Modern-day funerary stones originated in ancient Greece and ranged from very simple incriptions to ornate carvings of narrative scenes. Most often, these upright stone slabs celebrated the deeds of the deceased or alluded to myths which in turn lent a sanctified air to the person commem-orated. This third century stele presents a portrait of the bearded Aristodemus, whose hand projects from his pallium, a mantle worn by men in ancient Greece and Rome. The inscription, written in Greek iambic verse, can be freely translated as:

Aurelia Ceralia erected this memorial to her husband

Aristodemus, an empty tomb for his fair young body.

For in a foreign land, while on an embassy to the emperor

and traveling the road a second time, he perished.

To his soul, as it soars through the air,

            the loyalty of his wife and this tombstone are

dedicated.