Rags+to+Riches

//Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae// 7457 (Mactar, Tunisia)

I was born into a poor dwelling and of a poor father, who had no property or household. From the time of my birth, I lived in the country looking after my business; there was no time off in the countryside and none for me at any time. And when the time of year had brought forth the grain ready for harvest, then I was the first reaper of the stalks. When the sickle-bearing gangs of men had made their way to the fields, whether heading for The Nomads of Cirta or The Fields of Jupiter, as harvester I preceded all, first into the fields, leaving the packed bands behind my back. I reaped twelve harvests under the raging sun, and afterwards became a work gang leader instead of a labourer. We led the gangs of harvesters for eleven years and our band cut down the Numidian fields. This effort and my frugal lifestyle brought success and made me master of a household and gained me a house, and my home itself lacks nothing. And my life gained the rewards of office: I was myself enrolled among the conscript councillors. Elected by the order [of the decurions], I had a seat in the order's temple and, starting out as a humble country boy, I too became censor. I produced children and saw them grow into young men and saw their children too. In accord with our services in life, we have enjoyed years of fame, which no bitter tongue has hurt with any reproach. People, learn to pass your lives without giving reason for reproach. The man who has lived deceitfully has earned meeting his death in such a manner.

Trans: T. Parkin and A. Pomeroy, // Roman Social History: A Sourcebook // (Routledge, 2007).

This funeral inscription from Tunisia can give us a glimpse into the life of a farmer as well as the ability to increase your quality of life under roman rule. This man was quite clearly born into a poor family with his mentioning of his poor father and a less adequate home. From a very young age he was tasked with working in the fields and had so much work to do it seems that there was no time for a childhood. In his inscription he talks a lot about the hard work he had to do to become successful, when the grain was ready to harvest he was the first person in the fields reaping the harvest. Reaping just refers to the process of collecting the wheat and preparing it for export, most likely by hand.The next sentence had a lot of terms which are difficult to understand without looking into them. the "sickle-bearing" men actually refers to the tool they use to cut the crops for collecting by hand, the [|Sickle]. The nomads of [|Cirta] and the fields of [|Jupiter] probably refer to nearby large farms since Cirta (later renamed Constantine) is the capitol city of Numidia (present day Algeria) and Jupiter was mainly an agricultural god in earlier roman years, making that a probable farm location. He claims that he was first to the fields and "left the packed bands behind my back", reading more about the process of reaping I found that you must collect the grain and wrap a band or string around it to hold it together which makes that statement much less vague. He reaped 12 harvests, meaning 12 seasons he did this for and gained the title of gang leader for his hard work, making him the boss of the other men. He ended up doing this for eleven years and worked in the fields of Numidia, mentioned earlier.

After all this hard work we get into his rewards from those many years. He was made master of the household that he owned, which means he had a wife and possibly children too. He seems to be extremely pleased with the house he built up with the money he was able to work for and save. He gained the position of conscript councillor (?) and was elected to join the temple of the [|Decurions], who are city-senators, finally he gained the title of censor. Not only does he mention his success in career and money but in his family, he had some children and was able to see them grow into "young men" and see their children as well. This leads us to believe that he only had boys, but we don't know for sure, and also that he died a grandfather which is a good lifespan for those times. In his last words he says how he and his family enjoy much fame for his hard work when he was younger and no one has tried to spread rumors to defile his good name. He gives us advise as well, to live your life without any reason for punishment and in doing that you will be greeted with a welcome and graceful death.

Lindsey Godwin

Links: [|Cirta] [|GoogleBook] [|Jupiter] [|Farming] [|Sickle] [|Decurions]

Comments: Dear Lindsey, you did a really nice job with your document. I enjoyed reading your commentary and your links are definitely good. That being said, you might want to highlight the links within the actual writing, instead of having them afterwards. Also, your document might look better with some pictures or visual representations. These are clearly just issues with appearance, you do not have to make these small cosmetic changes, its just something to consider. Overall you did a great job. Sincerely, Sean Ellicott

Comments: I agree with Sean about having more images and including links inside the text. That should be easy to fix. My only suggestion is that you give us a description of what a decurion is. I'm not sure and am curious about that. Sincerely, Andrew Cooper

This is good but there was some trems that you did not tell us what they were and i would like to know like what the title of censor is and what the conscript Councillor is but other than that it was good.-Mike Burke