An Epitaph in the Museum at Alexandria Sherk, Robert K Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Winter 1964; 5, 4; ProQuest pg. 295

An Epitaph in the Museum at Alexandria 
Robert K. Sherk 

I 

fi{0NG THE TEXTS from Egypt which Breccia published in 1911 is 
an inscription bearing the number 322 in his collection, its 
provenance unknown.1 Breccia gave only a transcription in 

capitals and made no attempt to restore it or explain its nature, but 
in 1931 Werner Peek included it in one of his many articles on metrical 
epitaphs and succeeded in presenting a fairly understandable text.2 It 
eventually appeared in Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum (VIll.375) 
with several new suggestions by W. Cronert. This is the latest text and 
is presented here for the sake of convenience: 

- - E vEp8EV I - -
[vtKa'sll'EAAa~"Kiiau' g7]v, fL[Eya KVOOS EVEYKti,VJ,1 

ale:v 0' l7T7Tof36TwvaaTE' [lowv fEIVt]Kwv. 
5 MV'p'[a]fLEV(n) 0' aA6x[cp 7TapEOaA",E \\7ToA]v(K)pa(y)ov 0) 1}TOp 

, Iovvtos, Ev[xaptv as low] KEV EAEVOEpt7]V, 
'Iovvtos 'Hoa[- -loJs, 7TaVV7TEpTaTOS aVTOs ;7Tapx[os] 

[KEATWV 0)1 OVE]Tp[aJvwv, EtA7]s oE(a)7T6~vvos, 
10 [os -1- ]ilN ......... cI>[ ••• E]MatpE TEfjS II[E7Tt fLolpasJ 

- -a ..... afLcpw aEt.I- -AilE . . 1- -EAA .. 

NOTES. Breccia reported that it was yellow limestone of very fine grain, broken 
and splintered, 0.41m. high and O.44m. wide. 1 < E)vep()ev Peek. 2 ETJV 
p.[Eya 1TaTptS, KVSOS'] Cronert. 3-4 Cronert suggested [is' 'lTaA.L]Kwv. 
4 MY1[.]MENQ stone: p.v.p.[a],.tEv(n) Peek. 5 YEPATON stone. 6-7 Peek 
hesitantly suggested 'H<A.)&[aLO]S' and referred to P.Oxy. VI.926, line 7, but 
Cronen thought of < E)TJ8&[ no]S'. 8 b.EEn02YNOL stone: Se< a )1T6avvos 
Cronen, 0' e< l)1T6avvoS' Peek. 

Peek believed that the first few lines contained a statement about 
the life of the deceased and that he was apparently a gladiator, 
soldier, charioteer or similar person who had travelled widely during 

1 E. Breccia, Iscrizioni greche e latine [Catalogue general des antiquites egyptiennes du 
Musee d'Alexandrie] (Cairo 1911), p. 166. afits provenance he says only, "Alessandrie(?)." 

2 Hermes 66 (1931) 325-27, no. 9. He did not include it in his Griechische Vers-Inschriften. I: 
Grab-Epigramme (Berlin 1955). 

295 



296 AN EPITAPH IN THE MUSEUM AT ALEXANDRIA 

his lifetime. He felt that Iunius, praefectus alae veteranae Gallicae, had 
given the grieving wife of the deceased her freedom. Then, after the 
usual appeal for pity, the stone breaks off. 

Although no indications remain of the full width of the lines on the 
stone, Peek observed that the division into hexameters and penta­
meters was indicated by the use of empty spaces. Although one may 
easily criticize a few of the restorations, especially in lines 3-5, the 
intent of the epitaph appears to be as Peek has suggested. 

There is, however, another chapter in the modern history of this 
stone which antedates Breccia's publication by some thirty years and 
illustrates nicely the importance of examining old copies of known 
inscriptions. The Greek and Latin epigraphical material in the note­
books of Charles E. Wilbour (1833-1896) has only recently been ex­
amined as a whole, and, although it consists mainly of well-known 
texts, there are a few inedita and dozens of copies made long before the 
stones themselves had reached the museum. Wilbour was an in­
defatigable traveler up and down the Nile during the last twenty years 
of his life, and it was in keeping with his nature to keep records of 
practically everything he saw. His copies of Egyptian, Coptic, Greek, 
and Latin inscriptions are now a treasured possession of the Brooklyn 
Museum.3 In one of his notebooks (numbered 2c, page 71) there is a 
copy of our epitaph. It reads as follows: 

LNEP8ENL 
E/\/\A6.IKHLINEHNM 
AIEN6.lnnOSOTQNALIE 
KQN MYI[.] MENQ6.A/\OX 

5 YHPATONHTOP IOYNIOLEY 
KENIE/\EY8EPIHN IOYNIOLH6.A 

LnANYnEPTATOLAYTOLnAPX 
TPANQNEN![ .1/\HL6.ELnOLYNOL 
QN A/\/\AM<l>QE/\EAIPETEHL 

10 EY8ELITAIHL AM<l>QLEI 
ILOYNEKAnAPSESAQL 
. LAPAION06.0mOPE6.A 

I H8EMILEYLES·IHL 
NOlL KEIPAL8AI 

15 An06.AKPY 
nA/\/\AL 

K6. 
3 See my remarks in TAPA 93 (1962) 443-44. His private letters. providing a valuable 

commentary on the material in his notebooks. have been edited and published by Jean 
Capart. Travels in Egypt: Letters of Charles Edwin Wi/bour (Brooklyn Museum 1936). 



ROBERT K. SHERK 297 

Wilbour identifies the material as limestone and gives its measure­
ment as 0.44m. by 0.54m. Thus a piece had broken off from the lower 
half of the stone and had disappeared by the time it arrived in 
Alexandria. A rough outline of the stone itself accompanies the copy 
and shows the right edge beginning about line nine. On all other sides 
the stone was broken even when Wilbour saw it. 

Unfortunately he says nothing about the location of the stone or 
where he copied it. However, all of his notebooks are carefully dated. 
Therefore, since it is possible from his correspondence to tell exactly 
where he was in Egypt on almost any given day between 1880 and 
1891, the approximate origin of this epitaph can be discovered. The 
section of notebook 2c, page 71, on which his copy is found, is dated to 
March 19-29, 1882. Turning to these dates in his published letters 
(Travels In Egypt, see above, note 3) we find on page 153 a letter dated 
Tuesday, March 21, 1882, in which is a reference to the occasion on 
which he had seen and copied the epitaph. Here are the opening sen­
tences of that letter: 

Starting with the sun we landed at Qasr es-Sayad but with three 
hours journeying found not the sculptured tombs. Another hour 
would have taken us to them but only I had taken a donkey. Said 
bought a tablet with some Greek poetry and sundry other things. 
At How, nearby the birthplace of Nephthys, we stopped with similar 
success, seeing only some foundations of a temple of Roman time. 

Wilbour, as a guest of Gaston Maspero, had started that morning 
"with the sun" from Kenah and traveled about 29 miles down the 
Nile to Qasr es-Sayad, which is in the Thebaid and probably the ancient 
site of Chenoboskion. He had not seen the stone in situ. His servant of 
old, Said Ismaeen of Kafr-el-Haram, had bought it from one of the 
inevitable dealers in antiquities who constantly tried to sell their wares 
to Wilbour at every settlement and city along the Nile. Said was his 
trusted and beloved factotum, one of whose duties was to locate and 
purchase antiquities for him along the route. The "tablet with some 
Greek poetry" must be our grave stele, and on the bottom of the 
page on which Wilbour copied the inscription are found drawings and 
descriptions of the "sundry other things" purchased by Said. There­
fore our epitaph must have been set up originally in the vicinity of 
Qasr es-Sayad. 

Using Breccia's transcription, Peek's restorations, and now Wilbour's 



298 A EPITAPH IN THE MUSEUM AT ALEXANDRIA 

copy it is possible to correct a few lines and to present a fuller 
text. 

~------------------------J 
[ - - - - - - - -]S v€pflEv ~[- - - - - --J 

[- - - - -JI <EAAcxOLKjjaLv l7]V p[- - - - - - - - -JI 
al~v 0' l7T7Tof30TWVaaTE' [lOwv gElvL]KWV. 

5 pvp,[aJ/LEvqJ S' aAoX[ov 8aAI/JEv (?)II7ToAJv~paTov ?jTOp 

, IovvLos, Ev[xapLv os 1 ow] ~EV €AEVfJEpl7]v, 

'IovvLOs HLlA[ - -I·JE, 7TaVV7TlpTaTos aVTOS l7Tap~[ os] 1 

[OVE]Tpavwv EiA7]S OEa7TOavVOS I[KEAT]WV. 

10 aAA' afl-cpw €Matp' €-rEfjS 1 1 [V7TO K]EvfJEaL <y)al7]S 

afl-cpw EEI[ - - I - -]! E ovvEKa 7Tapf3Ef3aws I 
[- - -]EAPAION, OOOL7TOPE, ~al [Kpva AEt{3EJh 

V fJlpLs EvaEfil7]S 1 [OVVEKEV €aaofl-l(? )]VOLS 

15 KElpaa8al 1\ [TE KOfl-7]V fiaMELv T'] a7To SaKpv I [7TapELwv] 

[- - - - - - -]lIAAAAE[- - - - - - --J 
[- - - - - - - - - - - ]KLJ[- - - - - - - - - --] 

NOTES 

LINES 1-3. I have omitted Peek's restorations of lines 1-3 because they 
do not appear to me to be appropriate for a freedman. No formulaic 
expression decrees their presence here. The deceased seems to have 
been active in the horse trade rather than in athletic matches or 
military campaigns. For the possible interpretation of these lines I re­
fer to Strabo (11.13.7): TJ 0' WO TatS Kaa7TloLS 7TvAaLS €V Ta7TELVOtS €Oac/>EaL 

, '\ 1" '~I .I. 1<:;' " , '.1. \ , '\ I , <:;" Kat KOtl\OtS ovaa EVUaLfl-WV a'l'0opa EaTL KaL 7Tafl-'I'0POS 7T1\7]V El\aLas· Et OE 
, .I. I I '\ I " 'l: I < IQ <:;" \ ., , '<:;' Kat 'l'VETaL 7TOV, aI\L7T'1}S TE EaTL KaL ~ 7]pa· L7T7TOfJOTOS OE KaL avT'1) EaTt OLa-

.I. I \ • 'A I \ ~ <:;, I '\ \ <[ 1 Q " , 'l'EpOVTWS KaL 7] pfl-EVLa, Kal\ELTaL OE ns KaL I\ELfl-WV 7T7TOfJOTOS. OV KaL 
<:;, l:' ., ~ n 1<:;' \ B Q \ ~ 'T7 I 1\ <<:;, 1 
utE~Laatv OL EK T'1)S EpaLuOS Kat afJvl\wvos ELS n.aa7TLOVS 7TVl\as OOEVOV-

'.3: I ,<:;',, 8 \ I 1 fJ '.1.. ,\ ~ n ~ 
TES. EV [J 7TEVTE fl-VpLaUas L7T7TWV 7]1\€LWV VEpEa aL 'l'aatv E7TL TWV Epawv, 

1" ~ \ \ "\ I Q \' \ ~ \ N '" l' , ELvaL OE Tas ayEl\as TaVTas fJaaLl\tKas. TOVS OE 7]aawvs L7T7TOVS, OLS E-

~ 0Q \~" 1" " < \ '()'<:;' \1 , XPWVTO OL fJaaLI\€LS apLaTOLS oval, Kat fl-EYLaTOtS, OL fl-EV EV EVOE AEyovaL TO 

I < <:;" 'l: 'A ' '''- I .I. <:;, "" ,< II. () , YEVOS, 01, 0 E~ ppEVLas· LOLOPOP'l'0L OE ELaLV, wa7TEp Kat 01, ap LKOt 
\ 1 ~ \, r 1:'\ \ ~ \ , \ "\ \ \ , • ~ 
I\EYOPEVO£ VVV 7Tccpa TOVS .,Cl\I\aOLKOVS Kat TOVS al\l\ovs TOVS 7Tap 7]fl-LV. 

From this passage we see that the area below the Caspian Gates was 
good "horse pasturing" country and that the Nesaean and Parthian 
horses were different from the "Helladic" horses. Therefore, since the 
deceased speaks of his travels to the dties of horse pasturing lands, 
there is an excellent possibility that he had been active in some 



ROBERT K. SHERK 299 

capacity in the procurement of horses. The region below the Caspian 
Gates was only one of many famous countries that bred good mounts.4 

Does our adjective rE,\,\cxoLKfjaw refer to "Helladic mares"? 
This information about the activities of the deceased in the possible 

procurement of horses is most important. We shall return to it later. 

LINES 4-5. The text presented in SEG implies that the woman's name 
is Mvp[cx],.dv(7J). But the frequent use of fLVPOfLcxL in epitaphs makes it 
much more likely that here too it is a case of the verb and not a 
name. Furthermore I believe that the woman died first and that it is a 
double grave. Thus there is no reason to change the gender of the 
aorist participle as Peek and Cronert have done, for Wilbour and 
Breccia are in agreement that it is masculine on the stone. Only 
compelling reasons should force one to change what the stone reads. 
Here I see none. 

There is, nevertheless, a real possibility that the woman's name did 
appear in the text, in the lacuna after aAox[ov]. If true, these two lines 
might be restored in quite a different way: 

fLv~[a]fLlvCfJ o· aAox[ov - - T~V O€tva - -1ToA]v~paTov ijTOP 
• T I • [' (' .... ] .\ () I 10VVLO!> €V YVWfLWV ow 'fEV EI\EV EpL'Y/V 

KTA. 

The phrase 7ToA]v~pCXTOV -ryTOp would then be an Accusative of Respect 
with fLVp[ a ]fLlvCfJ in the sense of "having grieved in his very dear 
heart." I prefer this latter interpretation, but I cannot cite an exact 
parallel. The distance between the two phrases would not be an 
obstacle, and the grammar of the sentence as a whole would be 
simpler and smoother than in Peek's restoration. 

LINES 6-7. Breccia shows no bar or iota after - -]KEN. After • !OVVLOS 
one expects a cognomen, and therefore <E)'Y/8a[nlo]!> is suspect. 
Its short alpha is also difficult to accept, despite the fact that names 
do not always fit into the meter. Professor James H. Oliver has 
suggested to me that the cognomen might be 'Hoa[tlo]s and argues 

, For a good orientation on horses and horse breeding in antiquity see Steier in RE s.v. 
Pferd, cols. 1430-44, especially cols. 1439-41 for the various types of horses and the countries 
that produce them. Cf T. R. S. Broughton, An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome IV (Baltimore 
1938) Part IV, "Roman Asia," pp. 617-18; M. I. Rostovtzeff, SEHRE Irs (Oxford 1957) 704-
705, n.40. For new papyrological texts relating to cavalry mounts see]. F. Gilliam in Yale 
Classical Studies 11 (1950) 171-209 (if. The Excavations at Dura-Europus, Final Report V, Part I: 
The Parchments and Papyri [New Haven 1959] 217-21 and 296-302), whose text without 
commentary has been reproduced by R. Cavenaile, Corpus Papyrorum Latinarum (Wiesba­
den 1958) nos. 325 and 330. 

s· 



300 AN EPITAPH IN THE MUSEUM AT ALEXANDRIA 

that because the Romans considered themselves to be Trojans by 
origin an "Idaeus" would not be unreasonable. Possibly. I prefer 
to leave the line unrestored. In line 7 Wilbur omitted the epsilon of 
EllAP]J[- - by mistake, for it is present in the transcription by 
Breccia and there is little reason to think of any other word in this 
place. 

LINES 8-9. Peek was rightly dissatisfied with his metrical arrangement 
of this line.5 His mistake was in assuming that [K£":rwv ] should come 
at the beginning of the line. It fits in very well at the end with the 
extant - - ]DN. This allows the pause to fall after £LA1]S'. 

Wilbour made several mistakes in copying at this particular section 
of the stone, for in two places he crossed out his first readings and 
then re-wrote them. The EN after - -]TPANDN also appears to 
be his mistake, but uncorrected. 

LINES 9-10. The restoration of the formulaic [U1T() K]£v8£0", (y)aL1]S' was 
suggested to me by Professor James H. Oliver, who did not hesitate to 
change T AIHE to r AIHE. I am convinced that this is right despite 
the concomitant difficulty with TEHE. Oliver then suggested &:M' 
afL~w EA€a,p' ET£ijS' [Uno K]£v8£0", <y)aL1]S' and translates, "But pity 
them both beneath the depths of the primeval earth." For support 
he compares Aeschylus, Eumenides 1036: yaS' Uno K£v8£0",v WyvyLO'O"W. 
It is a rather bold use of E-r£6S', but certainly possible. Since "in the 
depths of your earth" appears wrong, I accept Oliver's suggestion. 

The second word of the phrase afL~w 0"£'[- - - might be a verb in 
the imperative mood to balance the similar phrase in the previous 
line, but I cannot find one that fits the required sense (mourn, pity, 
weep for, etc.) and begins with 0"£'[- - -. However, it is also possible 
that it is a noun in the Genitive governed by OVV£Ka. 

LINE 11. The verb 7Tapaf1aLvw frequently has the meaning "stand be­
side" in the perfect tense, and it is, of course, very common for 
sepulchral inscriptions to ask the wayfarer to stop and examine the 
tombstone, to read the story of the deceased's life, and to pity him.6 

LINE 12. I cannot find a satisfactory noun ending in - - ]EAPAION. 

LINES 13-14. For the Dative and infinitive with 81ILLS' see W. Peek, 
Griechische Vers-Inschriften no. 1706, line 1 (=IG II2 11974): [7T]&VTWV. 

Ii He says, op.cit. 327: "Der Ablauf des Pentameters verlangt die Pause vor ~r~17S" S' 
~lfMroavvoS" (substantivisch, oder ein Substantiv stand in nachster Vers), nicht eben elegant." 

6 See Richmond Lattimore, Themes in Greek and Latin Epitaphs [illinois Studies in Lan­
guage and Literature XXVIII, nos. 1-2] (Urbana 1942) 23(}-34. 



ROBERT K. SHERK 301 

6)V (NfLLS eaT/' TvX€iv €voaLfLoaL {}VYJTois, KTA. What is needed in line 14 

apparently is a noun or participle meaning men, mortals, or posterity 
in general. 

LINES 14-15. The phrase in our epitaph calling upon the wayfarer to 
cut his hair and to let his tears run down his cheeks has been borrowed 
from Homer (Odyssey 4.198). The importance of the hair in Greek 
religious ritual and belief has been thoroughly investigated and is 
well known. 7 Nevertheless the pulling or the cutting of the hair as an 
act of mourning is not too common in the epitaphs.s However, there 
was a guild in Egypt, whose name has not come down to us, which 
provided that upon the death of a member all his colleagues had to 
shave their heads in his honor.9 

II 
The ala veterana Gallica Inay not have arrived in Egypt until the 

second century, perhaps being transferred there from the Syrian 
army.lO At any rate, the earliest datable document attests its presence 
in Egypt in A.D. 130, and many others mention it to the end of the 
Principate and beyond.l1 Its main camp in the last quarter of the 
second century, and probably earlier as well, was in Alexandria.l2 
The date of our epitaph, therefore, would appear to be the second 
century or later. 

Whether the epitaph may be used to suggest that all or part of the 
ala had been stationed at any time in the general area of Qasr es-

7 M. P. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen Religion 12 (Miinchen 1955) 136-39, 180-81 with 
bibliography. 

B Lattimore, op.cit. 202-203. To his material add IG XlV. 1863 (=Peek no. 1981, lines 5-6). 
9 A. E. R. Boak in TAPA 68 (1937) 21S. The text is given also in P.Mich. V. 243, lines 9-10. 
10 SeeC. Cichorius in RE s.v. ALA, col. 1245;]. Lesquier, L'Armee romaine d'Egypte d'A.ugliste 

d Diodetien [Memoires publies par les Membres de nnstitut Fran~ais d'Archeologie Orient­
ale du Caire XLI] (Cairo 1918) 76-78; T. Mommsen and H. Nesselhauf, CIL XVI, no. 3; W. 
Wagner, Die Dislokation der romischen Auxiliarformationen in den Provinzen Noricum, Pannon­
ien, Moesien lind Dakien von A.ugustus bis Gallienus (Berlin 1938) 42. On the connection with 
the ala veterana Gallorum et Thracum see S. Lambrino, Revue de Philologie, Ser. III, 5 (1931) 
256ff, and K. Kraft, Zur Rekrutierung der Alen und Kohorten an Rhein lind Donan [Diss. 
Bcrn. I, fasc. 3] (Bern 1951) 28. 

n P.London 482 (=Lesquier, op.cit., App. II, pp. 503-504=Cavenaile, op.cit., no. 114) is 
dated to the year A.D. 130 by the mention of the consuls for that year. Other important 
documents include: P./vliclJ. 6, 428, lines 3 and 18 (A.D. 154); CIL XVI, Supp!. no. 184 (A.D. 

156/61); P.Hamb. 39, line 12 (=Select Papyri II.369, of A.D. 179); H. A. Sanders, Classical 
Studies in Honor of John C. Rolfe (Philadelphia 1931) 265-38 (=P.Micll. III. 164, line 13= 
Cavenaile, op.dt., no. 143); P.Mich. VII.455, line 26 of frg. a, verso (=Cavenaile, op.cit., no. 
133); ClL III.14=6581. and 15=6582. According to the Notitia Dig. led. Seeck], Or. 28.28, it 
was stationed at Rhinocorura near the Syrian border in the Late Empire. 

12 CIL III.6581-S2. 



302 AN EPITAPH IN THE MUSEUM AT ALEXANDRIA 

Sayad in the Thebaid is a difficult question to answer. It depends upon 
the activity of the deceased at the time of his death. If he had been 
actively engaged in work for the prefect or the cavalry unit at the 
time of his death, then certainly the place of his burial could indicate 
the location of the ala or part of it at that time. But that is a point we 
do not know. And the apparent fact that it was a double grave does 
not alter the situation. In our opinion, therefore, it would be hazardous 
to draw any conclusions from the epitaph about the location of the 
military unit. 

Let us turn to the matter of the relationship between the deceased 
and the praefectus alae. There can be little real doubt that the deceased 
was the freedman of the officer. The dative case of p.vp[ a Jp.lvqJ, the 
mention of JAEV(}EP''Y} and the reasonable restoration of [3wJKEVall with­
in the short space of a few lines point irresistibly to that conclusion. 
And it is a well-known fact that soldiers, especially the officers, had 
slaves with them even on active duty. Julius Caesar dismissed a trib­
unus militum not because he had slaves with him but because he had 
used a ship to transport them instead of his soldiers.13 In the first 
century Tacitus writes as if the presence of slaves in the army was 
very common.14 And for the Principate in general there are scores of 
examples, mostlyepigraphicaJ.15 Our epitaph must be added to the 
more important of those examples, for it adds precious information 
on matters not well illustrated elsewhere. Not only is it a good 
example of contubernium but it is also of exceptional interest for the 
responsible position which this freedman must have held in the 
household of the prefect.16 

13 Bell. Afr. 54: Quibus legionibus expositis memor in Italia pristinae licentiae militaris ac rapin­
arum certorum ltominum parvulam modo causulam nactus Caesar, quod C. Avienus, tribunus 
militum X. legionis, navem ex commeatu familia sua atque iumentis occupavisset neque militem 
unum ab Sicilia slIstulisset, etc. 

14 Speaking of Vitelli us in Hist. 2.87, Tacitus says: sexaginta milia armatorum sequebantur, 
licentia corrupta; calonllm numerus amplior, procacissimis etiam inter servos lixarum ingeniis. 

16 C. G. Starr, The Roman Imperial Navy, 31 RC.-A.D. 324, [Cornell Studies in Classical 
Philology XXVI] (Ithaca 1941) 82, with n.53; M. Durry, Les cohortes pretoriennes (Paris 1938) 
281; R. MacMullen, Soldier and Civilian in the Later Roman Empire (Cambridge [Mass.] 
1963) 106. W. L. Westermann's work, The Slave Systems of Greek and Roman Antiquity 
(Philadelphia 1955) is disappointing in this regard. There is room for a comprehensive 
treatment of slavery in the Roman army, for the material is now quite large, thanks t<;> 
epigraphical and papyrological finds. To show the importance of the slave and freedman 
in the army a passage of Pliny (NH 7.39) is instructive, who, after giving some examples of 
very high prices paid for slaves, says, nisi si quis in hoc loco desiderat Armeniaci belli paulo ante 
propter Tiridaten gesti dispensatorem, quem Nero III ICXXXI manumisit. sed hoc pretium belli, non 
hominis,fuit, ... One would like to know more of this dispensator. 

16 For the contubernium see Westermann, op.cit. 81 and 119. 



ROBERT K. SHERK 303 

The fact that the deceased travelled widely in horse-breeding 
countries and was a freedman of a praefectus alae leads me to conclude 
that he was either a groom (strator) or an agent used for the selection 
and purchase of remounts for the Roman army in Egypt. This is a 
subject about which not very much is known, and further informa­
tion, however small, is welcome.!' Among the military ranks, of 
course, we know of a strator attached to the officium of the governor, 
and another on duty with the legatus legionis.18 And in the alae them­
selves we have evidence of a strator on duty with the praefectus, but 
presumably he was drawn from the ranks.19 Besides these there were 
also present the calones, known to us from the time of the Republic, 
who were slaves of the soldiers who cared for the impedimenta and the 
transport in general.2o Grooms were an obvious necessity in cavalry 
units, and for a prefect to use a capable slave as groom is not at all 
surprising. And for faithful service manumission was the great 
reward. As a slave, therefore, and later freedman of the prefect it is 
conceivable that the deceased might have been a groom, an expert in 
horses to such a degree that he was recommended by his master to 
aid in the purchase of remounts for the Roman army in Egypt. In that 
capacity he could have been sent to «horse-pasturing" lands such as 
Bithynia, Cappadocia, or the area below the Caspian Gates.21 

Although the whole subject of remounts for the army is not well 
known, there seems to be some evidence to show that special parties 
were sent out by military units to procure horses. The evidence is 
found in P. Hunt, line 56 (= R. O. Fink,jRS 48 [1958] 102-16), where we 

17 See the remarks of Gilliam, op.cit. 171 n.4 and 180-81. 
18 In the officium of the governor: A. v. Domaszewski, Die Rangordnung im romischen 

Heere (Bonn 1908) 35. They were, of course, legionarii and according to the Digest (50.6.7) 
immunes. For examples see CIL III.5449 (=Dessau, ILS 2419A); CIL III.2067 (=Dessau, ILS 
2587); Annee ep. 1959, 12, and 316. In the officium of the legatus legionis see Domaszewski, 
or.cit. 39, and the example in CIL XIII.6745. 

19Domaszewski, op.cit. 55, and the example in IGRR III.I094. In the case of stratores 
attached to the alae and the legiones in general one scholar has expressed the possibility 
that in the period of the Principate as well as in the Late Empire they may have been 
concerned also with the function of remounts. See Gilliam, op.cit. 175 n.20. In the later 
Roman armies the evidence of Ammianus Marcellinus (29.3.5) is decisive: Constantianus 
strator paucos militares equos ex his ausus mutare, ad quos probandos missus est in Sardiniam, ... 
(quoted by Gilliam). See A. H. M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire I (Norman [Okla.] 1964) 
625-26 and II, p. 1259 n.37. 

20 See the references collected in TLL S.V. CALO. 
21 Closer to Egypt, of course, would have been the Libyan horses. And appian, Cyn. 

2.253, speaks of'1Tr7T6f3oTos Atf3th]. The horses from Cyrene, however, seem to have been 
used mainly for wagons and transport: Aristophanes Byz. 2.591. 



304 AN EPITAPH IN THE MUSEUM AT ALEXANDRIA 

hear of military personnel being sent trans erar[.]m equatum.22 Then 
an inscription from Termessus in Pisidia of A.D. 140/45 (SEG VI.628= 
TAM 111.52) mentions an apxun·paTwp attached to the staff of the 
praefectus Aegypti. And from Dura a papyrus mentions the probatio of a 
military horse by the governor of Coele Syria.23 A pattern emerges. 
There seems to have been an organized method of obtaining remounts 
in the various provinces. In Egypt the governor's chief consultant was 
the apXUl'rpaTwp. Under his direction purchasing parties may have been 
organized to go and buy the horses. It is only natural for the members 
of such parties to be the most capable men available. And a prefect of 
an ala would almost certainly be consulted about any reliable men in 
his unit. May we assume that the deceased of our epitaph was one of 
the men recommended? I think so. 

The epitaph, of course, does not tell us that the deceased was a 
groom, only that he was manumitted after the death of his concubine 
and that he had seen the "cities of horse-pasturing" countries. But 
when that information is coupled with the fact that his master was a 
praefectus alae veteranae Gallicae in Egypt, the assumption that he was a 
groom or at least an expert in horses is well worth considering. The 
document is therefore of importance to the student of the Roman 
army. 

THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO 

November, 1964 

22 Cf. G. Cantacuzene in Aegyptus 9 (1928) 72-3,90-91, and 95. 
23 Gilliam, op.cit. 175-76 (=P.Dura 8a).