Aurelia Nais
Aurelia Nais also known as 'Nais' was a Roman piscatrix.[1] Nais was a freedwoman. Mentioned on Aurelia's grave are two men by the names of Gaius Aurelius Phileros and Lucius Valerius Secundus.[2] Gaius and Lucius are inscribed into Nais' tombstone as fellow freedmen. Gaius is listed as Aurelia's patron on her epitaph.[3] Lucius however may have been Nais' husband as he originates from a different household than herself and there is little information about this being.[4] This tombstone or cinerary altar is dated 3rd C. AD.[5] The Epitaph displays the companionship between a Roman woman and two Roman men.[6] Gaius and Lucius honor Nais by displaying this on the grave.[7] Aurelia worked in a warehouse called the Horrea Galbae.[8] This warehouse was named the Horrea Galbae after becoming imperial property.[9] This was of course during the reign of emperor Galba, an era in which Nais lived.[10] Before emperor Galba's reign, the warehouse in which Nais worked was owned by the Sulpicii family.[11] This family built the building in the 2nd century BCE.[12] Said building was located near the Aventine Hill in Rome.[13] The warehouse in which Nais worked is mentioned in her tombstone.[14] This is a suggestion that Nais worked at this establishment for a prolonged time and was not a traveling merchant.[15]
Sources
- Harvey, Brian."Roman Lives: Roman Life as Illustrated by Latin Inscriptions.",135-136. Indiana: Hackett Publishing.,2004.
- Caldelli, Maria Letizia."Women in the Roman World" in the Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy, edited by Christer Bruun and Jonathan Edmundson, 582-604.Oxford University,2015.
- Becker, Hilary. "Roman Women in the Urban Economy" in Women in Antiquity: Real Women across the Ancient World, edited by Stephanie Lynn Budin and Jean Macintosh Turfa,915-931.London: Routledge,2016
Notes
- ^ A female fish seller, Caldelli,2015, pg.593
- ^ Harvey 2004, pg.135
- ^ Harvey 2004, pg.135
- ^ Harvey 2004, pg.136, Caldelli 2015, pg.593
- ^ Harvey 2004, pg.135
- ^ fig.27.4 Caldelli 2015, pg.595
- ^ Harvey 2004, pg.135
- ^ Becker 2016-pg.917
- ^ Harvey 2004, pg.136
- ^ Caldelli 2015, pg.593
- ^ Harvey 2004, pg.136
- ^ Caldelli 2015, pg.593
- ^ Harvey 2004, pg. 136, Caldelli 201, pg593
- ^ Becker 2016, pg.917, CIL VI 9801
- ^ Becker 2016, pg.917