A nameless Roman tenant
left words on a gravestone · Roman Empire · c. 1st–3rd century
Known only from four lines on a gravestone. In life, it seems, he worried about his next meal, his gout and his rent. Epitaphs speak in the voice of the dead, but whether the words were composed by the dead person, the family or the stonecutter cannot be known.
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c. 1st–3rd century · The date is not known exactly; it is put here in the early centuries of the Roman Empire, when most such epitaphs were cut.
All that is left of a man, my bones, rest sweetly here. I am not anxious about suddenly going hungry, I am free of gout, I am no longer in pawn for my rent, and I enjoy lodging for ever, free of charge.
Quod superest homini, requiescunt dulciter ossa
nec sum sollicitus ne subito esuriam
et podagram careo nec sum pensionibus arra
et gratis aeterno perfruor hospitio.Bücheler, Carmina Latina Epigraphica 1247 (CLE 1247)
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