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.
online resource
posted on 2018-01-26, 00:00authored bypnowakowski
[- - -]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
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.