A Roman who hailed the passer-by
left words on a gravestone · Italy, Roman Empire · c. 1st–3rd century
The owner of a roadside tomb in Italy whose stone calls out to those walking past. 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 · Roman tombs lined the roads outside the town walls, and gravestones often spoke to the passer-by. The date is not known exactly; it is put here in the early centuries of the Roman Empire, when most such epitaphs were cut.
Traveller, traveller! What you are, I was; what I am now, you too will be.
Viator, viator! Quod tu es, ego fui; quod nunc sum, et tu eris.Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum XI 6243 (CIL XI 6243)
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