The muria was apparently a fish pickle, certain parts of the fish, or certain varieties, being preserved in brine. According to Pliny the Elder some fish sauces were prepared in a special way, to be used by the Jews on fast days; two of these, as already noted, appear in the inscriptions upon Pompeian jars, garum castum and muria casta ([p. 18]).
In these inscriptions upon jars of various sizes the name of the proprietor is sometimes given, in the genitive case, as M. Caesi Celeris,—'Of M. Caesius Celer.' The name of the man to whom the consignment is made is put in the dative, as Albucio Celso.
The name of the consignor sometimes follows that of the consignee, as liquamen optimum A. Virnio Modesto ab Agathopode,—'Best liquamen, for Aulus Virnius Modestus, from Agathopus.'
An inscription similar to that just mentioned, on an amphora found in the house of Caecilius Jucundus, illustrates the extent to which family pride might assert itself in the naming of children: Caecilio Iucundo ab Sexsto Metello,—'To Caecilius Jucundus from Sextus Metellus.' The sender and the recipient were both sons of Lucius Caecilius Jucundus. According to common usage, one of the sons would have received the name Lucius Caecilius Jucundus, after the father; while the other would have been called Lucius Caecilius, with a cognomen derived perhaps from the name of the mother. But the prosperous Pompeian wished to suggest a relationship with the distinguished family of the Caecilii Metelli, so he named one son Sextus Caecilius Jucundus Metellus, and the other Quintus Caecilius Jucundus, the name Quintus being common in the family of the Caecilii Metelli. The names of the two sons are found together in an election notice: Q. S. Caecili Iucundi,—'Quintus and Sextus Caecilius Jucundus.'
Besides the names of the makers, inscriptions relating to weight and ownership are found on the cups and other objects of the Boscoreale treasure. Thus on the under side of the Alexandria patera ([Fig. 187], and [p. 380]) we find the following record, the letters of which are outlined with points: Phi[ala] et emb[lema] p[endentia] p[ondo libras] II, uncias X, scrupula VI. Phi[ala] p[endens] p[ondo libras] II, uncias II, semunciam; emb[lema] p[endens] p[ondo] uncias VII, semunciam, 'The bowl and the relief medallion' together 'weigh 2 pounds, 10 ounces, and 6 scruples. The bowl weighs 2 pounds, 2½ ounces; the relief medallion weighs 7½ ounces.' In giving the items separately no account was taken of the scruples. Reckoning the Roman pound as 327.453 grammes, the weight of the patera with its relief was 934.608 grammes, or 2.504 Troy pounds. This differs from the present weight by less than a gramme.
Occasionally a name in the genitive case is found with the record of weight, written with the same kind of letters; in such cases it is probably safe to assume that the name is that of the original owner. On the under side of one of the pair of cups ornamented with skeletons ([Fig. 217]) is the inscription: GAVIAE P·II·S𐆐IIII; a later hand, writing with a fine point, added VAS II in the space after GAVIAE, as if to supply an obvious omission, so that the inscription in full would read, Gaviae. Vas[a] II [pendentia] p[ondo libras] II, uncias VIII, [scrupula] IV, 'The property of Gavia. The two cups weigh 2 pounds, 8 ounces, and 4 scruples' (2.351 Troy pounds).
In some instances the name of a later owner has been scratched on the surface with a pointed tool. The name of a woman, Maxima, written in full or in abbreviation, appears on forty-five of the pieces in the Louvre. We may safely accept the conclusion of De Villefosse, that she is probably the one who made the collection, obtaining her specimens from different sources, and that to her the Boscoreale treasure belonged at the time of the eruption.
Besides the seals which were used in signing documents the Romans had stamps, signacula, which they impressed upon various articles as a means of identification or as an advertisement. Impressions of such stamps are found upon bricks and other objects of clay, and in one or two instances upon loaves of bread. Several charred loaves in the Naples Museum have the stamp: [C]eleris Q. Grani Veri ser.,—'(Made by) Celer, slave of Quintus Granius Verus.'
The names upon stamps appear regularly in the genitive case, as N. Popidi Prisci, spelled backward on the stamp, so that the letters appear in the right order in the impression. Since the time of Fiorelli many houses have been named from the stamps found in them; in the house of the Vettii, for example, two stamps were found with the names of Aulus Vettius Restitutus and Aulus Vettius Conviva.