The monumental inscriptions in Oscan provide us with a picture of the town’s pre-Roman system of administration and urban development. The town was governed by two main bodies, a popular assembly and a council. Some aspects of the town’s organization were quite similar to contemporary Roman practices. For example, the aediles were responsible for the town’s roads, and the quaestors (kvatsstur) for financial matters. Building inscriptions reveal the role of magistrates in sponsoring public buildings (A8—12) and religious dedications illustrate which gods were worshipped in the town (A13, A15-17).
PRE-ROMAN POMPEII Road-building (A8)
This inscription, regulating road construction, appears on a travertine block found sunk into the ground just inside the Stabian Gate. The first sentence may end ‘Stabian bridge’ rather than ‘lower Stabian road’. The identity of the Temple of Jupiter Meilichios mentioned here is disputed: traditionally identified as the small temple to the north of the theatres, it may alternatively be a small shrine in a sanctuary just outside Pompeii, in the Fondo lozzino. Another fragmentary inscription, Vetter (1953) nos. 9—10, records a similar project.
A8 Vetter (1953) no. 8
M. Suttius, son of M., and Numerius Pontius, son of M., aediles, marked out this road as far as the lower Stabian road. The road is marked out over 100 feet. The same magistrates marked out the Pompeian road over 30 feet as far as the Temple of Jupiter Meilichios. They officially established from scratch these roads and the road of Jupiter and the (?) road by order of the Pompeian chief magistrate. The same aediles approved the work.
Testamentary donation to the town (A9)
This carefully inscribed travertine plaque was found in the Samnite Palaestra (VIII. vii.29) and probably commemorates its construction.
A9 Vetter (1953) no. 11
Vibius Atranus, son of Vibius, granted money in his will to the people of Pompeii; with this money, the Pompeian quaestor, Vibius Vinicius, son of Maras, by decree of the assembly, issued a contract for this to be built, and he himself approved it.
Sundial in the Stabian Baths (A10)
This inscription appears on the base of a small sundial, found near the main entrance to the Stabian Baths (VII. i.8) from the Street of Abundance. The use of money from fines to fund a public project was also common Roman practice. The Oscan expression for ‘with the money raised from fines’ (‘eitiuvad multasikad’) directly mirrors the equivalent archaic Latin phrase (‘aere moltaticod’). Maras Atinius also appears as aedile on the altar in the Sanctuary of Dionysus (A16).
PRE-ROMAN POMPEII Plate 1.1 A10a Sundial in the Stabian Baths
A10b Vetter (1953) no. 12
Maras Atinius, son of Maras, quaestor, with the money raised from fines, by decree of the assembly, saw to this being set up.
Monumentalization of a well in the Triangular Forum (A11)
This text was inscribed upon the architrave of a small circular structure, or tholos, in the Triangular Forum, which stood above a well. Like the Popidii (A22—26), members of the Trebii are also found as public figures right down until AD 79.
A11 Vetter (1953) no. 15
Numerius Trebius, son of Trebius, chief magistrate, saw to this being built. Refurbishing the Temple of Apollo (A12)
This inscription is highly unusual in form, surviving as a series of dots stamped upon the paving, at the threshold to the temple’s inner room (cella). These were possibly once joined up or filled with metal. It is unclear exactly what the inscription refers to, but it may well commemorate work on the elaborate geometrically patterned paving rather than on the temple as a whole.
A12 Vetter (1953) no. 18
Ovius Camp[anius, son of?], quaestor, by decree of the assembly, with the money of Apollo [-] issued a contract and approved it.
Altar to the goddess Flora (A13)
This small travertine altar dedicated to Flora was found in the atrium of the House of the Faun (VI. xii.2). A bronze female statuette, perhaps representing the goddess Flora, was also found nearby.
A13 Vetter (1953) no. 21
To Flora.
An improbable tombstone (A14)
This text is carefully cut into plaster, then coloured in red.
A14 Vetter (1953) no. 70
Audia, daughter of Numerius, aged 112.
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