E04732: Fragmentary Latin inscription possibly referring to martyrs whose names are lost. Found in the lower part of the Cemetery of Callistus, via Appia, Rome. Probably late 3rd or early 4th c.

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posted on 2018-01-26, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

[- - -]turi et [- - -] [- - - S]everes [- - -] 1. perhaps mar]turi '[- - -] martyrs (?) [- - -] Severes [- - -].' Text: ICVR, n.s., IV, no. 10182 = EDB122.

History

Evidence ID

E04732

Saint Name

Martyrs, unnamed or name lost : S00060 Saints, name lost or very partially preserved : S01744

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions Archaeological and architectural - Internal cult fixtures (crypts, ciboria, etc.)

Language

Latin

Evidence not before

290

Evidence not after

325

Activity not before

290

Activity not after

325

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 - Places

Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Ceremonies at burial of a saint

Source

Two conjoining fragments of a marble plaque. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.22 m; W. 0.25 m. Letter height 0.03 m. Recorded by Giovanni Battista de Rossi in the Cemetery of Callistus, in cubiculum Ac. First published by Antonio Ferrua in 1964, from a squeeze by de Rossi.

Discussion

The inscription may refer to some martyrs ('[mar]turi') buried in the Cemetery of Callistus, though this interpretation is of course very hypothetical. Dating: Antonio Felle (in EDB) dates the inscription to the very late 3rd or early 4th c., that is within the timeframe of the persecutions under the Tetrarchs.

Bibliography

Edition: Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB122, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/122 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. 10182.