An early Christian funeral stele

The inscribed stele below was excavated near the Vatican, and is dated to sometime in the third century A.D.  It is considered to be one of the earliest Christian inscriptions.

This stele is currently located in the National Roman Museum at the Baths of Diocletian in Rome.  The inscription is in both Greek and Latin.  Note the two fish, and the anchor. Above these are the words 

i.e., ἰχθύς ζώντων – ‘fish of (the) living.

The words below are in Latin, and give the name Licinia Amias, who is described as bene merenti  (‘well-deserving’).

A fish became a Christian symbol early on.  This has been explained (by Augustine, among others) as the result of using the letters of the word ἰχθύς as an acrostic:

Ι = Ἰησοῦς

Χ = Χριστός

Θ = Θεοῦ

Υ = Υιός

Σ = Σωτήρ

I.e., ‘Jesus Christ, of God Son (Son of God), Savior.