eclectic imaging
H:S:E:
Posted by MadScientist (Düsseldorf, Germany) on 22 May 2008 in Lifestyle & Culture.
Today, at the holiday of Corpus Christi, I could have chosen something obvious, like believers on a procession or, a little bit more difficult, a photographic idea of transubstantiation.
Another time. Let's pause for a moment and look at the gravestone of Marcus Petronius Albanus (the middle one), found at Xanten's archaeologial park APX. I don't know anything about him but trying to decipher the inscription will maybe help. The first two lines show his name, ending with "ANN XXX", so he died at age 30. HSE means: "Hic Situs Est", here he lies.
The next lines are tricky: there are some other names, including M. Petronius Flosclus, who, if I remember correctly, was a businessman in Cologne. Then there's a Brixellus, a M. Petronius Corumbus and a Paul(l)a Petronia Corumbus - members of his family? Was Paula his wife?
DSF - de suo fecit. I would translate this as "paid by himself", I guess he ordered this gravestone years before his death. The very last line might be some prayer formula and / or the date of his end.
This obviously isn't the gravestone of a military man. Xanten was a business centre in Germania inferior, today the Lower Rhine region - my home. It's a big stone, so I think he was a wealthy man. He didn't get old, 30 years is just too young. A strange thought that he already was prepared and purchased this tombstone in his twenties. I don't know who he was and what he did, but I think he would like the idea that nearly 2000 years after his death someone would tell a few words about him. HSE.
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