The conjugal affections especially have their beautiful and tender commemoration. The mutual love of husband and wife finds in these inscriptions affecting record, which attests the happiness of the marriage relation among the primitive Christians. Frequently the bereaved husband recounts with grateful recollection the fact that his wedded life was one of perfect harmony,
unmarred by a single jar or discord—SEMPER CONCORDES SINE VLLA QVERELA.
The posthumous praise of these Christian matrons recalls the inspired portraiture of the virtuous woman of Scripture. The intensity of conjugal grief is shown by the expressions, MALE FRACTVS CONIVX—“The sore broken husband;” and GEMITV TRISTI LACRIMIS DEFLET—“He bewails in tears with bitter lamentation.” Often occurs the phrase INCOMPARABILIS CONIVX—“Incomparable wife,” frequently with the addition, OPTIMAE MEMORIAE—“Of most excellent memory.” Sometimes we find the tender expression, with such depth of meaning in its simple words, QVI AMAVIT ME—“Who loved me;” also the phrase, CARVS SVIS—“Dear to his friends;” or, PERDVLCISSIMO CONIVGI SVO—inadequately rendered, “To her most dearest husband.” The utterance of a grief into the secret of which none can enter but those who have known its bitterness, is often extremely pathetic.
The spirit of these inscriptions will be best seen in the concrete. The following are characteristic examples: DEO FIDELIS DVLCIS MARITO NVTRIX FAMILIAE HVMILIS CVNCTIS AMATRIX PAVPERVM—“Faithful to God, endeared to her husband, the nurse of her family, humble to all, a lover of the poor;” BIXIT MECVM ANNIS XXII · MENS · IX · DIES V IN QVIBVS SEMPER MIHI BENE FVIT CVM ILLA—“She lived with me for twenty-two years, nine months, five days, during which time it ever went well with me in her society;” CONIVGE VENERANDE BONE INNOCVA FLORENTIA DIGNA PIA AMABILIS PVDICA (sic)—“To my wife Florentia, deserving of honour, good, guileless, worthy, pious, amiable, modest.”
HIC REQVIESCIT IN PACE TERTVRA CF DVLCIS PETRONII CONIVX
DEO SERVIENS VNICAE FIDEI AMICA PACIS CASTIS MORIBVS ORNATA
COMMVNIS FIDELIBVS AMICIS FAMILIAE GRATA NVTRIX NATORVM
ET NVMQVAM AMARA MARITO.
“Here reposes in peace Tertura, an illustrious woman, the sweet wife of Petronius, serving God, of matchless faith, a friend of peace, adorned with modest manners, affable toward the faithful friends of her family, a loving nurse of her children, and never bitter to her husband.”
HIC MIHI SEMPER DOLOR ERIT IN AEVO