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E04647: Latin epitaph for a woman, saying that she lives ‘among saints.’ Found in the 'crypt of Saint Cornelius,' at the Cemetery of Callistus sited between the Via Appia and Via Ardeatina (Rome). Probably 3rd c.

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posted on 2018-01-19, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

Veneri-
osa, spir-
itus tus int-
er santos

3. read tuus

'Veneriosa, your soul is among saints!'

Text: ICVR, n.s., IV, no. 9451.

History

Evidence ID

E04647

Saint Name

Saints, unnamed : S00518

Saint Name in Source

santi

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Saints_unnamed/13738717

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

Language

Latin

Evidence not before

200

Evidence not after

300

Activity not before

200

Activity not after

300

Place of Evidence - Region

Rome and region

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Suburban catacombs and cemeteries

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Suburban catacombs and cemeteries Rome Rome Roma Ῥώμη Rhōmē

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Women

Source

Marble plaque. H. 0.36 m; W. 0.39 m; Th. 0.04 m. Letter height 0.04-0.045 m. Found in area Z5 in the 'crypt of Saint Cornelius', in the Cemetery of Callistus. First published by Margherita Guarducci in 1958. Republished by Antonio Ferrua in 1964.

Discussion

The inscription is an epitaph for an ordinary woman. The saints mentioned in line 4 are probably the general community of all the redeemed Christians rather than any specific saints or martyrs. Dating: The inscription is dated to the 3rd c. by Antonio Felle in EDB. The formula used in the inscription is characteristic of early Christian epitaphs.

Bibliography

Edition: Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB21199, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/21199 De Rossi, G.B., Ferrua, A. (eds.) Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores, n.s., vol. 4: Coemeteria inter Vias Appiam et Ardeatinam (Vatican: Pont. Institutum Archaeologiae Christianae, 1964), no. 9451. Guarducci, M., I graffiti sotto la Confessione di San Pietro in Vaticano, vol. 1 (Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1958), 365.