North Carolina Museum of Art

This marble relief was carved to fit into the facade of a stone tomb that probably stood along a major road outside the city of Rome. The Latin inscription names the three figures as Sextus Maelius Stabilio, Vesinia Iucunda, and Sextus Maelius Faustus. The use of "L" as an abbreviation for Libertus indicates that the men were the freed slaves of Sextus Maelius and that the woman was freed by a Roman matron named Vesinia.

The handshake shared by the older man and the woman identifies them as husband and wife. Iucunda wears a bride's veil and ring, and she holds her left hand to her face in a wife's traditional gesture of modesty. The younger man is probably the couple's son, born to them while they were still slaves. He may have been responsible for commissioning this monument. The emphasis on the symbols of marriage evident in this relief reflects the importance attached to the family during the reign of the Emperor Augustus.