Hic situs est

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H. S. E. is an abbreviation that can be found on many Roman gravestones . It stands for Hic situs est ( lat. "Here lies") or Hic sepultus est (lat. "Here is buried").

The abbreviation was often expanded, for example to H. S. E. B. Q. - Hic situs est, bene quiescat (lat. "Here he lies, he rest well").

A famous example is Ovid's tomb for Phaethon ,

Hic situs est Phaethon, currus auriga paterni,
quem si non tenuit, magnis tamen excidit ausis. ( Met . II 327 f.)

In the translation by Johann Heinrich Voss :

Phaethon rests here, who drives his father's chariot;
Although not quite asserting it, he succumbed to great endeavors.

See also