Une « Triple Enceinte » Et L’inscription Funéraire De Agate Filia Comites Gattilanis À Milan

The funerary slab of Agate, daughter of an Ostrogoth comes, dated to 512 AD, shows a hitherto unnoticed tabula lusoria or symbolic representation in the blank space below the inscription. The pattern, used for the game of Nine men’s morris, is accurately incised, and not hastily scratched, in a central and visible position. Interesting questions arise: is the pattern a game board? Is it precedent, coeval or posterior to the funerary inscription? How could the presence of the design be explained in such a context? Could the Nine men’s morris pattern have had a symbolic overtone, or is it just connected to a secondary utilization of the slab? These questions will be evaluated mainly through the reconstruction of the conservation history of the slab.