DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0412
CHAP. XVIII.]
THE POMPEYS OF ETRURIA.
307
On one of the sarcophagi you find another Latin epi-
graph with the name of l. percestna or terceota8—an
Etruscan name in Roman letters. But with these excep-
tions everything is Etruscan—the form and character of
the sepulchre, the sarcophagi, the dolphin-hand, the pro-
cession, the Typhon figures, and the inscriptions on wall,
pillar, and sarcophagi—are all purely Etruscan. From
the recurrence of the name of " Pumpus" twice on the
wall, attached to the principal figure in the procession,
and again in the inscription on the pillar, it is highly pro-
bable that this was the sepulchre of a family of that name,
from which the Eoman gens of Pompeius was descended ;9
if so, there may have been no mixture of Etruscan and
Roman bodies in this tomb, as appears to be the case, for
those with Latin epitaphs may have been Etruscans by
birth, education, customs, religion—in everything but
language; their native tongue, though not perhaps extinct,
being in their time no longer a polite language, but con-
fined to the lower orders, like the Erse and Gaelic
with us.
In front of the pillar and attached to it, is a large
squared mass of rock, which has been supposed to be an
altar, on which offerings were made to the Manes; but it
seems almost too lofty. Its front and sides have been
painted with a procession of figures, but these have now
8 This inscription is also given by
Kellennann (loe. cit.) and by Orioli
(Ann. Inst. 1834, p. 155), but not more
than half the letters are now legible.
Orioli thinks these Latin inscriptions
as late as the commencement of the
Empire. A local antiquary even took
this one for a Christian epitaph, but
through an evident blunder. Bull.
Inst 1832, p. 215.
9 The name of "Pumpu,"" Pumpus,"
or "Pumpum" (Pompeius or Pompo-
nius) is frequently found also among the
sepulchral inscriptions of Chiusi, Cor-
tona, and Perugia. Lanzi, Sagg. II.
pp. 419,444. Vermiglioli, Iscriz. Perug.
I. pp. 199. et seq. 222. 263.
At the last-named site a sepulchre of
the " Pumpu " family was discovered in
1792, containing many urns inscribed
with this name.
x2
THE POMPEYS OF ETRURIA.
307
On one of the sarcophagi you find another Latin epi-
graph with the name of l. percestna or terceota8—an
Etruscan name in Roman letters. But with these excep-
tions everything is Etruscan—the form and character of
the sepulchre, the sarcophagi, the dolphin-hand, the pro-
cession, the Typhon figures, and the inscriptions on wall,
pillar, and sarcophagi—are all purely Etruscan. From
the recurrence of the name of " Pumpus" twice on the
wall, attached to the principal figure in the procession,
and again in the inscription on the pillar, it is highly pro-
bable that this was the sepulchre of a family of that name,
from which the Eoman gens of Pompeius was descended ;9
if so, there may have been no mixture of Etruscan and
Roman bodies in this tomb, as appears to be the case, for
those with Latin epitaphs may have been Etruscans by
birth, education, customs, religion—in everything but
language; their native tongue, though not perhaps extinct,
being in their time no longer a polite language, but con-
fined to the lower orders, like the Erse and Gaelic
with us.
In front of the pillar and attached to it, is a large
squared mass of rock, which has been supposed to be an
altar, on which offerings were made to the Manes; but it
seems almost too lofty. Its front and sides have been
painted with a procession of figures, but these have now
8 This inscription is also given by
Kellennann (loe. cit.) and by Orioli
(Ann. Inst. 1834, p. 155), but not more
than half the letters are now legible.
Orioli thinks these Latin inscriptions
as late as the commencement of the
Empire. A local antiquary even took
this one for a Christian epitaph, but
through an evident blunder. Bull.
Inst 1832, p. 215.
9 The name of "Pumpu,"" Pumpus,"
or "Pumpum" (Pompeius or Pompo-
nius) is frequently found also among the
sepulchral inscriptions of Chiusi, Cor-
tona, and Perugia. Lanzi, Sagg. II.
pp. 419,444. Vermiglioli, Iscriz. Perug.
I. pp. 199. et seq. 222. 263.
At the last-named site a sepulchre of
the " Pumpu " family was discovered in
1792, containing many urns inscribed
with this name.
x2