Funerary Stele of Licinia Amias

Funerary Stele of Licinia Amias (Detail)

513
This marble stele (early 3rd c. AD) with one of the oldest Christian inscriptions in Rome blends pagan and Christian elements. The Latin dedication to the Manes, spirits of the dead, appears beside a Greek inscription reading Fish of the Living, an acrostic for Christ. Flanked by two fish and an anchor, it proclaims salvation through faith amid Rome’s religious transition.