Built into the church of St Leonard at Spodnje Gameljne (Picture 1), c. 9 kilometres north of Ljubljana (the Roman Emona), was a Roman tombstone made of Glinščica (Rosandra) limestone. Its ...inscription refers to the family of the Caesernii and to the festival Carnaria, which is mentioned in no other literary work or inscription of the Roman Empire. Due to the unique significance of the inscription, the tombstone, dilapidated by exposure, was removed in 1997 and transported to the National Museum of Slovenia. In translation, the text runs: ‘To the divine Spirits of the Deceased. To Lucius Caesernius Primitivus, one of the board of five and the head of the decuria of the college of artisans (collegium fabrum), and to his wife Ollia Primilla. By their wills they left 200_ denarii to the four decuriae of the collegium fabrum in order that they would bring roses (to their grave) on the day of the festival of Carna. Lucius Caesernius Primitivus (had the tombstone erected) to his parents.’ (Picture 2)The Caesernii family, whose forebears had moved to Emona from northern Italy, especially from Aquileia, belonged among the most distinguished and economically important local families. Judging by the tombstone of the Aquileian public functionary Titus Caesernius Diphilus, who had moved to Emona with his freedman Dignus in the middle of the 1st century BC or slightly later, the family’s first representatives came to Emona even before the latter was established as a colony (an event probably dating to the earliest Augustan era). Since Diphilus had his tombstone erected in his lifetime, he appearsto have chosen the town as his permanent residence. Emona became a secondary centre of the Caesernii, from which they went on to settle in various towns of Noricum and Pannonia. As part of their wealth may have rested on ironworks, it is hardly surprising that Lucius Caesernius Primitivus had a leading role in the craftsmen’s association (collegium fabrum) comprising blacksmiths, workers in copper and bronze, builders, and masons, whose activities included firemen’s duties in the larger towns.Caesernius Primitivus and Ollia Primilla, who presumably owned an estate in the territory of today’s village of Spodnje Gameljne, bequeathed to the collegium 200 denarii (equalling 800 sestertii) on condition that (part of) the annual interest should be used to buy roses and decorate their grave. Inscriptions referring to similar bequests are mainly known from northern Italy but largely unknown in the western provinces: Noricum and Pannonia have yielded no finds, nor are expected to do so (yet another proof that Emona belonged under the Regio X, Tenth Italic Region). The testament writers usually desired to have their memory honoured on the Parentalia (a festival of the dead) and/or the Rosalia and Violaria (festivals when graves were decorated with roses and violets respectively), or on their birthdays or death anniversaries. On occasion other festivals could be selected if they were important to their families or collegia. A Greek inscription from Cepigovo (Macedonia), for example, stipulates that the festival of Vettius Bolanus should be commemorated with a yearly banquet on 19 October: this date may have been his birthday or an important family festival. The same may be assumed about the Carnaria of the Caesarnii inscription, as the Roman custom was to cite the date by referring to the accompanying festival.
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