§29 Publius Oppius

Publius Oppius

(0029) Text: P(ublius) Oppi[us … f(ilius)] | Camilia […] | -cio Rave[n(n)a], | miles leg(ionis) [V] | Mac(edonicae), optio, | vixit an(n)os | XXX, milita(vit) | annos VIIII. | H(ic) s(itus) e(st). | H(eres) f(ecit).

Translation: Publius Oppius [son of …], of the tribe Camilia. […]cio of Ravenna, soldier in legio V Macedonica, optio. He lived 30 years, soldier for 9 years. He rests here. His heir made erected this tombstone. (Trans. Christopher B. Zeichmann)

Commentary: As a legionary who died in combat, Publius Oppius’ heir was presumably either a freedperson or a relative, as he was ineligible to be married. Legio V Macedonica did not remain in Judaea after the Judaean War, so he must have settled Emmaus in the late stages of the War.

Provenience: Emmaus, Judaea (Amwas) 68-70 CE

Bibliography: CIIP 3094; J. H. Landau, “Two Inscribed Tombstones,” Atiqot 11 (1976): 89-90; Moshe Fischer, Benjamin Isaac and Israel Roll, Roman Roads in Judaea II: The Jaffa-Jerusalem Roads, BARIS 628 (Oxford: Tempvs Reparatvm, 1996), 156.