JEWS OR PAGANS? 151paid 54,000 sesterces (13,500 denarii) per annum, a vast fortune worth some
fortytimes minimum subsistence wages for a family of four; such a salary
could constitute a fir mbasis for the attain ment of equestrian rank.^76 Clearly
Marcellinus’s widow believed that it had also added the lustre of prestige to
his life and was his most memorable accomplishment.^77 What is significant
about this inscription is the banality of this sentiment in the context of the
highimperialRomaneast,whereinsmallercitieslikeTiberiasretiredcenturi-
ons and their ilk often passed for high society, and its unexpectedness in a
“Jewish” context.^78
Of equal interest is Schwabe no. 10 = di Segni no. 8, a marble plaque now
lost:
IngratitudetoourdeceasedmasterSiricius,we,yourhome-bornslaves(threptoi=
vernaculi) have built this (monument).
SchwabeplausiblysuggestedthattheslaveshadbeenmanumittedinSirici-
us’s will and also proposed that this Siricius is somehow connected with a
landmark nearthe entranceto Tiberiasmentioned inthe PalestinianTalmud
(Erubin 5:1, 22b), thenafsha disiriqin. In fact, Schwabe thought that the
buildinginquestionwasthetomboftheSiriciusmentionedintheinscription,
but the Talmudic phrase should mean “mausoleum of the Siricii,” in the
plural.Onceagain,acknowledgmentsofawell-to-doformermaster’sgeneros-
ity by manumitted slaves can be found everywhere in the Roman Empire.
Rather less banal thanthese two is Schwabe 14 = diSegni 27, inscribed on
a sarcophagus found outside the south gate of the city. This is the epitaph of
a retired low-ranking officer who probably served in an auxiliary, rather than
legionary, unit. Though his pay was lower (even much lower) than that of his
probable near contemporary Aurelius Marcellinus, at between 18,000 and
42,000 sesterces a year, depending on the precise nature of the unit in which
hehadserved,itstillhelpsexplaintheuninhibitedmaterialismofhisepitaph,
and probably placed hi mfir mly in the ranks of the well-to-do citizens:
Here I lie, Amandus, who has partaken of every luxury, who has lived, godlike
[isotheoˆs], a great number of years, honorably having the rank of decurion of the
army,havingvirtue[areteˆ]whichlivesevenafterdeath.Whohasenjoyedasmany
luxuries among men as I? Who is so beloved of his native city [patreˆ]? I, who am
always well-known among many men, whom the native city longs for, [T]i[ber-
ias?], that is, which bore me.^79(^76) See M. Alexander Speidel, “Roman Army Pay Scales,”JRS82 (1992): 87–106.
(^77) Cf.the fragmentaryivorycarvingof aRomanlegionary troopfoundat Sepphoris:R.Rosen-
thal, “Late Roman and Byzantine Bone Carvings from Palestine,”IEJ26 (1976): 96–103.
(^78) On the high status of legionary veterans in their hometowns, see P. Garnsey,Social Status
andLegalPrivilegeintheRomanEmpire(Oxford: Clarendon, 1970), pp. 245–51.
(^79) See Speidel, “Roman Army Pay Scales.” Some of my comments on this inscription are
indebted to a conversation with Simon Goldhill.