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E04745: Fragmentary Latin inscription, probably an epitaph for an acolyte of the titulus of a female saint whose name is lost, and referring to one more (?) female saint. Found in the upper part of the Cemetery of Callistus, on the via Appia, Rome. Probably 6th c.

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posted on 2018-01-29, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski
[- - -]+ acolotus
[- - - titu]ḷi s̅(an)c̅(t)e̅
[- - -]as
[- - -] s̅(an)c̅(t)e̅
[- - -]

1. ]s. acolutus Ferrua, ]+ acolotus = acoluthus (?) Pierno

'[- - -] acolyte (?) [- - -] of the titulus of saint [- - -] of saint [- - -].'

Text: ICVR, n.s., IV, no. 11520 = EDB40250.

History

Evidence ID

E04745

Saint Name

Saints, name lost or very partially preserved : S01744

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

Language

  • Latin

Evidence not before

500

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

500

Activity not after

600

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

Cult building - unspecified

Cult activities - Places Named after Saint

  • Other

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy

Source

Fragment of a marble plaque. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.26 m; W. 0.24 m; Th. 0.045 m. Letter height 0.032 m. First published in 1864 in the Giornale di Roma, the then official paper of the Papal State, probably just in a drawing (we have been unable to consult this edition). The stone was reportedly recorded in area S11 of the Cemetery of Callistus. Revisited and reedited by Antonio Ferrua in 1964. A very good photograph is offered in the Epigraphic Database Bari by Marida Pierno. Now in area S5.

Discussion

The inscription was probably an epitaph. Ferrua suggested that it originally came from a surface tomb, not from the upper regions of the cemetery where the fragment was found. It is possible that it mentions a deceased acolyte associated with the titulus of a female saint, and, possibly, one more person. For a similar text see EXXXXX (titulus of Saint Anastasia, ICVR IV 12303), see also E04744. Dating: According to Ferrua the fragment was ‘much later than the 4th c.’ Marida Pierno (in EDB) dates it to the 6th c.

Bibliography

Edition: Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB40250, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/40250 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. 11520. Hendrichs, F., La voce delle chiese antichissime di Roma (Rome: Desclée & C. Editori Pontifici, 1933), 149, fig. 255. Profili, Giornale di Roma 1864, 588, no. 6 (with a drawing). Further reading: Wilpert, J., La Cripta dei Papi e la cappella di Sainta Cecilia ne cimetero di Callisto (Rome: Desclée & C., 1910), 112, note 2.

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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