Julius Alexander (glass manufacturer)

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Julius Alexander was an ancient glass manufacturer in Roman times who originally came from Carthage and later emigrated to Gaul .

He is one of about 130 known names or identifiers of antique glassmakers, but he is the only one who has received evidence beyond the glassware itself. His tombstone was found in Lyon , roughly dated to around AD 200, according to which he died at the age of 75. In addition, are approximately from him signed glassware Seattle Museum of Glass Chihuly Garden and Glass , was obtained.

The inscription on the gravestone reads (in the Latin text with scientific additions according to the Leiden bracket system and in a relatively literal German translation):

"D (is) M (anibus) / et memoriae aetern (a) e Iul / i Alexsa (n) dri (!) Natione Afri civi / Carthagine (n) si (h) omini optimo opif / ici artis vitriae qui vix ( it) an (n) os LXXV / mense <s = N> V dies XXIII s <i = E> ne ulla / l (a) esione animi cum co (n) iuge / sua Virginia cum qua vix / {s} it annis XXXXVIII ex qua / creavit filio (s) III et <f = E> iliam / ex quibus his omnibus ne / potes vidit e <t = D> eos supe (r) st / ites sibi reliquit hunc / tumulum ponendum cu / raverunt Numonia Be / llia ux {s} or et Iulius Al / exsius filius et Iulius F / elix filius et Iulius Gal / lonius filius et Num [o] / nia Belliosa filia it [em] / nepotes eius Iulius Au [ct] / us (?) Iulius Felix Iuliu [s Alex] / sander (?) Iulius Gal (l) on [us (?) Iuli] / us Leontius Iulius Gall [3] / Iulius Eonius p (arenti?) P (iissimo?) C <u = Y> r (averunt) [et sub asc (ia)] / dedicav [erunt] "

“The spirits of the dead and the eternal memory of Iulius Alexander, of African origin, citizen of Carthage, the excellent man, craftsman in glass art, who lived 75 years, 5 months and 23 days. He was [married] to his wife from her virginity, with whom he lived for forty-eight years, and with whom he had three sons and a daughter, all of whom he had grandchildren. And he left her as him survivors. The wife Nomonia Bellia, the son Iulius Alexsius, the son Iulius Felix, the son Iulius Gallonius and the daughter Nomonia Belliosa, as well as his grandsons Iulius Auctus (?), Iulius Felix, Iulius Alexsander (?), Took care of the construction of this burial mound. Iulius Gallonus (?), Iulius Leontius, Iulius Gall […] and Iulius Eonius. They took care of their loving father and consecrated (the tomb ) under the ascia . "

What is striking about the names of the deceased is that the daughter of the deceased (Numonia Belliosa) was named after her mother (Numonia Bellia), while all sons and grandchildren bore the gentile name of the father (Iulius) as usual . The explanation for this could be that the daughter was born as the first child and at a time when marriage between her parents was not yet legally possible, presumably because the father was still a slave. The remaining children would then have been born after his release and the marriage of the parents and would therefore have received the father's family name. Julius Alexander's wife wears a Celtic cognomen , so it may have been a Gaul or a Gaul freed . This in turn suggests that the spouses first met in Lyon, where Alexander must have come quite early, given their 48 years of living together, probably between 20 and 25 years of age. Assuming that he was actually a slave initially, his release is likely to have taken place only a few years later, as he fathered all of his surviving children as a free man in a legal marriage, with the exception of his daughter. It is also noticeable that Alexander is referred to in his grave inscription as a "citizen of Carthage" ("civi Carthagine (n) si"), which suggests a certain (original) political affiliation to the municipality of Carthage beyond the pure indication of origin.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Reproduced from CIL XIII, 2000
  2. ↑ The Latin formula "sine ulla laesione animi" is typical for inscriptions from the area around Lugdunum / Lyon: Ulrike Ehmig : Scenes not just from a marriage: sine ulla querella and related formulations in Latin grave inscriptions. In: Tyche . Volume 27, 2012, pp. 1-45, here p. 9 ( online ).
  3. ↑ The translation "from her virginity" is taken from Lothar Wierschowski: Strangers in Gallien - "Gauls" in the foreign. The epigraphically attested mobility in, from and to Gaul from the 1st to the 3rd century AD (texts - translations - commentaries). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07970-X , p. 340. Wierschowski argues for the interpretation that Iulius Alexander wanted to use the Latin phrase "cum co (n) iuge sua Virginia" to express that his wife was at the Marriage was a virgin. An alternative interpretation of the text assumes that Virginia is his wife's name. Then Julius Alexander would have been married to Numonia Bellia, who set the tombstone, in a second marriage.
  4. ↑ The beginning of the final sentence is abbreviated to "PP" in Latin, which is resolved differently. The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum ( CIL XIII, 2000 ) assumes “p (arenti) p (iissimo)” (“For the loving father”) as a supplement; Lothar Wierschowski ( Strangers in Gaul - "Gauls" in foreign countries. The epigraphically attested mobility in, from and to Gaul from the 1st to the 3rd century AD (texts - translations - comments). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07970-X , p. 340) resolves the passage to “p (ro) p (ietate)” (“From love” or “From piety”).
  5. ↑ The Latin formula "sub ascia dedicavit" appears again and again in grave inscriptions, especially from southern Gaul, and literally means "consecrated under the ax". The meaning is not clear, however; one suspects, for example, that this was intended to express a special power of disposal of the founder over the tomb : Peter Herz : Ascia. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 2, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01472-X , column 75 f.
  6. ↑ Lothar Wierschowski: Strangers in Gaul - "Gauls" in foreign countries. The epigraphically attested mobility in, from and to Gaul from the 1st to the 3rd century AD (texts - translations - commentaries). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07970-X , p. 340.
  7. ↑ Lothar Wierschowski: Strangers in Gaul - "Gauls" in foreign countries. The epigraphically attested mobility in, from and to Gaul from the 1st to the 3rd century AD (texts - translations - commentaries). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07970-X , p. 341.
  8. ↑ Lothar Wierschowski: Strangers in Gaul - "Gauls" in foreign countries. The epigraphically attested mobility in, from and to Gaul from the 1st to the 3rd century AD (texts - translations - commentaries). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07970-X , p. 8 f.
personal data
SURNAME Julius Alexander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alexander, Julius; Alexander, Iulius; Julius Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION antique glass producer from the Roman era
DATE OF BIRTH at 130
DATE OF DEATH at 200