In Troubadour-Land/Appendix A
A.—MONUMENTS FROM THE ALYSCAMPS.
1. The inscription to Cornelia, daughter of Marius, is something of a puzzle. Against its genuineness may be urged that he is represented as conqueror of the Cimbri, whereas the Cimbri were not defeated till the following year, near Vercelli. Now it is strange that he should have left his daughter at Arles instead of moving her into Italy; and it is also odd that, if she were left there, he should be designated as conqueror of the Cimbri, whereas in the engagement with the Cimbri he shared the glory with Catulus; and he alone was victor over the Teutons and Ambrons near Aix. Moreover, one would have supposed that at Arles he would have been entitled the conqueror of these latter, the terror of whom had fallen on the province, and not of the Cimbri who did not menace it.
On the other hand, the inscription is in shockingly bad Latin; Calpurnia is made conqueror of the Cimbri, not her father, by a grammatical blunder; and one would suspect a forger would have avoided such a grotesque error, which is quite in agreement with other blunders made by the sculptors of monuments in the Alyscamps, who were clearly Gallo-Greeks, and hardly understood Latin.
Also—and this is remarkable—the name of the girl is Calpurnia; and Caius Marius was a native of Arpinum, and when this town was taken by the Romans from the Samnites, in B.C. 188, the franchise was given to the inhabitants, who were enrolled in the Calpurnian gens. Now this is a little fact that it is most improbable a forger would know—but it quite explains the girl receiving the name of Calpurnia, if genuine.
2. The Tomb of Julia Tyranna. The inscription runs:—
IVLIÆ . LVC . FILIÆ . TYRANNIÆ .
VIXIT ANN . XX . M . VIII .
QVÆ MORIBVS . PARITER . ET .
DISCIPLINA . CETERIS . FEMINIS .
EXEMPLO . FVIT . ANTARCIVS .
NVRVI . LAVRENTIVS . VCXORI .
It was raised to her memory by her father-in-law Antarcius, and by her husband, Laurentius. The organ is represented with seven pipes.
3.
O DOLOR . QVANTÆ
LACHRIMÆ . FECERE
SEPVLCRVM . IVL . LV
CINÆ . QVÆ . VIXIT . KA
D . RISSIMA . MATRI . FLOS . Æ M.
TATIS . HIQ . IACET . INTVS .
CONDITA . SAXOO . VTINAM .
POSSIT . REPARARI . SPIRITVS . ILLE .
VT . SCIRET . QVANTVS . DOLOR . EST .
QVÆ . VIXIT . ANN . XXVII . M . X . DIE XIII .
IVL . PARTHENOPE . POSVIT . INFELIX MATER .
"O Grief! what tears have watered this tomb of Julia Lucina who in life was very dear to her mother. Carried off in the flower of her age, here she lies, buried in this marble tomb. Would that her spirit might be restored, that she might learn how great is my grief. She lived twenty-seven years, ten months, and thirteen days. Julia Parthenope, her unhappy mother, raised this."
4.
HYDRIÆ TERTVLLÆ
C . F . CONIVGI . AMANTISSI
MÆ ET AXIÆ OELIANÆ .
FILIÆ DVLCISSIMÆ .
TERENTIVS MVSEVS
HOC SEPVLCRVM
POSVIT .
"Terentius Musæus placed this to his most loving wife, Hydria Tertulla, and to his most sweet daughter, Axia Oeliana." On this is a child with a cock in hand, an oblation to the infernal deities.
5.
F . MARIO . MF .
MARINO .
EXS . TESTA MENTO .
Observe in this, as in No. 3, the queer spelling, in both phonetic:—HIQ, SAXOO, EXS.
6. Here is a Christian inscription:—
INTEGER . ATQVE . PIVS . VITA . ET . CORPORE . PVRVS .
ÆTERNO . HIC . POSITVS . VIVIT . CONCORDIVS . ÆVO .
QVI . TENERIS . PRIMVM . MINISTER . FVLSIT .
IN . ANNIS .
POST . ETIAM . LECTVS . COELESTI . LEGE . SACERDOS
TRIGINTA . ET GEMINOS . DECEM . VIX . REDDIDIT .
ANNOS .
HVNC . CITO . SIDEREAM . RAPTVM . OMNIPOTENTIS .
IN AVLAM
MATER . BLANDA . ET . FRATER . SINE FVNERE
QVÆRVNT .
"Intact and pious, pure in life and body, here lies buried, but eternally lives Concordius, who in his tender years shone first as a deacon, afterwards chosen by the celestial law a priest; he lived hardly fifty years. Transported too soon to the starry hall of the Almighty, his gentle mother and his brother seek him without bewailing him."
This is on a sarcophagus of white marble with a colonnade carved on the face, the pillars channeled and spiral. In the centre is Jesus Christ, seated on a throne, instructing His apostles and a crowd, which is seen through the arcade, at the right a man, on the left a woman, on the cover are the twelve apostles with rolled volumes before them. This sarcophagus belongs to the fourth century.
7.
PAX ÆTERNA
DVLCISSIMÆ . ET . INNOCEN
TISSIM . FILLIÆ . CHRYSOGONE . IV
NIOR . SIRICIO . QVÆ . VIX . ANN . III .
M . II . DIEB . XXVII . VALERIVS . ET . CHRY
SOGONE . PARENTES . FILLIÆ . KARIS
SIMÆ . ET . OMNI . TEMPORE . VI
TÆ . SVE . DESIDERANTISS .
M . A . E .
"Peace eternal to the most sweet and innocent girl, Chrysogone (the younger) Siricio, who lived three years, three months, and twenty-seven days. Valerius and Chrysogone, her parents, raised this monument to their most dear daughter, whom they will regret all their lives."
The bones were found in a leaden coffin enclosed in one of stone. The body of the little Chrysogone had been enveloped in a rich brocade of gold thread and silk.
8. A curious column dedicated by the good people of Arles to Flavius Valerius Constantinus (Constantine the Great), son of Constantius, long served the boatmen on the Rhone to fasten their vessels to, and it is sadly furrowed by the chains and cords so employed. It bears the inscription:—
IMP . CÆS . FL . VAL . CONSTANTINO
P . F . AVG . DIVI CONSTANTI .
AVG . RII . FILIO .
Constantius Chorus also bore the names of Flavius Valerius.