Roman Stone at St. Nicholas Church

This Roman tombstone is the only ancient written testimony in Bad Ischl. It dates back to the early 3rd century AD. At that time, Ischl was part of the Roman Empire, in its Province of Noricum. The portrait reliefs of the couple appear in the gable medallion above the inscription. If you look closely, on man (named Romanus), you can see the Roman soldier's cloak (sagum), and a cloak on his wife, who’s wearing a cap. The Noric cap was part of the national costume.

Below them are two figures, a female and a male servant, and they are carrying a jug and a cup. Or maybe the figure on the left is holding a lowered torch (to symbolize that the woman has died), and the figure on the right holds a raised torch (to symbolize the man who was still alive when he had the stone made).

Argentonia got very old (reaching the age of 80) considering that life expectancy was not particularly high at that time. Noteworthy is that the man does not have a surname, but carries his father's name. This means that he was a native without Roman citizenship, whereas his wife was a Roman citizen. 

Source: "Adventure Latin. Archaeology. Roman Heritage in Upper Austria" Peter Glatz, Andreas Thiel, Stefan Traxler. Linz 2023

Why isn't the tombstone in the cemetery?
Well, Romanus and his wife were pagans, as you can tell from the text, which reads: "Gods of the Underworld".

Latin inscription:

D(IS) M(ANIBUS) ROMANVS

MATERNI F(ILIVS) VI(V)VS SI(BI)

ET ROM(A)NAE

ARGENTONIAE

CON(IVGI)

O(BITAE) AN(NORUM)

LXXX

B(ENE) M(ERENTI)

Translation:

To the Gods of the Underworld (this tombstone was built by) Romanus,

a son of Maternus, for himself during his lifetime

and his Roman wife Argentonia,

who passed away at the age of 80.

She deserves to be remembered.