E05293: Small fragment of a Latin inscription just possibly mentioning a saint John, or an ordinary deceased man termed vir sanctus. Found in the cemetery of Cyriaca ad Sanctum Laurentium, via Tiburtina, Rome. Possibly early 6th c.
Antonio Ferrua suggested that the inscription was an epitaph for an ordinary man, termed vir sanctus / 'saintly man', and tentatively restored the text as follows:
[hic iacet vir s(a)n]c(tus) Ioh(a)n(nes) [... sub die ...] ima sept (possibly followed by the name of the consul Venantius or Boethius the younger, i.e. AD 508 or 510).
Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Suburban catacombs and cemeteries
Rome
Rome
Roma
Ῥώμη
Rhōmē
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Source
Fragment of a marble plaque. Broken and lost on all sides, except for the top where the upper margin is preserved. H. 0.33 m; W. 0.29 m; Th. 0.05 m.
Found on the surface level in the cemetery of Cyriaca ad Sanctum Laurentium, on the via Tiburtina. First recorded by Marsuzi in 1880. First published by Antonio Ferrua, with a drawing, in 1980.
Bibliography
Edition:
Epigraphic Database Bari, nos. EDB34948, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/34948
De Rossi, G.B., Ferrua, A. (eds.), Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores, n.s., vol. 7: Coemeteria via Tiburtinae (Vatican: Pont. Institutum Archaeologiae Christianae, 1980), no. 17828h.