Colophon
Sources & Credits
On the evidence behind these lives
Every profile is a composite — a fictional individual assembled from demographic models, archaeology, papyri, inscriptions and the literary record. The dates, mortality rates, prices, distances and events are drawn from the historical evidence; the person is not.
The illustrations are, wherever possible, real artifacts and museum photographs from Wikimedia Commons, each chosen because it connects directly to the life it accompanies, plus a few commissioned illustrations. They remain under the licenses of their creators, credited below. Scenes marked “illustration to come” are slots for period-style illustrations still to be painted.
General Reading & Inspiration
- A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry (ACOUP) — Bret DevereauxPublic-facing scholarship on the ancient world; the model for this project's source-linking.
- Roman demography — overviewPopulation structure and mortality behind the probability weights.
- Wikimedia CommonsSource of the museum photographs and artifacts used throughout, each credited on its page.
Image Credits
| Artifact | Life | Author | License | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Roman bone dice from Silchester | Site (dice) | BabelStone | CC BY-SA 3.0 | Commons |
 | Dices Roman Museum Delos ZdeDelm220 | Site (dice) | Zde | CC BY-SA 3.0 | Commons |
 | Lararium in the atrium of Casa del Menandro (Pompeii) (48442861451) | Titus Caecilius | Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China | Public domain | Commons |
 | Cherchel-Mosaic-lower-register | Titus Caecilius | Anonymous / unknown | Public domain | Commons |
 | Dominus Julius mosaic in the Bardo National Museum(12240864473) | Kalasiris | Boyd Dwyer | CC BY-SA 2.0 | Commons |
 | Roman Figurine of Bound Captive | Kalasiris | Derby Museums Trust, Charlotte Burrill, 2010-11-08 11:45:08 | CC BY-SA 4.0 | Commons |
 | Fayum mummy portrait (160-180 AD) - British museum, EA74710 | Helene | Anonymous / unknown | Public domain | Commons |
 | Statue presenting a shrine (“naophore”) with an image of the god Sobek title QS:P1476,en:"Statue presenting a shrine (“naophore”) with an image of the god Sobek "label QS:Len,"Statue presenting a shrine (“naophore”) with an image of the god Sobek "label QS:Lit,"Statua che presenta un’edicola (“naofora”) con un’immagine di Sobek" | Helene | Anonymous / unknown | CC0 | Commons |
 | Fresco portrait of the baker Terentius Neo and his wife, from Pompeii | Petronia Iusta | Chappsnet | CC BY-SA 4.0 | Commons |
 | Terracotta oil lamp | Petronia Iusta | Anonymous / unknown | CC0 | Commons |
 | Ancient Roman Public Latrine, Ostia Antica (6075060094) | Petronia Iusta | Larry from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada | CC BY 2.0 | Commons |
 | Cenotaph of Marcus Caelius, 1st centurion of Legio XVIII, who fell in the war of Varus (Battle in the Teutoburg Forest (9 AD), LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn (9510859222) | Gaius Vibius Celer | Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany | CC BY-SA 2.0 | Commons |
 | Kalkriese mask | Gaius Vibius Celer | Marco Prins | CC0 | Commons |
 | Bronze military diploma | Gaius Vibius Celer | Anonymous / unknown | CC0 | Commons |
 | Togato Barberini | Publius Valerius Messalla | Carlo Dell'Orto | CC BY-SA 4.0 | Commons |
 | Relief of the Ara Pacis Augustae with Procession-Uffizi | Publius Valerius Messalla | Yair Haklai | CC BY-SA 4.0 | Commons |
 | Thermopolium Lucius Vetutius Placidus Pompeii | Successus | Jebulon | CC0 | Commons |
 | Tavern scene from VI 14, 36 (Caupona of Salvius) by Geremia Discanno pub 1882 | Successus | Geremia Discanno (d. 1907) | Public domain | Commons |
 | Pompeii Plaster cast of a victim | Successus | Kleuske | CC BY 3.0 | Commons |
 | 'Gorgon's Head' - Bath Temple Pediment | Boudiga | nyaa_birdies_perch | CC BY 2.0 | Commons |
 | A metal curse tablet (defixio) with a complaint about the theft of a Vilbia | Boudiga | -JvL- | CC BY 2.0 | Commons |
 | Hunting Dogs Mosaic, Corinium Museum (Cirencester) (16178671784) | Boudiga | Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany | CC BY-SA 2.0 | Commons |
 | Mithras sacrificing a bulllabel QS:Lfr,"Mithra sacrifiant le taureau"label QS:Len,"Mithras sacrificing a bull"label QS:Les,"Mitra matando al toro"label QS:Lit,"Mitra uccide il toro"label QS:Lca,"Mitra sacrificant un toro" | Aurelius Diza | Anonymous / unknown | CC BY 2.0 | Commons |
 | Antoninianus of Gallienus - Obverse | Aurelius Diza | MumblerJamie | CC BY-SA 2.0 | Commons |
 | Tombstone of Aurel(ius) Monimus; RIU-05, 01193 = Schober 00229 = RHP 00328 = CBI 00402 = BfIntercisa 00007 = AE 1912, 00007: D(is) M(anibus) // Aur(elio) Monimo b(ene)f(iciario) / trib(uni) coh(ortis) oo(milliariae) H/emes(enorum) stip(endiorum) XXIIII / vixit an(nos) XLV / G() Bassus lib(ertus) / b(ene) m(erenti) p(osuit) ex ipsi/us praeceptolabel QS:Len,"Tombstone of Aurel(ius) Monimus; RIU-05, 01193 = Schober 00229 = RHP 00328 = CBI 00402 = BfIntercisa 00007 = AE 1912, 00007: D(is) M(anibus) // Aur(elio) Monimo b(ene)f(iciario) / trib(uni) coh(ortis) oo(milliariae) H/emes(enorum) stip(endiorum) XXIIII / vixit an(nos) XLV / G() Bassus lib(ertus) / b(ene) m(erenti) p(osuit) ex ipsi/us praecepto"label QS:Lhu,"Aurel(ius) Monimus sírköve" | Aurelius Diza | Anonymous / unknown | Public domain | Commons |
 | Disco de Teodosio | Flavius Marcellinus | Ángel M. Felicísimo | CC BY 3.0 | Commons |
 | Notitia Dignitatum - Primicerius notariorum | Flavius Marcellinus | Peronet Lamy (died 1453), based on Roman originals | Public domain | Commons |
 | Theodosian Walls of Constantinople, Istanbul (24053561188) | Flavius Marcellinus | Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany | CC BY-SA 2.0 | Commons |
 | Aphrodisias Museum Claudius and Britannica 4638 | Boudiga | Dosseman | CC BY-SA 4.0 | Commons |