Sculpture, funerary monument

Hexagonal column with one face inscribed: D(IS) M(ANIBUS)/ CL(AUDIAE) MARTI/ NAE AN(NORUM) XIX/ANENCLE/ TUS/ PROVINC(IALIS)/ CONIVGI/ PIENTISSMAE/ H(IC) S(ITA) E(ST), meaning 'To the spirits of the departed (and) to Claudia Martina, aged 19; Anencletus, slave of the province (set this up) to his most devoted wife; she lies here.' The column is decorated along the front top by two swags joining in the centre to create two semi-circular niches and finishing in scrolls to the left and right. Its hexagonal shape is rare for a funerary monument in the North-Western provinces, and the impressive size and shape of the block is curious in comparison with the plain carving and average lettering. There is a hole in the top of the column, perhaps for attaching a statue of the deceased, though this block may be a reused statue base, the inscription postdating the original carving. The quality of the base compared to the enslaved status of the donor is also interesting. As provincialis or servus provinciae, Anencletus served the provincial council in London responsible for maintaining the Imperial cult, though the word 'provincialis' may simply have noted his origins. The marriage of an enslaved man to a free woman is unusual.