Many more tombs still remain to be uncovered along the roads leading further out into countryside beyond the town. A recent discovery gives some idea of what may yet be found elsewhere. The tomb of the Lucretii Valentes is located in the modern district of Scafati, to the south-east of Pompeii. It consists of an enclosure containing seven burials and a commemorative plaque honouring another member of the family, buried elsewhere. One possible reconstruction of the family’s relationships and development is given in Figure 7.1, but there is much scope for confusion and alternative interpretations, given the repeated occurrence of individuals called Decimus Lucretius Valens.
The Lucretii Valentes were a prominent family, whose lavish gladiatorial shows are known from painted notices (D11—15). The joint presentation of games (thirty pairs of gladiators) by father and son is highly unusual, but the new evidence from this tomb shows that another father and son from this family had also done exactly the same thing some time earlier (G24). The reason for this unusual pattern may lie in another unusual achievement, revealed by the epitaphs, which was the fact that at least two members of the family had been nominated to the town council as children (G21 and G24). We may suppose, then, that the presentation of games by father and son may have marked the child’s nomination, and may explain why the son did not sponsor the games on his own. What their family tomb also allows us to see in more detail is how the family had to fight for survival in the face of premature deaths, and how adoption was one weapon by which a family name might be perpetuated.
Two tufa herms without inscriptions may date from the Augustan era. Four herms bunched together in a single part of the tomb appear to represent the immediate family of Decimus Lucretius Valens (aedile in ad 33/34). The largest herm, with female characteristics, could be his wife, but its inscription has been erased by weathering. The second largest herm is of Decimus Lucretius Valens himself (G20); then two increasingly smaller herms represent his two sons, both of whom died young, Decimus Lucretius Valens (G22) and Decimus Lucretius lustus (G21). The commemorative plaque on the tomb’s facade may have honoured another son of his, perhaps also called Decimus Lucretius Valens, who (the tone of the inscription implies) may have died in his twenties (G24). This plaque reveals many surprises: it shows that in addition to the town councillors, the Augustales and inhabitants of the country district (all of whom are recorded as having voted honours in other epitaphs), and other groups too voted him honours at his untimely demise. The nates, scabiliari and fore<n>ses voted him shields (i. e., his portrait carved within a shield for public display). The scabiliari are probably the group who beat time using clappers (scabilla) for dancers in the theatre, and the nates may be cushion-sellers there. The fore<n>ses are probably the inhabitants of the Forum region, and also occur in an electoral notice (F21), but the other groups are otherwise unheard of in Pompeii. It also records that this member of the family had received equestrian status from the emperor Claudius.
On this interpretation, Decimus Lucretius Valens had three sons; one died as a small child, another survived only into his teens, and the third perished as a young adult. It seems that these circumstances prompted him to adopt a new, adult heir, Decimus Lucretius Satrius Valens (perpetual priest of Nero Caesar). His herm stands apart, in a separate part of the enclosure (G23). Decimus Lucretius Satrius Valens himself had a son called Decimus Lucretius Valens (a Flavian candidate for aedile), so the family name would have been perpetuated, had not Vesuvius intervened. The existence of this last individual is revealed by some graffiti in the family home (II. vi.3) (G25—26), which also mention his otherwise unknown mother Iusta and sister Valentina (see Figure 7.1).
9
D. Lucretius Valens (G20)
Satrius
Iusta = (G25-26)
D. Lucretius Satrius Valens (G23, 25)
D. Lucretius Valens died aged 2 (G22)
D. Lucretius lustus died aged 13 (G21)
D. Lucretius Valens(?) (G24)
Valentina
(G25)
D. Lucretius Valens (G25)
Figure 7.1 A hypothetical family tree
G20 AE (1994) 396
To Decimus Lucretius Valens, son of Decimus, of the Menenian tribe.
G21 AE (1994) 395
To Decimus Lucretius Iustus, son of Decimus, of the Menenian tribe. Nominated onto the town council free of charge. Lived for 13 years.
G22 AE (1994) 394
To Decimus Lucretius Valens, son of Decimus. Lived for 2 years.
G23 AE (1994) 397
To Decimus Lucretius Satrius Valens, son of Decimus, of the Menenian tribe.
G24 AE (1994) 398
[To Decimus Lucretius Valens, son of Decimus, of the Menenian tribe. . .], honoured by Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus with a public [horse]; nominated onto the town council free of charge, aged eight [. . .]. Together with his father, he presented thirty-five pairs of gladiators with a regular hunt. On account of his generosity, the town council (decreed) that he be given a [funeral] and a burial-place, that he receive a public eulogy, and that an equestrian statue be set up at public expense. The Augustales and inhabitants of the country district also decreed him pedestrian statues, and their attendants, the cushion-sellers and clapper-beaters, and inhabitants of the Forum region decreed him shields. He lived for [. . .] years.
G25 CIL IV 9888
Good fortune to Satrius. Good fortune to Iusta. Good fortune to Valentina. Good fortune to D(ecimus) L(ucretius) V(alens).
G26 CIL IV 9889
Good fortune to Decimus, Iusta, and their children.
World History
