Column with inscription by workers of the pig market

TNMM 619

Pars superior parvae columnae marmoreae litteris saeculi secundi exeuntis vel tertii effossa ut videtur in Esquilino.

S[oli] i(nvicto) M(ithrae) / et sodalicio eius / actores de foro suario / quorum nomina / [sequuntur]…

An inscription engraved on a marble column found in the 19th century outside a Mithraic context in Rome, in the forum suarium, between the Esquiline and the Suburre, gives the brotherhood the name sodalicium (TNMM 479, also in Rome). It clearly brought together a number of workers in the pork market, whose masters we do not know and whose names unfortunately have not survived. Their probably servile status and common professional affiliation may explain the use of sodalicium rather than collegium.