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E05108: Fragmentary Latin epitaph for a woman ‘united with saints’, probably recording a burial ad sanctos. Found at the cemetery ‘ad Catacumbas’, near the church of S. Sebastiano/Basilica Apostolorum, via Appia, Rome. Probably second half of the 4th c.

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posted on 2018-02-20, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

[- - - prud]dentiae totius bonitatis que deo se[- - -]
[- - - nunc] bicinitati con[iunc]ta sanctorum [- - -]
[- - -] que bixit ann(is) X[- - -]I m(enses) VIII [de]p(osita) III idus [- - -]
[- - -] aug(usto) IIII [et - - -]

1. prud]dentiae Carletti in the EDB

'[- - -] of prudence (and) all the goodness, who to God [- - - now] she is united through the vicinity with saints [- - -] who lived [- - -] years, 8 months. She was deposited on the 3rd day before the ides of [- - -] augustus for the 4th time [and - - -].'

Text: ICVR, n.s., V, no. 13419 = EDB8419.

History

Evidence ID

E05108

Saint Name

Saints, unnamed : S00518 Martyrs, unnamed or name lost : S00060 Peter the Apostle : S00036 Paul, the Apostle : S00008

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

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

Language

Latin

Evidence not before

363

Evidence not after

398

Activity not before

363

Activity not after

398

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

Burial ad sanctos

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Women

Source

Five conjoining fragments of a white marble plaque. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.44 m; W. 0.76 m; Th. 0.08 m. Letter height 0.03 m. The fragments were found in 1912 in a cemetery sited to the north of the church of San Sebastiano/Basilica Apostolorum. Now in the museum of the church. The fragments were examined by Antonio Ferrua and first published by him in 1971 with a photograph.

Discussion

The inscription is an epitaph for an ordinary woman. Line 1 praises her virtues, line 2 refers to the vicinity of saints , which is very likely a description of an intentional burial ad sanctos. The saints could be some martyrs buried in the same cemetery (see, for example, *Maximus, E05091) or, possibly, the Apostles *Peter and *Paul whose lively cult flourished in this region. Dating: Lines 3 and 4 record a formula giving the age of the woman, and the date of the burial. Of the actual dating formula only a reference to the fourth consulate of a senior emperor (augustus) is preserved. Ferrua considered several possible dates, ranging from 363 (the fourth consulate of the emperor Julian held together with a certain Sallustius) to 398 (the fourth consulate of the emperor Honorius and one Eytuchianus). He doubted that the formula named the fourth consulate of Theodosius II (411), as it was rarely mentioned in inscriptions in the West.

Bibliography

Edition: Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB8419, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/8419 De Rossi, G.B., Ferrua, A. (eds.) Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores, n.s., vol. 5: Coemeteria reliqua Viae Appiae (Vatican: Pont. Institutum Archaeologiae Christianae, 1971), no. 13419.