FUNERARY INSCRIPTION 
   OF PUBLIUS ASTRANIUS 
                             VENUSTUS
Lucentum (Tossal de Manises, Alicante)

White marble with grey streaks
h: 31.11cm; w: 28.4 cm; th: 2 cm
Roman
2nd century AD
 

Rectangular slab of marble with rust marks on the sides caused by metal cramps which would have attached it to a monument. On its polished side there is a five line inscription written in square capital letters with cursive tendencies and a rustic aspect, measuring between 2.5 and 5 cm high. There are triangular interpunts and two heredae (dashes) end the 3rd and 5th lines.
The text reads: “Here lies Publius Astranius Venustus, (who) served as Augustal of Lucentes, of 23 years of age: I ask you traveller that you say: may the earth take you”
The Latin inscription reads:
P(ublius) ASTRANI
VS VENVSTVS
IIIIII AVG(ustalis)
LVCENTIS ANNOR(um) XXIII
T(e) R(ogo)•P(raeteriens)•D(icas)•S(it)•T(ibi)•T(erra) LEVIS. 

The Romans wanted to keep their memory alive and one way of achieving this was through the funerary inscriptions on the monuments, in which they were buried. These monuments were placed next to the main access roads of the towns. This epitaph, which mentions the town of Lucentum, shows Publius Astranius Venustus’s longing for eternal life by asking the traveller to remember his name.
C.S.: 3790
LLOBREGAT, E., 1981.
ABAD, L. & ABASCAL, J.M. 1991.
CORELL, J. 1999.