Gaius Vibius Firmus
(0028) Text: C(aius) Vibius Firmus, | mil(es) leg(ionis) V Mac(edonicae), | Ɔ Pollionis, bene- | ficiarius, milita(vit) | annis XIIX, vixit | annis XXXX. | H(ic) s(itus) e(st). | Saccia primig[e]nia coniugi suo f(aciendum) c(uravit).
Translation: Gaius Vibius Firmus, soldier in legio V Macedonica in the century of Pollionus, beneficarius. Soldier for 18 years, he lived 40 years. He rests here. His wife Saccia took care of her duties. (Trans. Christopher B. Zeichmann)
Commentary: The career of Gaius Vibius Firmus was sufficiently brief that we must infer he died in combat during the Judaean War, as legio V Macedonica was only present in Judaea for the duration of the War. He was a legionary, which meant he was not legally permitted to marry, though the inscription was erected by his wife Saccia. We should probably infer that conubium was granted both posthumously and retroactively, as was custom for soldiers’ widows.
Provenience: Emmaus, Judaea (Amwas) 68-70 CE
Bibliography: CIL 3.14155.12; CIIP 3095; Moshe Fischer, Benjamin Isaac and Israel Roll, Roman Roads in Judaea II: The Jaffa-Jerusalem Roads, BARIS 628 (Oxford: Tempvs Reparatvm, 1996), 156.