DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0216
152
Roman Africa
D • M • S ■ IVLIA FORTVNATA PIE VIXIT ANNIS LXII
CASTA BONA INVIOLANS RARVM HOC
A CONIVGE MVNVS FORTVNATA TIBI SIC PLACET
HARDALIO NOMINE DIGNA MEO QVOD TU MIHI KARE
SVPERSTES NATORVM NATIS TE INCOLVMI VIGVI
Loquitur Hardalius :
Casta, bona, inviotans, rarum hoc a conjuge mtcnus.
Fortunata, tibi } sic placet Hardalio.
Respondet Fortunata :
Nomine dig?ia meo, quod tu mini, care, superstes,
Natorum natis te incolumi vi&ui.
At Sigus in Numidia, now known as Ziganiah, some twenty-
four miles from Constantine, a man laments the loss of his wife
in the following expressive words : 1 conjux uno animo, uno
consilio, semperfruita mecum. So enviable a spouse is scarcely
excelled in worth by the good woman of Madaura (Mdaou-
rouch), who is described as a conjux rarissima, omni pietate,
innocentia, gravitate Morum fecunda, teaisa, karissima'1 And
at Capsa (Gafsa) in the far south, where the sites of old
Roman towns are naught but oases in a region of sand, domestic
happiness and filial affection have left a pleasant record on im-
perishable stone in the memorial of a woman of many virtues
named Domitia Caesia.3
D ■ M • S
DOMITIA • CAESIA ■ OPTIMA
IN VITA.........
PVDICISSIMA FEMINA
RARISSIMAE • FRVGALITA
TIS • ET • INDULGENTISSIMA ■ MA
TRONA • VIXIT • ANNIS ■ LXVIII
MONVMENTVM ■ AGENDVM
CVRAVIT • IVLIVS • SENTEANVS
FILIVS • EIVS
O • T • B • Q
1 C.LL. No. 5798. 2 C.I.L. No. 4692 (tecusa rarely used, Wilmanns).
3 C.LL. No. 134. Capsa has had a long history and, according to Sallust, was
a town of great importance at the termination of the Punic wars. Its remote
position on the Desert border, forming an oasis of beauty and productiveness, did not
prevent the army of Caius Marius from encamping under its walls and destroying the
town. But, owing to the fertility of the soil, abundance of water, and direct com-
munication with the coast, Capsa soon recovered its old position and continued in
prosperity long after the Arabs had swept over the land. ' It is built almost en-
tirely,' says El-Bekri, the Arab writer of the eleventh century, ' with galleries of
marble ; ' and he adds ' that the ramparts were constructed by Chentian, page to
Roman Africa
D • M • S ■ IVLIA FORTVNATA PIE VIXIT ANNIS LXII
CASTA BONA INVIOLANS RARVM HOC
A CONIVGE MVNVS FORTVNATA TIBI SIC PLACET
HARDALIO NOMINE DIGNA MEO QVOD TU MIHI KARE
SVPERSTES NATORVM NATIS TE INCOLVMI VIGVI
Loquitur Hardalius :
Casta, bona, inviotans, rarum hoc a conjuge mtcnus.
Fortunata, tibi } sic placet Hardalio.
Respondet Fortunata :
Nomine dig?ia meo, quod tu mini, care, superstes,
Natorum natis te incolumi vi&ui.
At Sigus in Numidia, now known as Ziganiah, some twenty-
four miles from Constantine, a man laments the loss of his wife
in the following expressive words : 1 conjux uno animo, uno
consilio, semperfruita mecum. So enviable a spouse is scarcely
excelled in worth by the good woman of Madaura (Mdaou-
rouch), who is described as a conjux rarissima, omni pietate,
innocentia, gravitate Morum fecunda, teaisa, karissima'1 And
at Capsa (Gafsa) in the far south, where the sites of old
Roman towns are naught but oases in a region of sand, domestic
happiness and filial affection have left a pleasant record on im-
perishable stone in the memorial of a woman of many virtues
named Domitia Caesia.3
D ■ M • S
DOMITIA • CAESIA ■ OPTIMA
IN VITA.........
PVDICISSIMA FEMINA
RARISSIMAE • FRVGALITA
TIS • ET • INDULGENTISSIMA ■ MA
TRONA • VIXIT • ANNIS ■ LXVIII
MONVMENTVM ■ AGENDVM
CVRAVIT • IVLIVS • SENTEANVS
FILIVS • EIVS
O • T • B • Q
1 C.LL. No. 5798. 2 C.I.L. No. 4692 (tecusa rarely used, Wilmanns).
3 C.LL. No. 134. Capsa has had a long history and, according to Sallust, was
a town of great importance at the termination of the Punic wars. Its remote
position on the Desert border, forming an oasis of beauty and productiveness, did not
prevent the army of Caius Marius from encamping under its walls and destroying the
town. But, owing to the fertility of the soil, abundance of water, and direct com-
munication with the coast, Capsa soon recovered its old position and continued in
prosperity long after the Arabs had swept over the land. ' It is built almost en-
tirely,' says El-Bekri, the Arab writer of the eleventh century, ' with galleries of
marble ; ' and he adds ' that the ramparts were constructed by Chentian, page to