personal · Roman

Prayer to the Manes

Whole-heartedly I pray to you, most holy Manes, may you admit my dear husband among you, and, may you want to be most indulging in this, that in the hours of the night I may see him and also be advised by him on what to do, in order that I may be able to swiftly and sweetly come stand by his side.

Commentarius · Commentary

A Roman tombstone: a widow addresses the Manes about her dead husband.

What she asks for is unusual. Not rest for him, but that the Manes release him to her at night: "that I may see him". And then, almost in a whisper, that he persuade her own fate as well, so that she might reach him "more sweetly and more quickly". It is a request for her own death, phrased as a request for a meeting.

There is no formula here, no bargaining, no catalogue of epithets — nothing of what fills the prayers of the state. This is what a private Roman prayer looked like.

The card's identifier says "silvanus", but Silvanus does not appear in the inscription: the address is to the Manes, and the deities field reflects that. A trace of the original mistake, as in apollo-001.

Fons · Source

AuthorAnonymous

WorkCIL

SectionCIL VI 18817

Occasiondeath of a husband

Classificatio · Taxonomy

CultureRoman

Formpersonal

Deitiesthe Manes

FunctionsPetition

SphereFamily