Altar of Senj made by the slave Hermes

Found by chance in 1891 at Melnice-Vratnik, near Senj, in Croatia, this altar was acquired the same year by the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb. The moulding, decorated by a double frieze of foliage, has almost entirely disappeared. The main face bears a complete inscription of nine lines, datable to the end of the reign of Antoninus Pius or beginning of Marcus Aurelius's based on the name of the prefect.

I(nvicto) M(ithrae) / spelaeum cum / omne impen/sa Hermes C(aii) / Antoni(i) Rufi / praef(ecti) veh(iculorum) et / cond(uctoris) p(ublici) p(ortorii)/ ser(vus) vilic(us) Fortu/nat(us or -ianus) fecit…