These portrait busts of the Greek doctor Claudius Agathemerus and his wife Myrtale

 

These portrait busts of the Greek doctor Claudius Agathemerus and his wife Myrtale are part of an impressive tombstone from Rome. The hairstyles of the couple indicate that the monument dates from around 90–110 CE.

Myrtale is positioned slightly in front of her husband, a symbol of authority suggesting that she may have commissioned and paid for the monument, after Claudius’ death.

The doctor and his wife were Greek, but died in Rome – showing the Empire’s social mobility. Claudius is perhaps the famous doctor from Sparta who came to Rome, mentioned by the writer Suetonius.

Beneath the couple is an inscription in Greek, which states that the doctor was a ‘swift healer of disease’ and that the couple are now together with the blessed deceased in Elysium, a conception of the afterlife that was maintained by some ancient Greeks. In Homer’s writings, the Elysian Fields was a land of perfect happiness at the end of the Earth.

Tombstone Of Claudius Agathemerus and Myrtale, Rome, 90–110 CE. Marble, 83 x 89 x 23.5 cm. ANMichaelis.155

Ashmolean Museum