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In Yann le Bohec's The Imperial Roman Army (p.235) there is a text from the 'gravestone of an anonymous primuspilus':
I wanted to hold the corpses of Dacians; I did hold some
I wanted to sit on a seat of peace; I sat on one
I wanted to march in magnificent triumphal processions; I did just that
I wanted all the financial advantages of being a primuspilus; I had them
I wanted to see the Nymphs naked; I saw them.
Interesting summary of a well-spent life! - but where does it actually come from? le Bohec gives the reference Bull Com Trav Hist 1929-9, p.94, no.2, which means nothing much to me...
Does anyone have the original latin text, or the rest of the inscription, if there is one, or any details on location?
Nathan Ross
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I've seen a similar abbreviation to cite Bulletin archéologique du Comité des travaux historiques. Possibly worth a try?
Bryan Dove
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Quote:I've seen a similar abbreviation to cite Bulletin archéologique du Comité des travaux historiques. Possibly worth a try?
What wonderful serendipity, on the day I shall be tweeting about another primus pilus! I think this is it (just stick 94 in the 'aller à' search bar at the top to be taken to the appropriate page).
Thanks to both of you for pointing me at this.
Mike Bishop
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What exactly is the 'seat of peace'? Fantastic gravestone!
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Quote:What exactly is the 'seat of peace'? Fantastic gravestone!
Perhaps it is one of those gently vibrating chairs, specially reserved for the primi ordines. On a more serious note, it comes from El-Hamma/Aquae Flavianae (not far from Khenchela in Algeria) and you can find him in Clauss-Slaby (only one inscription comes up if you search on 'optavi dacos'!) and the old-fashioned, steam-driven, dead-tree-fuelled reference is AE 1928, 37.
Mike Bishop
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Quote:
I wanted to hold the corpses of Dacians; I did hold some
I wanted to sit on a seat of peace; I sat on one
I wanted to march in magnificent triumphal processions; I did just that
I wanted all the financial advantages of being a primuspilus; I had them
I wanted to see the Nymphs naked; I saw them.
Thanks Nathan - whoever this chap was he sounds as if he would have been fun to share a jug of wine or two with!
Moi Watson
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Merlot in one hand, Cigar in the other; body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, what a ride!
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Quote:Thanks Nathan - whoever this chap was he sounds as if he would have been fun to share a jug of wine or two with!
I dunno, I'd want to know exactly what he did with those Dacian corpses first...
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With a more humorous note it sounds a bit like my 22 years of military service, been there, seen it, done it, and got the T shirt.
Brian Stobbs
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Great tombstone! It seems like the Romans sometimes had quite good ones. One of my favourites is the marker for Mr. Hot Sex and Madame Gorgeous, which Mary Beard talked about. I like these much better than the simple names and dates which are so common in today's culture.
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Please excuse the slight move away from topic but on a more serious note it does sound a little bit like not just military humour but how an old soldier would want to say it all. For with many Roman epitaphs they do give the indication that they may have been dictated previous to death by the person themselves.
Brian Stobbs
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Quote:Great tombstone! It seems like the Romans sometimes had quite good ones. One of my favourites is the marker for Mr. Hot Sex and Madame Gorgeous, which Mary Beard talked about. I like these much better than the simple names and dates which are so common in today's culture.
Thanks for the link, I love that one! Perhaps it was his heir's way of telling new customers that that joke was really old?
Quote:Please excuse the slight move away from topic but on a more serious note it does sound a little bit like not just military humour but how an old soldier would want to say it all. For with many Roman epitaphs they do give the indication that they may have been dictated previous to death by the person themselves.
I imagine the tombstones of Soranus (who boasted of his displays of martial skill before Hadrian) and Tiberius Claudius Maximus (who boasted of capturing Decebalus and returning with his head) came from the same desire to have particular feats remembered, although neither seem to have done as well for themselves as this primus pilus...
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Quote:Perhaps it is one of those gently vibrating chairs, specially reserved for the primi ordines.
:grin: But what else would it be? Unless it's just a way of saying he enjoyed a bit of R&R...
Quote:been there, seen it, done it, and got the T shirt.
Yes! It does read a bit like a checklist: dead Dacians - check. naked Nymphs - yep...
Here's the inscription from E.D. Heidelberg, btw:
]PTAVI DACOS TENERE CAESOS TENVI
[ ]AVI IN SELLA PACIS RESIDERE SEDI
[ ]PTAVI CLAROS SEQVI TRIVMPHOS FACTVM
OPTAVI PRIMI COMMODA PLENA PILI HAB[ ]
OPTAVI NVDAS VIDERE NYMPHAS VIDI
So what's with the naked Nymphs? Unless it's just a saucy wink at the end, kind of thing... Perhaps the thermal springs of Aquae Flavianae featured statues of nymphs - '... and now I've seen it all!' Or perhaps there were real 'nymphs' available for the discerning visitor...?
One other thing - is this certainly a grave stelae? Could it just be a dedication by a living man?
Nathan Ross
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Quote:I dunno, I'd want to know exactly what he did with those Dacian corpses first...
Seems obvious to me: he washed his hands in the nearest nymphaeum...
Mike Bishop
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Quote:One other thing - is this certainly a grave stelae? Could it just be a dedication by a living man?
I think the epitaphs written in life by Soranus and T. Claudius Maximus provide pretty good parallels for this sort of statement, I can't think of any similarly verbose altar inscriptions... The slightly final tone ('I wanted to do all these awesome things, and having done so, my life's work is done' - at least he doesn't bemoan the lack of wine in the afterlife, if he believed in it) is also pretty fitting for an epitaph. Romans could be a lot more personal with their epitaphs than with other forms of inscription I think.
Quote:Seems obvious to me: he washed his hands in the nearest nymphaeum...
One would very much hope so (doubt the Nymphs were particularly impressed though...).
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Some of the lines seem literal, like marching in a triumphal procession, while others seem more metaphorical, such as seeing the nymphs naked. Seeing the nymphs sounds like some religious ceremony, like visiting a nymphaeum or sacred spring, to me. I wonder what a "seat of peace" might be? Simply living to be discharged?
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