A Note on the Epitaph of Terentius

Extract

In this Journal, Vol. XXXIV, 1941, page 79, Mr. Welles published with a scholarly commentary the interesting epitaph of the tribune Terentius from Dura. The place in which it was found, in a private house, presents difficulties to him. He supposes that the stone was set into the epistyle and smashed when falling down from it and takes great pains to prove that Terentius was not buried in the house. This is evident. I think the solution is very simple. Only the first seven lines and the first half of the eighth are incised, from the word θεαί the letters are painted in red. It is a well-known ancient custom to paint the letters in order to guide the stone-cutter in his work.