In the Italian city of Bucchianico (Abruzzo region), an ancient Roman burial stele was discovered during preparations for the construction of a road junction. The stone slab, on which a woman's face is carved and contains an inscription, was not found by chance. Once there was a sanctuary of Hercules, and in the vicinity there were country houses of influential families, and archaeologists could not leave this place without attention.
The inscription is divided into five lines:
METTIAE
C L RVFA
METTIA C L
ACVMEMATRI
P
We are talking about the freedwoman Rufa Mettia, who dedicated the tombstone to her mother. The Mettii family rose to power in the last decades of the Roman Republic and became very famous during the imperial period. Under the emperor Vespasian, one of the Mettii first received the title of consul. Since the family name of the former master passed to the freedmen, Rufa could legitimately use it on the tombstone.
The artifact was transported to the city of Sulmona, where specialists from the Office of Archeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of the provinces of Chieti and Pescara will take over it. Local officials are raising funds for the restoration and subsequent demonstration of the stele to the general public.
