The Memory of the Imperial Freedman Priscus Gamianus along the Fifth Mile of the via Latina

Priscus Gamianus’s inscription was discovered in 1752 along the fifth mile of the Via Latina, then it was moved to Ravenna, where it is still to be found today. One of the most important aspects of the document is the mention, word for word, of the instructions pertaining to the construction of a monimentum: Priscus’s testamentary will (legatum) starts with the original title. The founder gave to his freedmen and slaves (those whose manumission he had requested through fideicommissum) the right to be buried in the monument. Priscus Gamianus, before becoming a freedman himself, formed part, probably during the Giulio-Claudian period, of the peculium of his ordinarius Gamus Agathoclianus, both of them within the circle of the Emperor’s family.