On the 24th
of February in 1981 a gravestone was found during building excavation near the
Scheiblingsturm. The 106 cm high, 75 cm wide and
47 cm thick stone was found around five or six meters away from the riverbank
of the Inn.
The gravestone,
bearing an epitaph on the front side, is ornamented with deep relieves on the
side surfaces.
The inscription
is as follows:
D(is) M(anibus)
P(ublio) Tenatio Ess
imno, negot
ianti vinar/iario, domo
Iulia Triden
tum, (obito)
anno(rum) LVII
P(ublius) Tenatius
Pater
nus patri
pientissimo
f(ecit).
The English
translation: to the divine spirits of our ancestors: Publius Tenatius Essimnus, the wholesale wine trader, residing legally in Iulia Tridentum (and) passed away
at the age of 57, erected this tomb for his beloved father Publius
Tenatius Paternus.
The deep
relief on the left side shows possibly a bearded man vested with a tunic, paenula (mantle) and half-high boots. He holds presumably
a vessel in his hands. Two kegs, stacked on top of each other, stand next to
his feet.
The deep
relief on the right side shows a bearded man, only vested with a tunic and boots.
He holds a jar in his left hand and a pot in his right hand. Three wine casks
are piled up next to his feet.
From the
epitaph in connection with the relieves, we can conclude (the right one shows
him while sampling wines and the left one portrays probably a scene in the wine
cellar) that Publius Tenatius
Essimnus used to be a wholesale wine trader (presumably
in the 2nd or 3rd century) and his son donated this gravestone.
We can only
speculate about his origins. Maybe he was Roman from Iulia
Tridentium (Trient). Furthermore,
the original placement of the stone, which belonged to a pylon memorial, cannot
be reconstructed. Likewise the speculation that the stone used to be part of
a graveyard situated at the present Rindermarkt (cattle
market) can not be proven.
Today the
gravestone is exhibited in
revised by: Erik Janshen
translation by: Stefanie Paulus
(16.8.2004/13.5.2005)