20 
October 1st.— The Rev. J. Kenrick read a notice of the 
sepulchral monument of ^lia Uliana. This piece of sculpture 
^yas discovered, at a depth of between two and three feet, in the 
excavations carrying on for the new coal depot of the N.E. Rail¬ 
way Station. It is of coarse gritstone, like so many of our 
Roman monuments. The father and mother of ^lia Uliana 
are represented sitting in an alcove, divided from the rest of the 
apartment. A girl about seven or eight years old stands in 
front of this division at one end, and a tripod table opposite to 
it. The right arm of the husband is passed round the neck of 
the wife; in his left he holds something of uncertain character. 
In some other monuments of this class the male figure holds a 
scroll, indicative of some civil profession. His left elbow leans 
on a cushion. The wife holds a cup in her hand. There is a 
wooden wine vessel or doliiim on the floor, of wdiich the hoops 
are clearly distinguishable, and on the tripod table a small cake 
or loaf of bread. It belongs therefore to a class of Greek and 
Roman sepulchral monuments, wdiich has much exercised 
the ingenuity of antiquaries, in wdiich a meal appears, in 
connexion wdth a commemoration of the dead. As this com¬ 
bination w\as first observed on Roman monuments, it was 
naturally referred to the silicernium, a w^ord of uncertain 
etymology denoting a meal or feast held by the surviving rela¬ 
tives of a deceased person.^ As the entertainment represented 
on Roman monuments is generally of a simple kind, such as 
that before us, which consists only of bread and wine, this ex¬ 
planation sufficed, and even where there was the appearance of 
joyous festivity this w'as not absolutely inconsistent wdth the 
notion of the funeral meal. But when scholars extended their 
researches to Greek funereal sculptures, tliis explanation w^as 
no longer satisfactory. Not only do they include a great variety 
of dishes on the table placed before the two principal figures, 
and an abundant supply of wine, but various accessories are 
introduced, wdiich do not seem to belong to the silicernium. 
Among these are the dog, a snake, a horse, represented in 
abbreviation by his head; and besides the husband and the 
^ See Kirchmann de Funeribus Fomanoriim; p. 582. 
