The letters D and M are engraved in the background above the cartouche, in the upper left and upper right corners, indicating that this urn was consecrated to D(iis) M(anibus), the deities then thought to represent the spirit of the deceased.
The inscription inside the cartouche bears the tria nomina (name, family name, and surname) of the deceased, M(arcus) C(laudius) Feli(x), followed by the soldier's age, 17 years, 8 months, and 21 days. The end of the epitaph indicates that Marcus Claudius Felix was a mil(es) (a soldier) for 1 year, 8 months, and 21 days.
Giroire, Cecile, and Daniel Roger. Roman Art from the Louvre. New York: American Federation of Arts in assoc. with Hudson Hills Press, 2007. (p.182, cat.120).
