US Epigraphy — Inscription — MI.AA.UM.KM.L.847-mdn

Summary

modern: label? naming Babulleia and Tiberius Pontius Lachan.
limestone basin or tabletop.

TM Number

250590

Transcription

Babulleia C(aii) f(ilia),
Ti(berius) Pontius T(berii) f(ilius)
eq(ues) Lachan.

translation

Babulleia, daughter of Gaius. Tiberius Pontius Lachan, son of Tiberius, knight.

commentary

The inscription is probably a forgery. The lettering is suspicious, the combination (line 2) of the praenomen "Ti(berius)" and the gentilicium "Pontius" is also unattested elsewhere, and "Tiberius" tends to occur with cognomina, which it does not here. Line 3 is unintelligible and its closest parallel is CIL X 269, a falsa included in Mazzella's Sito et antichita della citta di Pozzuolo, which likely served as a model, therefore providing a a terminus post quem of 1594 CE. (D'Arms)

Attributes

Inscription Type	epitaph
Object Type	other (object)
Material	stone (other)
Object Dimensions	w: 36 x h: 30 x d: 3
Writing	inscribed
Letter Dimensions
Layout	1 column, 3 lines
Decoration	simple molding border
Condition	complete (broken), molding of two joined fragments; the inscription is complete, although the stone is fragmentary
Place of Origin	unknown, reportedly found at Cumae
Date	late sixteenth century to nineteenth century CE (?)
Dating Criteria	nomenclature, formulae, palaeography
Object History	Purchased in 1898 by Walter Dennison from Giuseppe De Criscio for the University of Michigan, funded by Henry P. Glover; the inscription arrived at the university in 1899 (D'Arms).