ve been rather defective, on
account of a deformity in the ribs, probably caused by scrofula.
Scrofula, in fact, seems to have been the cause of her death. In spite
of this deformity, however, there is no doubt that she was betrothed
to the young man Philetus, whose name is engraved on the stone of the
second ring, and that the two happy lovers had exchanged the oath of
fidelity and mutual devotion for life, which is expressed by the
symbol of the clasped hands. The story of her sad death, and of the
sudden grief which overtook her family on the eve of a joyful wedding,
is plainly told by the presence in the coffin of the doll and the
myrtle wreath, which is a _corona nuptialis_. I believe, in fact, that
the girl was buried in her full bridal costume, and then covered with
the linen shroud, because there are fragments of clothes of various
textures and qualities mixed with those of the white linen.

And now let us turn our attention to the doll. This exquisite _pupa_,
a work of art in itself, is of oak, to which the combined action of
time and water has given the hardness of metal. It is modelled in
perfect imitation of a woman's form, and ranks amongst the finest of
its kind yet found in Roman excavations. The hands and feet are carved
with the utmost skill. The arrangement of the hair is characteristic
of the age of the Antonines, and differs but little from the coiffure
of Faustina the elder. The doll was probably dressed, because in the
thumb of her right hand are inserted two gold keyrings like those
carried by housewives. This charming little figure, the joints of
which at the hips, knees, shoulders, and elbows are still in good
order, is nearly a foot high. Dolls and playthings are not peculiar to
children's tombs. It was customary for young ladies to offer their
dolls to Venus or Diana on their wedding-day. But this was not the end
reserved for Crepereia's doll. She was doomed to share the sad fate of
her young mistress, and to be placed with her corpse, before the
marriage ceremony could be performed.

FOOTNOTES:

[121] See chapter iii., p. 67, of _Ancient Rome_

[122] _De titulis in quibus impensae monumentorum sepulcralium indicatae
sunt._

[123] See Luigi Grifi: _Sopra la iscrizione antica dell' auriga
Scirto_, in the _Accademia archeologica_, 1854, v. xiii.

[124] See the _Corpus inscriptionum latinarum_, vol. vi., part 2, nos.
4327-5886.

[125] See Walch: _Ad Gorii Xenia_, p. 98.--Orelli-Henzen: v