THE MEDICAL PROFESSION IN TURIN

The author of this inscription makes provision for the setting up of a stone pillar dedicated to the deified emperor Trajan, and has left it to the guild of Turin practitioners who follow Aesculapius and Hygeia in his will. This is the only mention of the guild in Turin, whereas it is known in Rome through its rules and regulations.

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Divo / Traian(o) / C(aius) Quintius / Abascantus / test(amento) leg(avit) / medicis Taur(inis) / cultor(ibus) / Asclepi et / Hygiae.

To the divine Trajan. Caius Quintius Abascantus has bequeathed it to the Turinese physicians who worship Aesculapius and Hygeia.











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A FINE PIECE OF MARBLE

Lucullia Prima had this inscription made for herself, her husband, and their daughter. The gens Aebutia is very widely documented in Piedmont.

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Lucullia L(uci) f(ilia) Prima / sibi et / L(ucio) Aebutio Pallaeo / viro / Aebutiae L(uci) f(iliae) Optatae / filiae t(estamento) f(ieri) i(ussit)

Lucullia Prima, daughter of Lucius, for herself, her husband Lucius Aebutius Pallaeus, and her daughter Aebutia Optata, daughter of Lucius, ordered that this be done in her will.









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AN EXCELLENT EDUCATOR

This inscription refers to a married couple of freed slaves, and a third person whose description as a father is misspelt by the stonecutter. The gorgon in the pediment of the pillar and the dolphins in the ensuing triangles are common types in Piedmont. In Augusta Taurinorum this decorative scheme appears on several specimens, perhaps produced in the same workshop.

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V(ivus) f(ecit) / L(ucius) Antistius / Zosimus sibi et / Antistiae / Chryseidi / coniug(i) kariss(imae) / et Septicio / Adiutori, papati / optimo

He did it during his lifetime. Lucius Antistius Zosimus for himself, his very dear wife Antistia Chryseis, and Septicius Adiutor, excellent father.














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A DEVOTED SON

This inscription is dedicated to freedwoman, perhaps from Greece, by her son. Invocation of the Manes, in other words the deified souls of a person's ancestors, was the most customary beginning of a funerary inscription.

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D(is) M(anibus) / Salariae / ((mulieris)) lib(ertae) / Aphrodites / T(itus) Vennonius / Restitutus / matri / v(ivus) f(ecit)

To the Manes of Salaria Aphrodites, slave freed by a woman. From Titus Vennonius Restitutus to his mother during his lifetime.
















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BY WILL

The inscription is that of a freedwoman who provided for the realization of her funerary monument in her will. An inscription could be prepared during one's lifetime (vivus fecit) or by will (testamento fieri iussit), in which case the heirs were responsible and the deceased usually assigned them the money required and also a legacy.

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Cornelia / M(arci) l(iberta) / Iucunda / t(estamento) f(ieri) i(ussit).

Cornelia Iucunda, freedwoman of Marcus, ordered this to be done in her will.













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