45 Helttula 68 

This inscription was found in the cemetery of the Insula Sacra in Ostia in 1930. A small inscription on a small, vaulted tomb, only 130 x 90 centimeters, that covers only the top of the stone. An inscription on the bottom half has been effaced. Traces of D M can be seen near the top of the effacement.

Transcription

D(    )  M(              ) 

L(     ) Sitti Crescentis. 

P(            ) Betilienus 

Synegdemus 

amico merenti.

Text

D(is) M(anibus) / L(uci) Sitti Crescentis. / P(ublius) Betilienus / Synegdemus / amico merenti [fecit]

Interrogata

1. Why do you think that the inscription on the bottom of the stone has been effaced? Create a speculative fiction that accounts for the effacement.