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E04743: Greek epitaph for *Fabianus (bishop and martyr of Rome, S00147), naming him a bishop and martyr (with the second epithet probably added by a different hand). Found in the lower part of the cemetery of Callixtus, on the via Appia, outside Rome. Probably 250.

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posted on 2018-01-29, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

Φαβιανὸς ἐπί(σκοπος) μ(ά)ρτ(υς)

'Fabianos, bishop, martyr.'

Text: ICVR, n.s., IV, no. 10694 = EDB1781.

History

Evidence ID

E04743

Saint Name

Fabianus, bishop and martyr of Rome : S00147

Saint Name in Source

Φαβιανός

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Fabianus_bishop_and_martyr_of_Rome/13729519

Type of Evidence

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

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

250

Evidence not after

250

Activity not before

250

Activity not after

250

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 - crypt/ crypt with relics

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Ceremonies at burial of a saint

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops

Cult Activities - Cult Related Objects

Inscription

Source

Five conjoining fragments of a marble plaque. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.58 m; W. 0.82 m. Letter height 0.05 m. Four fragments were recorded by Giovanni Battista de Rossi in cubiculum Aa, in the area of the Crypt of the Popes, in 1854. The fifth fragment was found in 1922 by Enrico Josi. Now in cubiculum Aa. The fragments have been reedited and discussed by many scholars, notably Antonio Ferrua in 1964. High quality photographs are published in the Epigraphic Database Bari.

Discussion

The epitaph was composed for pope Fabianus (236-250). His numerous deeds, including his peculiar interest in the monumentalisation of papal tombs in the catacombs, are recounted by the Liber pontificalis (E00343), a work from the 530s. Fabianus was, notably, also known to the eastern Greek-speaking church historian, Eusebius (E00343). The Liber pontificalis says that Fabianus died a martyr's death, and 'was buried in the cemetery of Callistus on the Via Appia on 20 January.' The same day is attested by the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (E04616). The epitaph does not record the year of the deposition. Epitaphs for 3rd c. popes, however, rarely record those dates. For a remarkable exception, see the epitaph for pope *Gaius (E04739). Importantly, it has been suggested that the term martyr, clearly visible in the epitaph of Fabianus, was added later, by a different hand. Having carefully examined the stone, Antonio Ferrua confirmed the different lettering, and shallower carving of this word. Dating: The inscription, if this is the original epitaph for the pope, erected during or shortly after this burial, must date to 250.

Bibliography

Edition: Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB1781, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/1781 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. 10694 (with further bibliography). Josi, E., Il Cimitero di Callisto (Roma: Pontificio Istituto di archeologia cristiana, 1933), 23. Josi, E., "Conferenze di Archeologia Cristiana", Nuovo bullettino di archeologia cristiana (1922), 97 (communication of the discovery of the fifth fragment). Marucchi, O., Epigrafia cristiana. Trattato elementare con una silloge di antiche iscrizioni cristiane principalmente di Roma (Milan: U. Hoepli, 1910), 190, no. 192. Wilpert, J., La Cripta dei Papi e la cappella di Sainta Cecilia ne cimetero di Callisto (Rome: Desclée & C., 1910), 19, 28, and Fig. 12. de Rossi, G.B., La Roma sotterranea cristiana, vol. 2 (Rome: Cromo-litografia pontificia, 1867), 58-62, and Tav. III. Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum IV, no. 9674. Civiltà cattolica, vol. 3 (1854), 127 (four fragments). Further reading: Carletti, C., Epigrafia dei cristiani in Occidente dal III al VII secolo. Ideologia e prassi (Bari: Edipuglia, 2008), 36.