Titulus (inscription)

Titulus of Pyramus, the cubicularius of Lucius Vitellius the elder. Found in Rome, ref. CIL VI, 37786 = AE 1910, 00029
A carving of a noble robed man and woman apparently leading a demure, robed woman. The man's robe is open, exposing his penis. He holds the hand of the woman.
Relief from a carved funerary lekythos: Hermes conducts the deceased, Myrrhine, named in a titulus, to Hades, c. 430–420 BCE
See also Titulus (Roman Catholic) for Roman churches called tituli, or titulus (disambiguation) for more meanings.

Titulus (Latin "inscription" or "label", the plural tituli is also used in English) is a term used for the labels or captions naming figures or subjects in art, which were commonly added in classical and medieval art, and remain conventional in Eastern Orthodox icons. In particular the term describes the conventional inscriptions on stone that listed the honours of an individual[1] or that identified boundaries in the Roman Empire. A titulus pictus is a merchant's mark or other commercial inscription.

The sense of "title", as in "book title", in modern English derives from this artistic sense, just as the legal sense derives from plainer inscriptions of record.[2]

  1. ^ Smith, William (1875). "Nobiles". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. London. Reprinted by The University of Chicago.
  2. ^ "Title", Oxford English Dictionary.