Archaeological Museum of Bologna

The two stelae, very similar in shape and decoration, contain at the top of the frame sepulchral inscriptions in poetic form, and in the lower one reliefs with representations.

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The two stelae, which are similar in form and decoration, have poetic funerary inscriptions in the upper part of the panel, whereas the lower part has bas-reliefs with genre representations. The stelae must have pertained to a single burial, that of a figure whose name is unknown. The name was probably written on a marker that has not survived and was part of the funerary complex. One stela depicts a swineherd with seven piglets, and the other a mortar and pestle. The two images probably allude to a pig farm and the production of sausages, the trade of the deceased. Although he was born a slave in distant lands, this business allowed him to gain his freedom and earn a good living, as he was able to have a funerary monument made for himself, his wife and his patron, as indicated in one of the inscriptions, composed in verses. The other epigraph beckons people to respect the funerary precinct.

Provenance: Bologna, Reno wall
Datation: Late 1st century BC–early 2nd century AD
Material: Sandstone
Dimensions: height cm 192 and cm 186
Inventory #: 19003 - 19004