth line in inset at both ends. The bottom line is begun slightly closer to the left frame than the other lines. The last is the longest line, measuring 27 cm. The letters are capitals of an average height of 1.7 cm. tall and 1.5 cm. wide. In the second line, the inscriber ran out of space and put the final "us" of "medicus" in small letters. He also made the final "s" of "suis" as a smaller letter. Found in situ at the tomb of Caecilia Metella in a huge necropolis northwest of the Porta Salaria and Piazza Fiume in Rome (near present-day Via Po). The necropolis, containing tombs of members of leading Roman families, is dated from the end of the Republican period to early Augustan times. Latin Inscription: Q. CAECILIVS.CAECILIAE CRASSI.L.HILARVS.MEDIC CAECILIA.DVARVM SCRIBONIARVM.L ELEVTHERIS EX.PARTEM.DIMIDIAE.SIBI.ET.SVI Translation by Professor Mason Hammond in 1980: Quintus Caecilius Hilarus, a doctor, Freedman of Caecilia, wife of Crassus. Caecilia Eleutheris, freedwoman of two Scriboniae. With the share of a half. For himself (themselves?) and their (family). OR "With half (of this columbarium) for themselves and their family." Caecilius Hilarus was a physician of the famous Caecilia Metella. Her circular tomb is still seen as a large monument on the Appian Way south of Rome. The doctor's praenomen Quintus was taken from the name of Caecilia Metella's father. Caecilia Eleutheris was Hilarus' wife. She was the freedwoman of the two "Scriboniae," one of whom was the first wife of Augustus (40-39 BCE) and mother of his only child, Julia. The other sister was married to the son of Pompey the Great, Sextus Pompeius, who was defeated by Augustus/Octavian in 36 BCE. This inscription was most likely acquired in Rome in 1906-7 by Professor Harry L. Wilson, a member of the Department of Classics at Johns Hopkins University. It was then mounted on a chimney breast in a house in Baltimore owned by Professor Wilson from 1908 until his death in 1913. The house was purchased by the family of Hugh Pagon in 1920, with the inscription still attached to the chimney. Hugh Pagon gave the inscription to Harvard in 1980 in memory of his family members who attended Harvard. This piece was originally thought to be part of Professor David Robinson's collection of objects brought back from Antioch in Pisidia. However, later evidence proved this theory incorrect, as his excavation there took place in the summer of 1924, when the object was already in Baltimore. In March, 1981 the cement on the back of the plaque was tested by E. Farrell and R. Newman to determine its age. They concluded that material most resembles modern Portland cement. If it were Roman mortar, the Fe would have formed rust and stained both the cement and plaque.